BACOLOD City – Ten finalists are vying for the top prize in the Negros Pop Songwriting Competition that is part of the 25th Panaad sa Negros Festival from April 14 to 22.
The contest is scheduled at 6 p.m. on April 15at the Panaad Stadium.
The finalists represent the cities of Bacolod, Cadiz, Silay, La Carlota, and Kabankalan, and the municipalities of Calatrava, Toboso and Pontevedra.
Competition coordinator Evijane Viñas said the contest seeks to inspire songwriters to develop and promote the Negrense music and discover local pop songwriters.
The top three winners will receive cash and trophies. The first placer will get P20,000 cash; second placer, P10,000; and third placer, P5,000.
Non-winners will get P2,000 each while the Best Interpreter will receive P7,000.
Song entries must be an original composition, may be written in Hiligaynon or Cebuano lyrics, and open in style, mood and beat, except rap.
Meanwhile this year’s Panaad sa Negros Festival will also feature the “Paindis-indis sa Binalaybay” on April 17.
Paindis-indis is Hiligaynon for “contest or competition.”
Binalaybay is a composition in verse, characterized by a highly developed artistic form, with the use of heightened language and rhythm to express an intensely imaginative interpretation of the subject.
The contest piece must be in Hiligaynon or Cebuano, depending on the dialect of the town or city, and words must be structured in the “Ilonggo Binalaybay Form,” where each stanza shall contain four lines where two or all lines must end in rhyme.
The content must be original and relevant to the theme “Panaad@25: The Promise Fulfilled.”
The first prize winner will receive P10,000; second, P7,000; and third, P5,000, along with trophies. (PNA)
