Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Vegas
This is it one big game, that you cannot miss
No matter who you are - everyone's on the list
This is the game of life and we all are one (so
come along)
- From 'The Game of Love and Unity', the official Cricket World Cup song.
As the ICC Cricket World Cup rolls into the West Indies it has already began to bat a huge success for entertainment. With numerous cricket songs recorded and entertainment events planned, the Caribbean will be a hub of activitiesduring the cricket season.
Capitalising on the World Cup and showing their love for the game, artistes from all genres are singing out loud and clear for cricket.
Songs during times of great sports achievements are not unusual, with World Cup football producing one of the largest collaborations to date. Rise Up was the official all-star reggae theme song when the Reggae Boyz made it to the finals for the first and so far only time in 1998. The song featured vocals from the likes of Diana King, Shaggy, Maxi Priest, Toots Hibbert, Ziggy Marley, Ini Kamoze, the I-Threes, Buju Banton, Tony Rebel and Richie Stephens.
While there is an official Cricket World Cup song, The Game of Love and Unity, done by Rupee, Shaggy and Faye-Ann Lyons, local artistes have also come out to show their love in unofficial World Cup songs. Richie Stephens' Come to Jamaica has been picked up by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for Cricket World Cup as a part of its 'Take Jamaica to Heart' campaign ahead of the event, which starts next week. Stephens described Come to Jamaica as being "about our achievements, that we are on top of the world and we should be proud. It is a feel good song, for people to hear it and feel good." The song was officially launched in late January at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.
DJ Zumjay has a song entitled Windies, which is cheering on the West Indies cricket team. Zumjay, who asked "a who a de big man in cricket?" when Courtney Walsh broke the record for most Test wickets taken, said "It's only natural that I do a song for the greatest cricket event in the world that is coming to Jamaica."
Glory Days
Dancehall artiste Vegas' Glory Days can regularly be seen on television. The song was also recorded for Cricket World Cup, as Vegas says the younger generation especially needs to get a taste of what those 'Glory Days' were like. He elaborated in a previous interview that "mi grow up as a cricket fan an is like of late di youts dem lose interest. Suh wi figure seh di youts dem love dance, so wi use Overmars an dem dancer deh fi endorse di ting, cause wi a all West Indians an a still one a wi biggest sporting events. Mi remember back in di days wi use to haffi listen it pon radio, suh till now wi can watch it pon TV. An memba seh one time dem use to jus promote it wid soca music, so now it's time to add the dancehall flavour."
Songs aren't the only entertainment spin-offs of cricket, as ICC CWC 2007 marketing manager, Damon Leon, says "There are different facets of entertainment. It's an event where tens of thousands of people are coming into the region. Those who are coming are coming not just for cricket, they want the beach parties to enjoy their stay. It will be 47 days of cricket and 47 nights of parties."
According to Leon, the opening ceremony on March 11 will be an entertainment spectacle the like of which the Caribbean has never seen. He claimed that there will also be 'fan zones' in the grounds which will have a musical element, face painting and other types of entertainment.
Across the region other artistes are benefiting big time as well, with musicians and performers being booked to entertain thousands caught up in the cricket fever. One entertainment company in Barbados, Good Entertainment, says they have used the opportunity to market and promote their acts. These include Gregory Ayuen of Digicel Rising Star fame; the urban R&B/soca/reggae band Strategy, which includes Miguel White whose hit soca track Cutie Gal has been making waves in Trinidad for Carnival 2007; Kirk Brown with the soca fused track J'ouvert and Tejay with dancehall/pop track Chimme Papa. Also emerging are Caribbean hip hop artist Nitro and Slimz, whose hit track So Good has been making the rounds in the U.S.A. and, most recently, the Caribbean radio stations and dance floors.
Direct marketing
"We recognise that with the ICC Cricket World Cup being the main highlight of the sporting events in the Caribbean for 2007 there will be opportunities for live performances and general entertainment packages, and in 2006 we decided to cater to that market across the region using direct marketing and Internet marketing from our website www.strategytheband.com and other promotional performances," said Kirk Goodman, CEO of Good Entertainment.
"Some major events are slated to take place in Barbados and across the region in the months of March and April, and we believe it is important to use these avenues to expose the upcoming generation to our cultural industries, so we will be working with a number of promoters to ensure that we maximise on the opportunities that present themselves," he concluded.
Promoters in Jamaica are also hard at work with street dances such as Passa Passa and others being prepared for the influx of tourists looking a good time in between matches.
As March 11 draws near, let the cricket and entertainment begin.
