The Story
The UK Songwriting Contest is one of the world's longest running songwriting events and it is widely regarded as the most prestigious international songwriting competition. It launched in London in 2002 in association with important music industry bodies and companies including The BRIT Trust, The BRIT School, The BRIT Studio, Music Aid International, the Guild of International Songwriters and Composers and Roland UK among others. From the beginning it received support from BBC Radio with many entries receiving airplay. Since its launch over 100,000 songs have taken part in this prestigious event and over £3,000,000 worth of prizes has been awarded. The contest is firmly established as a favourite annual event with beginner songwriters and also with very experienced songwriters from around the world, and it has an unrivalled and highly respected reputation in the international music industry.
The UK Songwriting Contest was formed with support from the BRIT Trust to promote the craft of songwriting and to encourage and discover new songwriters and it is well known in the music industry as a launching pad for new talent. The entry fee has not been raised since the launch year in 2002 to keep entry affordable and to remain true to the event's original aims and mission. Many past contestants have been signed by publishers, producers and record companies - including signings by top names such as Simon Cowell (see below). Many entrants have received extensive radio play for their entries, TV appearances and press coverage and have gone on to successfully write for major artists, events and TV shows.
The UK Songwriting Contest was formed with support from the BRIT Trust to promote the craft of songwriting and to encourage and discover new songwriters and it is well known in the music industry as a launching pad for new talent. The entry fee has not been raised since the launch year in 2002 to keep entry affordable and to remain true to the event's original aims and mission. Many past contestants have been signed by publishers, producers and record companies - including signings by top names such as Simon Cowell (see below). Many entrants have received extensive radio play for their entries, TV appearances and press coverage and have gone on to successfully write for major artists, events and TV shows.
Year by Year
2022
This year is special as The UKSC celebrates its 21st Anniversary. Return soon for more updates .
2021
In 2021 Emmy Award winning songwriter Michèle Vice-Maslin joined the UKSC judgding panels. Michèle is a very successful number one hit songwriter, a producer, arranger and a music publisher and she is a valuable expert addition to the judging process. In the same year UKSC judge Rachel Walker-Mason was honoured with a British Citizen Award for contributions to the arts, adding to her impressive list of achievements and honours. And producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc) cellebrated his tenth year as a UKSC judge. There were many outstanding songs and songwriters in 2021: The Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester joined in and was involved as an entrant, singing Johnny Schaefer´s category winning song "You Can´t Hide The Light". The two of them received extensive media coverage and industry interest. Malta´s Got Talent singing sensation and Golden Buzzer winner Emma Cutajar submitted a song in the Teen Category and was joint winner with a young songwriter from Australian, Jolie Waterhouse. Hollywood Star Wars actress and singer-songwriter Bonnie Piesse joined the UKSC as a judge and Katie Kittermaster, a judge since 2019, had a great year with a major international deal signing, a sellout London headline concert, and many TV appearances. Still in London, the London all-girl alternative rock band The Kut generated a lot of media interest by winning both the Rock and the Music Video categories with their song Animo. And as usual there were BBC Radio plays, many press articles featuring winners and playlisting of UKSC songs on major platforms like Music Aid FM.
TIME LINE FROM START TO PRESENT...
2002 - THE LAUNCH YEAR
The UKSC was launched in 2002 by producers and industry figures in London in association with The BRIT Trust, The BRIT School and The BRIT Studio. Roland Music UK were major sponsors offering prizes of home recording equipment. Winning artists were given recording time at The BRIT Studio and featured on an industry promotional CD release. The media, especially the BBC, took a great interest in the event with many finalists and winners receiving press and BBC Radio coverage. 2002 Winners Andy Littlewood and Toni Leo recorded at the BRIT Studio as part of their prize and were featured as the cover story of Songwriting and Composing Magazine. They were also signed to a publishing deal with UK Music Ltd as part of the prize and Andy began writing material for recording artists such as Vogue, Eye Spy, Darren Styles, Seduction, Sun'dra, Jaqueline Blouin, Element and Indigo Blue with songs released through Warner, Universal, BMG, Ministry Of Sound, Edel, Gut Records, Nukleuz and Baroque. Andy's songs have also featured in various films and TV shows, credits include 'The Number One Girl' (starring Vinnie Jones), 'Medium' (American TV series), Telejournal' (CBC, Canada), 'Edit 5' (ITV1) and produced tracks for Nintendo Wii and PlayStation.
The Miscellaneous Category Winning song this year, Sempre Vicino by Jill Siemans from Canada, was recorded and released by the well known classical crossover group The Canadian Tenors; Jazz category finalist Christina Georgiou, from Cyprus, was invited to perform her finalist song live on Greek National TV; and finalist Electra Cliffton Smith, from Scotland, was invited to visit the USA to perform her song entry "Crawl" at the New York Festival at Madison Square Garden where she won an Outstanding Achievement Award. Although the UKSC is a British event it quickly became international and this continues to the present day with many international entries from over 80 countries every year.
Get the full 2002 results here...
