A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists, composers, conductors, musicologists [1] or compositions. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets.
Examples of music competitions in popular music include the Eurovision Song Contest, the Sanremo Music Festival, Open Mic UK, the All-Japan Band Association annual contest, Live and Unsigned, and American Idol .
European classical art music uses competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest young players and helps them start their professional careers (see List of classical music competitions). Popular instrumental ensembles such as brass bands and school bands have also long relied on competitions and festivals to promote their musical genres and recognize high levels of achievement. In the recent decades, large competitions have also developed in the field of popular music to showcase performances by pop vocalists and rock bands (e.g. "Idol series" and "Battle of the Bands" events).
One of the first and oldest large-scale musical contests is the Sanremo Music Festival which started in 1951 and was also the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The music competitions with the largest audiences are widely televised events in the genre of popular music, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and American Idol . The Open Mic UK and Live and Unsigned contests in the United Kingdom each garner approximately 10,000 contestants annually, making them the largest contests in the region. [2] [3] [4]
According to 2005 statistics, more than 650,000 visitors attend the World Music Contest (Kerkrade, the Netherlands), which has 19,000 contestants from over 30 countries, making it one of the largest competitions in Europe. [5] The All-Japan Band Association annual contest appears to be the world's largest music competition in terms of the number of active contestants, [6] with approximately 800,000 competing musicians in more than 14,000 bands. [7] A competition which has recently hit the United Kingdom music scene is called SoundWave Music Competition. This competition allows for singers, bands and all acts of all genres a chance to play at the O2 Academy Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. SoundWave Music Competition is a high profile competition and the biggest music competition in Northern England and Scotland where entrants can win radio slots and recording within the best recording studios in the United Kingdom and Scotland. One of the oldest music competitions in the world is the International Naumburg Competition, in New York, which had its first competition in 1926. [8] In recent years, the largest music competition in terms of number of global genres represented appears to be Sharq Taronalari, an enormous festival sponsored by UNESCO and the government of Uzbekistan. [9] Various online music competitions for young musicians are now gaining popularity, including Unsigned Only, which is a global music contest based in United States, and Machan Music, an open and ongoing music contest based in India. The Songwriters Resource Network [10] organizes the annual Great American Song Contest which is open to songwriters and lyric writers internationally.
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival, is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by Italian public broadcaster RAI. It is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world on a national level and it is also the basis and inspiration for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.
The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.
A Battle of the Bands is a music contest or competition in which a number of bands compete for the title of "best band". The winner is determined by a voice vote of the audience or the band who brings the most people to support them. Traditionally, battles of bands are held at live music events and forums. Popular examples include the yearly Live and Unsigned contest in the United Kingdom and the annual SoundWave Music Competition.
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in 1956, which took inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival. The Italian participant broadcaster in the contest is Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). It competed at the contest without interruption until 1980, discontinuing its participation on a number of occasions during the 1980s and 1990s. After a 13-year absence starting in 1998, the country returned to the contest in 2011. Italy has won the contest three times, along with an additional 16 top-five finishes. Italy hosted the contest in Naples (1965), Rome (1991), and Turin (2022).
Music of Kosovo is music that originates from Kosovo, a country in the Balkans. Kosovo's population is mainly Kosovo Albanians, also known as Kosovars, and there are various minority ethnic groups as well. Kosovan music is closely related to that of neighbouring Albania, as well as to that of countries in the former Yugoslavia.
The All Japan Band Association (AJBA) is an organization that exists solely for the purpose of facilitating annual music competition among Japanese wind bands. This competition has largely promoted the concert band idiom, but in recent years AJBA has also included separate entries for marching band and smaller chamber music ensembles within its national competition.
"Corde della mia chitarra" is a song recorded by both Italian singers Nunzio Gallo and Claudio Villa, with music composed by Mario Ruccione and Italian lyrics written by Giuseppe Fiorelli. It won the Sanremo Music Festival 1957 where it was performed by both singers and represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 performed by Gallo. The song is the longest in Eurovision's history. Both original recordings are ranked among the top 100 most successful songs in Italy in 1957.
