Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition Winner Lee Priest Shines Again
ATLANTA – Singer Lee “Priest” Johnson successfully defended his Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition (JIIFSC) title on July 25, with his entry, One Of A Kind. The final took place at Shiloh High School Theatre in Snellville, Georgia.
Representing Georgia, Priest topped seven rivals to take the winner’s prize of $8,000. He won the 2025 contest with Jamaica ina mi Blood.
Finishing second was D Mack out of Florida with Jamaica Is The Place. He was awarded $4,000.
Placing third was Clement Gordon out of Detroit, Michigan. He received $1,000.
Five judges — Red Carpet Shelley, Paul Abrahams, professor Hugh Davis, Sophia Bryan and Dr. Jermaine Gordon — presided over the sixth staging of the annual contest which was first held in 2021.
Dr. Garfield McCook, founder of the JIIFSC, told South Florida Caribbean News that the event has grown considerably.
“I am pleased with the response received. Each year we are attracting new interests in our audience,” he said. “We were blessed to have (comedian) Oliver Samuels in the audience. He expressed his enthusiasm regarding the JIIFSC’s goal in providing a platform for Jamaican artists in the Diaspora to showcase their musical talents during Jamaica’s Independence celebrations.”
The 2026 JIIFSC also had entries by Jamaican artists who live in Canada and Italy.
Annual Festival Song Contest
An Atlanta-based entrepreneur, McCook based the JIIFSC on the annual Festival Song Contest in Jamaica, which was first held in 1966. The final of that event also took place on July 25, and was won by dBURNZ with I Love Jamaica.
