By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
OCEANPORT — A local singer-songwriter has been selected as one of 15 finalists who will get the chance to perform her own original music as part of a new television competition called “The Song.”
Borough native Cat London said she is thrilled to have been selected as one of the finalists for the pilot episode of “The Song,” which will premiere on television in the fall.
“Having the opportunity to do what I love in front of people who love what they do … is an enormous honor and fills my heart with crazy joy,” London said. “I’m absolutely over the moon, and so thankful to be a part of the passion.”
London’s acceptance into “The Song” comes after the show’s selection committee narrowed the list down from thousands of video submissions from artists and songwriters from across the country.
“What we had to do was submit a two-minute video with an original song of our choice, and they asked for a little tiny snippet of you showing your personality and introducing your song and then the remainder of the two minutes you have some footage of you playing your song,” London said.
The song she submitted, “Involved,” was originally intended for a different voice she said.
“That song, I like the way I feel when I sing [it], and I felt like it was a song I would be able to perform to my maximum,” London said.
“I actually wrote it for a male voice, that was the original intention, which is different.
“I happen to be a live performer of my own music, I’m not just a songwriter who writes for other people, so this was kind of one of the few endeavors I had writing in a different character voice other than my own, and it was interesting and I knew if they liked the song I’ll be able to talk about that aspect a lot more.”
The pilot for “The Song” will be filmed throughout Muncie, Indiana starting March 9.
According to London, the final two artists who make it through each round of the competition will have 48 hours to convert their original composition into a world-class arrangement and be production-ready for national release.
The winning song will be revealed in front of a live audience at a concert on March 12 at Pruis Hall at Ball State University in Muncie.
The judges panel for the new competition include Darius Rucker, former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman and solo artist, Skip Bishop, former senior vice president of promotion at Sony Music, Sister Hazel’s Drew Copeland, Blessid Union of Souls Eliot Sloan, Producer Mark Liggett and many more.
“I can’t wait to go,” London said. “We are going to meet so many cool people there, and even if ‘Involved’ doesn’t become ‘The Song’ … I’m just looking forward to being involved in something from the ground up.
“This is the first cast of ‘The Song’ … and it will be nice to be on something new and fresh that’s starting from the ground level. It is going to be very different.”
London said her involvement with music began at an early age.
“I have been a musical theater nut since I was younger and have been a music-appreciation nut as well because of my parents who constantly listened to various types of music,” she said.
“A few members of my family played guitar and drums and were in bands, so I received my first guitar when I was quite young, and I would write poetry all the time … so really it was a simultaneous project and … I never stepped away from it.”
London is also celebrating achievements surrounding her kindness campaign, #TheRightWay, which came about from a duet she wrote about bullying.
“This song is a little more in-depth and a little longer of a tune and you have to kind of pay deep attention to it,” she said.
“That song I wrote about two years ago now, and there was a choice that I had where I said ‘do I want to throw together this quick five-song EP or do I pour my heart and soul into this one song that doesn’t have a place on the album yet and release it as a single and pay a lot of attention to it?’
“So I chose ‘The Right Way’ and it developed into this huge campaign where I got a lot of friends on board and … we all felt that the reason we recorded it was because it had more power than just placing it as a track on an EP.”
The song was followed up with a video showcasing local students being interviewed about what it means to treat others the right way, and a music video for the song will be screened at the Garden State Film Festival April 2, and London said she looks forward to her submission response from the Asbury Music in Film Festival.
“It is our goal to spread the word of kindness and spread the word to schools, but it is a slow-going process, and we are always trying to build up our content and build up our likeability and respectability,” she said.
“We hope to spread the word and encourage kids to spread kindness through on larger platforms.”