From a wistful love song to a piece about the fear of loss, the winners of our Songwriting Competition dazzled Guest Judge Avanti Nagral with their poetic lyrics and moving performances. “I really enjoyed reading and listening to these wonderful works of art,” said Avanti. “[The pieces] spanned genres and creative styles, each one of them great and unique for their contexts.”
Read on to discover the competition winners and finalists, and check out some selected pieces on our YouTube playlist!
Best Lyrics: ‘To be afraid’ by emily.m (United Kingdom)
Read Emily’s winning entry, or log in/sign up to read the piece on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!
Alternative/indie style songs are really difficult to nail lyrically because they can often wander into didactic territory—but you did such a wonderful job using metaphors while staying grounded to your core message! Your visual images merged into each other without feeling like they were there just for the sake of being there. I loved the subtle rhyming schemes throughout; while you followed a format, none of it felt forced. The animal and nature nods were wonderful, and I absolutely LOVED the anchor imagery, which your vocal performance and the song’s melody truly bring out. I also enjoyed the blue-color tone being a constant throughout, from the threads to the skies, while being juxtaposed with the warmth of the fire and passion, which sets up that tension of contrast to be “afraid.” “Tearful eyes” versus “storms of rage” is another craftily set up juxtaposition that I really liked. Overall, VERY creative wordplay and writing! The cherry on top is your beautiful voice and performance of the song!
Best Performance: ‘Tell Me’ by Cassia Yap (Hong Kong)
Watch Cassia’s winning performance, or login/sign up to read the piece on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!
This song comes together so beautifully as a whole—from your vocal performance, to production and instrumentation choices, to the layering and harmonization. Everything fits in really well like a puzzle piece. Even without the actual music video visualization, the song paints a vivid picture, which is powerful. Musically, I especially enjoyed the melodic modulation you do for the chorus: the shift to the higher voicing allows for the listener to be drawn into the wistfulness of your messaging. Your vocalizations right after the first chorus take you on that journey, until your breakdown later on. It was such a smart choice to go back into that lower register with the vocal texture you used, and then adding in ad-libs into the last chorus echoing the voices in your head. I could really feel every word you were singing, so sweet, soulful, and sincere. You showcased your vocal range without overperforming, which is INCREDIBLY hard to do, but often the most moving. I would honestly listen to this song on repeat—gorgeous performance!
Best Peer Review: ‘Blank Canvas,’ reviewed by Srinidhi Chervu (US)
Log in/sign up to see the winning peer review on our site (for writers aged 13-19)!
What a warm, thoughtful peer review. I love how you balanced specificity, constructive criticism, and interpretation throughout your review. It was cool to see you pick out things like the contrast of emotions, intent of the narration, and the power in the nuance. It’s rare to find people who are able to give feedback that is genuinely helpful, while still encouraging the writer and sharing how their work has impacted you. I appreciated your sincerity, and how empathetically supportive you were to the writer you were reviewing. Really enjoyed reading your review as much as I did the piece itself!
Lyrics:
Performance:
Peer Review:
"(un)achievable dreams," reviewed by Sophia Chen (US)
Select Performances on YouTube: