I entered three songs in the Song Challenge of the Nashville Songwriters Festival I will be attending June 4-6. “A Place at the Table” performed by the St. Thomas of Canterbury choir was submitted in the Christian category, “I’ll Be Fine” was in the Other category, and “Southern Californian” (the new name of “Down Home in Southern California” ) was in the country category. “I’ll Be Fine” made it into the finals but was not selected for a prize. The other songs were not chosen.
When I read the results, I was disappointed to see that all the prizes were not given. In most categories, a first prize winner was named, but no suitable candidate was found for the second and third prizes. The organizer explained that for the contest to have credibility in the industry, they could only reward truly commercial, “pitchable” songs. I say, “Poop!”
