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Contact: Cie Hoover
International Songwriting Competition
615.251.4441
cie@songwritingcompetition.com
www.songwritingcompetition.com
UK Songwriters Shine In 2007 International Songwriting Competition
April 14, 2008 -- The prestigious US-based International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is pleased to announce its 2007 winners and the strong presence of UK songwriters in many categories. Songwriters hailing from the UK won First Place in the Americana, Jazz, and Lyrics Only categories, Second Place in the Pop/Top 40 category, Third Place in the Performance, Pop/Top 40, and Lyrics Only categories, and many Honorable Mentions in multiple categories.
Renowned for its prestigious celebrity judges, ISC received over 15,000 songs from amateur and professional songwriters from 100 countries worldwide, confirming ISC's status as the leading global songwriting event. In fact, for the first time in the competition's history, the majority of winners (59%) come from outside the USA. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes is shared among the 59 winners, including an overall Grand Prize of $25,000 (US) cash, the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition in the world, and $30,000 in merchandise and services.
For a complete list of 2007 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm
Candace Avery, Founder and Director of ISC, says "Over the years, ISC has always received many great entries from UK songwriters, but this year was especially significant because so many songs made it through to the finals and eventually became winners. The depth and diversity of the songs impressed the judges across the board. Let's hope this is a continuing trend for UK songwriters."
Winning First Place in the Americana category is Ben Kyle for his song "The National Side". This marks Kyle's fourth time as an International Songwriting Contest winner (First or Second Place each time). Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Kyle is the lead singer and songwriter in the critically acclaimed Americana band Romantica. His songs are increasingly garnering attention from both musicians and the music industry alike. PASTE Magazine called Romantica's latest project one of the "Best Albums of 2007" and compared Kyle's songwriting with the likes of Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams.
Jim Tomlinson and Kazuo Ishiguro from London, England, are awarded First Place in the Jazz category for their song "The Ice Hotel". Tomlinson has worked in a wide variety of groups, from Brian Ferry to the experimental big band composer, Michael Garrick. Most recently, he has toured worldwide exclusively with his wife, Blue Note recording artist Stacey Kent (who is the vocalist on the winning song). His latest CD, The Lyric (2005), won 'Album of the Year' at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. Most recently, he produced Stacey Kent's new Blue Note/EMI album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram for which he wrote four songs. Kazuo Ishiguro, who penned the lyrics for "The Ice Hotel", was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and has lived in Britain since 1960. He is the author of six novels, including The Remains of the Day (1989), which won the Booker Prize and was adapted into an award-winning film, and most recently, Never Let Me Go. His work has been translated into forty languages. He has also written screenplays, most recently The White Countess (2006), directed by James Ivory. He has received many awards and honors, including the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature, and has been made Chevalier de l'Ordres des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Bryan Tess from Kerry, Ireland, has been awarded First Place in the Lyrics Only category for "Before I Fade Away". Tess started writing lyrics a little over a year ago and considers himself to be a folk/country lyricist. His influences include Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Mark Everett, Prince, Bono, Sam Cooke, Robert Pollard more.
Winning Second Place in the Pop/Top 40 category are Rob Diament and Martin Glover "Youth" (Temposhark) of London, England, for their song "Blame".
Third Place honors are claimed by Belle Humble and Tim Gordine of London, England, for their song "Try" in the Pop/Top 40 category; and Peter Farrell of Glasgow, Scotland, who wrote "Miss You" for the Lyrics Only category.
In addition to these winners, many UK songwriters garnered an Honorable Mention in their respective categories:
"Fires" - David Latreille - London, England - AAA
"Novacaine Sweetheart" - James Henderson (Indigo Joe) - London, England - AAA
"Reachin' Out" - Laura McGhee / Phil Ferns - Glasgow, Scotland - AAA
"Papito" - Neil Cascarino / Colin Preston (DJ Mikaso) - Doncaster, England - Dance/Electronica
"Dedicate" - Ian Britt - Sheffield, England - Folk/Singer-songwriter
"Never Letting Go" - Will Knox - London, England - Folk/Singer-songwriter
"Chelima" - Seckou Keita - Nottingham, England - Instrumental
"Blow To The Head (Parts I and II)" - Abram Wilson (Abram Wilson & The Delta Blues Project) - London, England - Jazz
"Does God Only Hear Sober Prayers?" - Cormac O Caoimh - Cork, Ireland - Lyrics Only
"Softly Spoken Guy" - Gareth Bish - Ross on Wye, England - Lyrics Only
"The Boys Of The Blvd." - Wael Kabbani (The Iambic Dream Project) - London, England - Lyrics Only
"The Power Of A Song" - Jimmy Scott - London, England - Lyrics Only
The 2007 Grand Prize is awarded to Eduard Glumov (Aktobe, Kazakhstan) and Z. Mulls (Swarthmore, PA, USA) for their song "I'm Not Your Friend." The song, entered in the Rock category, was written by Glumov with lyrics provided by Z. Mulls of Swarthmore, PA, USA. This collaboration - from Kazakhstan to the USA - from one side of the globe to the other - perfectly reflects ISC's mission of creating a competition that is inclusive of songwriters worldwide. Glumov, a singer/songwriter, and Z. Mulls, a lyricist, met each other on MusesMuse.com, a songwriting resource website, and their musical collaboration produced the winning song.
Applauded for its high caliber of judges, ISC compiled a stellar panel of judges for the 2007 competition, including: Tom Waits; Loretta Lynn; Julian Casablancas (The Strokes); Nelly Furtado; Ray Davies (The Kinks); Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Ornette Coleman; Youssou N'Dour; Sean Paul; Jerry Lee Lewis; "Weird Al" Yankovic; Black Francis (Pixies); Robert Smith (The Cure); Cassandra Wilson; David Cross; Craig Morgan; John Mayall; Joe Satriani; Toby Mac; Michael W. Smith; Chris Hillman (The Byrds); John Scofield; Hinder; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Macy Gray; Peter Hook (New Order); Paulina Rubio; Tiesto; Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Steve Lillywhite (Producer - credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Peter Gabriel, and more); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami, pioneer of Latin radio); Angel Carrasco (President, 605 Discos and Sr. VP A&R, Sony BMG Latin America); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director, WOMAD); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Nancy Wolpert (VP Home Entertainment and Nick Records, Nickelodeon/BMG); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); and Paul Majors (CEO/Founder Majors Music).
2007 Sponsors include: Electro-Voice, ASCAP, Berklee College Of Music, Cakewalk, Shure, D'Addario, Thayers, Sam Ash, Hear Technologies, Disc Makers, Sonicbids, Musician's Atlas, Sibelius, Karian Studios, OnlineGigs, The Music Business Registry, Mediaguide, ArtistMonitor, Platinum Blue Music Intelligence, Alphabet Arm Design, George Stein, Esq., SongU, Shari's Berries, The Indie Venue Bible, and Taxi.
ISC is now accepting entries for 2008. The 2008 competition will include many new judges and a new Music Video category. Go to www.songwritingcompetition.com for more information and an entry form.
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