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player ready...PICKING THE WINNERS
After reading all 200 entries, I selected two dozen semifinalists. (My credentials? I review music for the Tribune, and I’m a studio producer and songwriter.) From those 24, Tribune music writers Mark Caro, Monica Eng and Maureen Ryan, KidNews intern Chris Wittenborn and I each picked five finalists. We argued over our lists, took a secret ballot over pizza and named three top vote-getters.
TUNING IN
I wrote and recorded the music for the winning lyrics in my home studio. Then 14 singers from area kids group The Happiness Club cut vocals at Kingsize Sound Labs in Bucktown. Once again, the singers in the club picked the grand-prize winner. They loved “Radio Broadcast” because of its catchy chorus and thought-provoking lyrics.
GRAND-PRIZE WINNER
Catie Hickey, 14, of Naperville. Catie wrote “Radio Broadcast,” a song that shows how fast the day’s headlines pile up into trivia. Catie won a Tascam Ministudio with a microphone, mike stand and headphones. (Each winner also gets a CD of the songs.)
Catie on “Radio Broadcast”: “I was on the school bus and they always had a talk show on. They would go on and on, and I just wondered what would happen if they said everything in rhyme.”
FACTOID: Catie may be the most accomplished musician to win our contest. A trombone player, she listens to everything from Stravinsky to Dave Matthews. She wrote her first lyrics, “Martians on Parade,” in 6th grade. She also composes music on computer.
ONE OF OUR FAVE LINES FROM “Radio Broadcast”: “It’s a half-and-half double-shot latte world/ Where things are moving at the speed of light/ It’s a 2-percent tall cocoa mocha hold the fat/ Without any relief in sight.”
RUNNER-UP
Kelly Lempa, 15, of Long Grove. Kelly wrote “The Angel,” about a boy who prays for an angel after his father dies — and discovers that he has a real live angel in his mother.
KELLY on “THE ANGEL”:”I just imagined the boy in the song was my little brother. Death is always considered sad. But the little boy realizes that he’ll be in heaven with his dad someday, and that his dad is happy.”
FACTOID: Kelly told us the Harry Chapin song “Cats In The Cradle” inspired her. These were her first song lyrics ever, though they didn’t begin that way. “I wrote it as a poem for school,” she said.
FAVE LINES FROM “THE ANGEL”:”I know that Daddy’s in heaven/ Right now he is with you/ But how can he be happy?/ Doesn’t he miss us too?/ Please send Daddy an angel/ So he won’t be sad/ Please send Daddy an angel/ And then he’ll be glad.”
RUNNERS-UP
Colin Garrity, 13,
of LaGrange (far left) and Yvan Wojtecki, 14, of Chicago. Their song, “Canada’s Made of Moose,” is a whacky tribute to our northern neighbors.
VAN on “CANADA”: “I go to Canada a lot. My mom’s French Canadian. I was just singing the refrain in the shower one day.”
COLIN on “CANADA”: “I went to Canada when I was 6, and I really liked it a lot. It was something Yvan and I had in common.”
FACTOID: Colin and Yvan continue the tradition of winners from St. Cletus School in LaGrange (three of last year’s winning writers went there). And Yvan has invited Colin on the family trip to Canada next summer!
FAVE LINES FROM “CANADA’S MADE OF MOOSE”: “Hey there! Canada’s made of moose/Canada’s made of goose/They’re red and white and they don’t fight/cuz Canada’s made of moose
THE HAPPINESS CLUB
These promising vocalists performed the winning entries of the KidNews songwriting contest.
They belong to The Happiness Club, a kids vocal group that promotes eduacation and self-esteem.
