King Stingray, Gordi Among Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition Finalists

The top 40 finalists for the 2022 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition have been announced.

The final 40 features some fine talent, led by NT Yolŋu rock outfit King Stingray with three shortlisted songs: “Camp Dog”, “Get Me Out” and “Milkumana”.

Reigning champion Genesis Owusu is also in the running, as are other established artists like Gordi and Ball park Music.

Some rising stars have also made the shortlist, including art rock trio Telenova, pop singer-songwriter Beks and Perth-based artist Eli Greeneyes.

The competition received almost 3,000 entries from 45 countries, with entrants raising an impressive $147,500 for Noro Music Therapy. Even more impressively, more than half of the Top 40 songs were created by unpublished songwriters, with one of them set to take out the $5,000 AMPAL Emerging Songwriter Prize, provided by Australasian Music Publishers Association Limited (AMPAL).

Winners will be announced in June, with the winning songwriter earning a cash prize of $50,000 courtesy of APRA AMCOS, Alberts and Sony Music Publishing; second place receives $10,000 thanks to legal experts Banki Haddock Fiora, and 3rd place gets $5,000 courtesy of Aon.

Additionally, one songwriter based outside of Australia and New Zealand will receive a $1,500 cash prize and a feature on American Songwriter as the recipient of the American Songwriter Spotlight Award.

Since the competition started in 2009, entrants have raised $1.75 million, making a huge impact on the lives of others with their songs.

Named after the iconic songwriters and founding members of The Easybeats, Harry Vanda and the late George Young, the long-running competition has honoured a range of songwriting talent, including the aforementioned Genesis Owusu, Thelma Plum (2020), Matt Corby (2019), Amy Shark (2018) and Gretta Ray (2016).

This year’s judging panel featured influential artists, producers, media and music industry professionals including KLP, Jenny Morris, Robert Conley and reps from Double J, Jaxsta, Billboard, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Universal Music Australia and EMI Music Australia.

For more information, visit vandayoungsongcomp.com. You can also listen to the top 40 finalists playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.