Search
*****Newsflash! Received at the end of September, additional funding from NZ On Air has allowed us to celebrate a further “bonus” 25 songs – a total of 75 songs on this year’s album.
These additional recordings are due by Friday 18th November
See this list below the Top 50 list
First Place in the 2022 Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition is Grace Lawrence from St Andrew’s College, with her song ‘Differently Now'. Congratulations!
Grace receives the Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition 1st Place Trophy,
and $1,000 NZ Rockshop voucher. Also an NZ On Air “Special Tracks” grant of up to $8,000 for recording the track professionally and to make a music video.
All finalists receives a signed certificate, a $50 NZ Rockshop voucher and a day in a professional recording studio to the value of $750 to record the song entered- well done to all of our finalists.
All songs have been mastered for the annual album, available for download Free on all platforms.
To all entrants, thank you for entering and sharing your original songs with us
Thank you to the Lion Foundation, NZ On Air, Rockshop, Trillian Trust - all of our funders, patrons and supporters who make this possible. We love working for young NZ songwriters
All songs will be mastered for the annual album and made available for download Free on all platforms.
To all entrants, thank you for entering and sharing your original songs with us
If you are a finalist you will receive a certificate(s) and Rockshop voucher sent to you at school. It will include the information re your song Recording Prize. Please read the recording information link. Finished recordings for the annual album are due to Play It Strange by Monday 17th October
"Differently Now"
St Andrew’s College
(Christchurch)
"Grace Lawrence has a special songwriting craft which finds her matching her lyric themes so that they reflect in the music that she puts to them. It's not an easy thing to do well. She does it in an evocative way with her winning song 'Differently Now'.Grace has proven to have a sustained songwriting excellence and we wish her the very best as she takes off into a songwriting life." Judges comment
Congratulations to Gisborne Girls’ High School for having the most finalist songs in the Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition for 2022
"Te Rewanga o Matariki"
Gisborne Girls' High School
(Gisborne)
"Drowning in the Stars"
Kaipara College
(Auckland)
Don McGlashan, Judge; "A beautiful, painterly rush of psychedelic images, but with a strong sense of focus: The person being addressed has the power to stop all the swirling motion in the lyric; has the power to bring peace to the singer. Each verse reinforces this idea. This particular image, late in the lyric, is excellent, I think: "The universe stops, and black holes will see the light that I see when I’m with you".
"Colourblind"
St Andrew’s College
(Christchurch)
"In the Warm Smell Of Wood"
Taieri College
"Bittersweet Movie"
Otumoetai College
"Bucket List"
Western Springs College,
Mt Albert Grammar
and Epsom Girls Grammar
"Burning House"
Manurewa High School
"Cannibal In Disguise"
James Hargest College
"Clayskin"
Epsom Girls' Grammar School
"Colourblind"
St Andrew's College (Christchurch)
"Differently Now"
St Andrew's College (Christchurch)
"Down Bad"
Bishop Viard College (Porirua)
"Down By The Riverside"
Cashmere High School
"Drowning In The Stars"
Kaipara College
"Each Time"
Sacred Heart College (Auckland)
"First Sight"
Papatoetoe High School
"Five Years"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"For A Moment"
Papatoetoe High School
"Green Garden"
James Hargest College
"Groovin'"
Kaipara College
"Haramai a Matariki"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"Hiding"
Kristin School
"House on Fire"
Manurewa High School
"I Still Love You"
Bayfield High School
"In the Warm Smell of Wood"
Taieri College
"Joker"
Papatoetoe High School
"Late Nights"
Manurewa High School
"Loveaholic"
Mangere College
"Mabel"
Rangitoto College
"Mixed Signals"
Motueka High School
"Money"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"Perceptions"
Ormiston Senior College
"Princess And The Frog"
Rotorua Girls' High School
"Quicksand"
Taieri College
"Rambles"
Kaipara College
"Realistic Dreams"
Papamoa College
"Reminisce"
St Andrew's College (Christchurch)
"Replaceable"
Wakatipu High School
"she"
Otumoetai College
"Shifting Places"
Hamilton Girls' High School
"Sketches Towards Nirvana"
St Patrick's College (Kilbirnie)
"Skylines"
Papatoetoe High School
"Something Out There"
Cambridge High School
"Strangers"
Kaipara College
"Te Rewanga o Matariki"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"The Life above the Clouds"
Tolaga Bay Area School
"This Crazy Girl"
Kings College
"Timer"
Marlborough Girls' College
"Tomorrow is Another Day"
Kings College
"Tu mai taku pele"
Bishop Viard College (Porirua)
"Tūī"
Marlborough Girls' College
"Turn Your Cheek"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"Two"
Hobsonville Point Secondary School
"Where I Can Sleep"
Mt Aspiring College
"Wine-Stained Wedding Dress"
Catholic Cathedral College
*If there is incorrect finalists information regarding a song title, writer name, etc please email info@playitstrange.org.nz to have it corrected -please put the song title in the subject line.