RADIO BROADCAST
Lyrics by Catie Hickey,14, Naperville
Partly cloudy, chance of showers
Fifty minutes to the hour
Forty on the Eisenhower
Ninety to the Loop
The temp right now is 28
Dropping fast, we’ll see snow late
Tomorrow doesn’t look that great
The roads will be pea soup
CHORUS
It’s a half-and-half double-shot latte world
Where things are moving at the speed of light
It’s a 2-percent tall cocoa mocha hold the fat
Without any relief in sight
Bulls coach says their team’s a mess
The Bears will play against the Jets
The Cubs lost 2-1 to the Mets
They’re two out of first place
The City Council passed a rule
To earmark funds for local pools
The mayor praised the public schools
“Equality of race”
Lyrics by Colin Garrity, 13, LaGrange; and Yvan Wojtecki, 14, Chicago
CHORUS
Hey there! Canada’s made of moose
Canada’s made of goose
They’re red and white and they don’t fight
Cuz Canada’s made of moose
O Canada, O Canada, your country’s very clean
O Canada… we thank you for not being mean
Your trees and grass are so very fresh and green
And we think your people are all so very keen
REPEAT CHORUS
Now Canada we praise you for your fish and CFL
And every time a stranger leaves you always wish him well
Canada, Canada, home of Quebecois and Newfies
You’re so nice you finish each demand with please
REPEAT CHORUS
Canada you are our kind neighbors to the north
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And open borders allow the goodness to go back and forth
Canada we thank you for your cheese an’ maple syrup
And we can trust you to never lie or be corrupt
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
We know about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and such
But we wanna learn the legends of your land so very much
Now this song is over and we hope to see you soon
And we would like to see you before the next blue moon
THE ANGEL
Lyrics by Kelly Lempa, 15, Long Grove
The small boy sat in the dark
A tear rolled and fell
As silent as the snowflakes
But, oh, the story it could tell
The world is cold
When your daddy’s gone
The snowflakes fell
And filled the lawn
No star to wish on — the sky was black
The moon it seemed to nod
With folded hands and shining eyes
He said a prayer to God:
Chorus
“I know that Daddy’s in heaven
Right now he is with you
But how can he be happy?
Doesn’t he miss us too?
Please send Daddy an angel
So he won’t be sad
Please send Daddy an angel
And then he’ll be glad
And if you’re not too busy
Please send me one too
‘Cause Daddy told me that
They always take good care of you…”
And when he was finished
The sky seemed to say
“Don’t worry, little one
God heard your prayer today.”
Just then someone knocked on his door
“You can come in,” he said.
She walked in silently
And sat down on his bed.
BRIDGE
The small boy asked his question:
“Doesn’t Daddy miss us? Doesn’t Daddy care?
How is heaven happy
If we aren’t together there?”
She thought awhile, and then she spoke:
“Dad misses us, but he isn’t sad
Because he’s with God
And God loves your dad.
Time doesn’t seem long to him
Because heaven lasts forever
Daddy is happy ’cause
He’s waiting for us to be together…”
After they had talked
She left to go to sleep
The small boy sat in the dark
Daddy, in his heart, he’d keep
The snow was falling
His joy was rising
With folded hands and shining eyes
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He said something surprising
“Mommy doesn’t have wings, or fly in the sky
But thank you, God, for answering my prayer
She was the angel I asked for
Because she is always there.”
2nd chorus
“And if Daddy doesn’t have an angel
That’s OK, I know
‘Cause he’s with God in heaven
And he’s watching me grow
Someday sooner or later
We’ll be together, I know
And we won’t be sad
‘Cause heaven is forevermore…”
The small boy slept in the dark
The wind outside it blew
The snow now was a blanket, soft
The whole world was now new
———-
These promising vocalists performed the winning entries of the KidNews songwriting contest. They belong to The Happiness Club, a kids vocal group that promotes education and self-esteem.
WANNA HEAR THE SONGS? HERE’S HOW!
(GO to www.chicagotribune.com/go/kidnews to hear the songs on-line.
SEND your name, address and phone number to KidNews Songwriting CD/baiduhai, 5th Fl./435 N. Michigan Ave./Chicago, IL 60611. The first 20 entrants get a free copy of the 1999 contest CD!
TUNE IN tow Radio Disney (WTAQ 1300 AM) through the week to hear song snippets.
HEAR The Happiness Club perform the songs at 2 p.m. Sunday at Second City e.t.c.1 at Piper’s Alley, corner of North and Wells, Chicago. It’s $5 for adults, $4 for kids. For more info, visit www.thehappinessclub.com or call 312-664-4032.
DO you SING? DANCE? HERE’S YOUR BIG CHANCE
The Happiness Club auditions singers (Oct. 9) and dancers (Oct. 16), noon to 5 p.m., at Wright College, 3400 N. Austin Ave., Chicago. Call 773-481-8264 to schedule your spot!