Kandre McDonald, Freelance Writer
Omar Reid emerged the winner of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Popular Song 2006, National Contest. - Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer
The 2006 staging of the Jamaica Popular Song Contest has been history for over a week now and still Omar Reid, the winner, is elated with his achievement.
Reid's name was announced from a field of ten contestants at a special show put on by the JCDC last week Friday at the Courtliegh Auditorium, New Kingston. "I felt good. I felt like all the hard work I had put into it also paid off. I was also surprised, because all the other songs were as mine" a jubilant Reid told The Gleaner.
Reid's entry, Remember the Days, highlights the Jamaica of yesteryear where one could walk the streets without fear of being harassed. Mario Lawrence wrote Remember the Days and according to Reid, a Wolmer's Boys' School graduate, he was delighted to perform the song because of the positive lyrics.
Fierce competition
Although Reid had a positive vibe throughout the competition and has been doing music
professionally for the past 16 years he explained to The Gleaner that he was always aware of the fierce competition that he was up against.
"I did not have a clue as to who was my
closest rival. Going from show to show there is usually somebody else that stands out. Therefore everyone was a rival. There was never a time during the competition that one person ruled the limelight," he said.
With the forty-first title of the competition now under his belt, Reid plans to release several other singles and take advantage of the
opportunity given him by Jamaica.
In a previous interview with THE STAR event specialist of the JCDC, Mr. Michael Nicholson, noted that this year's entrants raised the bar when compared to those in the past.
"Each year we get better and better." he said.
