.Wyclef Jean and Jay-Z WESTERN BUREAU:
THE DIRECTORS of Summerfest Productions, promoters of Reggae Sumfest, have signed the Haitian-born music sensation, Wyclef Jean, for this year's summer music festival and are now "finalising" details with hip-hop artiste Jay-Z to perform on the show.
This was disclosed over the weekend by director Robert Russell in an interview with The Gleaner.
He also said the festival would run between July 30 and August 6 this year at its base, Catherine Hall Centre, Montego Bay.
Jean is the genius behind the group Fugees (Refugee camp) that comprised the mega-Grammy Award winning Lauren Hill and Praz, who has also had some success as solo career.
Fugees released two albums, 'Blunted' and 'The Score', the latter which sold millions and catapulted the group into the main stream hip-hop music.
Jean, who performed at last year's Sachi show at James Bond Beach, in Oracabessa, St. Mary, is enjoying lots of air play currently with the hit Maria Maria from another multi-Grammy winning album, Supernatural, by Santana.
Jay-Z has had huge success with his hot singles Hard Knocks Life and Jigga, while his latest Big Pimping is also creating waves.
In addition to the international performers, Russell said "all the major Jamaican acts, including Beenie Man and Bounty Killer" should be appearing on Reggae Sumfest.
He also disclosed that this year's programme would include one dancehall night. He said one of the criticisms about having two dancehall nights last year, was that such a move 'fragmented' the fans as not all of them could afford to attend both nights. And he said the dates would see the final show being held on Sunday night instead of the usual Saturday night. The directors thought that with Independence Day, August 7, being a public holiday, patrons would be expecting entertainment on Sunday.
Russell also told The Gleaner that the budget for this year's show had been increased to $35 million, up from $28 million last year
