Australian songwriters win big in International Songwriting Competition

The International Songwriting Competition has announced its 2006 winners. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes will be shared among the 56 winners, including an overall Grand Prize of $25,000 (US) cash - the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition in the world. ISC received almost 15,000 songs by amateur and professional songwriters from 88 countries in the 2006 competition.

Australian songwriters also did extremely well in this year's competition, winning First Place in the Country category, Second Place in the Dance/Electronica and Performance categories, Third Place in Gospel/Christian and Rock categories, and several Honorable Mentions in multiple categories.

"Tailwind," by Harmony James of Tennant Creek, NT, has been awarded First Place in the Country category. Judges included such high-profile artists as Rosanne Cash, Craig Morgan, and Mark Chesnutt. Not only is James the first Australian ever to win top honors for the Country category, but her song beat out many extremely respected Nashville songwriters. James wrote the autobiographical song last year, not long after graduating from the Australian College Of Country Music. Her winning song is also her first single on her newly-released debut EP Harmony.

"Pictures," by Connie Mitchell and Angus McDonald (Sneaky Sound System) of Bondi Beach, NSW, won Second Place in the Dance/Electronica category. The Sneaky Sound System trio has had an extremely busy six months. After touring with both Robbie Williams and The Scissor Sisters, their winning ISC track "Pictures" spent an incredible 15 weeks at #1 on the Australian Dance Charts. The song also charted in the ARIA Top 20, and their win in ISC strengthens their global appeal as one of the worlds leading dance acts.

Sunshine Coast, QLD, residents Mishelle Bradford Jones, Phil Barton, and Jamie Sullivan are awarded Second Place in the Performance category for their collaboration on the song "Racket." After being discovered at age 21 by the Ausmusic scholarship board at University, Australian songbird Mishelle Bradford Jones' folk/pop album Firefly was released in 2003. Now as an independent artist and songwriter, Mishelle is widely known for her emotive image-driven lyric style. Phil Barton has had several Australian Record Industry Award (ARIA) nominations for his work and an APRA song nomination in 2000 for Best Children's Song.

Third Place honors are claimed by Roma Waterman in the Gospel/Christian category for her song "Wings Of Love;" and by Phil Usher, Scott Mullane, and Sean Bower (of the band Grand Atlantic) for their song "Coolite" in the Rock category. Usher, Mullane, and Bower also earned an Honorable Mention in the Performance category for their song "Wonderful Tragedy."

In addition to these winners, several Australian songwriters garnered an Honorable Mention in their respective categories:

"For Everything Else I Got You" - Mark Lucas (Leichhardt, NSW) - Americana

"Love Someone" - Lou Bradley (Brunswick Heads, NSW) - Americana

"Silver Dollar" - Colin Germano (Bourbon Street) (Drummoyne, NSW) - Blues

"Ed The Emu" - Kirk Simpson (Jimboomba, QLD) - Children's Music

"Falling In the Sea" - Michael Paynter/Sven Tydeman/Michael Szmouski (Melbourne, VIC) - Folk/Singer-Songwriter

"Tears Of The Oppressed" - Dave Hanbury/Tyler Hall/Rich Thompson/Mike Tenkate (Revive) (Sydney, NSW) - Gospel/Christian

"The Boisterous Border Collie" - Pete Hawkes (Melbourne, VIC) - Instrumental

"Almost Crazy" - Virna Sanzone/Lindsay Page (Sydney, NSW) - Jazz

"El Ciego" - Carlos Naranjo (Carlito's Orchestra) (St. Peters, NSW) - Latin

"Mad Mad Love" - Lisa Richards (Townsville, QLD) - Performance

"Wonderful Tragedy" - Phil Usher/Scott Mullane/Sean Bower (Grand Atlantic) (Wavell Heights, QLD) - Performance

"I Want You" - Mick Anderson/Patrick Ricapito/Huw Griffiths/Dave Simon/Laurent Salgine(Kid Courageous) (Bonnet Bay, NSW) - Pop/Top 40

"Something Crazy" - Nathan Ironside (The Stirring) (Sunshine Coast, QLD) - Rock

Many other countries across the world are also represented with ISC wins. The 2006 Grand Prize is awarded to Scott Leger of Austin, TX, USA for his song "Maybe Tonight, Maybe Tomorrow." In addition to its lyrical content, the song's memorable chorus and strong pop sensibility resonated with the ISC judges, culminating in it being awarded this year's prestigious Grand Prize. Upon learning of a friend's cancer diagnosis, Leger wrote the song both as a personal coping mechanism and as a tribute to honor survivors across the world.

For a complete list of all ISC winners, please go to www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm

ISC is now accepting entries for 2007. The ISC Overall Grand Prize for 2007 includes a $25,000 cash prize, the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition.

For more information and entry forms, please visit www.songwritingcompetition.com

This is a Press Release

:
Views: 948

Back 11.04.2007