HITS & JAMS ENTERTAINMENT

JamZone Summer Break…
A Guyanese tradition comes of age
WHEN Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson first met over a decade ago, little did these two
enterprising young men realize that what they were about to embark on was a project so big it would be regarded today as undoubtedly the hottest summer event this side of the Atlantic.
The event we’re talking about is, of course, the annual JamZone Summer Break programme of activities, now in its 10th successive year, which culminates without fail at the Splashmin’s Fun Park and Resort with a beachside party and the hosting of the Miss JamZone Pageant.
The former hosts of two of the hottest radio programmes in the country, namely ‘Hitsville’ and ‘Jamzone’ on the 98.1 Hot FM radio station, Rawle and Kerwin would set the ball rolling by combining the first part of their shows names to create the brand, ‘Hits and Jams’.
Falling under this brand, the first Jamzone event was held in 2000 and rapidly developed to be the most anticipated event of the year. One of the most eagerly awaited aspects of the event, the Miss JamZone Pageant, recently went international and featured alongside our own  Guyanese beauty, Nikita Archer, seven other girls from all across the Caribbean — an event that created quite a buzz among the Guyanese public.

Quote: ‘It is really our intention to get Guyana to that level [entertainment-wise] as the rest of the Caribbean and the rest of the world, and we will keep trying and trying until we get there’ – Kerwin Bollers

Genesis

Many would be interested in finding out what the concept for JamZone was at its inception. So, these two still very young and vibrant entrepreneurs took time out from their hectic schedule and sat down for a chat with the Guyana Chronicle to answer this and other questions.
Kerwin, who is jovially described by his business partner as the official spokesperson of the team, was the first to speak about the concept of Jamzone. He said that Hits and Jams wanted to create a beach atmosphere.  “I remember seeing spring break one of the years — MTV spring break — and it looked like a wonderful idea which basically carries the same concept where you have live performances, fashion display and so forth,” he said.
So, with the seed of this idea in mind, the young man started to seek out ways in which to make it a reality. He recalled speaking to Troy Mendonza of Banks DIH Limited. Mendonza, he recalls, was rather supportive of the idea saying that it was something that the company would definitely like to partner in.  But standards needed to be set, and set early in the game.  “It wasn’t to be about women,” Kerwin says, “because at the time there was a lot of ‘creek boogey’ and creek this and that with this swimsuit and this kinda stuff. So we thought that we would do it with some kind of standard, so it shouldn’t just be about women parading in swimsuits. At that time, you used to find a lot of ‘wet t-shirt’ competitions as well; we didn’t want to go down that line. So we thought: Why not have a Miss Jamzone and have the girls do something different from the traditional pageants, which primarily showcase gowns at the National Cultural Centre? Lets do something more beach-friendly.”
Indeed, this uniqueness could be seen in certain aspects of this year’s international pageant, where the delegates showcased national costumes from their respective countries, giving attendees a glimpse into the culture and history of each delegate’s motherland.
That year, armed with their concept, Kerwin and Rawle decided to go ahead with the JamZone theme. Kerwin later sought out then Tourism Minister, Mr. Manzoor Nadir who showed a lot of interest in JamZone, because it went along well with what the Ministry was supporting, which was eco-tourism and so on, and together they decided that it was an opportunity that was well worth working on together.
The first JamZone, which was  hosted on a Saturday, was rather successful with a turnout of a little less than 2,000 people. However, concerns were expressed later at the show being hosted on a Saturday, which was thought to be a bad day, with people still completing shopping and other chores. So, after consultation with executives of the Splashmin’s Fun Park and Resort, where the show has been held from its inception to now, there was a decision that it would be held on a Sunday from then on.

