Norway Entry Wins 2023 TED Vision Song Contest
01 February 2023 |
The Trans-European Division’s (TED) Youth Ministries department has picked a winner for its third annual “Vision Song Contest,” showcasing talented youth musicians from Norway to Greece and Iceland to Cyprus.
The program, broadcast on multiple TED channels, enabled viewers to not only view the event, but also vote for their favorite songs, according to TED News. This year, twelve entries were submitted into the final, having in some cases won regional Union heats.
Hosted by TED Youth Director Dejan Stojkovi and South England Conference (SEC) Pathfinder director, Clifford Herman, from the SEC media suite in Watford, England, the event at the time of reporting has been viewed 3,500 times.
In the spirit and style of the international songwriting Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), each participating country submitted an original song to be performed. Given the online nature of the TED event, pre-recorded entries were submitted, changing the dynamics expected of a live performance to an edited video-mix of graphic and sound. A judgment is made, not only on the performance of the singers, but on the creativity and technical quality of the video production.
Once all the votes were calculated in classic Eurovision style, the winning entry was announced: “In first place, and the winner of the competition with a total of 121 points: Norway.”
Responding to their joy in winning the competition, Andreas and Sandra said, “We were honestly a little surprised, as all the other contestants were very good. We feel very honoured and excited over winning the contest and are glad all the hard work paid off.”
Commenting on the topic of the song, the young Norwegian singers shared “We chose to use it for the contest to spread the message of climate awareness and stewardship. This topic is something both of us are very passionate about, and putting a melody on it is a great way to encourage others as well.”
“In second place with a total of 119 points: Croatia”
David Chip, the lead singer, was delighted “to see that the song he wrote received a nice reception and recognition, both from the jury and audience.
It’s clear that the song is written with a purpose in mind, as David explains. “We live in a world with a deep misunderstanding of what love is. With romantic novels, movies – and the sexualised entertainment industry, even popular science has taught us that love is just a feeling, an emotion, something nice, pleasant, romantic.”
“What I wanted to do in writing this song,” he continues, is to remind people that instead of ‘no strings attached,’ relationships are bonds which need investment, bonds that are to be invested in.”
“In third place with a total of 114 points: Greece”
Finally, while it didn’t win, North Macedonia quickly became a crowd favorite:
“I am so grateful”, said Stojković, “for every Union organizing their own music festival music, which connects with us – and the result is the Division song contest.”
In a surprising ending, and in collaboration with the Union youth directors and in agreement with the artists, Stojković announced a memento of the event – an album featuring all the entries available for download, so that the spirit of Vision 2023 can continue throughout the year.
- To listen on the SoundCloud platform.
- To download all the songs, click here.
Original version of this story found on TED News site.
