tournament Golden Hit: Season 1 📀 Congrats to 8thPrince and Jackson!! 🏆🏆

[lex]

Not Australia sabotaging

[Remmy]

2 hours ago, Aurora said:

Hey all.

 

Just wanted to inform you of some issues I’m currently going through. Due to severe weather conditions I lost power yesterday. 18 hours later and it’s still out with no estimated repair time due to ongoing dangerous weather conditions.

 

When the power went out I was working on the next challenge as I had something quite elaborate planned for it. Hoping to stick to the Saturday challenge schedule it’s looking like the challenge will have to be scaled back a bit which I’m extremely disappointed about since I was quite excited about this one.

 

This will become clearer in the coming hours when the challenge is posted. I apologise for any delays this may cause as well.

(Pretending your update isn't there) All good  Do what you gotta do

2 hours ago, fountain said:

We serve interesting every round baby, not just at the final 

You may be a judge but I'LL be the judge of that

11 minutes ago, Aurora said:

Small update: I now have access to a laptop and internet so challenge should hopefully be up within the hour.

Slay

[mxtthewdelrey]

with less than an hour to go until the challenge is posted it seems like the perfect time for everyone to check out the debut album from a certain tiktok starlet 

[Aurora]

 

 

Welcome, writers! Round 4 really did make us proud to host ATRL's newest songwriting tournament, Golden Hit.

Our submission count has remained steady as we head into the final third of the tournament. Can you believe it?

While results for Round 4 will be revealed in a little under 24 hours, our challenge schedule remains unchanged!

 

Without further ado, let me introduce you all to the fifth round of the season...

 

This is one of our favourite challenges that was also included in the original Platinum Hit 10.5 season! It's the perfect way for us judges to showcase our own creative inspirations, and what we'd love to see in a song. For anyone who hasn't participated in this challenge before, us judges; fountain, Element, and myself, Aurora, have all custom made a challenge for this round with differing requirements. You are only required to select one for this challenge to complete, based on which option you prefer or would find the most creatively interesting, inspiring, or perhaps even challenging to write. The challenges are...

 

Quote

fountain’s Cultural Appreciation challenge

For this challenge, I am looking for songs written inspired by, and in dedication, to your culture. That is: your heritage, your race, your ethnicity, your ancestry, etc., whatever it is that shows your personal culture and unique experience of it. Note: I quite specifically am NOT looking for people to write about a culture that they do not belong to, this challenge is about being inspired your own personal culture and appreciating it in writing, and not about appropriating another culture to fit the challenge. For those who do not have a specific culture that they can draw inspiration from, I will instead also be accepting songs inspired by your nationality and the country that you are from, so long as the song includes specific and unique cultural traits as a focus (eg. Aurora could write a bop dedicated to dingos or a ballad about how the Australian wildlife is literally hell on Earth). 
 

Judge’s Tips

 📀 This is quite similar in theory to the Queer Pride challenge, instead being about your culture rather than your sexual or gender identity, so you could draw inspiration from the way you dealt with the Queer Pride challenge too. 
 📀 The more personal and unique the song is to you, the better. As with the Queer Pride challenge, this is not one where I am asking you to take a conceptual route, but rather to let us into your world and your viewpoint; this time with the focus on culture. 
 📀 It’s called the Cultural “Appreciation” challenge but that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to write a positive song, whatever your experience is with being a part of the culture that you are, I’d love to hear; ultimately I just want to read songs that are imbued with your personal cultural identity for a diverse and informative show this round, offering a specific moment here to appreciate this in writing.

Quote

Element’s Historical challenge

For my challenge, I’d like you to take inspiration from world history! Select a significant historical event (must be prior to 1990) and use this as the basis for your song. There are many different routes you could go here. You could try and write from the perspective of a key person involved in or witness to this event. You could discuss the impact of this historical event on the world. You could use the event as a comparison to a modern experience. 

So crack open your history textbooks (AKA Wikipedia) and tell us an interesting story!

