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Ryerson theatre students submit original song into CBC’s city anthem contest

By Karoun Chahinian

A group of Ryerson students submitted their original song into CBC’s “Song in the 6ix” music contest.

Led by Cameron Walker Fox-Revett, himself and four other students wrote and produced the song “This Is My Youth,” hoping it will become Toronto’s new anthem and to win a prize of $10,000.

The contest began in mid-January, but Fox-Revett was approached by his friend Jenna Daley last week one day before his trip to Quebec. In a “fit of creative tantrum,” himself, Daley and three other classmates recorded their song in one day and submitted it minutes before the deadline.

“Before recording, I just walked down Yonge Street to think about what I could say about Toronto,” said Fox-Revett. “It’s sort of a reckless song about being a bit deviant and loving going out and celebrating and being a hot mess at times.”

The group of students also wanted to showcase Ryerson along with the theme of celebration.

“We wanted to do something that we thought showed potential and that we could bring back to Ryerson,” he said. “We were thinking about what Toronto meant to us and we basically spend all of our time at school, so why wouldn’t we try to integrate that into the song?”

The winner with enough votes not only receives a cash prize, which the students were going to use for future musical endeavours, they will also have the opportunity to professionally re-record their song, produce a music video and have it played on CBC’s radio station.

“We’re approaching the near-end of our academic line, we won’t have the support of a lot of faculty after that, so we want to invest in being able to make stuff like this happen more in the future,” said Fox-Revett. “The song was submitted in a ‘demo state’ meaning that it is not a finalized product. We are hoping that through the contest, and potentially winning it, we will refine it musically and lyrically and include more Ryerson people in it creatively and behind the scenes.”

Fox-Revett is also including the song in his original musical “A Year Ago Today” that is being featured in the performance school’s New Voices festival in early April.

Voting opened on Sunday and closes on Friday.

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