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Rototom Festival looks for talent in South America
Published: Wednesday | February 16, 2011 0 Comments
Etana
Bushman
Wailer
Giovanni Vinci
Lutan Fyah
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Bunny Wailer, Etana, Lutan Fyah slated for Sumareggae Festival
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer
Ahead of the 2011 Rototom Sunsplash in Benicassim, [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Spain[/COLOR][/COLOR], from August 18 to 27, the organisers are culling Uruguay and Argentina in a [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]reggae[/COLOR][/COLOR] contest for talent to perform on the long-standing festival.
This year's edition is Rototom's second in Spain and 18th overall, after starting in [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Italy[/COLOR][/COLOR].
Rototom's booking manager, Giovanni Vinci, told The Gleaner that the Rototom Reggae Contest is part of a range of activities being undertaken by the festival's organisers to develop and streamline reggae in South America.
Through the website www.reggaecontestlatino.com an effort is being made to bring together all the persons involved in reggae in the region, starting with Uruguay and Argentina.
"We already have over 300 bands and 30 radio stations," Vinci said.
The website is open to musicians, producers, specialised media, artisans, stores, discos, clubs, record labels and musical promoters, all of whom can create their own website.
Rototom has long run a reggae contest in Europe, and the South American staging, which opened on November 25, 2010, follows the tried and proven model.
Uruguay and Argentina have been organised into four regions, each named after a late reggae great.
The Dennis Brown Region covers the north and east provinces of Argentina, while the Peter Tosh Region encompasses Patagonia and the south provinces of Argentina. The [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Bob [COLOR=blue ! important]Marley[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Region takes in the Argentina capital Buenos Aires City as well as Buenos Aires Province. Uruguay is dubbed the Sugar Minott Region. The contest is open to bands and sound systems, with the winner from each category getting a national tour. In addition, the top band performs on Rototom Sunsplash 18.
Vinci says the semi-finals will be held on February 26 and 27, with Bushman performing as special guest. "One of the things that we are doing in South America is to bring in some artistes who are not well known here," Vinci said. Alborosie, The Abyssinians and I Eye performed in Argentina in October.
The finals will be held from March 31 to April 1, followed by the Sumareggae Festival on April 2 and 3 at Estado Cubierto Malvinas Stadium in Buenos Aires. Vinci says Bunny Wailer, Etana and Lutan Fyah are already confirmed for the festival and there is a [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]YouTube[/COLOR][/COLOR] clip of Wailer inviting "all reggae massive and crew and fans of the region of Argentina" to the festival.
Vinci emphasises the collaborative nature of the event.
"The central word of this festival is 'joint'. They (the artistes from Jamaica) will do some collaboration with the Argentinian artistes to show that the union is possible," he said. Both Sumareggae and the reggae contest have Facebook pages.
He outlines a progression that will take Sumareggae and the reggae contest across the content, saying "the next country we want the project in is Brazil". Then there are Chile and Peru, the northward trek continuing all the way to Mexico. From there, the next logical move is to the birthplace of reggae.
"Our dream is to do this festival in Jamaica," Vinci said.
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