Mon 31 May 

Port Douglas was treated to one of the highlights of this years Carnivale 2010 when 19 performers gathered at the iconic Sugar Wharf on Port Douglas' Waterfront to sing their own original compositions in front of a massive crowd of visitors and locals for the coveted prize of ' Douglas Songwriter of the Year 2010'.

This years competition was split into two competing categories. There were ten 'amateurs' who competed against each other for a cash prize of $500 for the winner whilst nine professionals contested between themselves for this years title and $1,000 purse.

The audience were spellbound by the amazing wealth of talent on show.   Every performer gave it their best shot and the judges decision was an unenviable one with so much wonderful talent on display.  The three judges were comprised of local muso, Marilyn MacDonald, Jenny Guyatt, Head of Music at Mossman State School and Roy Weavers, Editor of Newsport Publishing.

The criteria used for judging both categories included the lyrics,  melody, structure and creativity/originality with the additional section of talent/performance for the professionals.   After much deliberation, eventually there had to winners and sadly there had to be losers. The winner of the Amateur section was the captivating singer/pianist/law student Lourde Thomas from Trinity Beach with her beautiful track, 'War Song'.

Sofia Summer, Anika Colless and Jade Ottone came in right on her shoulder in second and joint third places respectively, with just 3 points separating them.

One of the reasons that this years competition was split into two categories was because of last years winner and his 'stand out' talent in this region.   And for the second year in a row Danny Ross 2009 winner with accompaniment from friend, Jarra on bongo drums, produced a song that mesmerised the audience with both his lyrics and performance to take the podium for the second year in a row and the $1,000 first prize.

Danny is moving down to Sydney to pursue his musical career and we know he will make us all feel very special to have seen the embryonic stage of an undoubted future superstar who we shouldn't be selfish to keep any longer to ourselves. We should be sharing him with the rest of Australia and hopefully the world. Let's hope he comes back ansd sees us often.

The runners up in the professional competition read like a who's who of talent from around the region, Irish balladeer Paul Cloney, Nick Glanville and Guy from Cairns, PA Dutch and Glen again from the Cairns circuit and local boy Josh Adams who treated us to an exceptional rendition of his emotional Anzac Day inspired song.

It seems like a cliche to say that there were no losers, only winners on the night but the stream of superb performances made a mockery of the entry by gold coin donation.   This standard of line-up you'd pay top dollar for at any future festival.

The audience who were lucky enough to be here for this third year Grand Final of the Port Douglas Songwriter's Competition are now in the priviledged position of being able to say "I was there".  It was amazing!

This competition has cemented its position in the hearts and minds of the Douglas region.  Whether it should be a Carnivale event is debateable but that's up to the organisers.  In any case it's difficult to see how it gets any better than this, but I bet-ya' it will.  

Well done to the organisers Drew and Di Weyand from Livewire Music...You are legends.