Festival Song Competition coordinator Tony Laing described the boycott by five contestants as deeply embarrassing, after they failed to appear at the final event held at the Pegasus Hotel. Their absence, reportedly in protest of alleged contest rigging, left winner Morvin Brooks to accept his awards alone. Laing, visibly disappointed, stated, “I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” as the Festival Commission confirmed the boycott violated official competition rules.

Published Tuesday, July 17, 1973 

All finalist but Morvin Brooks boycott competition 

‘Get in the Line – Festival Time’ is 1973 Song

Morvin Brooks’ Get In The Line – Festival Time emerged as the winner of the 1973 Festival Song Competition, but the countdown event staged at the Pegasus Hotel last night was marred by a boycott from the other competitors.
None of the other five contestants was available for comment, but it was understood that they were protesting what they described as the rigging of the contest.
Their refusal to appear last night automatically disqualifies them from the competition, in accordance with Festival Commission rules.
A spokesman for the Commission stated that the boycott was in violation of Clause 13 of the Festival Song rules.
Commenting on the incident, Mr. Tony Laing, co-ordinator of the competition, said: “I have never been so embarrassed in my life.”
Morvin, commenting on his win, said, “It feels good.”
He added that the contest was the cleanest he had ever seen and expressed surprise at the boycott by the other competitors.
As the winner, Morvin will receive the Desnoes and Geddes $1,000 award, an Air Jamaica prize trip to Chicago, and the Don Drummond Shield.
Morvin, who both composed and performed his entry, will also receive the Desnoes and Geddes $500 Red Stripe Award and five cents per copy of record sales.
The other competitors were:
Rita Marley: Rainbow Island

Desi and The Rootes: Welcome to Festival Eleven

Adina Edwards: Love I Festival

Chenley Duffus and the International Focus: Do It Together

Cosmo Walker: Festival Eleven

Final voting results were as follows:
Brooks – 643; Edwards – 383; Duffus and the International Focus – 146; Desi and The Rootes – 116; Rita Marley – 74; Cosmo Walker – 52.
The Jamaica Tourist Board’s special prize for the song that best honoured Jamaica and was most suited for nightclub performances also went to Brooks for his composition Sweet Jamaica, the flip side of his Festival Song.

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