Five Minutes with with Ken Saunders, founder of Sydneyvision Song Contest

For 60 years, Eurovision has been beaming at the rest of the world endless Belgian balladeers and chirpy Andorran pop stars and the world has watched in mute astonishment. Europe has been firing at innocent people everywhere these inane pop song missiles. We felt that it was long overdue that someplace answered back – Sydney, with its 500 suburbs, we thought had the depth to take them on.

What can you tell us about the history of the competition?

As with all things that happen in Sydney, it started as a conversation in a café. The Newtown Neighbourhood Centre agreed to organise the contest and from there we approached Dendy Cinemas to host the Grand Final – much to our astonishment, they said yes (Eurovision really does have an odd hold on the world). This year we have a sponsor in GoGet Carshare who have contributed an impressive first prize of $2,000.

Are you looking to bring out some of the Eurovision-style kitsch and humour in the Sydneyvision Song Contest?

Unlike Eurovision, the songs in Sydneyvision don’t have to be awful to win. We have had songs that span from the serious, to the lyrical, to the completely absurd. Emu Plains once won with a science-fiction dance-off entry, but Newtown won with a beautifully filmed lyrical song. The contest clearly lends itself to humour and kitsch, but everything is welcome.

Entrants’ videos are required to include something ‘iconic’ about Sydney or a particular suburb. What can this entail?

This year our quest is for the Sydneyvision Song Contest to be described as ‘iconic’ (everything else in Sydney is). We are leaving the iconic content up to the entrant. If the entrant thinks it is iconic, whether that’s a Che Guevara T-shirt or a Vegemite sandwich or the Harbour Bridge, we’ll take their word for it.

How will a winner be decided?

Going around Eurovision-style to each Sydney suburb (“Hello South Turramurra”) would test the patience of even the most hardened Eurovision fan. We’ll have a panel of judges from film, music and entertainment to pick the winner. There is a People’s Choice award too.

[Sydneyvision: The Ruckus photoby Claire Guidicelli]

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