"Awake"
St Andrew's College (Christchurch)
"Beautiful Thing"
Otumoetai College
"Die Another Day"
Taradale High School
"Echo"
Napier Girls' High School
"Eden-Jesse"
Homeschool
"Five Steps To Acceptance"
Kaipara College
"Floating Bird"
Long Bay College
"Glasshouse"
Epsom Girls' Grammar School
"Have You Ever"
Gisborne Girls' High School
"Heavy On My Mind"
Rangi Ruru Girls' School
"In A Room Full Of Books"
Westlake Girls' High School
"It Was Always You"
Ormiston Senior College
"Living In The Past"
James Hargest College
"Long Way To Heaven"
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu
(correspondence school)
"Miles Ahead"
St Andrew's College (Christchurch)
"Mine"
Hamilton Girls' High School
"Prisoners Of The Sun"
Birkenhead College
"Retrograde"
Papatoetoe High School
"Running"
Liston College
"Strangers"
Kings College
"Sunny Son"
Naenae College
"The Love, The Loss
And The Lunatic"
Manurewa High School
"Thirteen Years"
Cambridge High School
"When The City's Without You"
Shirley Boys' High School
"You Wouldn’t Know"
Kristin School
*If there is incorrect finalists information regarding a song title, writer name, etc please email info@playitstrange.org.nz to have it corrected -please put the song title in the subject line.
The Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition
This is New Zealand’s national secondary school songwriting competition, and has yielded thousands of entries from around the country over the past 19 years.
The competition is open to all secondary school students, years 9 to 13, in New Zealand.
This competition celebrates and embraces the voice of our youth through song.
Here is a chance to have your song recorded in a professional recording studio to the value of $750. Over fifty songs are recorded, mastered and included on the annual Play It Strange album which is made available for free download and streaming. These songs are enjoyed and embraced by many - schools, community, whanau, peers and the wider music community.
2022 Winners | 2022 Soundtrack • 2021 Winners | 2021 Soundtrack • 2020 Winners | 2020 Soundtrack • 2019 Winners | 2019 Soundtrack • 2018 Winners | 2018 Soundtrack • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004
Songwriting is a craft of the imagination and we believe that the creative environment surrounding songwriters should foster, expose and celebrate these songs.
We run songwriting competitions with lyric, Maori language, Peace Song awards and others alongside. And we record at least 40 finalists each year in professional recording studios.
Songwriting, performance, and recording are the three pivots of our music evolution.
NZ Songwriters have their own take on what makes songwriting a vibrant, creative practice - read their fresh perspectives in our Songwriters Speak page
Songwriters SpeakWe've designed a poster with all key deadlines and dates for our competitions. Make sure to stick them in your calendar!
Further information about each competitions entry requirements can be found below in our "Competitions" section.
Online entry forms are now available for each competition.
Download the PDF and print it out, stick it up at school and hand it out to friends, get the word out there!
Director/Producer: Mareea Vegas / DOP: Kent Belcher / Art dept: Alex Matthews / Editor: Zac Blair /
Post production: Henry Williamson @ Thievery Studio / Hair: Luci Hare / Makeup: Tiveshni Naidoo / Clothing: Thanks to Lela Jacobs
Special thanks to NZ On Air for their Special Tracks grant which covered the recording and film making.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
The National Secondary School Songwriting Competition is the flagship programme of the Play It Strange Trust.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
This competition seeks songs with the lyrics embodying a focus on Peace. N.B. We are unable to offer the Hiroshima Exchange prizes this year.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
The Winner and all Finalists have been announced.
For all secondary school students in NZ.
The competition is judged based on the originality of the cover you choose to rearrange and sing, written and performed by a kiwi artist.
Supported by a Music Grant from Recorded Music NZ.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
Play It Strange presents a Cover Art competition to celebrate all creatives at New Zealand Secondary Schools.
This competition seeks an Album Artwork for the front cover of the 2018 Play It Strange Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition.
Play It Strange has worked for over 10 years, striving to provide secondary students with a platform they can use to pursue their musical adventures. We've held concerts, workshops and competitions, all with the intentions to provide the right environment from which students can gain confidence, self-belief and an impetus for a career path they would like to follow.
Read MorePatrons, Strange Friend Stars and our Strange Friends are a crucial and valuable community that support us.
We would love you to come on board.
All donations are tax deductible.
If you are interested in becoming a Platinum Patron or Strange Friends Star or indeed support Play It Strange in any way please give us a call, we would love to catch up and talk.
University of Waikato summer paper ‘Introduction To SONGWRITING’ has just finished.
Students have finalised the tracking of their two songs and the results are very cool.
I Know This To Be True was conceived and assembled by Geoff Blackwell of PQ Blackwell, and Ric Salizzo. It is a book about truth, beauty and wisdom. "Sixty New Zealanders in the middle of interesting lives talk about what really matters, truth and beauty, and the things they hold dear to their hearts."
Royalties from the book sales will be forwarded to PLAY IT STRANGE to further their website and school programmes.
I Know This To Be True is an incredible collection of New Zealanders discussing what it is that is important to them. PQ Blackwell have generously donated all profits from book sales to Play It Strange. We cannot thank them enough for their support of Play It Strange, and we are so grateful to be part of such a rich, inspiring project.
The book is available for purchase from any good book store in New Zealand and online. Go and get one and enjoy!
Play It Strange songwriters that have had their songs recorded for the annual CD are making cool inroads out into the world. Their career paths were fuelled from their time at school during which they sent their songs into our competitions and triumphed.
Here we have a selection of those who hit the ground running when they left school. With songwriting, performance and recording experience they were capable and poised for action.
CUSTOMERS: Those philanthropic institutions, individuals, grants bodies and funding agencies. We applaud their generosity in supporting us and their focus on the benefits we bring to the society around us.
CLIENTS: The songwriters and performers that bring their imaginative craft and performing skills to bear and we are all rewarded. From the secondary school songwriting competitions to the recording sessions for the top 40 songs.
Watch Seven Sharp's story on our WE ARE ONE - Concert for Autism here
Photo GalleryNZ Musician Magazine Review