 

Judge’s Tips

 📀 Pick something dynamic and unexpected as your historical event. We wouldn’t want to see 10 entries about the same thing. Perhaps even choose an event you hadn't heard of / don’t know much about. 
 📀 Allow yourself to really learn about this slice of history… gain all the facts and emotions surrounding it, and channel that research into your lyrics.
 📀 Don’t just pigeonhole the event into your lyrics once and forget about it. We want the historical experience to be encompassed by the whole song.
 📀 If multiple moments in history can be tied together to your lyrics, feel free to do so. But remember not to lose focus on the overall messaging/theme/story you are telling. Some songs might excel more with a single influence.
 📀 We encourage you to send links that explain your historical event at a high level. We would love to learn about it!

 

Quote

Aurora’s Multimedia challenge

Hey, Hitmakers! For my “Judge’s Choice” challenge I wanted something that would really test the limits of your creativity. I’m requesting songs inspired by different types of media... think films, television (or streaming service) series’, video games, etc. Anything with a strong visual and story component that would be suitable for musical interpretation.
 

As a Multimedia challenge however, I’m hoping to see multiple aspects of your creativity. As such, I have created a unique submission template for this challenge, modelled after a web encyclopedia style format. Should you choose to submit for this challenge, you will fill out this template, and link to its respective Google Doc in the submission form.
 

In short, this challenge will require the following:
 📀 Song lyrics inspired by your choice of media with a strong visual and story component.
 📀 A single cover artwork curated or designed for the song.
 📀 An instrumental selected or self-produced for the song.
 📀 A music video treatment conceptualised for the song.
 📀 A brief summary of the creative process behind the song (i.e required other information).
 

Click here to access the Google Docs template. In order to edit it, you will need to select File -> Make a copy, then you can begin the challenge! Here is a link to an example I made for one of my songs to provide an idea of what the finished result might look like. Feel free to experiment and get creative with the template with additions, but no sections are to be removed, and the red sections are required to be replaced by your own content.
 

This challenge is very creatively involved, as I wanted an option that might push the creative muscles of writers who have the time to commit to a fun mini-project such as this!

Songs due via Google Form submission by Thu. Jun 16, 11:59PM EST

 

The top three submissions will earn their writers a Hit Token, so make sure to submit for your chance at one of those. If you have not submitted during Golden Hit thus far, that's fine! Just submit an entry and we'll add you to the sign-ups list.

 

 

@Julia Fox@Insanity@Hanami-Blossom@boubour@Remmy@Astro@Jackson@Achilles.@Seiko Oomori@Speezy@Euterpe@GentleDance@ughgabriel@Obsession@OreGuy@Overprotected@JoeAg@TruGemini@☆lex@Augmented@luckystrike@Arrows@Blue.@8thPrince@hurricane326@JonginBey@Better Mistakes@Tylerbv@RobDeWittBukater@EpicSongFan@Lorenzo22@Jessie@EnigmaticAndroid@Kunst@Prisoner@D e v o n@selena_lavigne@Hug

[8thPrince]

Oh your challenge is a major gag @Aurora

[Remmy]

Quote

 ? Song lyrics inspired by your choice of media with a strong visual and story component.
 ? A single cover artwork curated or designed for the song.
 ? An instrumental selected or self-produced for the song.
 ? A music video treatment conceptualised for the song.
 ? A brief summary of the creative process behind the song (i.e required other information).

I can understand needing like, 3/5 of these but all 5?? BRUH  This is the only challenge that appeals to me (in terms of topic) nnn

[Into The Void]

I was gonna send in my Gay Pride one but what I wrote i left at work lol

[fountain]

1 minute ago, hurricane326 said:

Can the historical challenge be based on a more minor event?

@Element what do you decree? 

[Aurora]

13 minutes ago, 8thPrince said:

Oh your challenge is a major gag @Aurora

I was really hoping it would be! I lost power while halfway through setting up the template and feared I might have to scale it back to just "write a song inspired by media". Thankfully I was able to pull it together this morning. I hope you'll consider submitting for it!

