The winners of the 2003 Musicoz Awards, Australia’s largest music competition for independent artists, were announced in an star studded event at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong.
More than 90 finalists in 25 music categories were judged.
The Musicoz Artist of the Year was Bluejuice from Darlinghurst (Sydney, NSW) who took home prizes that will assist in launching their careers. Other winners shared in over $100,000 worth of prizes aimed at boosting their chances of making it in the music industry.
These prizes included a development recording package from Sony Music, a Festival Music Publishing opportunity, recording time at Studio 301, mastering at Turtlerock Studios, professional photo shoots with Tony Mott and Tribal Vision Photography, a broadcast quality music video from Relativity Studios.
The APRA Songwriters Award went to David Musumeci and Anthony Egizii from Five Dock (Sydney, NSW). The talented duo wrote 4 songs that made it into the Top 5 in four categories with two of the four songs winning their categories.
Channel Nine’s Caleb Packham (“The Camera Trap”) and Leah McLeod (‘DIY Rescue”) hosted the Awards show with Musicoz Patron Richard Wilkins opening and closing the night. The three Nine Network stars were joined by Australia’s leading music artists who came together in support of Australia’s largest music awards for unsigned artists.
Billed as Australia’s premier music awards for unsigned artists, the Musicoz Awards attracted interest from all over the country with entries of original music from independent artists flooding in from every state in Australia. The main categories of entry were: Pop, Rock, Metal, Jazz, Aboriginal TSI, Blues, Classical, Schoolies, R&B & Soul, Hip Hop, Dance, Country, Alternative, Acoustic, Folk, Gospel, World Music, Punk. Special awards were also given on the night.
Musicoz is a project managed by Wollongong City Employment Training (WCET), a non-profit, government-funded organisation. Musicoz has been running for only three years, giving unsigned bands, singers and writers real opportunities in the music industry.
MUSICOZ ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD – Bluejuice
POP WINNER – Emma Wilson
JAZZ WINNER – Eric Ossebaar
RNB/SOUL WINNER – Jayne- Anne Power
CLASSICAL WINNER – Andree Greenwell
BLUES WINNER – Peter Gelling
DANCE WINNER – Julie-Anne Melfi
FOLK WINNER – Wheelers & Dealers
GOSPEL WINNER – Carter & Carter
ROCK WINNER – Audience
PUNK WINNER – Wake the Nation
METAL WINNER – The Kindegarten Experiment
COUNTRY WINNER – Michael King
WORLD WINNER – The Borderers
ABORIGINAL WINNER – Elizabeth Gogos
HIP HOP WINNER – Bliss n Eso & Bng Productions
ACOUSTIC WINNER – Amy Vee
SCHOOLIES WINNER – Callee Mann
ALTERNATIVE WINNER – Underlapper