Home Composed Song Contest 1996

Contest overview

There was a great deal of confusion following the 1994 contest. Firstly, the event was not concluded until well into 1995, and then there was no response from the winner, Michael Constantinides, when asked whether he would be willing to organise the next contest. As a result, the competition effectively went into limbo for a year and looked like it might not survive at all until Ace Frehmen and Morten Boldt Hansen got in touch and revived the event.

Despite only having taken part once (and not particularly successfully!), Martin Faulkner from Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom was tasked with organising the 1996 Home Composed Song Contest, assisted by Martin Brook.

It turned out to be the biggest yet. 15 songs were submitted by eight composers in five different countries, and there were debut appearances for Dean Asker of the United Kingdom, Tony Olsen from Denmark, Israel's Alon Shanni, and Robbert Landegent from the Netherlands. In a new development this year, a lyric booklet was compiled and sent to all participants.

For the first time, there were enough entries to justify the use of the familiar Eurovision-style "12-10-8..." scoring system. Like in the previous contest in 1994, it was a first-time entrant who claimed victory, albeit from a country that had already tasted HCSC success. After an exciting three-way fight, Tony Olsen took the title in a very close finish, with the two entries by Jasmaynia (representing U.K. Central for the purposes of the contest) occupying second and third positions.

Further down the table, the remaining instrumental entries struggled to convince many jurors of their worth, demonstrating how much the competition - and the technology available to home composers - had developed in just a few short years. Instrumentals would become real rarities from now on, although they occasionally still enjoyed big success.

Entries and results

Draw	Country	Song Title	Performer	Composer	Lyricist	Position	Points
01	United Kingdom North	Playing With Dreams	Revelation	Martin Faulkner, Martin Brook	n/a	11	18
02	Italy	The Waiting Game	Fabio Giuntini	Fabio Giuntini	n/a	12	14
03	United Kingdom Central	Future World	Jasmaynia	Kent Harvey, Dean Asker	Kent Harvey, Dean Asker	3	54
04	Denmark West	Juliet	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	5	43
05	Israel	Khi lach et liby	Mizmor Shir	Alon Shanni	Alon Shanni	15	5
06	Denmark East	Till The End Of Time	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	6	39
07	United Kingdom South	Rosita	Ace Frehmen	Ace Frehmen	Ace Frehmen	9	20
08	Netherlands	Liefdesland	Robbert Landegent	Robbert Landegent	Robbert Landegent	8	29
09	Italy	Carried Away (By The Love In Flood)	Fabio Giuntini	Fabio Giuntini	Fabio Giuntini	7	38
10	United Kingdom North	Pingu Up My...	B.G.H.B.	Ray Holt, Martin Faulkner, Andrew Donaldson	Ray Holt, Martin Faulkner, Andrew Donaldson	13	12
11	Denmark West	A New Time Of The Year	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	1	58
12	Denmark East	Because Of You	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	4	46
13	United Kingdom South	I Heard A Cowboy	Ace Frehmen	Ace Frehmen	Ace Frehmen	10	19
14	Israel	Beyn hapreydot vehamesibot	Mizmor Shir	Alon Shanni	Alon Shanni	13	12
15	United Kingdom Central	Outta Control	Jasmaynia	Kent Harvey, Dean Asker	Kent Harvey, Dean Asker	2	57

Scoreboard

	Juries
									Total
Playing With Dreams		4	1	1	3		7	2	18
The Waiting Game			2		4		8		14
Future World	8	8		10	8	6	6	8	54
Juliet	3		12		7	5	12	4	43
Khi lach et liby	5								5
Till The End Of Time	2	6	5	12	2			12	39
Rosita		7	3	6		3		1	20
Liefdesland	4	2	7	3	5	4	4		29
Carried Away	1		6	7	6	10	5	3	38
Pingu Up My...		5	4			1	2		12
A New Time Of The Year	6	1	10		12	12	10	7	58
Because Of You	10	10	8	8	1		3	6	46
I Heard A Cowboy	7	3		2		7			19
Beyn hapreydot vehamesibot				4		2	1	5	12
Outta Control	12	12		5	10	8		10	57

Media

HCSC 1996 winner: Tony Olsen - A New Time Of The Year
Song removed at composer's request

Recap of all HCSC 1996 songs in draw order
The host