Going international

Now that we know how JamZone got started, it’s time to look at the driving force behind its success, as the event seems to be growing from strength to strength every year.  According to Kerwin, the accent is on Hits and Jams in general and not just JamZone, because the aim of the outfit is to give Guyanese the level of entertainment they would experience in other places. He spoke of many instances where Guyanese fly to other countries just to witness an artiste live in concert, or just to attend an event.
He strongly suggests that organisers in Guyana try their best to give local patrons that kind of experience, as this is the driving force behind Hits and Jams’ productions. “It is really our intention to get Guyana to that level [entertainment-wise] as the rest of the Caribbean and the rest of the world, and we will keep trying and trying until we get there.”
Rawle supports this argument, saying that Jamzone should be the summer event of not just Guyana, but the Caribbean as well, and should provide local artistes with a forum through which they can showcase their skills.
And since there are a fair amount of Guyanese living around the Caribbean, Rawle feels that this is another opportunity for them to express their patriotism and to be proud of Guyana. “Patriotism,” he said, “is something that everybody can get involved in: It brings out the best in our women; it helps to garner their stature; and there will be a whole big representation of Guyanese women.”
This brought to the fore the burning question of why the JamZone pageant went international. According to Kerwin, the idea was a collective one, as the JamZone team is always thinking about what they could do. He said that even as we spoke, next year’s event was already being planned. “What can we do to better what we’re doing?” he asks. To answer the question, he recalled the committee observing a few years ago that there were too many pageants in Guyana, and deciding that they needed to do something different in terms of prizes. That ‘something different’ turned to be giving away a car as the coveted first prize.
Kerwin said that while persons may not see the benefits of the pageant now, they hopefully will in about five years’ time. He said that Jamzone is viewed as a tourism-based event where there is the hope that similar to cases when Guyanese would jump on a plane to go to Barbados for ‘Crop Over’ or jump on a plane to Trinidad for Carnival or Labour Day in New York, JamZone must be one of those events around which persons plan their vacation so as to visit Guyana in August.
To press home the point, he noted that many times Guyanese and Caribbean people sit before their televisions to watch a Miss Universe pageant to see our delegate, and in most cases, all they ever see of her is in the early stages when she introduces herself saying: “Hi, I am Miss Guyana.”
Such is the magnitude of the ‘Miss Universe’ pageant, he said, that people are glued to the television, people are selling ad
vertising space and capitalizing on that one minute just to see a glimpse of their delegate. And this, in a nutshell, is what the Hits and Jams team has in mind for ‘Miss JamZone’.
“People fly to whatever country is hosting Miss Universe just to support their delegate, so why not fly and come to Guyana for Miss JamZone?” Kerwin said, hence the necessity to make the pageant international. “If we want to bring tourists to Guyana, we have to do more. I’m not saying that ten local girls won’t bring tourists to Guyana, but ten Caribbean girls would take things much more global,” he said.

Quote: ‘As a DJ, you have to be very versatile: You have to know how to speak to people; you have to know how to dress’ – Rawle Ferguson

For instance, he said, many of the chaperones who accompanied the overseas delegates who participated in this year’s pageant were themselves reporters for various international media houses. “This is putting JamZone in new territory; we want to meet the stage where JamZone must be sold to the rest of the Caribbean and the rest of the world; where just as how we would buy into the franchise of Miss Universe, promoters around the Caribbean must buy into the franchise of Miss JamZone, so that we can have a ‘Miss JamZone Jamaica’, a ‘Miss JamZone Trinidad’, a ‘Miss JamZone Barbados’, a ‘Miss JamZone St. Lucia’ and so on.”
This idea has already taken off and four countries have since joined and will soon be hosting their own Miss JamZone pageants. This sums up Hits and Jams’ vision of the pageant where all the delegates, all the media and all the supporters will come to Guyana and Guyana will be showcased on this big stage.
Consequently, Kerwin said, foreigners will have to buy  television rights to see their delegates ‘represent’ in Guyana, since there is not a pageant like this anywhere in the Caribbean. If Miss Universe can do it in the Caribbean and the rest of the world, he said, so too can Hits and Jams. He foresees delegates from all over the Caribbean coming into Guyana with their contingents, and that, he said, “is the vision for JamZone.”

Positive feedback

But did JamZone’s going international have a positive feedback?  Kerwin is the first to admit that not all of the feedback from the pageant going international was positive. He said that lots of people raised a lot of questions about whether taking the pageant in that direction was the right thing to do, arguing that it is a Guyanese pageant.  But he counters that at the end of the day, the pageant still remains a Guyanese event because regardless of who comes from wherever, they come to Guyana, and we will benefit because we get to showcase what we have to the rest of the world.
Not deterred by negativity, he sought to remind that a lot of people didn’t share the vision of JamZone initially, but that it nevertheless caught on in few years, so he is confident that this new international format of the pageant’s will eventually catch on.
He says that there are many pageants around the Caribbean and it is a source of pride that the JamZone pageant is offering the biggest prize money so far. (Miss JamZone International won US$10,000 as part of her first prize.) He says the delegates were also impressed at the prizes offered, and that Hits and Jams provided everything for the delegates, including hotel stays and airfare.
Rawle notes that this big prize also made promoting the idea of an international pageant easier from a local standpoint, a pageant standpoint, a Diaspora standpoint and a corporate standpoint. The Jamzone pageant is the biggest pageant, he says, in terms of turnout, in terms of money and the credibility that Hits and Jams gives to the success of the pageant.
Referring to an earlier interview with this newspaper, Kerwin jocularly said that we would be back in another four years doing another interview, like how we did a couple years ago. He even predicted the questions, one of which will be: “Did you see the international pageant getting this big?”
Rawle said that JamZone this year was the fruit of a collaborative effort among corporate Guyana, the government, the Hits and Jams team, and patrons of the event. He attributes the success of the event partly to its wide crossover appeal. “I don’t think there is any other event where we get all races and everybody enjoys themselves as one,” he said, adding that even at  Mashramani time, there is some amount of segregation, as there are those who see it as “this thing or that thing,” but on the other hand, JamZone is a collective effort among all races; there is more participation, and  there are no complaints about anything.
Also, what makes Jamzone unique, Rawle said, is a full representation of all genres of music, including Chutney, Soca, R& B, Reggae. “We are very unique: We listen to all types of music and we have six races. We are very diverse,” he said. This, he notes, has great drawing power to any outsider who is curious.
Fans of the local Miss JamZone Pageant need not despair, as Hits and Jams is providing a way for everyone to be happy. One of the plans that will be in place for next year, and wasn’t followed through this year simply because of time constraints is a local Miss JamZone pageant. This way, a local representative to Miss JamZone International will be chosen in a pageant format instead of a selective process that was resorted to this year. A similar process will also be implemented in partnering countries after which  the main pageant will come to Guyana.
Planning a pageant of this nature is not easy and Kerwin reminded, and links are currently being formed with various pageant people from different territories by sending them information about JamZone.
For JamZone as an event, not just the pageant “The sky is the limit”, from next year, Hits and Jams wants to implement online streaming. This measure will facilitate people in the diaspora who can’t make it to the pageant. They will be able to log on to the internet and view Jamzone.

Looking to the future

What will they think of next? Packages will be available for Jamzone. Soon someone coming can buy a package for the event which includes airfare, hotel accommodation and some day tours so that during day when there is nothing going on visitors can visit some of our popular tourist destinations and local historical sites.
More concerts will also be added, and there are plans to implement two full weeks of activities – not just two weekends. Some of the concerts that the team plans to implement are: “A retro night”, which will target the more mature audience, a local night to showcase more of our local talent and a few religious nights in the mix, including a gospel night. To attract tourists he says that a very exciting schedule needs to be planned. “Every day something must be happening.”
Kerwin opined  that Hits and Jams has contributed to the music industry as a whole in Guyana, noting that HJTV (Channel 72)  is the first television station in the history of Guyana that is a 24-hour entertainment channel. A fact that does a lot of local musicians good he believes, as they are seeing what the rest of the world is doing. He pointed out that since the establishment of the station, there has been better music videos from our local musicians as well as more fashion and swagger.
He says that the station has also helped many up and coming artistes as an outlet to show their videos. He is also working alongside local artistes, including Jory and Timeka Marshall helping to develop their talent and market themselves professionally.
On this point Rawle  put in his two-cents, saying that  members of the Hits and Jams team are role models and whether you like i
t or not… trailblazers. “As a DJ you have to be very versatile he advises, you have to know how to speak to people, you have to know how to dress,” he says.
The studio which has joined arms with the Fusion Sound Company has also raised the standard for acoustics in local shows with their introduction of “line Ray” technology at shows.
Hits and Jams show their heart by getting involved in social issues as well. The television system is used as a HIV testing base when there is National testing day and lead by example to encourage young people to get tested. Whenever there is an event Kerwin said that HJTV plug the importance of safe sex, not driving under the influence and other social issues. The group also has plans to form a Leukemia foundation. Leukemia is a cause which is very important to Hits and Jams, as Rawle was personally touched by the disease losing his son a few years ago.

