The much-awaited July 22 Revolution Anthem competition sanctioned by the Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, has finally been set for ruling, after months of vigorous vetting and screening of the entries.

This development came following the short listing by the panel of judges of 18 out of 174 contestants who initially entered the marathon competition. The entries of the 18 finalists have met the criteria of the proposed anthem, but the best among them will emerge winner of the competition when it is announced later.

The criteria used, according to officials, involved looking at the content of the anthem, which must capture the spirit and mood of the July 22 Revolution. In other words, the content of the entries should feature the ideals of empowerment, growth and development, patriotism, unity, the forward-looking Gambia, amongst a host of other developments since July 1994.

The 18 finalists were over the weekend featured live on The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) TV, where they presented their anthems in different ways, each of them reading their write-ups in words, before being backed by the Gambia Police Band, who provided the music.

In a move demonstrating the transparent nature of the competition as well as to gain the opinion of the general public on the entries, each of the finalists were provided with a voting number by the organising committee, thanks to the assistance of Africel, Comium and Gamcel. The idea is to enable the general public to contribute by voting what they think is best suitable for the July 22nd Revolutionary Anthem. As of Sunday, voting through mobile phone was in progress.

It could be recalled that President Jammeh had announced one million dalasis prize money for the winner of the completion. With all eyes on the outcome, the lucky winner will not only grab one million dalasis which will have the potential of changing their life, they also stand the chance of making a name for themselves by creating a revolutionary anthem that will go down in the history of this country.