Festival song winner Winston Hussey collects his trophy from Festival Queen Kamesha Turner at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Sunday. In the background is Dr St Aubyn Bartlett.
It seemed that Winston Hussey couldn't stop dancing at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Hope Road, on Sunday night. And at points it was not dancing in the sense of trying to make crowd-pleasing moves, but simply exuberant body expressions that bordered on the comic.
Also, Hussey apparently did not need music in the accepted sense to toss his body back and forth, to cheers from the large audience, sections of which definitely came out to support a particular finalist in the Festival Song 2K9 competition (Tinga Stewart's contingent seemed the largest and positioned most prominently near the stage). For he danced his way off-stage to the beat of his eventually winning Take Back Jamaica during the segment where the finalists sang their entries and skanked without music as he collected his winner's $1 million cheque from Digicel's Mark Martin.
Potential controversy
In addition, Hussey was presented with the Stages trophy by Dr St Aubyn Bartlett and also received a gift from Cooyah.
The announcement was handled in a way that helped stem any potential controversy, as MC Jerry D announced the winning producer first. After Lloyd Grant collected his prize for the winning song and Hussey's pocket of supporters started cheering wildly, Jerry D said, "So you get it by now, huh?".
Allowing the members of the audience to come to the realisation of the winner instead of 'dashing it on them without warning' may have assisted in the acceptance of the result by a severely segmented audience, after Jerry D had cautioned all previously about accepting the judges' decision.
So while a jubilant Hussey performed the 2009 Festival Song, Take Back Jamaica, twice asking triumphantly "A wha dem a go do now?", the other finalists behind him onstage and his core of supporters cheering him on from just in front of the stage, many members of the audience simply filed out silently.
Most of those other finalists did not go home empty-handed, as the CHASE Fund gave $100,000 each to the writers of the top 10, all but two of the singers also doing writing duties. Oba Simba, whose staff was as much for support as it was for effect and limped noticeably at points during his Feel The Pressure, won $40,000 for being the Most Disciplined Performer.
Stacia, who was noticeably running out of breath as she put energy and a glowing smile into Love Jamaica, earned $40,000 from Capital and Credit as the Most Improved Finalist.
Calvin McFarlane's cheering squad hollered like their champion had copped the title when the Nuff Niceness singer was announced Best Performer, winning $300,000 and a trophy from Tastee, plus prizes from Digicel and Cooyah.
Although the 2009 top 10 festival songs were the highlight of the night, they were not the only ones delivered at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Sunday. Each finalist warmed up with a song of their choice, Tinga Stewart having his best moment with a medley that included past festival songs as well as a snatch of a dancehall hit.
And guest performers Roy Rayon, Busy Signal and Christopher Martin (whom a gaggle of adoring girls in front of the stage clustered before as he addressed various parts of the audience) were hits with the audience.
If there was a prize for costuming, Lester Lewis would have been as close to a 'shoe-in' as conceivable, what with his extra long shoe (Jerry D asked him to display it for the audience and declared it a good weapon if a thief invaded the home) and a butter yellow, spotlight bright tailcoat suit.
Singer Chris Martin greets fans at the Festival Song final competition. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer