Song Fight!

Last updated
The traditional Song Fight! logo. The new logos now fit color schemes, varying between concurrent fights. Song Fight.png
The traditional Song Fight! logo. The new logos now fit color schemes, varying between concurrent fights.

Song Fight! is a weekly online songwriting and recording competition in which amateur artists are openly invited to participate. Traditionally, a title and deadline are posted each week for which participants write, record, and submit a song in MP3 format. All entries are compiled at the end of the week and links to the files are displayed on the front page for public voting, which lasts until the end of the next week. All visitors to the site are able to listen to the MP3s and are permitted one vote each. At the end of this voting period, results are posted and the next cycle (or "fight") begins, meaning at any given time one fight is in the works (in that a deadline and title are available) while the previous fight is in its voting stage. Typically Song Fight! involves only one fight at a time, although in the past several have taken place simultaneously.

Contents

Winning earns you no more or less than "bragging rights, satisfaction, [and] the jealous glances of strangers sitting next to you on the subway." [1] Nonetheless, the site has inspired well over a thousand artists to enter since the competition's inception. [2]

All songs submitted to Song Fight! are free for download, [3] and are catalogued and hosted indefinitely.

History

The original "Fightmaster," Collin "Narbotic" Cunningham, had a site on the Dumbrella network where, similar to explodingdog, he accepted submissions of song titles and would record a song based on that title. [4] [5]

Song Fight! began when Cunningham declared its first fight title, "Golfpunk Drives a Cadillac" on June 19, 2000. Song Fight! was not open to the public for the first several fights, and was at this time populated mainly by Cunningham's friends and internet acquaintances. The first public fight was the seventh, "Zero to Phantom" (January 4, 2001). This was also the fight that first featured now "internet-famous" artist KOMPRESSOR, often considered Song Fight!'s first musical personality to become widely notable outside the community. While host Cunningham/Narbotic was a regularly featured artist during this time, none of his entries received the most votes in a fight.

During these years, the Song Fight! community made its home on the Dumbrella message boards, also home to the forums of prominent webcomics Achewood, Wigu, Diesel Sweeties and Explodingdog, among others. In July 2001 the first official performance of Song Fight! artists was collected for the first "Song Fight Live!" at Hot Lunch in San Francisco, California. A highlight of the evening included an impromptu songwriting contest, in which contestants created songs on the fly to the title of the venue's name.

On May 10, 2002, a new title was announced: "Postcard". The deadline came, and passed. Months went by without an update. As the fighters became restless, "side-fights" began to spring up on private sites, the most prominent of them held by participant "Spud" of prolific Song Fight! ensemble Octothorpe. Known as "Mean While!", this side-contest eventually became more regular and (as a result) more attractive than waiting for an update from the original. Narbotic updated one full month after the announcement of "Postcard" with optimistically-titled "The Return", the entries from which were never actually posted.

Mean While!'s administrator, in conjunction with participant "JB" of the one-man John Benjamin Band, moved the contest to SongFight.org, asking Cunningham to create a redirect to that location from SongFight.com, the original address, a request that was eventually granted. JB, having previously purchased the rights to the .net and .org addresses to protect them from squatters (and to begin a Song Fight! webring at the .net location), agreed to host the site while Spud became responsible for the code and aspects of the site's upkeep and administration. The two now officially host and help to administer Song Fight! in cooperation, though the source of the titles is repeatedly said to be an unknown individual called only "Deep Throat", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous informant from the Watergate scandal. Songs from Mean While! (beginning June 28, 2002) have now been incorporated into the Song Fight! archives, along with all entries from Narbotic's period of administration.

Song Fight! Live

"Song Fight! Live" events happen annually in the United States. "Song Fight! Presents" (official and semi-official) shows have been performed on both coasts of the United States, in Great Britain and Australia.

Starting in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing difficulties with organizing live shows, [11] the Song Fight! Live events have been hosted online, with archives hosted on the Song Fight! YouTube channel. [12]

Current status

As of mid-2020, Song Fight! has conducted more than 850 fights and is host to more than 12,000 entries.

