Singer/Songwriter's Competition

God Help Me...

I am barley watching American Idol...meaning it's on in the background and my ears are 25% present at most. I'm not a regular viewer of the show so I have no idea who's left or who left or if anyone is really considered to be the next big star. But I'll take an educated guess and say...NONE.

The first chick that came out sang a Chaka Khan song...I saw Chaka Khan...and let me tell you, she ain't no Chaka Khan. This is Chaka Khan...

American Idol is symbolic of what is wrong with the music industry today. And it pisses me off that this year's Grammy® Awards was chock-full of AI grads. PLEASE, will someone please give us some original talent? A singer who writes kickass songs would be good. A singer that is drawn to music because music is the blood that runs through their veins would be good. A singer who is not interested in becoming a celebutante would be good.

Don't tell me the Idol contestants are young talents that will develop into greatness. Ain't gonna happen. The 12 year-old on Britain's Got Talent could blow every single one of the AI contestants off the stage singing that Michael Jackson song he did on BGT. Of course, he's from Swansea, home town of Badfinger's Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Mike Gibbins so that might explain his edge. And I guess the UK is just a better breeding ground for music talent. Which doesn't exactly make sense since Britain's musical icons - from the British Invasion onwards - have all been influenced by the American blues greats.

I'm really hoping someone - wait a second...can someone get a cane and pull this dude off the stage? - the one that's playing dress-up and thinks he can sing the Bee Gees...OMG and people are cheering for him and Randy is telling him that he can REALLY sing. I can't believe I'm going to say this but, "Thank you, Simon Cowell" for a reality check on the BG boy. All right, back to my original thought...

I'm REALLY hoping that someone can prove me wrong. So much so that I'm throwing down the gauntlet. I'm going to open my own music competition right here, right now.

Here's the deal:
1. You have to write and sing your own song.
2. You can be a solo artist or a group.
3. You have to be American or Canadian (no Brits 'cause that just wouldn't be fair).
4. You have to record it as a video and we have to be able to tell it's you actually singing...no Milli Vanilli shit.
5. Your video has to have the embedding enabled and be available to post on my blog via youtube or some other accessible service.
6. You can be as old or as young as you are.
7. You can't be signed to a label.
8. The deadline to enter is George Carlin's birthday...if you don't know it and can't look it up you don't belong on any stage, much less mine.

How to enter? Email me a link to your video to info@cheshercat.com with Real Musician Contest in the subject line. Also, tell me a little about yourself/selves so I know you're not nucking futs.

How the competition will be judged? I'm going to post the videos on here in groups of five and open it up for votes - from a jury of voters that read my blog so as not to have errant voting by the band/singer canvassing their friends and family. The video with the least number of votes will get voted off the blog and it will be removed forever. Depending on how many entries, we will have semi-finalist and finalist rounds...whatever.

The prize? Well, since I mentioned Badfinger, I'm going to give the winner this $300 framed print of the Swansea boys backstage:

I easily decided on Badfinger as the prize because they represent the level of songwriting and singing ability we're looking for in this competition. I will also do a photo shoot with the winners (in Los Angeles or if I'm ever in your area) onstage and offstage for free and/or design a CD cover for you, for free. You can check some of my CD and music DVD designs HERE.

So, all singer/songwriters out there who think they really have the talent and could have competed in a competition with the likes of the musicians in Everybody I Shot Is Dead (I suggest you check them out on youtube before you submit) send me a link to your song. You've got until George Carlin's birthday, which should give you enough time to pull together a video of your best performance.

I can' t promise you a recording contract or exposure to millions but you never know...this little competition may just catch on. It's worth a shot...and the best I can hope for is that I'll be entertained and proven wrong.

And while we're waiting for your entries, any of my readers out there who would like to be a judge, drop me a comment or shoot me an email. This will be fun...and wouldn't it be amazing if we found 'THE ONE'? I will also take suggestions in the comment section of this post on a good name for the competition.

Other things going on here:

It's not too late to enter the Ol' Skool vs Digital competition. So far, I only have three entries with all the correct answers - Is one of them you? - not enough to fill out all the prizes, so enter NOW. You could be the grand prize winner. If you've already entered and haven't received an email letting you know we received your entry, please resubmit it 'cause it must have been sucked into cyberhell.