You Write the Songs

Last updated
You Write the Songs
Created by Al Masini
Developed by Bob Banner
Presented by Ben Vereen
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesBob Banner Associates
Television Program Enterprises
Original release
Network Syndicated
Release1986 (1986) 
1987 (1987)

You Write the Songs is an American music competition series that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1987 for a total of 26 episodes. The show featured amateur songwriters competing to have one of their songs recorded.

Format

Each week three amateur songwriters had their original song performed by the shows regular singers, all of whom were alumni of Star Search , the songs were then judged by a rotating celebrity panel with the winners advancing toward a $100,000 grand prize. [1]

The winning song was "Everybody Needs a Dream" which was written by Tom Grose and performed on the series by Star Search Season 1 Male Vocalist grand champion Sam Harris. Grose had also previously competed on Star Search with his group The Varsity.

Among the celebrities who appeared as judges were Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Melissa Manchester, and Neil Sedaka. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debbie Gibson</span> American singer, songwriter, and actress (born 1970)

Deborah Ann Gibson is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album Out of the Blue (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The album spawned several international hits, later being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. One of those singles, "Foolish Beat", made Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. Her double-platinum second album Electric Youth (1989) gave Gibson another U.S. number-one hit with "Lost in Your Eyes". Gibson is the sole songwriter on all of her singles to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. She was recognized by ASCAP as Songwriter of the Year, along with Bruce Springsteen, in 1989.

Vanessa Denae Olivarez is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is the vocalist, songwriter, and autoharpist for the country bands Granville Automatic and Mama's Blue Dress, has written songs for the country duo Sugarland, and was in the Top 12 of the second season of the television series American Idol in 2003.

<i>Star Search</i> American television series

Star Search is an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versions of the show, contestants competed in several genres of entertainment. The show was originally filmed at the Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood; it was later filmed at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.

America's Most Talented Kid is an American television series that premiered on NBC on March 28, 2003. In each round, three age groups of talented children would perform songs, dance numbers, magic, and other forms of entertainment in front of head judge Lance Bass and other guest celebrity judges, such as Sisqo, Maureen McCormick, Jermaine Jackson and Daisy Fuentes. Host Mario Lopez led the highest scorer from each round until only three children were left to compete in the grand finale. In the end, Cheyenne Kimball was crowned the grand champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Hatch</span> English composer (born 1939)

Anthony Peter Hatch is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kandi Burruss</span> American TV personality, singer-songwriter (born 1976)

Kandi Burruss, known professionally by her mononym Kandi, is an American actress, businesswoman, dancer, producer, singer, songwriter, and television personality. She first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the multi-platinum R&B female vocal group Xscape. As a songwriter, she has received writing credits on the singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child, "There You Go" by Pink, "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" by Ariana Grande, and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran. In 2000, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for her work on the TLC hit song "No Scrubs".

<i>Dancing with the Stars</i> International celebrity talent show franchise

Dancing with the Stars is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. As of 2012 the format has been licensed to 60 territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Harris (singer)</span> American singer and actor

Samuel Kent Harris is an American pop and musical theatre musician as well as a television, theatre and film actor.

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Love?", written by Karl Broderick, and performed by Donna and Joe. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition consisted of 17 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "Love?" performed by Donna and Joe as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "If My World Stopped Turning", written by Brian McFadden and Jonathan Shorten, and performed by Chris Doran. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), organised the competition You're a Star in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition consisted of 14 shows and concluded with a final, resulting in the selection of "If My World Stopped Turning" performed by Chris Doran as the Irish Eurovision entry after facing a public televote.

Puttin' on the Hits is an American syndicated music/variety competition show that was hosted and written by Allen Fawcett. The show featured amateur acts lip-synching to popular songs. It aired on weekends from 1984 to 1988. The show's title refers to Irving Berlin's 1929 song "Puttin' on the Ritz", which had enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 1983 after it became a hit for Indonesian-Dutch singer Taco.

Celebrity Rap Superstar is an American reality show which premiered on MTV on August 30, 2007. The series was hosted by Kevin Hart and Liz Hernandez.

<i>Chopped</i> (TV series) American reality cooking television show

Chopped is an American reality-based cooking television game show series created by Michael Krupat, Dave Noll and Linda Lea. It is hosted by Ted Allen. The series pits four chefs against each other as they compete for a chance to win $10,000. The series debuted in 2009, and episodes air every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Food Network.

The fifth series of You're a Star was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One from 26 November 2006 until 18 March 2007. David O'Connor from County Wexford beat 21 Demands in the final at The Helix in Dublin. He sang "On Borrowed Wings" which was later released as a download with accompanying physical release. This followed his release of "Don't Look Back in Anger" which entered the top twenty of the Irish Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Waissel</span> English singer-songwriter (born 1986)

Katie Waissel is an English singer-songwriter who came into the public eye when she was the tenth contestant eliminated in the seventh series of The X Factor. She is also known for being a housemate in Celebrity Big Brother 18, where she finished in eighth place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Vidgen</span> Australian singer and TV personality (born 1997)

Jack Vidgen is an Australian singer and television personality, best known for winning the fifth season of Australia's Got Talent as a teenager. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia with his debut single, "Yes I Am", and studio album, of the same name, were released in August 2011. The album debuted at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart, and was certified gold. His second studio album, Inspire, was released in April 2012, reaching number 23 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2019 Vidgen took part in season 8 of Australian The Voice and was eliminated after the Semi-Finals. He also appeared on America's Got Talent: The Champions. Vidgen has also appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in Australia.

<i>Tawag ng Tanghalan</i> Philippine television series

Tawag ng Tanghalan is a Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Originally hosted by Jaime dela Rosa, Patsy and Lopito, it aired as a reality competition from 1954 to September 1972 and from March 8, 1987 to November 26, 1989, and was replaced by Sa Linggo nAPO Sila. The show returned as a segment of It's Showtime on January 2, 2016. Vhong Navarro, Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Amy Perez, Karylle, Kim Chiu, Ogie Alcasid and Darren Espanto currently serve as the hosts.

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "That's How You Write a Song" written and performed by Alexander Rybak, who had previously represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and won with the song "Fairytale". The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2018 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Ten entries competed in a show that took place on 10 March 2018 and the winner was determined over three rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, the combination of votes from ten international jury groups and a public televote selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top two entries to advance to the competition's third round—the Gold Duel. In the third round of voting, a public televote again selected "That's How You Write a Song" performed by Alexander Rybak as the winner with 306,393 votes.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Chameleon" written by Joacim Persson, Paula Winger, Borislav Milanov and Johan Alkenäs. The song was performed by Michela. The Maltese entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel, was selected through the first season of the music competition X Factor Malta, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition concluded with a final on 26 January 2019 where Michela eventually emerged as the winner. The song Michela would perform at the Eurovision Song Contest, "Chameleon", was internally selected and released to the public on 10 March.

<i>The X Factor: Celebrity</i> 2019 celebrity edition of The X Factor

The X Factor: Celebrity is a British celebrity special edition of The X Factor which premiered on 12 October 2019 on ITV. It is a revamped version of the 2006 celebrity format The X Factor: Battle of the Stars. Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh judged this series, with Dermot O'Leary presenting the series and Vick Hope hosting Xtra Bites on YouTube.

References

  1. David Hinckley (September 4, 1986). "Television's Tin Pan Alley: 'You Write the Songs' is 'Star Search' for composers". Daily News. pp. C22. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  2. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present . Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1339. ISBN   0-345-45542-8.