Eight Musicians Compete in National Song Competition Tonight

Tonight, eight of Belize’s best musicians will grace the stage as they participate in the 2023 National Song Competition, which will take the form of a concert. The event takes place at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts and begins at eight. Minister of Culture, Francis Fonseca says it’s an event that the Ministry of Education and Culture puts great priority on, particularly on the prize money that it contributed toward the event as a gesture of the value the ministry places on Belizean artists.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture

“I’ve had an opportunity to listen to the songs, the eight finalists. Yeah, I understand it was very difficult to get down to those final eight. So I’m looking forward to tonight. I invite Belizeans to come out tonight. I think it’s going to be a great show, and let’s see who wins.”

Reporter

“And how was the decision made this year to set aside $20,000? Like, I don’t think that’s ever happened and it’s huge.”

Francis Fonseca

“Yeah, because I think, you know, all of us at the National Celebrations Commission feel that we have to value our artists and we have to – you know, we can’t keep shortchanging our artists. They put a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of creativity into these efforts, creating these songs. We have to reward them. We have to reward them properly, so you know, it’s a good start and we felt, we all felt strongly that we should have a good prize for them this year.”