2003
In its second year staff and students at The BRIT School again acted as judges and The BRIT Studio again offered their studios for recording winners. Roland UK sponsored and awarded Boss Digital Recording Studios as prizes. Sibelius came on board as sponsors and gave software prizes to winners. All winners and selected finalists were featured on an album release and all ten category winners signed publishing deals for their entries. The powerful anti Iraq War song entry - Not In My Name by Tom McCreery - attracted much media interest both in his native Scotland and internationally. It was play listed daily on national Austrian radio (Radio FRO) and it also received extensive national radio airplay and news coverage on a number of UK radio stations. There was also press coverage of this song entry in the USA and the UK press including the front page and main feature story in "Music News" Magazine and a feature article in Scotland's biggest national daily newspaper "The Daily Record". A number of other finalists from this year also received extensive radio airplay on BBC Radio stations and the pop song entry Ten Thousand Miles Away by John Geel was radio playlisted nationally in his native Holland when the results were announced. Michael Ward, who won the Miscellaneous Category with his classical crossover piece "Rimpianto", was interviewed by the BBC and was featured in many newspapers about his win. He was personally contacted by Marcello Giordani, the international tenor from Sicily asking if he could record the song, and Jeffrey Cresswell (one of the Three British Tenors) asked permission to include the song in future concerts. After the UKSC results were announced Italian tenor Dominic Natoli performed this winning song live on BBC Radio 2's popular "Friday Night is Music Night" programme and it was later recorded by the UK tenor Jon Christos.
Get the full 2003 results here...
2004
Contest winner Natalie Chua was signed by Simon Cowell. After winning the Miscellaneous Category and being awarded the UKSC Sibelius Prize for her song Guardian Angels Natalie received a lot of media attention including a full page feature in The Stage newspaper and BBC TV and Radio interviews which brought her to the attention of many top names in the UK music industry. She was signed by Simon Cowell and became part of his classical crossover band Angelis. The band sold over 500,000 albums in two months, were number one in the national charts, and Natalie was presented with a Platinum Disc on live national TV. Natalie says of her UKSC result: "I'm so proud of my UK Songwriting Contest win. Doing well in the contest gave me confidence in my writing. I would recommend it to anyone". Today Natalie is a member of the UKSC judging panels.
Other signings in 2004 included Darren Parry who won the pop category and received BBC radio play and much media attention with his song "Reality". Darren signed a publishing deal with The Panama Music Group of Companies. Another songwriter who was offered a deal as a direct result of entering the contest was Tamar Broadbent who released her first album this year after signing an exclusive recording contract with Rococo Music Limited.
Glenn Aitken, a talented songwriter who was discovered by mentored by Paul McCartney, was made a "featured songwriter" with McCartney's MPL Communications music publishing company after reaching the UK Songwriting Contest Rock/Indie Category finals in 2004 with his song "Underground". Glenn was again a UKSC finalist a few years later in 2010 with another song, "Overload", and you can see him performing this live at the BBC here.
In 2004 finalist Sally James contacted the BBC TV South East Today news programme about her finalist position and within days Sally was visited at home and interviewed on prime time television by Juliet Parkin. As an added bonus Sally's contest entry was played to millions of television viewers and earned royalties for the writer. This is a good example of why the UKSC advises all finalists and semi finalists to tell the media about their success in this contest. The UK Songwriting Contest's strong ties with the music industry and media often helps with press, radio and TV interest for finalists, semi finalist runners up and, of course, winners.
Get the full 2004 results here...
2005
There was more major international TV exposure this year involving the outstanding Folk Category winning song "Second Fiddle" by Australian songwriter Alison Hams. When the results were announced Alison was immediately invited to appear on Australian National Television on the popular "Good Morning Australia" show where she performed her winning song to millions of viewers across Australia. In the UK there was, as usual, extensive BBC radio play of entries and in Bristol three songwriters who reached either the finals or semi finals - Emma Hutchinson and Chris Townsend were all featured in the local press and the BBC also covered the story with radio play on BBC Radio Bristol and also covered the story on the BBC Website.
Get the full 2005 results here...
2006
There were some outstanding entries in 2006 including the winning song in the RnB category "I Need You That Way" from the blind songwriter and Soul 2 Soul lead singer Charlotte Kelly. Charlotte also had a runner up song in RnB and also two runner up songs in the Pop Category. Charlotte had her songs published by Simon Cowell but then famously turned him down when he offered to make a Reality TV show about her. The UKSC put Charlotte's songs before the Music Aid Awards Committee in 2006 and she won their Best UK Songwriter award from them for that year. The overall UK Songwriting Contest winning song this year was "Feel" by Nicola Philo from Norfolk, UK - described by the judges as "expertly crafted" it won both the Pop and Rock/Indie categories.
Get the full 2006 results here...
2007
Semi Finalist Colleen Clark, from Florida USA, was interviewed on TV and had her music featured on the Fox Television Network in the USA when she contacted them to tell them about her position in this UK contest. See the video at the UKSC YouTube Channel where you will see Colleen's UK Songwriting Contest Certificate on the wall as the camera zooms in for a close up. She says "The UK Songwriting Contest is a great tool to open doors for your music. The rewards are: "pinch me is this happening?" Thanks UKSC!" Fox TV in the USA have since featured other winners and finalists in the contest.
The Overall Winner in 2007 was a Lyrics Only entry - "Silver Linings" by Mark Wilson. This outstanding entry was described by the judges as a "heartfelt, gentle and emotional lyric dealing with a universal theme". The judges were impressed by the song's construction and its "vivid, sincere and tender imagery". The writer received Sibelius music software (The Sibelius Prize) and a UKSC Gold Disc Award in addition to the usual UKSC winners' prize package.
