Even though the tour is over, the 2026 Contest season isn’t over quite yet. Last weekend, our friends at NPR’s Weekend Edition interviewed Jermaine from the South about his entry “Dan Vi-Cila” sung in Louisiana Creole. The Indiana-based, Louisiana-born musician spoke about using this language, not spoken by many (only 10,000 people worldwide), as a way to process a hard time in his life that he might’ve not felt comfortable talking about in English and, in turn, continue to keep a dying language alive.
Jermaine from the South is the first of a handful of entrants whose stories will be shared on-air this summer. Next week some of our judges will share round-ups of their favorite entries on All Things Considered.
From now on, we'll be in your inbox once a month giving you updates on the Contest community. If you have new music, are headed on tour or are collaborating with other members of the Contest community, please let us know! We’d love to continue to share your creativity and stories through this newsletter. |
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| And before we go: Thank you again to all 6,000 of you who submitted to this year’s Contest! We were able to feature many of you on Top Shelf and social media, through the Contest community mash-up and right here in this newsletter. Plus, for the first time, we announced the five finalists in addition to the winner — Les Greene, Lauren Frihauf, Noa Bar, the king will come — three of whom we were able to catch live on-tour. The 2026 Contest so far truly has been one filled with joy and community. |
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From the Desk,
NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest team |
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