Issue Date: May 26, 2002

General Category winner: Briana Blahnik
Patriotic Category winner: Leora Posner

Contest Results

They write the songs
Meet the winners of the USA WEEKEND-John Lennon Songwriting Contest for Teens.

By Dennis McCafferty

Wyclef Jean, right, a judge of our contest, works with sound engineer Kevin Myers at New York's Platinum Studios. Jean's latest CD, Masquerade, will be in stores next month.

One winner is an aspiring singer-songwriter who has filled a 100-page notebook with her creative writings. The other had never tried penning lyrics -- not even once -- until she heard about USA WEEKEND Magazine's contest.

Despite their contrasting experience, both Briana Blahnik, 15, of West Chester, Ohio, and Leora Posner, 14, of Torrance, Calif., are the winners of the first USA WEEKEND-John Lennon Songwriting Contest for Teens. Nearly 10,000 students entered the contest. A panel of leading music industry talents served as judges: Wyclef Jean, Amy Grant, Mary J. Blige and 98 Degrees' Nick Lachey. Briana's song, "Not Lookin' for a Playa", won for general lyric writing. Leora's "Patriot" won in the Patriotic category.

In addition to having their lyrics published in USA WEEKEND, the two teens won a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, where their prizes will be presented and Grammy Award-winning artist Jean will put their lyrics to music and perform them June 8; a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, courtesy of Maxell; and a new CD burner, the Iomega Predator 2 CD-RW, valued at $300. The students' schools will get two Yamaha acoustic guitars, two portable keyboards and a synthesizer.

Jean's work is cut out for him. The hip-hop star says he was very impressed by the range and depth of all of the submissions. "The lyrics from the teen contest really showed off the diversity that's out there in music today," he says. "Whether it's rap kids, country kids or rock kids, the lyrics expressed a lot of deep feelings. When you hear the truth, you know it."

The winners stood out because their lyrics were a testament to time-proven values of songwriting: honest emotions expressed vividly on paper. "Both winners used words to speak from their heart," Jean says. "Leora is an old soul trapped in a young body, communicating through words. Of course, in Briana's "Not Lookin' for a Playa", you have to read between the lines -- sounds like true love to me." (Briana insists it isn't; she says she was writing about how boys act in general when it comes to romance.)

"At my age, girls are just coming out of the stage where getting boys to like you isn't a game anymore," says Briana, who has been writing song lyrics since sixth grade. "But the guys are now just getting into that stage. It's all a game to them. Writing these lyrics helps round out my thoughts. You know what they say about writing: Even if it's on a subconscious level, you should go out and put your feelings down. It helps you figure things out and guide your moral decisions."

Leora, on the other hand, is a relative novice to songwriting. But an unnerving real-life experience inspired her: Her brother, Jesse, is in the Army and turned 18 on Sept. 11 while stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. "I wanted to write about how I felt," Leora says. "I was just so scared he would go to war." At press time, he had not yet been called overseas but was on "deployment readiness" standby alert, as part of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Lachey, too, was impressed by both winning lyrics. "'Patriot' was very cleverly worded," he says. "Her concept and emotional angle were very cool. It captured, to me, the atmosphere of the situation. Playa sounded exactly like what an R&B song should sound like. It's hard sometimes to get that feeling on paper, but Briana did that.

"With many teens, there's a stigma about writing songs, even if they're already writing poems, short stories and journal submissions. I tell them, 'Go for it. Once you get over the mental block, you can see that you really can do this.' That's what these two lyrics demonstrated."

Brian Rothschild, executive director of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, an international competition for adults, says he hopes the teen contest will inspire more young people to write lyrics for fun and fulfillment. "It's a great opportunity for them to express themselves in a format that's popular and easy to relate to," he says.

"Both winners used words to speak from their heart," says Wyclef Jean. Fellow judge Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees praises the lyrics' clever phrasing and depth of feeling.

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General category

Briana Blahnik, 15, of West Chester, Ohio, is a 10th-grader at Mount Notre Dame High School in Cincinnati.

"Not Lookin' for a Playa"

My girls told me the word
They told me what they heard
Now look and, baby, see
There's no you and me
(Chorus:)
"Not Lookin' for a Playa" like you
Doesn't really matter what you do
Lookin' for a love that's true
Can't get it from a playa like you
Caught on to your little game
You think every girl's the same
But, playa, that ain't true
I'm too good for you
(Chorus)
Just playin' till ya get the girl
Got the oyster, get the pearl
Open up and see
That ain't gonna be me
(Chorus)

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Patriotic category

Leora Posner, 14, of Torrance, Calif., is a 9th-grader at the Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, Calif.

"Patriot"

Your 18th birthday
Away from home
Fort Benning Combat Training
Tired. Alone.
Chose this life of service
With morning P.T. done
Life had new meaning
It was nine one-one 0 one
Just another birthday
Another year
It defined your life
And the nation you hold dear
Pray you'll be followed
By other Patriots true
I feel safer knowing you
Serve the red white blue
Just your little sister
Old enough to know
Could lose you instantly
Wherever you may go
They woke sleepy dragon
Now the Eagle flies
You graduated Airborne
The warbird in your eyes

Photos by: (Jean) Todd Plitt for USA WEEKEND; (Posner) Adeeb Howrani