Get the full 2007 results here...
2008
In 2008 UK singer/songwriter Belle Humble won the Pop Category with her song "Try". Belle has since gone on to achieve great success as a songwriter for other artists. She co-write the well know Paloma Faith track "Upside Down" and also co-wrote the Alexandra Burke single "Let It Go". Since her success in the contest she has also written songs for TV shows, ad campaigns and films including Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’. Other releases include the massive Freestylers hit ‘Cracks’ that includes mixes by international producers Flux Pavilion and Ctrl Z which topped the Dubstep and Breaks charts globally. As a performer she now has over 16 million YouTube views.
Get the full 2008 results here...
2009
Semi finalist, Danni Rosner from Washington DC, was featured on TV in the USA within days of the 2009 results being published. She was invited to appear on The Morning Show on Fox 5 News where she performed her songs live and talked about her position in this UK event. Visit Danni's website at DanniRosner.com to learn more about her and to see the televised performance. You can also watch it on YouTube.
An outstanding entry this year, and a favourite with the judges, was the Pop category winner "What Would It Be Like" by Mary Hall. As the judges predicted this song generated much interest in the industry and Mary soon signed a publishing deal for the track with Leopard Music Publishers. She has also become a presenter of The Mer And Mikki Show on WA12Radio with fellow songwriter Michaela Jay and they often feature UKSC entrants on the show. She says: "I think it is amazing that the UKSC has brought together such talented songwriters from all over the world, as none of this would have happened without it and I cannot ever thank you enough for that! Thank you so much. I have much respect for the UKSC team".
Get the full 2009 results here...
2010
One of the many outstanding songs from this year was the winning the Pop Category track "I've Already Won", by US songwriter Debra Gussin, which was featured in the NBC Prime Time TV Drama "The Event" after the results were published. Two important new judges joined the UK Songwriting Contest judging panels this year - the producer and musical director Richard Niles and BRIT Award winning songwriter and producer Simon Ellis. Richard Niles' list of credits includes Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Michael McDonald, Take That, Mariah Carey, Cher, James Brown, Pat Metheny, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Cliff Richard and many more. Richard personally contacted every category winner in 2010 to give them advice on their songwriting and careers. Simon Ellis' list of credits is equally impressive and he is well known in the music industry for his work as the Musical Director for Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, Belinda Carlisle, East 17, D:Ream and Jamelia. He has also written and produced songs for many other artists including John Farnham, Randy Crawford, Emma Bunton, Steps, Hearsay, D Side, Javine, Maria Lawson, S Club 7. He is the winner of a BRIT Award for Best Song, has won ITV Record of the Year, and has been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.
Singer-songwriter Glenn Aitken (who was signed by Paul McCartney) reached the finals of 2010 UK Songwriting Contest with the song "Overload". Glenn was invited to perform this song live on Joanne Good's BBC London Live show in February 2011 - watch the video here.
Another outstanding entry this year was the Rock Category winner "Good Thing" by 10 year old dZ (Daniella Salone) from Canada. Not just a songwriter, but also a very talented performer and musician, dZ also sang and played all the instruments on her demo recording entry. Many people in the music industry are keeping a close eye on this talented young singer-songwriter. See the impressive video of 10 year old dZ performing her entry in the studio (and singing and playing all the guitar, drums and bass parts herself) on YouTube.
Achieving a Finalist and Runner Up position in the UK Songwriting Contest was the start of a new career for Korean songwriter and performer Younee. After her success in the contest she moved to London to work and co write with UKSC judge Richard Niles and she made an impact in the London music scene with many BBC radio appearances and a series of live gigs. This led to a tour of the USA and Europe and success in her home country. Younee told us that "When I read the success stories and news about songwriters on the UKSC website I thought that this is not my story and it would never happen to me. But now I am here in London and I still can't believe this...but it's true. The UKSC gave me the start and the motivation I needed and I really appreciate it so much. I am so happy to be working in the best studios with top producers and great musicians - all thanks to the UKSC." Visit Younee's MySpace to hear her track "Home To You" - co-written with UKSC judge Richard Niles - which reached top 20 in the US Independent Radio Charts and received a Music Aid Award.
Get the full 2010 results here...
2011
Top UK producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc) joined the judging panels this year. He was so impressed with the pop winner "What Love Is" by Ken Brown, that he decided to work with the songwriter to produce a stunning new remix of this winning track. Another new judge to join the panels this year was the CMA Award winning country singer/songwriter Lucie Diamond who was described by the UK's biggest selling newspaper, The Sun, as "The UK's number one country music export".
X Factor Finalist Daniel Evans took part in the UKSC this year and reached the UKSC Semi Finals with two of his own compositions "Who's To Say" and "You Can't Hold Me". Acoustic Winner, Bloody Good Xmas by Jamie Hawkins, gained a cult following when the results were announced. The track was re-recorded and released in the UK as a Christmas Single reaching #2 in the Amazon Best Selling Download Charts. Rock Category Winner, Danger Deep Water by Jason Flinter, was chosen to open and launch LABEL EXPO, the prestigious International Awards Show in Brussels and Jason was also asked to write the music for the International Expo Awards Shows in Capetown, Mexico and Chicago - "All thanks to the UKSC!" says Jason. Well known TV Presenter and ex-BBC weather girl Serena Alexander was "over the moon" to hear she was picked as a finalist in 2011 with the title track of her debut EP ‘Numb’. She says “I’m thrilled to have achieved this level of recognition only a year after the release of the EP. I hope this will give me the kudos I need to get my songs known across the UK and beyond!”