"Follia d'amore" is a song by Raphael Gualazzi. It was the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 2011 in the newcomer artists' section and also won the Critics' "Mia Martini" Award for newcomers.
Live Fest is a bi-annual music festival held at The O2 in London. According to its organizers, it is the largest indoor music festival in the United Kingdom. In the first festival on 23 July 2011, some of the headlining acts included Zane Lowe, Tinchy Stryder, Roll Deep, The Hoosiers, and Funeral for a Friend. Prominent genres of music at the festival include urban, pop, rock, and indie.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2012, officially the 62nd Italian Song Festival, was the 62nd annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 14 and 18 February 2012, and broadcast by Rai 1. The show was presented by Gianni Morandi with Ivana Mrázová and Rocco Papaleo.
Fabrizio Mobrici, known by his stage name Fabrizio Moro, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He released his debut album in 2000 and he achieved commercial success in 2007, after winning the Newcomers' Section of the Sanremo Music Festival with his entry "Pensa". The song became a number-one hit in Italy, while the album with the same title was certified gold by the Italian Music Industry Federation.
Antonio Carozza,, better known as Antonello Carozza, is an Italian singer, songwriter, composer, art director in the Eurovision Song Contest, record producer, pianist and vocal coach. He was the art director of Michele Perniola and Anita Simoncini, who represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, and the President of the Italian Jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Grande amore", written by Ciro Esposito and Francesco Boccia. The song was performed by the male operatic pop trio Il Volo. Italian broadcaster RAI announced in September 2014 that the winning performer(s) of the Sanremo Music Festival 2015 would have the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2015, Il Volo emerged as the winners of Sanremo with the song "Grande amore". The trio accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Grande amore" would be their contest entry.
The Sanremo Music Festival 1967, officially the 17th Italian Song Festival, was the 17th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 26 and 28 January 1967 and presented by Mike Bongiorno and Renata Mauro. According to the rules of this edition, every song was performed in a double performance by a couple of singers or groups. The winners of the festival were Iva Zanicchi and Claudio Villa with the song "Non pensare a me". Villa was thus selected to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, with "Non andare più lontano".
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Occidentali's Karma", written by Francesco Gabbani, Filippo Gabbani, Luca Chiaravalli and Fabio Ilacqua. The song was performed by Francesco Gabbani. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2016 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2017, Francesco Gabbani emerged as the winner of Sanremo with the song "Occidentali's Karma". The artist accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Occidentali's Karma" would be his contest entry.
Ermal Meta is an Italian singer and songwriter.
Georgia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Take Me as I Am" written and performed by Tornike Kipiani, who was selected through the reality television show Georgian Idol, held by the Georgian broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB). The competition resulted in the selection of four finalists for the final on 31 December 2019. The results of a public vote exclusively resulted in the selection of Tornike Kipiani as the winner. The song that Tornike Kipiani would perform, "Take Me as I Am", was presented to the public on 3 March 2020.
Italy participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Italian broadcaster RAI announced in October 2020 that the winning performer(s) of the Sanremo Music Festival 2021, later turning out to be Måneskin with "Zitti e buoni", would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Måneskin eventually became the sixty-eighth winner of the Eurovision Song Contest and the first Italian entry to win the contest in 31 years. Italy received a total of 524 points, winning the public vote with 318 points and coming at fourth place in the jury vote with 206 points.
Italy hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, having won the previous edition with "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. Italian broadcaster RAI announced that the winning performer(s) of the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, later turning out to be Mahmood and Blanco with "Brividi", would earn the right to represent the nation at the contest. As both the host country and a member of the "Big Five", Italy automatically qualified to the final.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Italian broadcaster RAI announced in June 2022 that the winning performer(s) of the Sanremo Music Festival 2023, later revealed to be Marco Mengoni with "Due vite", would earn the right to represent the nation at the contest.
