Jermaine Edwards is Top 2010 Marlin Awards Winner

Nassau, Bahamas. Jamaican gospel reggae recording artist Jermaine Edwards has emerged as the top winner for the 2010 Caribbean Gospel Marlin Awards. Edwards won a total of five (5) awards including the two most prestigious, Song of the Year for his mid-tempo reggae smash “Make You Smile” and Album of the Year for his sophomore project “Destiny”.

Edwards also won the Reggae Vocal Performance of the Year-Male (Make You Smile), Engineered Recording of the Year (Destiny) and Producer of the Year for his production work on his “Destiny” album and on Judith Gayle’s full length disc “Designed to Worship”.

Following close behind with four (4) Marlin Awards each is Bahamian reggae artist and Lion of Judah Sounds CEO Monty G and Trinidad & Tobago gospel Soca Ambassador Nigel Lewis. Monty G led the 2010 nomination season with a whopping twenty (20) nominations and successfully scored four(4) awards including one for Dancehall Recording of the Year for “World Domination”, which is also the title track of his latest CD. This is a significant win for Monty as this will mark the first time since the awards were fully integrated in 2002 that a Bahamian reggae artist has ever won Dancehall Recording of the Year. Monty also won DJ Vocal Performance of the Year-Duo/Group (Real Superman-Remix) with DJ Counsellor & Papa San, Reggae/Pop Recording of the Year (Freedom) with Jaynelle and as a Producer with DJ Frost for Compilation Album of the Year (Streetlight Mixtape Vol.4).

Nigel Lewis won several major awards including Soca Recording of the Year for “Good Time Praise”, Calypso/ Soca Vocal Performance of the Year-Duo/Group for “Walk Away”, Adapted Praise & Worship Recording of the Year for “Empty Me” and Adapted Calypso/Soca recording of the super hit and concert favorite “Jump”. Neo-soul artist Russell Leonce also from Trinidad walked away with three (3) awards including Contemporary Vocal Performance of the Year-Male for “L.I.V.E”, Adapted Contemporary Recording of the Year for “Smile” and Packaging of the Year for debut disc “Culture of Love”.

Reggae freshman Joel Murray aka Positive was crowned New Artist of the Year and also won the Dub Recording of the Year award for his mega hit “Never Let Go”, which is also the title track of his Lion of Judah Sounds debut disc. Bahamian Rake & Scrape artist Simeon Outten also won two (2) awards this year including Rake & Scrape Recording of the Year for “I Want to Know” and Junkanoo Recording of the Year for “Thank God for Mama” featuring Avvy Mortimer. Also walking away with two (2) awards was hip-hop artist Najie Dunn who won the award for Hip-Hop Recording of the Year for his single “Hype Music” and Hip-Hop Vocal Performance of the Year-Duo/Group for “Talk About It” featuring Iceberg. Another hip-hop artist also scored big, Ricardo Forbes aka Mr.Beeds, won his first two (2) Marlin Awards for Music Video of the Year-Solo for “Aaa Choo” and Hip-Hop Sung Collaboration of the Year for “Never Knew” featuring R&B artist Sammi Star.

Former Miss Bahamas Richa Sands captured two (2) more Marlin Awards to add to her mantle of wins including Adapted Junkanoo/Rake & Scrape Recording of the Year (Tis So Sweet) and Junkanoo/Rake & Scrape Vocal Performance of the Year (Revival In My Soul). Bahamian choir Shaback won the award for Choir/Chorale Recording of the Year for the track “Double Doors”, which was also nominated for Song of the Year. This was a special win for the Nassau based group who dedicated their award to Lavard Curtis, a keyboard player for the group and the individual who also mixed their latest live double CD effort “This Is it!. Lavard and the project’s co-engineer Clarence “Nat” Williams died in a fatal airplane crash on October 5th along with seven other men. Both men were honored along with three (3) other well deserving Bahamians with a posthumous National Contribution Award for their contribution towards the development and advancement of Bahamian and Caribbean Gospel Music.

Taking home one (1) award each was Trinidad & Tobago songbirds Avion Blackman (Contemporary Vocal Performance of the Year-”Sweet Life”) and Dixie Ann Hunte Blackman (Calypso/Soca Vocal Performance of the Year-Female-”On Course”). Also winning one (1) award this year was sister/sister outfit Jumelle (formerly the Johnson Sisters from St.Maarten) who won Contemporary Vocal Performance of the Year-Duo/Group for their inspirational anthem “In All That I Do”. Soca artist Emrand Henry from St.Lucia won the award for Calypso/Soca Vocal Performance of the Year-Male for “Dis Year” and Jamaican Praise & Worship recording artist Kevin Downswell won Praise & Worship Recording of the Year for his major hit single “Close to You”. Bahamian newcomer Pastor Terrance Forbes won his first Marlin Award for Traditional Recording of the Year for his powerful debut single “Plead the Blood” and veteran Jamaican reggae artist Carlene Davis won Reggae Vocal Performance-Female for the track “After All I’ve Been Through” from her latest CD “True Worship”. Another new artist won his first Marlin Award; Safros Joseph from St. Lucia won the award for Pop/Rock Recording of the Year for his acoustic driven single “Your Splendor”. One of the biggest wins came from Bahamian reggae newcomer Ricardo Clarke who made history by becoming the second non-Jamaican and first Bahamian to win Reggae Recording of the Year for his global smash “Not Settling”. Sherwin Gardner from Trinidad & Tobago won this category in 2004 for his single “I Worship You”.

American R&B duo Be Be & Ce Ce Winans also won their first Marlin Award for International Caribbean Recording of the Year for the track “He Can Handle It”, a reggae/pop infused single featured on their latest CD “Still”. American reggae outfit Christafari has once again won the International Caribbean Album of the Year award, this time for their latest project “No Compromise”.

Winners were announced during the 2010 Marlin Awards which were held on Saturday October 30th at the Diplomat Center in Nassau, Bahamas. The Marlin Awards are designed to honor outstanding achievement in Caribbean Gospel Music. There were more than two-hundred (200) artists participating representing fifteen (15) countries including Africa, Bahamas, Canada, Guyana, Hawaii, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Tortola BVI, St.Croix USVI, St.Kitts, St.Lucia, St.Maarten, St.Thomas USVI, St.Vincent and the Grenadines and the United States.

The Marlin Awards was the final event during Marlin Weekend 2010 which was held from October 28-30th. The three (3) day weekend featured Marlin Summit, Marlin Industry Workshops & Luncheon, Marlin Fest, and the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards. The Marlin Awards is produced by Harris Media Group, a Bahamas based marketing, media and production firm. For more information contact Harris Media Group at 242-676-6719 or visit the awards website at www.marlinawards.com.