Nine finalists take stage at 2026 Jamaica Festival Song Presentation Show

Nine finalists in the 2026 Jamaica Festival Song Competition presented their original entries on Saturday, July 11, at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre, with the programme aired live on PBCJ.

Hosted as a family entertainment showcase tied to Jamaica’s Independence season, the presentation show followed earlier song-of-choice performances and then moved into each contestant’s original festival entry. Organisers said the winner stands to take home $3 million in cash and prizes.

Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange was among those welcomed on the night. The panel of judges included chief judge Roy Rayon, producer Smart Kid, Paul “Computer” Henton, singer Jim Myers and Judith Bodley. Officials and guests acknowledged from the floor included the Custos of Portland, Lincoln Thaxter, and Mrs Thaxter; Howard Shearer, son of former prime minister Hugh Lawson Shearer; and JCDC commissioners Orville Hill, Sylvester Castro, Dennis Archer and Navled Howell.

The nine acts and their festival songs were: Salomon Walters, known as Brother C, a Clarendon farmer and last year’s runner-up, with “Jamaica War”; Beverly Henry, also introduced as Boia, with “Jamaica Pon App”; Elton Erlington of St. Andrew, a 2016 Digicel Rising Star winner and lead singer of the Fire band, with “Proud Jamaica,” written by his friend Pelifier; Tristar of Greenland, Hanover, with “I Am Jamaican”; Oanda Levy, 38, a music teacher, producer and recording artist, with “Jamaica Schooling”; Lady Jazz with “Jamaica Island”; Latana Stamp, known as Songbird, with “My Jamaica Land of Festival,” introduced to her by manager Carlton Derby; Aba Jones with the comic entry “Teef fi Mi”; and D Burns with “I Love Jamaica,” co-written with three friends.

Earlier in the evening, Lady Jazz covered Lady G’s “Enough Respect,” Songbird sang a medley, Aba Jones performed Neil Diamond’s “I Am I Said” in the version popularised locally by Mikey Spice, and D Burns delivered a medley linked to Dennis Brown and Barrington Levy.

Voting opened at the close of the show by text to numbers ending 7701 through 7709 for the nine acts in performance order, as well as on Flow and Digicel platforms and the Reggae Jamaica mobile app. Jamaicans in the diaspora may vote only through the Reggae Jamaica app, organisers said.

The Festival Song results show is set for Saturday, July 25, at the Randy Williams Entertainment Centre, airing live on TVJ from 8:30 p.m. Related Independence calendar dates flagged during the broadcast include the Civil Emancipation Jubilee on July 31 and Independence Village events at the National Stadium Complex from August 1 to 5, culminating in the Independence Grand Gala on August 6.