"Cover art" is also accepted for each fight, [13] though it is not a separate "art fight" in that no voting process occurs. The submission of fight art is considered more of a service than a competition. Fight art is a reference to the earliest days of Song Fight!, when Explodingdog artist Sam Brown produced much of the artwork for each week's fight. There is also an archive of all submitted artwork. [14]

Notable participants

The following artists originated on, or have participated in Song Fight!.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melodifestivalen</span> Swedish Eurovision Song Contest preselection

Melodifestivalen is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television program in Sweden; it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the heats averaged 3.3 million viewers, and over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.

explodingdog is the name of a website run by Sam Brown, pseudonym of Adam Culbert. From 2000 to 2015, viewers e-mailed Brown short phrases for inspiration and he illustrated certain ones. The drawings are usually rendered digitally and are known for their simplistic style, and their poignant and sometimes unexpected take on the phrases on which they are based. Sam Brown has published limited-run print books of his explodingdog illustrations. He also sells merchandise with explodingdog illustrations and prints of the daily drawings to help offset costs.

Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Congratulations" written by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir and Gaukur Úlfarsson. The song was performed by Silvía Night. The Icelandic entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece was selected through the national final Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV). The selection consisted of three semi-finals and a final, held on 21 January, 28 January, 4 February and 18 February 2006, respectively. Eight songs competed in each semi-final with the top four as selected by a public televote alongside two jury wildcards advancing to the final. In the final, "Til hamingju Ísland" performed by Silvía Nótt emerged as the winner exclusively through public televoting. The song was later translated from Icelandic to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Congratulations", while her stage name was changed to Silvía Night.

The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "My Impossible Dream" written by Robert D. Fisher and Bruce Smith. The song was performed by Glennis Grace. The Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) organised the national final Nationaal Songfestival 2005 in collaboration with broadcaster Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting (TROS) in order to select the Dutch entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. 24 entries competed in the national final which consisted of five shows: four semi-finals and a final. Six entries competed in each semi-final with three advancing: two entries selected based on a public vote and one entry selected by a three-member jury panel. Twelve entries qualified from to compete in the final on 13 February 2005 where "My Impossible Dream" performed by Glennis Grace was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three jury panels and a public vote.

Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Oro" written by Željko Joksimović and Dejan Ivanović. The song was performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić. In addition to participating in the contest, the Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2007 with the song "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović. RTS organised the national final Beovizija 2008 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final on 9 and 10 March 2008, respectively. Twenty entries competed in the semi-final where the top ten qualified to the final following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote. The ten qualifiers competed in the final which resulted in "Oro" performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.

Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Romanca" written by Miran Hadži Veljković. The song was performed by the band Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents. The Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) organised the national final Dora 2008 to select the Croatian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. A total of twenty-four entries competed in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. In the semi-final on 22 February 2008, six entries qualified to compete in the final on 23 February 2008 alongside ten pre-qualified songs. In the final, "Romanca" performed by Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote.

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "The Fire in Your Eyes" written by Dana International and Shay Kerem. The song was performed by Boaz Ma'uda, who was internally selected by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in collaboration with the commercial broadcaster Keshet in November 2007 to compete at the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia, The song Ma'uda would perform at Eurovision was selected through the national final Kdam Eurovision 2008 which took place on 15 March 2010 that featured five songs. "Ke'ilu Kan" emerged as the winning song after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from two regional juries, two thematical jury groups, a jury panel and a public vote. The song title was later translated from Hebrew to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "The Fire in Your Eyes".

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Hold On Be Strong" written by Mira Craig. The song was performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2008 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. 18 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals, a Last Chance round and a final. Eight entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 9 February 2008 where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, "Hold On Be Strong" performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three regional jury groups and a public televote.

Russia participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010, and was represented by broadcaster Rossiya Channel (RTR).

The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "Out on My Own" written by Dirk-Jan Vermeij and André Remkes. The song was performed by Michelle. The Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) organised the national final Nationaal Songfestival 2001 in order to select the Dutch entry for the 2001 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Six entries competed in the national final on 3 March 2001 where "Out on My Own" performed by Michelle was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three jury panels and a public vote.

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "In Love for a While" written by David Klein. The song was performed by Anna Rossinelli. The Swiss entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2011, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of SRG SSR idée suisse. SF, SF's radio station DRS 3, the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of twelve entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—seven artists and songs from the SF selection, three from the DRS 3 selection, one from the TSR selection and one from the RSI selection. The twelve finalists performed during the national final on 11 December 2010 where public voting ultimately selected "In Love for a While" performed by Anna Rossinelli as the winner.

