GT&T gears for 2013 Jingle and Song competition

Jan 16, 2013 News

– Only English segment this year

After months of speculation, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has announced that it will launch another edition of its Jingle and Song Competition.

GT&T is preparing to host yet another edition of its successful Jingle and Song Competition in February.

The show, according to the telephone company, will once again give “Guyanese the opportunity to showcase their talent and live their dream” through the competition set to be launched in February.
Under the theme ‘Live your Music’, contestants from 16 years and older will compete for chances to win big prizes.
A countrywide audition drive will be launched in Essequibo on February 2nd at the Urbayne Oasis Hotel. From there, the team will move to Linden on February 9th to the Edward Benjamin Center. On February 16th, Berbicians can look out for the judges at the Little Rock Suites while Georgetown will see a four-day audition from February 18-22 at the National Cultural Centre.
“Contestants who survive the auditions will be placed into groups, rehearse and complete a performance production through the month of March. There will also be a duet round followed by the quarter finals in which acts will be performed individually. The semi-finals and finals will be completed in April while the Grand Finale is set for May 11.”
In 2006, Guyana saw the first staging of the GT&T Jingle competition which attracted the attention of thousands, GT&T said yesterday.
“It was the following year’s Jingle and Song Competition that saw the career birth of Guyanese songstress Timeka Marshall being launched. Several competitions followed and multiple stars were born, with Lindener Malika Boyd walking away with the coveted title in 2009.”
Again in 2011, another Lindener, Brandon Harding, was named the GT&T Guyana Star while Berbician Gail Ann Singh emerged as the winner of the Indian segment in January 2012.
GT&T, however, indicated that while producers had opted to introduce the Indian segment in the last edition, this year, there will only be the English segment.
The future of the show, which drew a strong following, following the last edition, was thrown into question after executives of the National Communications Network became embroiled in a scandal over payments from GT&T.