16 June 2015: The world's songwriters won't have to wait until next year's Eurovision song contest to produce/write a song that hits the right note.
To give a voice to the world's best original song, the University of Canberra will launch its international UC-Vision Song Contest TODAY, offering musicians the chance to win $10,000 AUD for their tune.
Individuals or groups from anywhere in the world and all genres are invited to write, perform and submit a video of their original song that is within a four-minute duration.
Songs will be judged on musical quality, appeal and originality by a prestigious judging panel including Tom Busby of Busby Marou. They will not consider the quality of production of the music and video.
All songs submitted to the contest will also be open to the public for voting through the contest's website and the most popular entry will be awarded a $1,000 People's Choice Prize.
UC Music program director and organiser of the competition, Rasa Daukus, said this is a competition designed to showcase/celebrate the power of a good song.
"This may be the first time an Australian university has run a worldwide song contest, and it shows the University is serious about music. It's not just a gimmick, we really want to uncover and celebrate what makes a great song, particularly in regard to popular music.
"A lot of talent competitions these days are about the artist and their voice – we want to take this contest one step further and make it all about the song," Ms Daukus said.
"There are a lot of hidden songwriters out there and we hope to uncover some of those exciting talents."
Entry is open to anyone in the world with the exception of the judges themselves and University of Canberra staff.
The entry period will be from today 16 June to 15 September. Voting for the People's Choice award will commence on 15 September. Winners will be announced on 30 October 2015.
To learn more about the UC-Vision Song Contest, visit: www.canberra.edu.au/uc-vision-song-contest.
- Ms Daukus is available for interview.
Contact the University of Canberra media team:
Claudia Doman: 0408 826 362
Amanda Jones: 0409 140 415