CBC Searchlight: 11 Islanders enter national music contest
Don't be surprised if a relative, friend or total stranger asks you for your vote in the next few weeks — the needle has dropped on this year's annual Searchlight contest.
Searchlight is CBC Music's cross-Canada search for the best up-and-coming musicians. Musicians from 24 geographic regions are competing for a grand prize worth $50,000.
Eleven P.E.I. artists or bands have entered the contest this time around, a drop from the 20 from the Island that entered last year.
Contestants enter by posting a song with video to the Searchlight website.
Success in past contests
Singer-songwriter Dylan Menzie of Belle River won the P.E.I. part of the contest with his song Kenya in 2016. He also made it to the top four, nationally.
"What I really learned is I have a huge support network behind me, especially from the east coast," he told CBC last November.
"The number of votes and number of spins and album sales is mind boggling."
'A no brainer to enter this year's competition'
Two other musicians who made it to the P.E.I. top ten last year are entering the contest again this year — The Royal North and Jill Chandler.
"We felt that we received a lot of good coverage from being in the top ten in the region last year," said lead vocalist and guitarist of The Royal North Chris Dalziel.
"A lot of people who you would never really reach across the country get the opportunity to see who you are. So it was really a no brainer to enter this year's competition."
Here's a look at the musicians vying for this year's title.
The Royal North: Leave the Light On
Jill Chandler: Come And Find Me Soon
Nick Doneff: Old Dog
Anya: I'm Staying Up
Maxine MacLennan: Without You
Maureen Trainor: Goodbye
Will Allen: It's About Time
Nick Arsenault: You're the one
Atlantic String Machine: Lost Time
ARCHER: I'll Never Let Go
Old Stone Station: Good Day To Run
Round one voting ends February 27
Round one closes Feb. 27 at 3:59 p.m. Atlantic Time.
At the end of round one, ten videos — nine chosen by the CBC Music Judging Panel, and the one with the most votes — will automatically advance to round two, for the regional finals.
To find all the entries and to vote go to cbcmusic.ca/searchlight.
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