The 2019 UK Songwriting Contest is now open for entries. The entry forms are live online, you can follow events on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and you can interact with other songwriters at the UKSC Songwriting Community Group on Facebook.

FOLLOW EVENTS AS THEY HAPPEN
The sooner you enter the sooner you will find out if your song made the Semi Finals. Semi Finalist positions will be updated and available online soon after you submit.

ALL songwriters and lyricists are welcome. It doesn't matter where you live in the world, or if you are a complete beginner or an experienced writer. You can enter as many songs in as many categories as you wish. Full details, prizes opportunities and entry forms are on the secure offical UK Songwriting Contest website at https://songwritingcontest.co.uk

DEADLINE APPROACHING
The first round deadline is 14 July, and the celebrity judges are waiting to receive your work.

STAR RATINGS AND RESULTS
The first session deadline is July 14. At that time the position of all songs already in the event will be announced. This year each song will be issued with a Star Rating from the judges, and you will see your song´s Star Rating displayed at that time. Semi Finalist positions will also be announced. If you are in the Semi Finals you will be able to view and print your Semi Finalist Certificate and watch your progress live to see if your song moves forward into the Finals and Grand Finals.

NEW JUDGES
New judges join the celebrity judging panels this year. They are all past UKSC Winners and include songwriter Belle Humble (250 million YouTube plays and Top 3 smash hits in USA, Europe and SE Asia), Katie Kittermaster (last year´s Under 18s and Commonwealth Song Contest Winner and recently signed for major national tours with Boyzlife and Ronan Keating), and Neil Fitzpatrick (whose UKSC winning song has since raised over $100,000 for charity and was signed by the word´s biggest independent publishing company). These new judges are a great compliment to the celebrity panels and they will add a welcome new dimension because they have all been UKSC contestant´s themselves and know the event from both sides.

NEW PRIZES
This years new prizes include cash and a co-writing partnership with the producer Stuart Epps. Stuart will co-write a song with one selected entrant and produce it in his own studio. Other prizes include a one-on-one session with hit songwriter and author Mark Cawley, Songwriters Guild Memberships, song pitching opportunities and so much more. No other competition does more for the songwriters who take part.

FINALLY
So... don´t forget, if you want to get your song´s star rating for this first and see if you have made the semi finals the deadline is July 14. Full details are on the UKSC website, and you are welcome to join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We sincerely wish you every success with your songwriting.

Best wishes,
The UK Songwriting Contest Team.
www.songwritingcontest.co.uk

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/uksongwritingcontest
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/uksongwriting

Katie Kittermaster has joined The UK Songwriting Contest judging panels and she will be taking time out from her very busy recording and national touring schedule in 2019 to help choose the winners.

As a recent UKSC Winner herself Katie knows exactly how it feels to be an entrant in this event from her own personal experience, and she told us that she is really looking forward to helping the other judges choose the winners this year.

Katie is fast becoming one of the biggest new names in UK music since she won the Under 18s Category last year. Earlier this year she was nominated by the UKSC to be the UK representative in The Commonwealth Song Contest - and she went on to win the whole international event representing the UK with her UKSC winning song "T Shirt". She narrowly beat the Australian entry, which was also a UKSC Finalist!!  Success is following success for Katie Kittermaster: she has been featured on BBC TV, is appearing in many live events over the summer, is recording her first album, and she has been signed as second headline billing in the highly anticipated national BoysLife Tour with Boyzone and Westlife stars Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy.

We are very happy and proud to have been an important part of Katie´s career so far and we look forward to working with her on the judging panels for the 2019 UK Songwriting Contest.

There is a lot more information on the UKSC website about all the judges and the great priizes on offer this year. These prizes include co writing a song with well known producer and UKSC judge Stuart Epps! Stuart has worked with some of the biggest names in the business and this will be a great opportunity to write with, and be produced by, one of the best.
 
Check out all the UKSC judges here and look out for more new judge announcements over the coming weeks.

Best wishes,
The UKSC Team
www.songwritingcontest.co.uk

We are very pleased to officially announce that the internationally successful hit songwriter Belle Humble has joined the UK Songwriting Contest judging panels.

London born Belle is a mega successful songwriter and performer with worldwide hits from Europe to Korea to the USA and hundreds of millions of YouTube views for her songs. Most importantly she is also a past UK SONGWRITING CONTEST WINNER - so Belle knows exactly how it feels to be a  UKSC entrant from her personal experience.

Some of Belle´s songwriting and performing credits and successes (and there are many) include the massive worldwide hit "Cracks" with The Freestylers. Listen to it on YouTube  where it has had many millions of views over various channels (over 36 million views and counting for this one link alone). She has written songs for Paloma Faith, Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry and has had her songs featured on BBC dramas. She also wrote the massive successful K-pop hit "Russian Roulette" by the South Korean group Red Velvet which was a top three hit in South Korea, Japan and the USA and has had an incredible 200 million (200,000,000!) views on YouTube to date.

Belle is part of a new team of judges made up of succesful past UKSC entrants and they will work alongside the other celebrity judges. Check out all the UKSC judges here and look out for more new judge announcements over the coming weeks.

Here is a video that is essential viewing for every songwriter! Paul McCartney is one of the biggest influences behind The UK Songwriting Contest, and in this new interview he talks about how he wrote and recorded some of his most iconic songs. We had to share this one with you because we know all songwriters will find this fascinating and will benefit from watching!

In the interview Paul talks about the first song he ever wrote using the chords C, F, G and G7 and how he wrote songs together with John Lennon in the early days and how they never came away from a session without a new song. He tells us how he came up with the idea for Eleanor Rigby and how he found the name for that song character. He describes how George Harrison saved And I Love Her with a simple four note riff. He talks about how he comes up with song ideas and how he develops them, confiding that expressing his innermost personal feelings in his songs is so important. Around twenty songs are covered and there are some fascinating insights.

ENTER YOUR SONGS
For for the latest information, entry dates and entry forms visit  songwritingcontest.co.uk
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