 

10 minutes ago, Remmy said:

I can understand needing like, 3/5 of these but all 5?? BRUH  This is the only challenge that appeals to me (in terms of topic) nnn

To be fair, this was intentionally designed as a sort of "hard mode" challenge given it's optional/not required. (Imagine if something like this was mandatory?) We have plenty of first-day submissions each week, so I feel like it might be a fun challenge for those who conceptualise their ideas quickly. It also might help provide a new way of mindset for some, treating the entire piece as a project taking visuals, sonics, marketing etc. into account which could in turn strengthen the quality of the lyrics themselves. I'd strongly encourage anyone who has the time to go for it, but the other challenge options are pretty neat too!

 

I wonder if anyone will attempt all three.

 

5 minutes ago, Insanity said:

I was gonna send in my Gay Pride one but what I wrote i left at work lol

Any submission would be better than nothing for your overall season average! I'd encourage you to submit anything, even if it's last minute.

[fountain]

I love this challenge, it’s so fun seeing the different judge’s choices and giving everybody an option to pick a challenge that most appeals to them, but also for the judges to have a chance to create their own unique challenges

 

 

Let’s keep a sign up sheet for fun, there’s no actual limit to how many can choose each challenge but it’d be nice to keep track of who is going for which one

 

fountain’s Cultural Appreciation challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc.

 

Element’s Historical challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc. 

 

Aurora’s Multimedia challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc.

 

[Remmy]

fountain: tell me about how white you are!

Element: talk about history, which you didn't pay attention to in school!

Aurora: You love entertainment, right!??! Well pick any movie/show/game and write about it!  ...then send over a Powerpoint presentation (minimum 10 slides), a 3-page essay and a book report (don't forget your citations!) Best of luck!

[Hug]

The way I had an idea for a song I wanted to write and I thought "there's no way there's going to be a challenge suited for it" but YET...!!

 

Aurora’s Multimedia challenge:

 

1. hurricane326

2. Hug

3. 

etc.

 

 

[Element]

7 minutes ago, fountain said:

@Element what do you decree? 

Minor event is fine!

[Aurora]

4 minutes ago, fountain said:

I love this challenge, it’s so fun seeing the different judge’s choices and giving everybody an option to pick a challenge that most appeals to them, but also for the judges to have a chance to create their own unique challenges

 

 

Let’s keep a sign up sheet for fun, there’s no actual limit to how many can choose each challenge but it’d be nice to keep track of who is going for which one

 

fountain’s Cultural Appreciation challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc.

 

Element’s Historical challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc. 

 

Aurora’s Multimedia challenge:

 

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc.

 

Ooh this is a good idea.

[fountain]

6 minutes ago, Remmy said:

fountain: tell me about how white you are!

Element: talk about history, which you didn't pay attention to in school!

Aurora: You love entertainment, right!??! Well pick any movie/show/game and write about it!  ...then send over a Powerpoint presentation (minimum 10 slides), a 3-page essay and a book report (don't forget your citations!) Best of luck!

[Hug]

Like literally I wanted to take inspiration from a video game that I've been playing obsessively for like a week now  it just so happens to be a very story/lore-rich game with a lot to pull from, especially from a visual standpoint! This is kinda the first time I've been like...excited for a challenge (not that I hated the others except for the 500 words minimum one) but this challenge perfectly aligns with what I wanted to do myself

 

[Aurora]

10 minutes ago, Remmy said:

fountain: tell me about how white you are!

Element: talk about history, which you didn't pay attention to in school!

Aurora: You love entertainment, right!??! Well pick any movie/show/game and write about it!  ...then send over a Powerpoint presentation (minimum 10 slides), a 3-page essay and a book report (don't forget your citations!) Best of luck!

I don't recall fountain ever stipulated you had to have pride in your culture, necessarily. A self-aware anthem is coming, I fear.

