Dick Lee's brother is a finalist in songwriting contest he judges

Local singer-composer Dick Lee's youngest brother is one of three finalists in a songwriting competition judged by Lee himself.

New York-based graphic designer Andrew Lee had his song and music video, We Are Stars, revealed on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference for the SG50: The Gift Of Song competition organised by MediaCorp.

The other two finalists were singer-songwriter duo Ciao Turtle's song, Being Here, and chef Lee Chin Sin's song, These Are The Days.

The three finalists were picked from almost 1,000 entries to the competition launched last September to celebrate Singapore's Jubilee this year.

In a statement released by MediaCorp's Managing Director of TV, Bernard Lim, who is also the competition's head judge, he says: "We received a tremendous response to The Gift of Song, and all eligible submissions were carefully screened by the appointed judging panel, which includes Dick Lee.

"When we received Andrew Lee's submission, Dick Lee declared a conflict of interest up front, before the panel heard Andrew Lee's entry, and abstained from judging or commenting on the song. Selected based on merit, it was a unanimous decision by the remaining judging panel to select Andrew Lee's song."

Andrew, 48, is the youngest of five children. He composed his entry based on his feelings of homesickness, having been away from Singapore the past 13 years. He recently received his Green Card in the United States.

All three finalists' songs and music videos are available online on the Toggle website, and will be featured on MediaCorp radio stations, TV Channels and Out-Of-Home screens.

Public voting for the winner started on Wednesday night and goes on till March 1 on the Toggle website or via telephone. Online voting is free but each telephone vote costs 32 cents.

The public votes will make up 60 per cent of the overall scores.

The composer of the winning song will receive a cash prize of $10,000, and have the song in a grand music video production by MediaCorp, featuring Singaporeans from all walks of life. The new music video will be released in the lead-up to this year's National Day Parade.

plow@sph.com.sg

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