The prestigious US-based International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has announced its 2013 winners and many Australian artists are among them. Out of nearly 20,000 entries from 120 countries, and 68 winners in total, Australia scored three First Place wins, six Second Place wins, four Third Place wins, and an amazing 32 Honorable Mentions!
This year’s Grand Prize was awarded to jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger Shunzo Ohno for his song “Musashi.” This is the first time in ISC’s 13-year history that the Grand Prize has been awarded to either a songwriter in the Jazz category or an artist from Japan.
Australian prize winners include Missy Higgins and Butterfly Boucher, who achieved second place in the AAA category for their song “Set Me On Fire”. Third place in the same category went to Alice Springs based artist Dave Crowe (Resin Moon).
In the Adult Contemporary category, Darwin’s Worldfly came in second. Melbourne’s Jamie Saxe (The Mighty bUZZniks) picked up third in the Children’s Music category. Taking out first place in the Country category was Adam Eckersley, Jason Reeves, and Danelle Joy Leverett for their tune “Give Her The World”. Melbourne music identity Charles Jenkins finished second in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter division and taking out first prize in the Lyrics category was Sydney’s Tony King (Beautifully Mad).
In the Music Video section Kimbra (NZ) took out first place with Clubfeet coming in second and Bertie Blackman third. Sophie Hanlon won second place in the Performance section while Kimbra took that one out too.
Australian artists took out first, second and third places in the rock division. The Preatures were winners with “This Is How You Feel”, while Apes, who hail from Bacchus Marsh came in next, followed by Calling All Cars.
Established in 2002, ISC awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and professional songwriters around the world. Past ISC winners include Gotye, Bastille, The Band Perry, Passenger, Kasey Chambers, Kate Miller-Heidke, Gin Wigmore, Andrew Bird, The Living End, Eskimo Joe, and many more.