Semi Finalists Chloe and Izzy Pinder were featured live on prime time national BBC Television performing their entry Hide and Seek and were also interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol and featured on the BBC iPlayer talking about their success in the contest. The Olympic Theme winner "When You Ride A Dream" was covered by several artists under the direction of the well known award winning Nashville producer Mel Shaw (Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and also a Juno Award winning multiple Gold Album producer). The track was released for worldwide promotion during the 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES.
Get the full 2011 results here...
2012
There were some outstanding songs in 2012 ranging from the very memorable and quirky traditional style folk song Dr James by UK folk artist, violinist and songwriter Katriona Gilmore, to the very infectious elecronic / dance club track Walk Of Shame by Canadian songwriter Frazer Mac. The Rock winner was a song by the US band Parias Day and the writer Nate Porter was contacted and advised by the renowned Hollywood producer and UKSC judge Richard Niles who was impressed with this entry from the USA. The KSC 2011 Olympic Theme winner "When You Ride A Dream" was released for worldwide promotion during the 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES this year, produced by Juno Award winning producer Mel Shaw (Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a multiple Gold Album producer). Mel noticed the song through the UKSC and was so impressed that he produced several versions by different artists for release during the Games. Acoustic Finalist song "Down To Earth" by Kate Diaz from Chicago was spotted in the contest and picked up by Music Aid International who featured it on Music Aid TV and made it one of their featured songs for 2013.
The winner of the singer songwriter category, Emma Fitzsimons, caught many people's attention and she was noticed and mentored by Sting's producer and UKSC contest judge Kipper Eldridge. Emma, from Dublin, Ireland, also won a professional recording and production package at the MOA studios in England and in 2013 the UKSC also arranged for Emma to have a professional music video shoot and production with MOA director Carmen Falkenburg. She has also since received offers from a number of labels and she also came to the attention of Perez Hilton and Calvin Harris who both tweeted about her. Emma's YouTube videos are now approaching one million (1,000,000) views. Emma won a professional music video shoot and production plus a music studio production with world class musicians as part of her contest prizes. Another favourite song with the judges this year was "Together" by Maggie Harrison in the Love Songs Category. This outstandingly beautiful, tender and sincere (but, unfortunately, very poorly recorded) song proves once again that a professional recording is not needed for success in this contest. A great song will always be noticed by the judges no matter how it is recorded.
Two new judges joined the judging panels in 2012 - award winning producer and composer Marc "Kipper" Eldridge and songwriter and singer Natalie Chua. Kipper Eldridge is one of the world's top producers with both a Grammy and an Emmy Award and he is well known and respected in the music industry as Sting's producer. Kipper is also an accomplished Hollywood film score writer and producer. The Gold and Platinum albums he has produced have sold over 15 million copies. Another new member to join the judging panels in 2012 was Natalie Chua. Natalie knows the contest very well as she is the UK Songwriting Contest winner (Open Category) who was signed by Simon Cowell. She went on to be awarded a Platinum Album for her work and over 500,000 sales with Cowell's band Angelis.
Get the full 2012 results here...
2013
Highlights of the 2013 event included some exceptional song entries from young Jaron Natoli from Melbourne Australia. Within days of the contest results announcement Jaron was seen by millions on prime time TV in Australia when he was featured on the hugely popular Today Tonight TV Show. Jaron talked about his music and played a new composition and the network also sent a camera crew to the UK home of contest judge and producer Stuart Epps (well know for his work with Elton John, Oasis and many more) to interview him about Jaron's music. Jaron's father Chris told the UKSC after the show: "Thanks heaps UKSC. Thanks to your competition Jaron's going to get the recognition he deserves".
Other outstanding entries this year included the Christmas Song My Favourite Time Of Year by UK songwriter Leigh Haggerwood (featured on BBC Television over the Christmas period), a classic 12 bar Blues entry Something's Wrong by Billy D, and the beautiful song entry Ariella, entered by Star Wars actress turned Hollywood singer songwriter Bonnie Piesse. There was extensive international media coverage of the contest this year from India to the USA.
New prizes this year included personal one on one mentoring with number one hit songwriter Mark Cawley. Mark has written for and worked with The Spice Girls, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Wynonna Judd, Kathy Mattea, Russ Taff, Paul Carrack, Will Downing and Tom Scott and he wrote Billie Piper's number one UK hit Day And Night. Mark will join the UKSC judging panels in 2014 to help select future winners. Everyone who entered this year received a gift package worth $100 (around £80) to thank them for taking part. Overall over £300,000 worth of prizes was awarded.
Get the full 2013 results here...
2014
This year saw the introduction of a video UKSC Awards Show featuring all the winning songs and presented by UKSC contest judges and some past winners. Presenters included the following contest judges: the well known producer Stuart Epps, the hit songwriter Mark Cawley, composer Jamie Serafi and CMA award winning Singer Songwriter Lucie Diamond. Past winners who appeared in the show to present awards were Lyrics Only winner Susan Muranty and the Hollywood Star Wars actress Bonnie Piesse. The overall winning song this year was Never Gonna Get Me Back by Alysha Brilla. Alysha received a lot of media coverage for her win after the results were announced and she was soon after nominated for a Juno Award in her native Canada. She is now busy co-writing with the UK #1 hit songwriter and contest judge Mark Cawley as part of her UKSC prize package.
