23 Sep 2017

Who should win the 2017 APRA Silver Scroll?

From RNZ Music, 1:00 pm on 23 September 2017
Nadia Reid, Chelsea Jade, Bic Runga, Aldous Harding, Lorde and some question marks

Photo: Supplied

We want you to tell us which song should win New Zealand’s premier song writing award and why.

Download the RNZ Voxpop app and look for: RNZ Music: Tell us which song should win the Silver Scroll and why.”

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The 2017 APRA Silver Scrolls are in Dunedin on Thursday.

This year’s finalist songs are:

  • ‘Close Your Eyes’ by Bic Runga and Kody Nielson: watch the vid
  • ‘Green Light’ by Ella Yelich O'Connor (Lorde), Jack Antonoff and Joel Little: watch the vid
  • ‘Horizon’ by Aldous Harding: watch the vid
  • ‘Life Of The Party’ by Chelsea Jade Metcalf and Leroy Clampitt: watch the vid
  • ‘Richard’ by Nadia Reid: watch the vid

Tell us who you think should win! We’ll put your response online and the best ones will get played on air.

The Silver Scroll Awards are widely considered the most prestigious accolade in New Zealand Music. The main award recognises outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting and is decided by other songwriters and composers - the more than 10,000 New Zealand members of the songwriting industry body APRA.

Dunedin will host the awards for the first time this year, at a ceremony in the Town Hall on Thursday 28 September.

On the night, the five finalist songs will be covered by different musicians, the idea being that each song is shown in a new light, which highlights the songwriting skill that's gone into them, as opposed to the production of the recorded versions of the songs.

For the 2017 ceremony, the music director is Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits, the Double Happys, Dimmer). A prodigal son of Dunedin, Shayne will curate the cover performances during the ceremony.

“It'll be fun playing musical match-ups and trying to find an interesting, and hopefully not so obvious array of artists to perform the songs and maybe find angles in them that the writers may never have thought of,” says Carter.

We can't wait to hear how he might surprise himself with the treatment of his own song 'I Know Not Where I Stand' if it makes it through to the final five!

Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Ray Columbus, Neil Finn, Shona Laing

Previous winners: Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Ray Columbus, Neil Finn, Shona Laing Photo: Supplied / RNZ: Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Previous winners: Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Ray Columbus, Neil Finn, Shona Laing Photo: Supplied / RNZ: Claire Eastham-Farrelly

The awards will include the presentation of the APRA Silver Scroll Award, the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, the APRA Maioha Award, the APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award, and the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award, as well as an induction of one legendary act into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

RNZ Music will bring you live coverage of the 2017 Silver Scroll Awards across radio, video and social media.

Past recipients of the Silver Scroll include veterans such as Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan, Shona Laing, Neil Finn, Bic Runga, and Ray Columbus, as well as members of NZ's younger generation of musicians, including James Milne & Luke Buda, Lorde, and The Naked and Famous.

Listen to Silver Scroll 2017 Finalists explain their songs

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