Word of advice

Kerwin says that being in the business that they do is not easy. He says that the person who wants to make it in this field needs to understand the market that you’re in, noting that Guyana is a unique market- a market that is very rumour driven and one of those places where you need to work ten times harder than any other territory.
But he says that you can get ahead once you stay focused, one just needs to be aware of these factors. He advises don’t get distracted or discouraged by rumours. “This is the type of work you chose and these are the things that come with it, you have to be able to weather the storm”. He reminded that it is unrealistic to expect things to always be bright and beautiful at all times. “There is a need for willpower. As a young person, it is difficult to get things open.” He recollected an embarrassing experience the team had some time ago, which many of our readers would remember; that of booking an international act and having the act cancel at the last minute.
“However, this terrible experience was taken in stride, and only serves to illustrate this further point that things will not always run smoothly. We have gone through so much and are still going through so much that it is will power which takes you to the  next round.”
Rawle’ advice is to just love what you do. “Even if you are tired, you must have that burning desire to do it all over again. You tend to be more creative when you love something,” he noted. “Don’t follow the crowd; follow your burning desire,” he said, adding that if something is done for money, interest in it will taper off. He expressed pride that the Hits and Jams team is  doing their country proud and officials are noticing the fruits of their labour.
One of the highlights of this years Jamzone event was the decision to bring American R&B singer, writer and producer Ne-Yo,  who created a tornado of excitement in the country, as thousands rushed to the National Stadium on the 21st August to witness him perform his chart topping hits such as  ‘Closer’ and ‘Miss Independent’. Even more exciting, one lucky fan was also afforded a chance to spend a day with the him by submitting an essay about why they wanted to spend the day with the artiste.
So how do they manage it?  Are there any major conflicts?  No, the Hits and Jams team has this all figured out, Kerwin said, describing the method they use to settle any differences as  simple and foolproof.  A fact not very much known is that there is a third member on the team, Rawles brother, Dwight. Any suggestions are followed through once there is a two-to-one vote and there is no disputing that. Personal feelings do come out but these are absolved at the end of the day.
“We all disagree in different areas but two to one is always a vote.” It’s hard, he admits, but believes that there is a very good relationship between all the members of the Hits and Jams team including the administrative department. They all agree on making decisions that are for the ultimate good of Hits and Jams.
The team is also involved in other ventures outside of Jamzone and HJTV. For example, do you remember the last time Guyana Chronicle caught up with this enterprising duo, they were planning to start up a bar? Well the bar is finished and well be opened at the end of the year.
Kerwin said that the theme of the bar is very sport like, and the design is “like never ever seen before in Guyana.” He says it will be very unique and will provide a nice relaxing atmosphere. “It will be a place where people can just go and ‘chill out’ and drink smoothies.” Admission will be free he promises that   everything will be affordable.
The Jamzone summer break event this year  featured over one week of  activities, which included a swimsuit segment, an intelligence segment and three super concerts which culminated in the grand Jamzone beach  pageant which culminated in the beach segment where  Jamaica’s delegate  21-year-old Lesa-Gayle Wee Tom carried of the crown and the US$10,000 cash prize.
(This article is an initiative of the Guyana Chronicle and GNNL Chairman, Mr. Keith Burrowes)

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