The birds are singing for Aidonia - Bogdanovich says patrons should expect surprises at Reggae Sumfest

With a day before the first performance night gets under way at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, Reggae Sumfest's chief organiser, Joe Bogdanovich, says patrons are in for a host of surprises as far as the final line-up is concerned.

With rumours that Aidonia may be among the late additions, Bogdanovich, although offering no confirmation, says the former is a possibility.

"I was in the park the other day, and at sunset, often the birds like to hang out there and chit-chat, and they sing all kinds of tunes out there. They sang a tune for Koffee, and I paid attention to the birdies. All I can say now is that they're chit chatting again, and I don't know what they have for this Donia kid, but boy, they couldn't stop talking about him," he said.

"They (the birds) think that not only will Donia be there, but there will be others. Everybody wants to be on this show, and everybody wants to be at this show. It's going to be a landmark show. The weather is great. We have some tricks up our sleeves. It'll be fun. You don't wanna miss a beat."

Youthful energy

Last minute additions are sometimes taken out of context to mean that promoters of an event are cowering before the final hour to book big name acts to carry the event. This is not the case for Reggae Sumfest, Bogdanovich insisted.

"Everybody who's anybody is on this show. I think the ladies will represent really well with they dynamics. We have some youthful energy, as well as an act that always delivers. I think that we got a lot of emphasis on young, vibrant relevant artistes coming up. It's nice to see the second city coming up with some big aces again, and everybody is excited about that. Everybody seems to think that the '6ixes' have really resurrected dancehall, and we will see how they do," he said.

"We have the legends of dancehall there in, Bounty and Beenie, who are very enthusiastic about showing us what it takes to be a legend and survive for so long in this business. I think that Chronixx is a huge international star, and he's reggae, dancehall Jamaican making big moves, and he's on top of the game. Koffee, who has just been added, she's 19 and a phenom everybody wants to see. The facts are what they are, and Dancehall Night is going to be special. So, get there early cause it's going to sell off."

Speaking of early, Bogdanovich urged artistes to be on time for their sets, as he is hoping to meet a 6 a.m. lock-off time. He pointed out that he will be trying to adhere to international standards for the show, which would mean that artistes who miss their performance slots might not get to perform and/or could risk not being paid the balance of their appearance fee.

Tomorrow's show will see the likes of Spice, Dovey Magnum, Shauna Controlla, Govana, Dexta Daps, Squash, Chronic Law and Jahvillani joining Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Chronixx and Koffee to share the stage for this year's edition of Festival Night One, formerly known as Dancehall Night.