Jamaica Festival Song audition for MoBay this Saturday

The auditions for the 2020 season of Jamaica Festival Song Competition begins this weekend with the first tryout taking place at the Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Described as live auditions, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) said the tryouts will give "a fighting chance in the competition to our entrants who have raw talent and a winning tune but are unable to have their songs professionally produced".

Andrew Clunis, director of marketing and public relations at the JCDC, said it is the first in the competition's history that entrants will be able to "flex their performance skills for our adjudicators before they make it to the semi-final round".

The auditions will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily and attract a registration fee of $1,000 per entry. Entrants have the option of performing a cappella or to a backing track, though entry songs do not need to be professionally produced.

Following Saturday's show, the auditions will head to Mandeville Park, Mandeville, on Saturday, February 29. The final live audition will be held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Kingston, on Saturday, March 7.

Persons who are not successful at one audition may try again at another audition with a different song.

A signature programme of the JCDC, the Jamaica Festival Song Competition boasts past winners like Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Decker, Eric Donaldson, Roy Rayon, Heather Grant and Stanley Beckford.