Ike Rann, winner of the ‘Last Choir Singing’ 2015-2016 song writing contest, has recorded and published his winning song ‘Genius’, both in its original form and as a dance track.
The choir finalists sang the winning song as a set performance at the Last Choir Singing County Final, at King George’s Hall in Blackburn.
Judges of the song contest, including Steve Balsamo (singer/songwriter, well-known for playing the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar); Chris Eaton (prolific songwriter including Cliff Richard’s ‘Saviour’s Day’); and Ben Rapp (Regional Manager for Lancashire Music Service) whittled down the entries to a total of six songs. These were then performed in front of a live audience by International Vocalist, Duncan Heather, on 24 February on BBC Radio Lancashire’s John Gillmore Show.
After eight days of public voting, Ike Rann was crowned the song writing winner by the Chairman of True Bearing Chartered Financial Planners (creators, organisers and lead sponsors of the competition), George Critchley.
In addition to winning the song contest Ike was also invited to join the judging on the panel at the Last Choir Singing Final and listened to 10 different versions of his song. “What an amazing experience!” he said. “It was so emotional to hear the children sing my song and see and see the passion and joy with which they performed it. It was very humbling. I think they are all fantastic.”
Ike’s first musical performance was at age 4 when he played piano at the Estonian House in Los Angeles. Aged 13, Ike picked up his mother’s old guitar and found a natural affinity with it. He played in his first professional band while in his teens. He has performed over 700 shows, both solo and with different groups in Europe and the UK. Based in London, Ike is a collaborator and works with producers, DJs and other songwriters. He entered the Last Choir Singing song writing contest and was delighted when he was shortlisted and thrilled when his song was chosen by the public.
Ike commented: “I was totally astounded when my name was announced as the song writing winner. I was just 13 years old when I started writing songs and, over the following years, I became more and more obsessed with it. But the thing that always kept me awake at night was how to get them out there for people to hear them. This is why I think the Last Choir Song Writing Contest is a great way to inspire and help you through this process, and it’s something I wish had been around when I was starting out.”
George Critchley said: “The song writing contest is a new element to the Last Choir competition. This wonderful competition empowers songwriters, enabling them to showcase their talent and offering them a ‘one of a kind’ opportunity. We have been overwhelmed by the response it received and we are delighted if we have any part to play in Ike’s success. I am sure he will do very well in the future.”
Entries for the 2016/17 song writing contest will be open from Monday 22 August and will close on Friday 21 October 2016. Shortlisted songs will be performed by International Vocalist, Duncan Heather, on BBC Radio Lancashire in front of a live studio audience on Thursday 25th November with the winner be announced live on air on Friday 2nd December.
True Bearing Chartered Financial Planners created and organised the contest as part of their Choir Competition for Lancashire junior schools.
You can hear the songs from - soundcloud.com/ike-rann or from Ike’s webpage - www.ikerann.com