 

2 minutes ago, Hug said:

Like literally I wanted to take inspiration from a video game that I've been playing obsessively for like a week now  it just so happens to be a very story/lore-rich game with a lot to pull from, especially from a visual standpoint! This is kinda the first time I've been like...excited for a challenge (not that I hated the others except for the 500 words minimum one) but this challenge perfectly aligns with what I wanted to do myself

 

We stan the stars aligning! I'm super excited to see how people tackle this challenge. I lowkey expected it to flop a biT so this initial positive reception is cute. Potential mainstay challenge alert? ?

[fountain]

4 minutes ago, Hug said:

Like literally I wanted to take inspiration from a video game that I've been playing obsessively for like a week now  it just so happens to be a very story/lore-rich game with a lot to pull from, especially from a visual standpoint! This is kinda the first time I've been like...excited for a challenge (not that I hated the others except for the 500 words minimum one) but this challenge perfectly aligns with what I wanted to do myself

 

What game is it? 

[fountain]

40 minutes ago, Aurora said:

 

 

Welcome, writers! Round 4 really did make us proud to host ATRL's newest songwriting tournament, Golden Hit.

Our submission count has remained steady as we head into the final third of the tournament. Can you believe it?

While results for Round 4 will be revealed in a little under 24 hours, our challenge schedule remains unchanged!

 

Without further ado, let me introduce you all to the fifth round of the season...

 

This is one of our favourite challenges that was also included in the original Platinum Hit 10.5 season! It's the perfect way for us judges to showcase our own creative inspirations, and what we'd love to see in a song. For anyone who hasn't participated in this challenge before, us judges; fountain, Element, and myself, Aurora, have all custom made a challenge for this round with differing requirements. You are only required to select one for this challenge to complete, based on which option you prefer or would find the most creatively interesting, inspiring, or perhaps even challenging to write. The challenges are...

 

For this challenge, I am looking for songs written inspired by, and in dedication, to your culture. That is: your heritage, your race, your ethnicity, your ancestry, etc., whatever it is that shows your personal culture and unique experience of it. Note: I quite specifically am NOT looking for people to write about a culture that they do not belong to, this challenge is about being inspired your own personal culture and appreciating it in writing, and not about appropriating another culture to fit the challenge. For those who do not have a specific culture that they can draw inspiration from, I will instead also be accepting songs inspired by your nationality and the country that you are from, so long as the song includes specific and unique cultural traits as a focus (eg. Aurora could write a bop dedicated to dingos or a ballad about how the Australian wildlife is literally hell on Earth). 
 

Judge’s Tips

 ?  This is quite similar in theory to the Queer Pride challenge, instead being about your culture rather than your sexual or gender identity, so you could draw inspiration from the way you dealt with the Queer Pride challenge too. 
 ?  The more personal and unique the song is to you, the better. As with the Queer Pride challenge, this is not one where I am asking you to take a conceptual route, but rather to let us into your world and your viewpoint; this time with the focus on culture. 
 ?  It’s called the Cultural “Appreciation” challenge but that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to write a positive song, whatever your experience is with being a part of the culture that you are, I’d love to hear; ultimately I just want to read songs that are imbued with your personal cultural identity for a diverse and informative show this round, offering a specific moment here to appreciate this in writing.

 

 

For my challenge, I’d like you to take inspiration from world history! Select a significant historical event (must be prior to 1990) and use this as the basis for your song. There are many different routes you could go here. You could try and write from the perspective of a key person involved in or witness to this event. You could discuss the impact of this historical event on the world. You could use the event as a comparison to a modern experience. 

So crack open your history textbooks (AKA Wikipedia) and tell us an interesting story!

 

Judge’s Tips

 ?  Pick something dynamic and unexpected as your historical event. We wouldn’t want to see 10 entries about the same thing. Perhaps even choose an event you hadn't heard of / don’t know much about. 
 ?  Allow yourself to really learn about this slice of history… gain all the facts and emotions surrounding it, and channel that research into your lyrics.
 ?  Don’t just pigeonhole the event into your lyrics once and forget about it. We want the historical experience to be encompassed by the whole song.
 ?  If multiple moments in history can be tied together to your lyrics, feel free to do so. But remember not to lose focus on the overall messaging/theme/story you are telling. Some songs might excel more with a single influence.
 ?  We encourage you to send links that explain your historical event at a high level. We would love to learn about it!

