As the only New Zealand artist to make it that far, Oni Kidman‘s name stands out among the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) 2025 finalists list which was announced mid-March, 2026.
Congratulations to the Auckland-based pop singer-songwriter who is among finalists in the Unpublished category, with her song Fragile Little Egos. The same song saw Kidman getting as far as the semi-finals in the Pop/Top 40 category, that list published just a few weeks earlier.
Kiwi artists showed up much more strongly among the ISC semi-finalist long list, perhaps the most unlucky not to progress being Kirwee country-folk singer ELskan FLY (Shelley Wyatt), who featured four times in the Americana and Unpublished sections with three different songs; Lion Den, Gloria and Thin Blue Line.
Feilding singer-songwriter Janine Knap had two semi-finalist songs with Changes in Blues and Drinks Courage in the Music Video category.
Versatile Kerikeri rocker Merv Pinny also had two songs with Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me in the Unpublished category and Shake For Me in Unsigned, while MOHI‘s song Up Late saw him a semi-finalist in both the R&B/Soul and Unsigned sections.
The Country category had a strong Kiwi showing with No Greater Love by Te Awamutu duo Rowdy’s Rose (Rosie and Blair Shaw), That Girl From Yesterday by Palmerston North country/pop singer Renee Therese (Renee Strawbridge), plus The Best Is Yet To Come from Hokitika singer-songwriter Katie Thompson, a co-write with Andy & Victoria Knopp of The Response.
Kath Bee (Human, Just Like Me) and Claudia Robin Gunn (If I Was A Farmer) both made the Children’s Music semis, while the Folk/Singer-Songwriter section included central Otago’s Just Janie with She Was Seen, and Aucklander Sam Bartells with his song Oblivion.
Eyla Stead from Christchurch made the Teen section with Partners In Crime, while Auckland’s The Noetic were semi-finalists in AAA (Adult Album Alternative) with Gravity.
Crazy Maze got Aucklander Deni Holl a look in the Lyrics Only section, with Napier artist Ella Pollett in Unsigned for A Name I Knew, and Selkie (Alexandra Ranford) from Auckland was among the Unpublished semi-finalists with Pain I Never Met.
Entries are open now for ISC 2026 at the Early Bird fee of US$25 per entry. The prizes for 2026 will be announced after the 2025 winners are announced in May, but entry gives you a chance to share in more than $150,000 in prizes and the opportunity to have your song/s heard by ISC’s iconic panel of judges.
