Mrs. Figen Cakmak, David Stark and UK contestant Sarah Class Mirela and Cornel Fugaru with contest winner Nico (Romania) The contestants line-up In and around Istanbul In and around Istanbul

SongLink's David Stark was a judge at the International Competition of Istanbul Songs held at the Grand Cevahir Hotel Auditorium on May 29th. The contest featured 12 international contestants singing old and new songs associated with Istanbul all sung in Turkish, as part of Istanbul's celebration as Europe's Capital of Culture for 2010. The contest was organised the Atlas Organisation in association with Mrs Figen Cakmak, Senior Vice-President of WAFA, the World Association of Festivals and Artists. Guest stars at the event included Anne Marie David from France, Christine Atallah from Canada and Turkish legends Cemil Sagyasar, Meltem Taskisan, Mustafa Sagyasar, Omur Goksel and Serap Yenici.

The winners were as follows:

1st - NICO (Romania)

2nd - GUNESH (Belarus)

3rd - EDWIN WILLIAMSON (Ireland)

FIDOF AWARD - GOYO TAVIO (Spain)

WAFA AWARD - GUERINO PAPA (Italy)

TURKISH JURORS' AWARD - GEORGI HRISTOV (Bulgaria)

LINKS:

> Istanbul Contest website

> WAFA (Festival Association)