Salute Music Makers Announce the Six Finalists Battling it Out for the £50,000 Cash Prize
Lisa Kowalski is a Paisley-based singer-songwriter who has just made it into the Top 6 of the Salute Music Makers competition, meaning she has just won £10,000 and is even closer to the main prize of £50,000 and a place in the final of the unsigned music awards.
On Friday evening 29th October, public voting closed on Salute’s quest to unearth the very best in British musical talent. The public have spoken and the top six artists who have made it to the final out of over 2000 initial entrants, each of them winning £10,000 in the process are:
• Fin Henderson – A Million Places
• Malaika – Stop For a Minute
• Liam Doyle – I Won’t Let Go
• Lisa Kowalski – I Do
• Franc & Baby Pink – Erykah & Red Wine
• Happi – Forever
Heralding the final stage of the competition to find the best of unsigned UK musical talent, the final six will compete against each other to find the ultimate winner of Salute Music Maker’s ground-breaking competition, taking away the top prize of a no-strings attached, £50,000.
Salute Music Makers have developed a whole new way for Music Lovers to vote and become curators in their own right. The final voting stage will be split into two rounds via the innovation interactive voting system, which utilises Facebook Messenger and a specially-designed Facebook Messenger bot.
The public will still be able to access the Top 100 tracks as well as their curated playlist of up to 6 tracks they had voted for.
Round one will see the Top six tracks go head to head with each other via a playlist , for one winning vote by the public, who will give their favourite track some love by clicking on the heart.
The playlist will unlock at midnight on the 29 October and voting will close at 9pm on Wednesday 1st November.
Round two will see the six finalists release a new track via a second playlist that will unlock at midnight 1st November, again the six tracks will fight for one winning vote. Voting will close at 9pm on Saturday 4th November.
The winner will be the songwriter who has the most combined votes from round one and two and will be announced to the world at 6pm on Sunday 5th November.
After round one, the rankings of the top six will be released, meaning it could all change once the release of the new track has been voted on.
Happi
“I am so grateful to be in the final. When I entered the competition, I was really nervous as I have never done anything like it before and being in the top 100 was a dream. It’s humbling to know that my supporters and my loved ones helped to push me through to the top 6. It means so much to me to be here, to be supported and recognised by my peers but also to be able to represent a path of positivity and light in music. I’m thrilled to have gotten this far but I believe we can go all the way. “
Liam Doyle
“’I am overwhelmed to be amongst 5 other incredibly talented finalists in a competition with such a wide range of entries. After a tough year with voice problems, I’ve worked so hard to get back to normality and regain my self-belief. This prize is life changing whatever way the votes go. I can’t thank everyone enough for voting and a huge thank you to the judges for giving me this opportunity in the first place’”
Franc & Baby Pink
“Getting into the top 6 in the Salute Music Competition has been an incredible experience. Being able to achieve this and have an opportunity to kick-start our career and have a pathway into the UK music scene is so important to us. Building a solid fan base and having greater exposure is fundamental. To be able to reach so many more people and be able to, hopefully, affect them individually in some way through our songs, is truly an irreplaceable feeling and is something we are striving for.”
Malaika
“I am so shocked to have been in the top 6. There are so many amazing artists in the top 100. I am so excited about the next week I am going to get my song out there and try to get as many people voting as possible. I am so honoured to be part of such a unique opportunity. I feel that I have learned so much about self-promotion through this competition.”
Lisa Kowalski
“Being recognised on a national level in such a ground-breaking competition was a wonderful surprise. It means a lot that success was the result of selection by music industry professionals as well as incredible support from the public.”
Fin Henderson
“Absolutely honoured to have been selected for the final 6. Can’t express how much the selection from salute and the following support from the public means to me. Now just feeling hopeful for the week ahead!”
In 2018, further opportunities await the finalists with home-town gigs arranged in partnership with the Music Venus Trust to champion them in their local community.
Having emerged back in March amongst a storm of media interest, the original and innovative new music talent platform, Salute Music Makers have now reached the final stage of their national competition. Having already ensured their truly inclusive showcase for the best of UK talent features artists from over 50 different nationalities (resident in the UK), the entrants are based from Guernsey to the Shetland Isles, aged from their teens through to the over-45’s, and cover genres from classical to indie to grime and all points in between. Salute Music Makers revealed their unique voting system, which enables every music fan to not only vote but become curator and judge utilising Facebook Messenger to become the world’s first interactive voting system.
Spearheaded by the legendary former front-man of The Undertones, Feargal Sharkey, Salute are proud to be providing a platform for the up-and-coming songwriters of the UK. The Salute team of curators including Ras Kwame, Chris Tofu OBE, Jonathan Quarmby, Simon Perry (ReverbNation), Fiona Bevan, Dee Adam and Kwame Kwaten have evaluated and judged the top 100 artists, whose futures now lie in the hands of the most important people – the music lovers.
Click here to get involved and become a judge: