Breaking News: A New Winner

Weeks after announcing our winner for 2009, today we are announcing a new winner — Emmanuel Mailau from PNG, with his thought-provoking song, 'Children'.

As Emmanuel explains: 'I live on a settlement here in Port Moresby called Sabama. The song is about all the children that I see everyday living such hard lives of poverty, the orphans that roam the streets on the settlement — it is an emotional song.'


Emmanuel's song first caught the attention of our judges on September 1, narrowly missing out on the prize when Devande's song 'Everything' was selected as the winning entry.

Brendon Telfer — Executive Producer at Radio Australia — clarifies the situation:

"Unfortunately, last week we discovered that the winning song, 'Everything', is written and recorded by the well-known Solomon Islands group, One-Tox. The name 'Devande' was originally provided on the entry form and is actually the name of the lead singer."

Our rules state that all entrants cannot be in an arrangement with a music publisher; sadly, One-Tox is in such a relationship. Pacific Break is about giving fresh, undiscovered talent a chance to be heard — in this case, the regrettable miscommunication meant that we awarded the prize to a band that is already well established. In the spirit of the competition, we couldn't ignore the fact that One-Tox is a band already well on their way to success.

We love the song 'Everything' and wish One-Tox all the best for their future endeavours. And we look forward to presenting Emmanuel Mailau on the big stage at Fest'napuan — and live on your radio — in a matter of days. We'll also be bringing you photos, interviews and stories from the festival as it unfolds.

Everyone who has heard the music of this year's competition — as well as our judges — were extremely impressed by the high quality of entries. There is an ever-increasing number of creative, inspired people in the Pacific, and it will continue to be our pleasure to share their amazing work with you. On our website and blog, we will be sharing yet more stories from musicians around the region, so you'll always know what's making waves in Pacific music.

Keep playing, keep singing, and keep listening to all the great music around you!

( http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/podcast/pacificbreak/podcast.xml)