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Unbreakable" written by Gabriel Broggini and Ivan Broggini. The song was performed by the duo Sinplus. The Swiss entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2012, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. SF, SF's radio station DRS 3, the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of fourteen entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—six artists and songs from the SF selection, three from the DRS 3 selection, three from the RTS selection and two from the RSI selection. The fourteen finalists performed during the national final on 10 December 2011 where public voting ultimately selected "Unbreakable" performed by Sinplus as the winner.

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Hunter of Stars" written and performed by Sebalter, which is the artistic name of singer Sebastiano Paù-Lessi. The Swiss entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2014, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods organised by SRF together with the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). A total of 18 entries were selected to advance to an "Expert Check" round; nine entries were selected from the SRF/RTR selection, six entries were selected from the RTS selection and three entries were selected from the RSI selection. The "Expert Check" was held on 30 November 2013 and involved three/four experts evaluating the live performances of the 18 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final—three artists and songs from the SRF/RTR candidates, two from the RTS candidates and one from the RSI candidates. The six finalists performed during the national final on 1 February 2014 where a combination of jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "Hunter of Stars" performed by Sebalter as the winner.

Romania had originally applied and selected an entry to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, however, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) removed the Romanian national broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) from all EBU member services, including the contest, following repeated non-payment of debts on 22 April 2016. With TVR's inability to broadcast the contest, the Romanian entry became ineligible to compete and was removed from the contest.

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Requiem" written by Nazim Khaled and Alma. The song was performed by Alma. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 2 internally selected the French entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. "Requiem" was officially announced by France 2 as the French entry on 9 February 2017 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry on 11 March 2017.

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Roi" written by Bilal Hassani, Madame Monsieur and Medeline. The song was performed by Bilal Hassani. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 2 organised the national final Destination Eurovision 2019 in order to select the French entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Eighteen songs competed in the national final which consisted of two semi-finals and a final. Nine entries competed in each semi-final and the top four from each semi-final were selected to advance to the final following the combination of votes from a five-member international jury panel and a public vote. In the final on 26 January 2019, "Roi" performed by Bilal Hassani was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a ten-member international jury panel and a public vote.

Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "On a Sunday" written by Ester Alexandra Crețu, Alexandru Șerbu and Ioana Victoria Badea. The song was performed by Ester Peony. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională2019 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 27 January and 10 February 2019, respectively, and a final on 17 February 2019. A total of twenty-four entries were selected and twelve competed in each semi-final where a five-member jury panel selected five entries to advance to the final, while a public vote selected an additional entry to enter the final. The twelve qualifiers competed in the final where "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a six-member international jury panel and a public televote.

Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Stay" written by Georgios Kalpakidis, Thomas Reil, Jeppe Reil and Maria Broberg. The song was performed by Anna Odobescu. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa2019 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. 28 entries competed to represent Moldova in Tel Aviv, with 10 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final which took place on 2 March 2019 after auditioning in front of a jury panel. "Stay" performed by Anna Odobescu emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.

Lithuania originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "On Fire" written by Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas and Mantas Banišauskas. The song was performed by the band The Roop. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final Pabandom iš naujo! 2020 in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national final took place over six weeks and involved 36 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, eight artists and songs remained and "On Fire" performed by the Roop was selected as the winner.

Melodifestivalen 2022 was the 62nd edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 5 February and 12 March 2022. The winner of the competition was Cornelia Jakobs with the song "Hold Me Closer", who represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, where she came fourth with 438 points. All shows were hosted by Oscar Zia.

References

  1. ↑ The Song Fight! FAQ
  2. ↑ Song Fight! artist archive
  3. ↑ Song Fight! song archive
  4. ↑ Narbotic.com, in the Internet Archive
  5. ↑ The Old Requests Project
  6. ↑ "Songfight! Love & Haight: News". Archived from the original on 2010-12-05.
  7. ↑ "Song Fight! Beer and Coffee: News". Archived from the original on 2012-10-12.
  8. ↑ "Song Fight! Live 2014: August 15/16 - Sign up for a Set - the Song Fight Bulletin Board".
  9. ↑ "Songfight Live PDX: Wiccans and Chickens Aug 14 & 15 2015 - the Song Fight Bulletin Board".
  10. ↑ "Song Fight! Live 2016 New York July 16th and 17th - the Song Fight Bulletin Board".
  11. ↑ "Song Fight! Live URL 2023 (forum thread)".
  12. ↑ "Song Fight! on YouTube".
  13. ↑ Cover art submission page
  14. ↑ Cover art archive
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.