Odette, The Presets Among 2019 Vanda & Young Competition Finalists

The shortlist for the 2019 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition has been revealed today, with tracks from the likes of Ruel, Odette, The Presets, The Veronicas, CXLOE and Kaiit among the top 40 names announced.

This year’s competition saw 3,683 entires from 48 countries, and this year’s Top 40 includes 23 first-time entrants, with up-and-comers Françoistunes, NYNE and Hayley Mengel among the artists Vanda & Young have tipped as ones to watch.

Four winners will be announced this July, with cash prizes of up to $50,000 up for grabs, with judging to take place from songwriter Lior, Isabella Manfredi of The Preatures (a former first-place winner herself), Dave Ruby Howe from triple j Unearthed and producer Franc Tétaz. Former prize-winners have included singer-songwriter Amy Shark for ‘Adore’ last year, along with Gretta Ray (2016) and Megan Washington (2009).

Through the competition, songwriters have helped raise $184,150 for music therapy organisation Nordoff-Robins Music Therapy Australia. The competition’s $50 entry fee goes towards funding the organisation’s programs, which work with children and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities, autism, trauma, illness, dementia, behaviour disorders and learning difficulties.

“It means the world to our organisation and the children and adults we work with daily to have the support of over 3,600 songwriters from around the globe, whose competition entry fees go directly to providing much needed resources for a range of therapies and programs” commented Belinda Leonard, CEO of NRMTA.

“A heartfelt thank you to Alberts and APRA AMCOS for championing this initiative for the past decade and thank you to songwriting legends Harry Vanda and George Young who continue to inspire.”

Check out the full shortlist below. You can listen to a playlist of all the finalist songs on Spotify or Apple Music.

 

PERFORMER SONG WRITERS
 Aron Blom  Low Low Low  Jake Mason, Aron Blom, Hjalmar

Wilenvand Felix Gothesson
 Bri Clark  Don’t Love Me  Bri Clark, Finlay Dow-Smith and

Isabella Kearney-Nurse
 Bri Clark  What If I Break

Your Heart
 Bri Clark and Adam Spark
 Clare Bowditch  Woman  Clare Bowditch
 CXLOE  Show You  Chloe Papandrea, Sam Farrar

and Max Farrar
 David Taylor  Battered  David Taylor and Peter Holz
 Dean Lewis  Be Alright  Dean Lewis and Jon Hume
 Emma Louise  Wish You Well  Emma Lobb
 Far East Movement

feat. Jason Zhang and

Kina Grannis
 Bamboo  James Roh, Kevin Nishimura,

Virman Coquia, Huang Shao

Feng, Zeng Yu, Max Farrar and

Colton Avery
 Françoistunes  Seasons  Frederick Mutswagiwa and

Andrew Wortes
 Hayley Mengel  Sober  Hayley Mengel
 HOLY HOLY  Teach Me About

Dying
 Timothy Carroll, Ryan Strathie

and Oscar Dawson
 I Know Leopard  Everything Goes

With You
 Luke O’Loughlin, Todd Andrews,

Rosemary Fitzgerald and Jenny

McCullagh
 Jarryd James  Slow Motion  Jarryd James and Joel Little
 Jess & Matt  Virginia  Phillip Barton, Jessica Dunbar

and Matt Price
 Kaiit  Miss Shiney  Kaiit Waup, Michael Lee Chan,

Mohamed Komba, Vincent

Goodyer and Nicholas Martin
 Little May  As Loving Should  Gareth Farr and Elizabeth

Drummond
 Manu Crooks feat.

Anfa Rose
 Fuego  Emmanuel Adu Amankwah,

Antonio Zito, Ossama Zaki,

Wilson Batista and Jose Batista

Oliveira D’
 Matt Corby  Miracle Love  Dann Hume and Matt Corby
 Max Frost  Money Problems  Taka Perry, Clea Pratt and Max

Frost
 Morgan Evans  Dance With Me  Morgan Evans and Christopher

De Stefano
 Ngaiire  Shiver  Ngaiire, Jack Britten and Will

Cuming
 No Mono  Violence Broken  Thomas Iansek and Thomas

Snowdon
 NYNE  I Think You’re  Shannon Elliman and Sione Sisifa
 Odette  A Place That I

Don’t Know
 Georgia Odette Sallybanks
 Odette  Take It To The

Heart
 Georgia Odette Sallybanks and

Jason Cox
 Ruel  Dazed &

Confused
 Ruel, Peter James Harding, Mark

Landon and Sean Douglas
 Ruel  Younger  Ruel, Mark Landon, Peter James

Harding, Sarah Aarons, Larry

Griffin and Javohn Griffin
 Sahara Beck  Here We Go

Again
 Sahara Beck and Antony Buchen
 Sammi Constantine  Ropes  Samantha Constantine, Aaron

Lee North and Matthew Connelly
 Stella Donnelly  Tricks  Stella Donnelly
 The Presets  Downtown

Shutdown
 Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes
 The Presets  Martini  Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes
 The Maes  Driving Ali

Through Mining

Towns
 Elsie Rigby
 The Veronicas  Think of Me  Jessica Origliasso, Lisa Origliasso,

Roberto De Sa and Isabella

Kearney-Nurse
 Timothy James Bowen  Sing  Timothy James Bowen
 VASSY  Concrete Heart  Vicky Karagiorgos, Philip Bentley,

Daniel Muckala, Daniel Boselovic

and Nicholas Ditri
 Wafia  I’m Good  Wafia Al-Rikabi, Roget Chahayed,

John Hill and Stephen Samuel
 Winterbourne  Better  James Draper and Jordan Brady
 Zedd, Maren Morris &

Grey
 The Middle  Sarah Aarons, Stefan Johnson,

Marcus Lomax, Jordan Johnson,

Anton Zaslavski, Kyle Trewartha

and Michael Trewartha
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