Champ Lui Pio calls on young composers to join the Filscap Songwriting Contest

HALE BAND's Champ Lui Pio, singer and songwriter, calls on young composers to join the Filscap Songwriting Contest. "Our country is rich in musical talent but we need more exposure for people to find out what we can do," he says. "The grand prize winner here will be sent to Australia for the Song Summit 2010 Conference from June 19 to 21 featuring internationally acclaimed artists and songwriters."

Born Arthur Bernard Lui Pio, his dad Nonoy Tan gave nicknamed him Champ as he was born on Feb. 8, 1982, a day after Nonoy won the Metropop Grand Prize for his song "Kahit La-La-La ay Puede Na". Champ finished management at St. Benilde but chose to follow in his dad's footsteps as songwriter of hits like "The Day You Said Goodnight", "Kung Wala Ka", "Broken Sonnet".

The deadline for the submission of entries in the Filscap contest is Monday, February 15. Check out the website songwritingcompetition@filscap.com.ph for details or visit the Filscap office at 140 Scout Rallos St., Quezon City, tel. 415-6284, 927-5986. Filscap stand for Filipino Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers, established to preserve the music legacy of Filipinos, provide incentives for composers, discover and nurture the talents of the composers of tomorrow. There will be 4 categories in the contest: pop, rock, novelty and R&B. Prizes are P10,000 for each of the 12 chosen finalists, P20,000 for 3rd prize, P30,000 for 2nd prize, P50,000 for 1st prize in all categories, plus P200,000 for the grand prize from all categories.