The Toronto Song Contest

"We all love to live in Toronto
And we come from everywhere
In this city of hopes and dreams
We know what the good life means
We all love to live in Toronto."
- "Love to Live in Toronto" chorus

It's official. On August 21st 2009 George Axon and Aidan Mason won the Toronto Song Contest with their song "Love to Live in Toronto". According to the Toronto Star, the song received 6,620 of the 20,771 votes cast by the public before equally impressing a panel of judges at the CNE.

• Listen to the winning song online at www.toronto.ca/175

What Was the Toronto Song Contest?

In honor of the 175th anniversary of its incorporation on March 6 1834, the City of Toronto announced numerous events and initiatives that would run throughout 2009. Among these was the Toronto Song Contest, which invited Canadian residents 13 years of age and older to submit a song that reflected "Toronto's amazing spirit and unparalleled diversity". The Toronto Song Contest is presented in partnership with CP24, NOW Magazine, the North By Northeast Music and Film Festival and the CNE. The winner will receive $5000 and the bragging rights that go along with having your work used in official city events.

How Was the Winner of the Toronto Song Contest Chosen?

Entries to the Toronto Song Contest were submitted through SonicBids.com up until 11:59pm on May 10th, 2009. Preliminary judges Dan Kershaw, Stan Meissner, Aisha Wickham Thomas and Jordan Bimm then narrowed the submissions down to ten finalists based on five criteria - creativity, originality, lyrics, melody and arrangement. The ten finalists were announced with a free public performance of each song in Yonge-Dundas Square on June 18th, 2009. The event also helped kick-off the 15^th North By Northeast Music and Film Festival (NXNE).

Public Voting
Following the live performances, the ten songs were posted online on the official website. Visitors to the website could listen to the finalists and vote on their favorite - public votes made up 20% of the final decision.

The Showdown
So where did the other 80% of the decision come from? On August 21, opening day of the 2009 Canadian National Exhibition, the finalists performed on the CNE's Midway Stage at 7pm in front of a panel of celebrity judges - Toronto Mayor David Miller, Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, CP24 Breakfast cohost Matte Babel, Etalk reporter Traci Melchor and Managing Director of North By Northeast Andy McLean.

So Who Were the Finalists?

The ten finalists in the Toronto Song Contest were:

• My City’s Alive
  Major Music Productions (featuring Terrance Cross)


• Love to Live in Toronto
  George Axon and Aidan Mason


• The Toronto Song
  Mr. Leverty & the TDSB All-Stars


• City Glow
  Shobha


• A World in One City
  Kevin “MAK” Watson


• Electrify Toronto
  Lynzie Kent (featuring Maya Chilton and Constant Bernard)


• T.Ode
  Abdominal and the Obliques (featuring Notes to Self)


• One Hundred & Seventy Five
  The Bradleys


• Toronto is My Home
  Matt Hutch


• The Toronto We Know
  Lynn Harrison and David Leask

You can still see video of all ten performances from the Yonge-Dundas Square show on the CP24 Toronto Song Feature.

Sources/Further Reading:
The Toronto Song Contest webpage on Toronto.ca (since removed)
The 175th Anniversary webpage on Toronto.ca
CP24 Toronto Song Feature
"Duo wins for ditty on city" on TheStar.com