“Start D Party” performed by Imran Nerdy and produced by Vibez Productions has won the “Most Exportable Song” award.
The announcement was made on Friday at the office of Export Saint Lucia, organisers of the competition.
Ahead of the busy 2024 Lucian Carnival season, Export Saint Lucia announced the “Most Exportable Song” competition. The reward for the winner would be a cash prize and assistance in global marketing, Export Saint Lucia said.
At the end of the carnival season, five songs were nominated. They were “Break Away” and “Damn Proud Lucian” both by Sly, “Start D Party” by Imran Nerdy, “Look Something to Talk About” by Ricky T and “Beyoutiful” by Ezra D Fun machine.
In announcing the winner Friday, the CEO of Export Saint Lucia Sunita Daniel explained the process involved in arriving at a winner.
“The initiative was born from a vision to amplify Saint Lucian artistes on the global stage. Our goal was to identify and promote a song that embodies the unique essence of Saint Lucian culture, while resonating internationally,” Daniel stated.
“The selection of the winning song was arrived at by online voting, the Carnival Planning and Management Committee’s input and we had our own input. But also very importantly for us, was to have the input of international DJs and those persons who are booking events for international carnivals,” she explained.
The songs were reviewed for musical composition and arrangement, lyrics and theme, vocal performance and delivery, production quality, cross cultural appeal and promotional appeal.
According to the CEO of Export Saint Lucia, the competition organisers sought feedback from those involved in Miami Carnival, Labour Day in New York and London carnival.
Additionally, organisers say that streams and airplay of the songs were evaluated in St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, Antigua, Bermuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, St. Vincent and Grenada. Radio stations in the UK, the US, Canada and Martinique were also monitored.
“Now it was very difficult for us to come to a final selection because we also know that “Damn Proud Lucian” has been trending quite a lot. The only reason that “Start D Party” would have edged it out, would be because the most exportable song was also supposed to have international appeal. So more than from our diaspora, more than from Saint Lucians, the rest of the world must have also been very attuned to that song,” Daniel stated.
In accepting the award Friday, Imran Nerdy first thanked everyone who had been supporting not just his music, but Saint Lucian music on the whole.
“It is a great experience to be winning an award like this. It just goes to show that our music is going beyond just Saint Lucia and is going to that global market, which we have strived a lot to achieved, thanks to Export Saint Lucia who helps a lot in that field,” he said.
Imran Nerdy was presented with a check of EC$5,000 by the CEO of Export Saint Lucia and will be provided with additional support moving forward in promoting and marketing his music. Export Saint Lucia says the initiative will continue in 2025 with an additional category. The winner will also perform at World expo in Japan.