 

 

Hey, Hitmakers! For my “Judge’s Choice” challenge I wanted something that would really test the limits of your creativity. I’m requesting songs inspired by different types of media... think films, television (or streaming service) series’, video games, etc. Anything with a strong visual and story component that would be suitable for musical interpretation.
 

As a Multimedia challenge however, I’m hoping to see multiple aspects of your creativity. As such, I have created a unique submission template for this challenge, modelled after a web encyclopedia style format. Should you choose to submit for this challenge, you will fill out this template, and link to its respective Google Doc in the submission form.
 

In short, this challenge will require the following:
 ? Song lyrics inspired by your choice of media with a strong visual and story component.
 ? A single cover artwork curated or designed for the song.
 ? An instrumental selected or self-produced for the song.
 ? A music video treatment conceptualised for the song.
 ? A brief summary of the creative process behind the song (i.e required other information).
 

Click here to access the Google Docs template. In order to edit it, you will need to select File -> Make a copy, then you can begin the challenge! Here is a link to an example I made for one of my songs to provide an idea of what the finished result might look like. Feel free to experiment and get creative with the template with additions, but no sections are to be removed, and the red sections are required to be replaced by your own content.
 

This challenge is very creatively involved, as I wanted an option that might push the creative muscles of writers who have the time to commit to a fun mini-project such as this!

 

Songs due via Google Form submission by Thu. Jun 16, 11:59PM EST

 

The top three submissions will earn their writers a Hit Token, so make sure to submit for your chance at one of those. If you have not submitted during Golden Hit thus far, that's fine! Just submit an entry and we'll add you to the sign-ups list.

 

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@Julia Fox@Insanity@Hanami-Blossom@boubour@Remmy@Astro@Jackson@Achilles.@Seiko Oomori@Speezy@Euterpe@GentleDance@ughgabriel@Obsession@OreGuy@Overprotected@JoeAg@TruGemini@☆lex@Augmented@luckystrike@Arrows@Blue.@8thPrince@hurricane326@JonginBey@Better Mistakes@Tylerbv@RobDeWittBukater@EpicSongFan@Lorenzo22@Jessie@EnigmaticAndroid@Kunst@Prisoner@D e v o n@selena_lavigne@Hug

Repost

Edited June 12, 2022 by fountain

[Aurora]

Just now, fountain said:

Repost

Not the quotes not quoting, the challenge is amiss your honor!

[fountain]

1 minute ago, Aurora said:

Not the quotes not quoting, the challenge is amiss your honor!

Edited it 

[Remmy]

4 minutes ago, Aurora said:

I don't recall fountain ever stipulated you had to have pride in your culture, necessarily. A self-aware anthem is coming, I fear.

[Remmy]

Let’s keep a sign up sheet for fun, there’s no actual limit to how many can choose each challenge but it’d be nice to keep track of who is going for which one

 

fountain’s Cultural Appreciation challenge:

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc.

 

Element’s Historical challenge:

1. 

2. 

3. 

etc. 

 

Aurora’s Multimedia challenge:

1. hurricane326

2. Hug

3. Remmy

4. 

5. 

etc.

 

 

Okay fine I'll do it  I've written songs to free beats before so that's not the issue, just not excited to go instrumental hunting! and the single cover + video concept might end up a little half-assed nnn.

[fountain]

8 minutes ago, Aurora said:

I don't recall fountain ever stipulated you had to have pride in your culture, necessarily. A self-aware anthem is coming, I fear.

I hadn’t considered this actually, but I’d allow white players to write a song criticising their culture, sure. It wasn’t the real intention of the challenge but I can see it working out if it’s executed well! Or perhaps even a Lily Allen esque ironic/sarcastic song about a lack of culture, that could be cute. Hopefully the nationality aspect gives more potential options, too. 

[fountain]

12 minutes ago, Remmy said:

No shade but 

 

Quote

• Location: Florida (sadly)

There’s so much potential there