Kimiela ‘Candy’ Isaacs’ is first visually impaired winner of Jamaica Festival Song Competition

Kimiela ‘Candy’ Isaacs made history over the weekend when her song #OneJamaica clinched the top spot in the Jamaica Festival Song Competition.

The announcement was made on Saturday at the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium at Jamaica College in Kingston. Isaacs was selected through a combination of votes from a panel of judges and public voting.

Out of the 10 finalists, Isaacs, who is visually impaired, was one of six women to reach the final round of this year’s competition, the most in the contest’s nearly 60-year history. She is the first visually impaired artist to win the competition.

Born blind, Isaacs is no stranger to making history. In 2012, she became the first visually impaired student in Jamaica to earn a music degree – a bachelor’s in jazz and popular music studies from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

The teacher and entertainer has a notable history with Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) competitions, having secured second place in the Jamaica Gospel Song Competition in 2009 and being a finalist in the Jamaica Festival Song Competition in 2021.