Macka Diamond was among the entertainers who helped announce the nominees for the 26th International Reggae and World Music Awards at the Pegasus hotel on Tuesday evening. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

When Ephraim Martin of Martin's Inter-Culture Ltd. announced the nominees for the Marcus Garvey Humanitarian Award in the 26th International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) on Tuesday evening, he noted that "This is a very powerful award".

"With the votes coming in from all over the world, the two persons nominated are Bono and Oprah Winfrey," he said to those gathered at the George William Gordon room of the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, for the presentation of the names of the 2006 nominees.

The awards will be handed out at the Apollo Theatre, New York, United States, on May 5.

Martin later said "If you told us 20 years ago that someone out of the culture would be nominated we would sayno. But there are ballots from all over the world. You will see that many Jamaicans have received the Marcus Garvey Award over the years."

Invitation to public

Bono, lead singer of Irish band U2 which, like Bob Marley and the Wailers, enjoyed a fruitful stint with Chris Blackkwell's Island Records, is known for championing debt relief for African nations, while Winfrey's work in South Africa includes a leadership academy for girls.

Now that the nominations in nearly 40 categories have been made, the public is invited to be a part of the final selection by voting online at www.IRAWMA.com. Printed ballots are also being made available in the U.S. Persons will be allowed to vote once.

Martin and other persons from Martin's Inter-Culture, as well as entertainers Ce'Cile, Tarrus Riley and Tessane Chin, among others, announced the nominees in the various categories. In terms of numbers Buju Banton leads the way with nine, including the Bob Marley Award for Entertainer of the Year and the Emperor Haile Selassie I Award for Spiritual Service Through Music, while Sean Paul has eight, including three in the category of Best Crossover Song.

Tanya Stephens tops the female nominations with five, including Best Female Vocalist, Best Female DJ/Rapper and Songwriter of the Year. Tony Matterhorn has a wide spread in his five nominations, being nominated in the Recoding Artiste/Group of the Year, Best Song, Best New Entertainer, Songwriter of the Year and Most Popular Sound System/Selector categories.

The IRAWMA includes Best Calypso/Soca Entertainer, Best African Entertainer and Best Soukous Entertainer categories, with Jimmy Cliff, Selif Keita, Soweto Gospel Choir, Youssou N'Dour and Ziggy Marley up for the Award for Outstanding Contribution to World Music.

Martin noted that "Last year 50,000 people voted and this year we expect to double that.

"People started buying tickets from Thanksgiving. It tells me people are watching and respect what we are doing," he said.