Marlin Awards 2004 Set For July 25th

Nassau-Harris Communications, producers of the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards have announced the dates for the 2004 Marlin Awards as well as this year's Oasis Music Conference. Both the Marlin Awards and the Oasis Music Conference will be held during the 2004 International Caribbean Gospel Music Week (ICGMA) scheduled to be held July 20-25th, in Nassau, Bahamas.

The ICGMA week will be held at the Wyhdham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino. The five-day event is once again expected to attract a wide cross section of recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers, retailers, journalists and other industry professionals from around the world.

The Oasis Music Conference will commence on Tuesday, July 20th and will feature industry seminars and workshops during the day sessions while the evening sessions are expected to focus more on the spiritual and ministry aspect of an artist's calling. The conference, which is designed to "Minister to the Ministers of Music", is expected to close on Friday, July 23rd. A complete itinerary including speakers, workshop topics and times will be announced.

The seventh Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards will be held on Sunday, July 25th in the Rain Forest Theatre at the Wyhdham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino. Many of the top Caribbean gospel artists from throughout the region, US, Canada and the UK are expected to participate during this special televised event.

The producers are expressing delight in the number of submissions that have been received thus far, including several artists and countries participating for the first time. There are over fifteen nations participating in this year's Marlin Awards. The countries that have submitted albums for nomination considerations Include Africa, Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Dominica, England, France, Jamaica, St. Thomas USVI, St. Croix USVI, Tonga (South Pacific), Tortola BVI, Trinidad, Turks and Caicos and the USA.

Seven industry professionals have been selected to serve as official judges for this year's awards. The judges include radio personality Arnold Kelly, considered one of the top gospel radio announcers in Jamaica. Representing London, England will be James Freeman aka DJ El Nino, a music producer, radio personality; promoter and co-founder of the media marketing firm United By One. Representing the US Virgin Islands will be past Marlin Award nominee Harella Goodwin who will serve for the second time. Harella is considered one of the premier gospel artists in the region and is also a radio personality and in demand speaker.

Representing the Bahamas will be recording artist, producer and recording engineer, Michael "Selector" Davis. Considered one of Trinidad & Tobago's top radio personalities, Jamie Thomas is once again serving as a judge. Jamie is also an in demand photographer, promoter and fashion designer.

Representing the United States will be radio personality Stacy Rose; host of the internationally renowned radio broadcast "Island Praise", which is a production of the Transworld Radio subsidiary Caribbean Gospel Network (CGN). Our final judge is Ronnie Clarke who is representing Barbados. Ronnie is considered one of the most popular radio personalities in Barbados and he is also a successful recording artist. Complete biographies of each judge will be available on the marlinawards.com website in the near future.

For the first time a major outdoor music extravaganza called "Marlin Fest" will be staged to allow artists-especially bands-an opportunity to have more ministry/performance time. The outdoor event will be held Friday, July 23rd on the beach on the grounds of the Rock and Roll Café next to the Wyhdham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino. Artists interested in performing during Marlin Fest should contact Harris Communications as soon as possible to indicate their interest and to receive relevant information. The event will also be taped for television broadcast.

If any artist or industry professional is interested in attending this year's conference, festival and awards please contact Sonia Brown, Administrative Assistant at Harris Communications at 242-325-1615, fax at 242-325-1616 or email her at marlinawards@coralwave.com.

Space is limited for the conference workshops, so we encourage interested persons to register as soon as possible by responding to this email or by faxing or calling. A complete registration form will be available online shortly at marlinawards.com.

Please note that all dates and events are subject to change and a notification email will be sent at such time.