May 1, 2009 - The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is pleased to announce its 2008 winners, including the winners in the Dance/Electronica category.
Renowned for its prestigious celebrity judges, ISC received over 15,500 songs from amateur and professional songwriters from 100 countries worldwide, confirming ISC's status as the leading global songwriting event. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes is shared among the 62 winners in 20 categories, including an overall Grand Prize of $25,000 (US) cash, the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition in the world, and over $20,000 in musical equipment and services. The 2008 Grand Prize is awarded to Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall of Brisbane, QLD, Australia for their song "Caught In The Crowd," a brilliantly quirky pop song with an emotional message about schoolyard bullying and peer pressure.
The Dance/Electronica category is always one of the most highly-anticipated and exciting genres in ISC and this year was judged, among others, by luminaries DJ Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, and Cory Robbins (President, Robbins Entertainment).
Candace Avery, Founder and Director of ISC, says, "As always, the entries in the Dance/Electronica category this year represented a wide array of styles and is a direct result of artists exploring all aspects of the genre. It is such a privilege to be able to hear so many amazing songs every year from so many talented songwriters."
Winning First Place in the Dance/Electronica category are Bill Halliday and Gareth Jones (The Cansecos) (Toronto, ON, Canada) for their song "Raised By Wolves. Toronto writing/production duo Bill Halliday (Billionaire) and Gareth Jones (Generous G), aka The Cansecos, have released two studio albums on Upper Class Recordings (EMI); a full-length bootleg version of their latest album Juices!, called Juiced! (the acapellas of the album songs mixed into a powerhouse disco classics mix); Showers - a disco mix that landed in Allmusic.com's Ten Favourite Mixes of 2008; and have remixed for The Russian Futurists, Sally Shapiro, Small Sins and Black Kids. They've shared stages with such an eclectic mix as The American Analog Set, Esthero, Lo-Fi-Fnk, and Hearts Revolution.
Jes Brieden (Jes), Josh Gabriel, and Dave Dresden (Gabriel & Dresden) (New York, NY, USA) are awarded Second Place for their song, "Imagination - Kaskade Remix." Trance-pop diva Jes is best known for her collaborations with DJ's such as D:fuse and Deepsky, producing tracks like "Living The Dream" and "Ghost" and many others. Ultimately this lead to the collaboration with Gabriel & Driesden to form Motorcycle, producing the Billboard #1 Dance Hit "As The Rush Comes". Her debut CD, "Disconnect" was released in 2008. JES was selected one of eight musical artists on the new aluminum contour bottle series for Coca Cola. Her co-writers, award-winning duo Gabriel & Dresden, have racked up a total of 17 Billboard #1's, picked up multiple International Dance Music Awards (IDMA's) in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and they were nominated for four IDMA's in 2008, including Best Producer, Best American DJ, Best Global DJ, and Best Dance Act. Most recently, they were chosen by tastemaker UK label, Toolroom, to compile and mix their next installment of their successful Toolroom Knights series.
Third Place honors are claimed by Nic Gorissen (Bignic)(Penetanguishene, ON, Canada) for his song "The End Of Something Big." Since beginning work on his fourth album The War on Peace, Bignic has received widespread acclaim for his diverse songwriting talents. In addition to having various work placed on several compilation albums, a computer game, and a television pilot, Bignic won the Best Electronic award at the 2007 Ontario Independent Music Awards for his track "Inexplicable."
In addition to these winners, 11 other Dance/Electronica songs garnered an Honorable Mention in the category:
"Alikitop" - Niko Westelinck (Niko) - Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium
"Another World" - Serge Novikov, Marina Cherniavskaja (Neoclubber) - Moscow, Russia
"Evolution" - Adrian Martinez (Bulleto) - Queretaro, Mexico
"Make Like Mine" - Brett Crockett, Heather Pierce, Paul Johnson (Karmacoda) - San Francisco, CA, USA
"Open Your Eyes" - Tom Watson (Transparent) - Adelaide, SA, Australia
"Slideshow" - Matt Kowalsky, Eva Broczek - Warszawa, Poland
"Strangerangel" - Eva Turnova - Prague, Czech Republic
"The Story" - Martin Koszolko (Koshowko) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia
"This Beast" - Yoko Kamitani (Yoko K.) - Washington DC, USA
"This Is A Test" - Robert Michael Romano (Shock Of Pleasure) - Dallas, TX, USA
"Tonight" - Mocci Ryen (Daisy Pusher) - Oslo, Norway
For a complete list of 2008 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm
Applauded for its high caliber of judges, ISC compiled a stellar panel of judges for the 2008 competition, including: Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20); Chaka Khan; Tom Waits; KT Tunstall; Robert Smith (The Cure); Ricky Martin; Loretta Lynn; Neil Finn (Crowded House); Buckcherry; T-Pain; James Cotton; Jerry Lee Lewis; Craig Morgan; Ray Davies (The Kinks); McCoy Tyner; Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Michael W. Smith; Chris Hillman (The Byrds); John Scofield; Mario; Black Francis (The Pixies); Youssou N'Dour; John Mayall; DJ Tiesto; Paul Van Dyk; Jon Secada; Natalie Grant; Jeremy Camp; Matt Thiessen (Relient K); Pittbull; Angelique Kidjo; "Weird Al" Yankovic; Sandra Bernhard; David Brenner; Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Nick Burgess (Head of A&R, Virgin Records UK); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP of A&R, Latin America Sony BMG and President, Discos 605); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); John Echevarria (President, Universal Music Latino); Rick Krim (Executive VP Talent and Programming, VH1); Amy Doyle (Sr. VP of Music and Talent, MTV); Kim Buie (VP of A&R, Lost Highway); Jon Pikus (Director of A&R, MySpace Records); Mitchell Cohen (VP of A&R, Verve Music Group); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Rene Bell (Executive VP A&R, Sony BMG Nashville); Peter Strickland (Senior VP, Jack Records/Warner Bros.); Steve Lillywhite (Producer - credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Morrissey, Peter Gabriel, and more); Douglas C. Cohn (Sr. VP, Music Marketing & Talent, Nickelodeon); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami); Paul Majors (CEO/Founder Majors Music); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music for Little People); and Dr. Demento (Radio Host of The Dr. Demento Show)
Sponsors included: Luna Guitars, Berklee College Of Music, Shure, D'Addario, M-Audio, Griffin Technology, Hear Technologies, Po Boy Drums, Thayers, Disc Makers, ASCAP, Phase One Studios, Stuph Merch, Sonicbids, Sam Ash, Alphabet Arm Design, Shari's Berries, Taxi, George Stein, Esq., The Music Business Registry, SongU.com,
Sibelius, and Onlinegigs.
ISC is now accepting entries for 2009. The 2009 competition will feature a new Adult Contemporary category, the return of the Music Video category, and many new judges. Go to www.songwritingcompetition.com for more information and an entry form.