Other outstanding songs this year were the Country winner Playing In The Ruins by Joe Wrabeck, the Lyrics Only entry Impossible Things by Mick Evans (which later had music added via a UKSC judge), Music Video winner Punch Me In The Heart by Natasha Duarte, and AC winner Apart by Neil Fitzpatrick which was released as a charity single raising tens of thousands of pounds in the UK. The UKSC Christmas Songs winner My Favourite Time Of Year by Leigh Haggerwood was again used as the theme music to ITV Television's "Text Santa" shows over the 2014 Christmas period.
Get the full 2014 results here...
RETURN SOON FOR UPDATES FROM 2015 TO 2022
Read More: The Judges : About the UKSC : Contests Results By Year
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This year is special as The UKSC celebrates its 21st Anniversary. Return soon for more updates .
2021
In 2021 Emmy Award winning songwriter Michèle Vice-Maslin joined the UKSC judgding panels. Michèle is a very successful number one hit songwriter, a producer, arranger and a music publisher and she is a valuable expert addition to the judging process. In the same year UKSC judge Rachel Walker-Mason was honoured with a British Citizen Award for contributions to the arts, adding to her impressive list of achievements and honours. And producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc) cellebrated his tenth year as a UKSC judge. There were many outstanding songs and songwriters in 2021: The Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester joined in and was involved as an entrant, singing Johnny Schaefer´s category winning song "You Can´t Hide The Light". The two of them received extensive media coverage and industry interest. Malta´s Got Talent singing sensation and Golden Buzzer winner Emma Cutajar submitted a song in the Teen Category and was joint winner with a young songwriter from Australian, Jolie Waterhouse. Hollywood Star Wars actress and singer-songwriter Bonnie Piesse joined the UKSC as a judge and Katie Kittermaster, a judge since 2019, had a great year with a major international deal signing, a sellout London headline concert, and many TV appearances. Still in London, the London all-girl alternative rock band The Kut generated a lot of media interest by winning both the Rock and the Music Video categories with their song Animo. And as usual there were BBC Radio plays, many press articles featuring winners and playlisting of UKSC songs on major platforms like Music Aid FM.
TIME LINE FROM START TO PRESENT...
2002 - THE LAUNCH YEAR
The UKSC was launched in 2002 by producers and industry figures in London in association with The BRIT Trust, The BRIT School and The BRIT Studio. Roland Music UK were major sponsors offering prizes of home recording equipment. Winning artists were given recording time at The BRIT Studio and featured on an industry promotional CD release. The media, especially the BBC, took a great interest in the event with many finalists and winners receiving press and BBC Radio coverage. 2002 Winners Andy Littlewood and Toni Leo recorded at the BRIT Studio as part of their prize and were featured as the cover story of Songwriting and Composing Magazine. They were also signed to a publishing deal with UK Music Ltd as part of the prize and Andy began writing material for recording artists such as Vogue, Eye Spy, Darren Styles, Seduction, Sun'dra, Jaqueline Blouin, Element and Indigo Blue with songs released through Warner, Universal, BMG, Ministry Of Sound, Edel, Gut Records, Nukleuz and Baroque. Andy's songs have also featured in various films and TV shows, credits include 'The Number One Girl' (starring Vinnie Jones), 'Medium' (American TV series), Telejournal' (CBC, Canada), 'Edit 5' (ITV1) and produced tracks for Nintendo Wii and PlayStation.
The Miscellaneous Category Winning song this year, Sempre Vicino by Jill Siemans from Canada, was recorded and released by the well known classical crossover group The Canadian Tenors; Jazz category finalist Christina Georgiou, from Cyprus, was invited to perform her finalist song live on Greek National TV; and finalist Electra Cliffton Smith, from Scotland, was invited to visit the USA to perform her song entry "Crawl" at the New York Festival at Madison Square Garden where she won an Outstanding Achievement Award. Although the UKSC is a British event it quickly became international and this continues to the present day with many international entries from over 80 countries every year.
Get the full 2002 results here...
2003
In its second year staff and students at The BRIT School again acted as judges and The BRIT Studio again offered their studios for recording winners. Roland UK sponsored and awarded Boss Digital Recording Studios as prizes. Sibelius came on board as sponsors and gave software prizes to winners. All winners and selected finalists were featured on an album release and all ten category winners signed publishing deals for their entries. The powerful anti Iraq War song entry - Not In My Name by Tom McCreery - attracted much media interest both in his native Scotland and internationally. It was play listed daily on national Austrian radio (Radio FRO) and it also received extensive national radio airplay and news coverage on a number of UK radio stations. There was also press coverage of this song entry in the USA and the UK press including the front page and main feature story in "Music News" Magazine and a feature article in Scotland's biggest national daily newspaper "The Daily Record". A number of other finalists from this year also received extensive radio airplay on BBC Radio stations and the pop song entry Ten Thousand Miles Away by John Geel was radio playlisted nationally in his native Holland when the results were announced. Michael Ward, who won the Miscellaneous Category with his classical crossover piece "Rimpianto", was interviewed by the BBC and was featured in many newspapers about his win. He was personally contacted by Marcello Giordani, the international tenor from Sicily asking if he could record the song, and Jeffrey Cresswell (one of the Three British Tenors) asked permission to include the song in future concerts. After the UKSC results were announced Italian tenor Dominic Natoli performed this winning song live on BBC Radio 2's popular "Friday Night is Music Night" programme and it was later recorded by the UK tenor Jon Christos.
