Manitoba Acts Up For International Songwriting Prize

Several Manitoba artists are finalists and semi-finalists in this year's prestigious International Songwriting Competition. Jaylene Johnson, Catskill, Amanda Stott, Joe Silva, PO-MO Project, The Dirty Denominators, Sierra Noble, Keith Macpherson, and Chris Burke-Gaffney all have projects up for honours in the annual contest which comes with a grand prize of $25,000 USD.

Singer/songwriter Jaylene Johnson co-wrote five songs that have landed in top spots, including three songs from her latest recording, Happiness. Three songs made it to the semi-finals while two are in the finals. "Give Me A Ring," co-written with Chris Burke-Gaffney and Nova Scotia duo The Keats, is in the finals for the Country category while "Falling Star" is a finalist in Pop/Top 40. "I Love You More," co-written with Sierra Noble, Keith and Renee's Keith Macpherson, and Chris Burke-Gaffney is a semi-finalist in AAA, "Superhero" is a semi-finalist in Pop/Top 40, and "China Dolls" is in the semi-finals for Adult Contemporary.

Hip-hop act Catskill, aka Ryan Funk, has two songs in the ISC finals, including "Sugar Town (Ft. Clinton Sparks)" in the Comedy/Novelty category and "Kanye" in the R&B/Hip-hop category.

Brandon-born singer Amanda Stott's song "I Still Need A Fire" is a finalist in the Gospel/Christian category.

Electronic composer Joe Silva's video collaboration with visual artist PO-MO Project, "I Don't Remember," made it to the semi-finals. Click here to watch the video.

Rock trio The Dirty Denominators song "Reno" is a semi-finalist in the Performance category.

The International Songwriting Competition provides both aspiring and established songwriters with a chance to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC has a prestigious panel of influential judges, including artists Tom Waits, Loretta Lynn, Kings of Leon, Timbaland, Black Francis and industry big wigs like Sire Records CEO Seymour Stein, Epic Records president Amanda Ghost, and VH1's Rick Krim.

People can listen to the finalists and vote in the "People's Voice" category until March 31.

Winners will be announced sometime in April.

ISC 2009 FINALISTS

Country
"Give Me A Ring" by Jolene Keats, Sharlene Loveless, Jaylene Johnson, Chris Burke-Gaffney (The Keats)

Comedy/Novelty
"Sugar Town (Ft. Clinton Sparks)" by Ryan Funk (Catskill)

Pop/Top 40
"Falling Star" by Jaylene Johnson, Link Tipton

R&B/Hip-Hop
"Kanye" by Ryan Funk (Catskill)

Gospel/Christian
"I Still Need The Fire" by Amanda Stott, Dustin Burnett

ISC 2009 SEMI-FINALISTS

AAA
"I Love You More" by Sierra Noble, Chris Burke-Gaffney, Keith Macpherson, Jaylene Johnson

Adult Contemporary (AC)
"China Dolls" by Jaylene Johnson, Simon Wilcox

Music Video
"I Don't Remember" by Joe Silva (PO-MO Project)

Performance
"Reno" by Meg Dolovich, Joey Landreth, Ryan Voth (The Dirty Denominators)

Pop/Top 40
"Superhero" by Jaylene Johnson, Simon Wilcox