Shanghai World Expo solicits official songs

While the Beijing Olympics countdown carries on, another countdown is underway in Shanghai. This year's competition now is closed for the official theme of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. The global solicitation drew 600 compositions. Now it's up to the judges to decide.

Since the launch of the campaign in May, organizers received 604 entries. The majority came from China. Other entries came from France, Japan, and South Korea. The musical style is predominantly popular. There's some rock, some ballad, and even some jazz.

Most of the entries are composed by amateurs. Only 15 came from professional composers.

The selection process will take about two months. A short list of ten tunes is to be released in December.

Organizers say the campaign will be conducted in each of the next two years. In each case, another short list will be derived and added to this year's list for final appraisal.

So far, a total of 174 countries, regions and organizations have declared intentions to take part in the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. That breaks the record of 172 set at the 2000 Expo in Hanover, Germany. By opening day, the Shanghai World Expo expects to showcase the best of 200 countries, regions, and international organizations.

Editor:Liu Fang