Get the full 2003 results here...
2004
Contest winner Natalie Chua was signed by Simon Cowell. After winning the Miscellaneous Category and being awarded the UKSC Sibelius Prize for her song Guardian Angels Natalie received a lot of media attention including a full page feature in The Stage newspaper and BBC TV and Radio interviews which brought her to the attention of many top names in the UK music industry. She was signed by Simon Cowell and became part of his classical crossover band Angelis. The band sold over 500,000 albums in two months, were number one in the national charts, and Natalie was presented with a Platinum Disc on live national TV. Natalie says of her UKSC result: "I'm so proud of my UK Songwriting Contest win. Doing well in the contest gave me confidence in my writing. I would recommend it to anyone". Today Natalie is a member of the UKSC judging panels.
Other signings in 2004 included Darren Parry who won the pop category and received BBC radio play and much media attention with his song "Reality". Darren signed a publishing deal with The Panama Music Group of Companies. Another songwriter who was offered a deal as a direct result of entering the contest was Tamar Broadbent who released her first album this year after signing an exclusive recording contract with Rococo Music Limited.
Glenn Aitken, a talented songwriter who was discovered by mentored by Paul McCartney, was made a "featured songwriter" with McCartney's MPL Communications music publishing company after reaching the UK Songwriting Contest Rock/Indie Category finals in 2004 with his song "Underground". Glenn was again a UKSC finalist a few years later in 2010 with another song, "Overload", and you can see him performing this live at the BBC here.
In 2004 finalist Sally James contacted the BBC TV South East Today news programme about her finalist position and within days Sally was visited at home and interviewed on prime time television by Juliet Parkin. As an added bonus Sally's contest entry was played to millions of television viewers and earned royalties for the writer. This is a good example of why the UKSC advises all finalists and semi finalists to tell the media about their success in this contest. The UK Songwriting Contest's strong ties with the music industry and media often helps with press, radio and TV interest for finalists, semi finalist runners up and, of course, winners.
Get the full 2004 results here...
2005
There was more major international TV exposure this year involving the outstanding Folk Category winning song "Second Fiddle" by Australian songwriter Alison Hams. When the results were announced Alison was immediately invited to appear on Australian National Television on the popular "Good Morning Australia" show where she performed her winning song to millions of viewers across Australia. In the UK there was, as usual, extensive BBC radio play of entries and in Bristol three songwriters who reached either the finals or semi finals - Emma Hutchinson and Chris Townsend were all featured in the local press and the BBC also covered the story with radio play on BBC Radio Bristol and also covered the story on the BBC Website.
Get the full 2005 results here...
2006
There were some outstanding entries in 2006 including the winning song in the RnB category "I Need You That Way" from the blind songwriter and Soul 2 Soul lead singer Charlotte Kelly. Charlotte also had a runner up song in RnB and also two runner up songs in the Pop Category. Charlotte had her songs published by Simon Cowell but then famously turned him down when he offered to make a Reality TV show about her. The UKSC put Charlotte's songs before the Music Aid Awards Committee in 2006 and she won their Best UK Songwriter award from them for that year. The overall UK Songwriting Contest winning song this year was "Feel" by Nicola Philo from Norfolk, UK - described by the judges as "expertly crafted" it won both the Pop and Rock/Indie categories.
Get the full 2006 results here...
2007
Semi Finalist Colleen Clark, from Florida USA, was interviewed on TV and had her music featured on the Fox Television Network in the USA when she contacted them to tell them about her position in this UK contest. See the video at the UKSC YouTube Channel where you will see Colleen's UK Songwriting Contest Certificate on the wall as the camera zooms in for a close up. She says "The UK Songwriting Contest is a great tool to open doors for your music. The rewards are: "pinch me is this happening?" Thanks UKSC!" Fox TV in the USA have since featured other winners and finalists in the contest.
The Overall Winner in 2007 was a Lyrics Only entry - "Silver Linings" by Mark Wilson. This outstanding entry was described by the judges as a "heartfelt, gentle and emotional lyric dealing with a universal theme". The judges were impressed by the song's construction and its "vivid, sincere and tender imagery". The writer received Sibelius music software (The Sibelius Prize) and a UKSC Gold Disc Award in addition to the usual UKSC winners' prize package.
Get the full 2007 results here...
2008
In 2008 UK singer/songwriter Belle Humble won the Pop Category with her song "Try". Belle has since gone on to achieve great success as a songwriter for other artists. She co-write the well know Paloma Faith track "Upside Down" and also co-wrote the Alexandra Burke single "Let It Go". Since her success in the contest she has also written songs for TV shows, ad campaigns and films including Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’. Other releases include the massive Freestylers hit ‘Cracks’ that includes mixes by international producers Flux Pavilion and Ctrl Z which topped the Dubstep and Breaks charts globally. As a performer she now has over 16 million YouTube views.
Get the full 2008 results here...
