And The Winner Is....not me...

For those of you (no-one?) who have been waiting with baited breath to see how I got on in the UK Songwriting Contest…(see below: UK Songwriters' Thingy) and to find out whether the contest is a scam or not…here is the mail I got for BOTH the songs I entered…

Hi,

SEMI FINALS POSITION

Congratulations. Your entry has been selected as SEMI FINALIST in the 2005 UK Songwriting Contest.

Please note that most entries did not make it this far. Only approximately 30% - around one in three - of total contest entries were selected as semi finalists so you can be sure that the judges considered your work to be among the best songs entered this year.

As you know, we do not give prizes for semi finalist positions - we are giving you this information so that you have a clear idea about where your songs ended up in the final contest results.

We know it is dissapointing (sic) not to get to the finals but we hope that you will take comfort from the fact that your song was considered to be one of the best entered. We have to draw a line somewhere between sem finals (sic) and finals. In another year, with a different mix of entries and judges, it might have made it to the finals or beyond. So please do not be disheartened and we hope you will continue to write and perfect your craft and improve on your undoubted talent.

…so basically, “wow, you are really good…but you don’t get nothing, pal! But don’t give up, try again…yeah, send off more money to our Swiss bank account…” hmm.

I mean, if one had got through and one had been rejected, I would be less suspicious but the fact that I got the same mail for both songs….and the bad spelling…hmm, hmmmmm….

VERDICT: SCAM!!! (Possible second verdict: SOUR GRAPES!!!)

Actually, the mail reminds me a lot of the letter (yes, letter – on paper…yes, paper) I got from Blue Peter (non-Brits will not understand the next few sentences but never mind) – including Blue Peter Badge! – many years ago…erm 41 years ago to be depressingly exact – after I had written to them about the judo course I was doing. I can still remember the gist even now…

Dear Philip

Thank you for your letter. It was so interesting we read it again and again.

We hope you will like your Blue Peter Badge…

Yours sincerely,

Biddy Baxter

It took me years to realise that the reason for the different font on my name was because it was a STANDARD letter…arghhh! - the pain…the disappointment. I ceremoniously melted my Blue Peter Badge under the grill in protest - quite a long time later…but I still feel the scars…

However, I see there is a John Lennon Songwriting Contest which might just be legit…watch this space…