2009
Semi finalist, Danni Rosner from Washington DC, was featured on TV in the USA within days of the 2009 results being published. She was invited to appear on The Morning Show on Fox 5 News where she performed her songs live and talked about her position in this UK event. Visit Danni's website at DanniRosner.com to learn more about her and to see the televised performance. You can also watch it on YouTube.
An outstanding entry this year, and a favourite with the judges, was the Pop category winner "What Would It Be Like" by Mary Hall. As the judges predicted this song generated much interest in the industry and Mary soon signed a publishing deal for the track with Leopard Music Publishers. She has also become a presenter of The Mer And Mikki Show on WA12Radio with fellow songwriter Michaela Jay and they often feature UKSC entrants on the show. She says: "I think it is amazing that the UKSC has brought together such talented songwriters from all over the world, as none of this would have happened without it and I cannot ever thank you enough for that! Thank you so much. I have much respect for the UKSC team".
Get the full 2009 results here...
2010
One of the many outstanding songs from this year was the winning the Pop Category track "I've Already Won", by US songwriter Debra Gussin, which was featured in the NBC Prime Time TV Drama "The Event" after the results were published. Two important new judges joined the UK Songwriting Contest judging panels this year - the producer and musical director Richard Niles and BRIT Award winning songwriter and producer Simon Ellis. Richard Niles' list of credits includes Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Michael McDonald, Take That, Mariah Carey, Cher, James Brown, Pat Metheny, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Cliff Richard and many more. Richard personally contacted every category winner in 2010 to give them advice on their songwriting and careers. Simon Ellis' list of credits is equally impressive and he is well known in the music industry for his work as the Musical Director for Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, Belinda Carlisle, East 17, D:Ream and Jamelia. He has also written and produced songs for many other artists including John Farnham, Randy Crawford, Emma Bunton, Steps, Hearsay, D Side, Javine, Maria Lawson, S Club 7. He is the winner of a BRIT Award for Best Song, has won ITV Record of the Year, and has been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.
Singer-songwriter Glenn Aitken (who was signed by Paul McCartney) reached the finals of 2010 UK Songwriting Contest with the song "Overload". Glenn was invited to perform this song live on Joanne Good's BBC London Live show in February 2011 - watch the video here.
Another outstanding entry this year was the Rock Category winner "Good Thing" by 10 year old dZ (Daniella Salone) from Canada. Not just a songwriter, but also a very talented performer and musician, dZ also sang and played all the instruments on her demo recording entry. Many people in the music industry are keeping a close eye on this talented young singer-songwriter. See the impressive video of 10 year old dZ performing her entry in the studio (and singing and playing all the guitar, drums and bass parts herself) on YouTube.
Achieving a Finalist and Runner Up position in the UK Songwriting Contest was the start of a new career for Korean songwriter and performer Younee. After her success in the contest she moved to London to work and co write with UKSC judge Richard Niles and she made an impact in the London music scene with many BBC radio appearances and a series of live gigs. This led to a tour of the USA and Europe and success in her home country. Younee told us that "When I read the success stories and news about songwriters on the UKSC website I thought that this is not my story and it would never happen to me. But now I am here in London and I still can't believe this...but it's true. The UKSC gave me the start and the motivation I needed and I really appreciate it so much. I am so happy to be working in the best studios with top producers and great musicians - all thanks to the UKSC." Visit Younee's MySpace to hear her track "Home To You" - co-written with UKSC judge Richard Niles - which reached top 20 in the US Independent Radio Charts and received a Music Aid Award.
Get the full 2010 results here...
2011
Top UK producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc) joined the judging panels this year. He was so impressed with the pop winner "What Love Is" by Ken Brown, that he decided to work with the songwriter to produce a stunning new remix of this winning track. Another new judge to join the panels this year was the CMA Award winning country singer/songwriter Lucie Diamond who was described by the UK's biggest selling newspaper, The Sun, as "The UK's number one country music export".
X Factor Finalist Daniel Evans took part in the UKSC this year and reached the UKSC Semi Finals with two of his own compositions "Who's To Say" and "You Can't Hold Me". Acoustic Winner, Bloody Good Xmas by Jamie Hawkins, gained a cult following when the results were announced. The track was re-recorded and released in the UK as a Christmas Single reaching #2 in the Amazon Best Selling Download Charts. Rock Category Winner, Danger Deep Water by Jason Flinter, was chosen to open and launch LABEL EXPO, the prestigious International Awards Show in Brussels and Jason was also asked to write the music for the International Expo Awards Shows in Capetown, Mexico and Chicago - "All thanks to the UKSC!" says Jason. Well known TV Presenter and ex-BBC weather girl Serena Alexander was "over the moon" to hear she was picked as a finalist in 2011 with the title track of her debut EP ‘Numb’. She says “I’m thrilled to have achieved this level of recognition only a year after the release of the EP. I hope this will give me the kudos I need to get my songs known across the UK and beyond!”
Semi Finalists Chloe and Izzy Pinder were featured live on prime time national BBC Television performing their entry Hide and Seek and were also interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol and featured on the BBC iPlayer talking about their success in the contest. The Olympic Theme winner "When You Ride A Dream" was covered by several artists under the direction of the well known award winning Nashville producer Mel Shaw (Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and also a Juno Award winning multiple Gold Album producer). The track was released for worldwide promotion during the 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES.
Get the full 2011 results here...
2012
There were some outstanding songs in 2012 ranging from the very memorable and quirky traditional style folk song Dr James by UK folk artist, violinist and songwriter Katriona Gilmore, to the very infectious elecronic / dance club track Walk Of Shame by Canadian songwriter Frazer Mac. The Rock winner was a song by the US band Parias Day and the writer Nate Porter was contacted and advised by the renowned Hollywood producer and UKSC judge Richard Niles who was impressed with this entry from the USA. The KSC 2011 Olympic Theme winner "When You Ride A Dream" was released for worldwide promotion during the 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES this year, produced by Juno Award winning producer Mel Shaw (Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a multiple Gold Album producer). Mel noticed the song through the UKSC and was so impressed that he produced several versions by different artists for release during the Games. Acoustic Finalist song "Down To Earth" by Kate Diaz from Chicago was spotted in the contest and picked up by Music Aid International who featured it on Music Aid TV and made it one of their featured songs for 2013.
The winner of the singer songwriter category, Emma Fitzsimons, caught many people's attention and she was noticed and mentored by Sting's producer and UKSC contest judge Kipper Eldridge. Emma, from Dublin, Ireland, also won a professional recording and production package at the MOA studios in England and in 2013 the UKSC also arranged for Emma to have a professional music video shoot and production with MOA director Carmen Falkenburg. She has also since received offers from a number of labels and she also came to the attention of Perez Hilton and Calvin Harris who both tweeted about her. Emma's YouTube videos are now approaching one million (1,000,000) views. Emma won a professional music video shoot and production plus a music studio production with world class musicians as part of her contest prizes. Another favourite song with the judges this year was "Together" by Maggie Harrison in the Love Songs Category. This outstandingly beautiful, tender and sincere (but, unfortunately, very poorly recorded) song proves once again that a professional recording is not needed for success in this contest. A great song will always be noticed by the judges no matter how it is recorded.
Two new judges joined the judging panels in 2012 - award winning producer and composer Marc "Kipper" Eldridge and songwriter and singer Natalie Chua. Kipper Eldridge is one of the world's top producers with both a Grammy and an Emmy Award and he is well known and respected in the music industry as Sting's producer. Kipper is also an accomplished Hollywood film score writer and producer. The Gold and Platinum albums he has produced have sold over 15 million copies. Another new member to join the judging panels in 2012 was Natalie Chua. Natalie knows the contest very well as she is the UK Songwriting Contest winner (Open Category) who was signed by Simon Cowell. She went on to be awarded a Platinum Album for her work and over 500,000 sales with Cowell's band Angelis.
Get the full 2012 results here...
2013
Highlights of the 2013 event included some exceptional song entries from young Jaron Natoli from Melbourne Australia. Within days of the contest results announcement Jaron was seen by millions on prime time TV in Australia when he was featured on the hugely popular Today Tonight TV Show. Jaron talked about his music and played a new composition and the network also sent a camera crew to the UK home of contest judge and producer Stuart Epps (well know for his work with Elton John, Oasis and many more) to interview him about Jaron's music. Jaron's father Chris told the UKSC after the show: "Thanks heaps UKSC. Thanks to your competition Jaron's going to get the recognition he deserves".
Other outstanding entries this year included the Christmas Song My Favourite Time Of Year by UK songwriter Leigh Haggerwood (featured on BBC Television over the Christmas period), a classic 12 bar Blues entry Something's Wrong by Billy D, and the beautiful song entry Ariella, entered by Star Wars actress turned Hollywood singer songwriter Bonnie Piesse. There was extensive international media coverage of the contest this year from India to the USA.
New prizes this year included personal one on one mentoring with number one hit songwriter Mark Cawley. Mark has written for and worked with The Spice Girls, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Wynonna Judd, Kathy Mattea, Russ Taff, Paul Carrack, Will Downing and Tom Scott and he wrote Billie Piper's number one UK hit Day And Night. Mark will join the UKSC judging panels in 2014 to help select future winners. Everyone who entered this year received a gift package worth $100 (around £80) to thank them for taking part. Overall over £300,000 worth of prizes was awarded.
Get the full 2013 results here...
2014
This year saw the introduction of a video UKSC Awards Show featuring all the winning songs and presented by UKSC contest judges and some past winners. Presenters included the following contest judges: the well known producer Stuart Epps, the hit songwriter Mark Cawley, composer Jamie Serafi and CMA award winning Singer Songwriter Lucie Diamond. Past winners who appeared in the show to present awards were Lyrics Only winner Susan Muranty and the Hollywood Star Wars actress Bonnie Piesse. The overall winning song this year was Never Gonna Get Me Back by Alysha Brilla. Alysha received a lot of media coverage for her win after the results were announced and she was soon after nominated for a Juno Award in her native Canada. She is now busy co-writing with the UK #1 hit songwriter and contest judge Mark Cawley as part of her UKSC prize package.
Other outstanding songs this year were the Country winner Playing In The Ruins by Joe Wrabeck, the Lyrics Only entry Impossible Things by Mick Evans (which later had music added via a UKSC judge), Music Video winner Punch Me In The Heart by Natasha Duarte, and AC winner Apart by Neil Fitzpatrick which was released as a charity single raising tens of thousands of pounds in the UK. The UKSC Christmas Songs winner My Favourite Time Of Year by Leigh Haggerwood was again used as the theme music to ITV Television's "Text Santa" shows over the 2014 Christmas period.
Get the full 2014 results here...
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