Play It Strange 2005

There is just so much learning happening between 13 and 18  . . .  just all these things that you're absorbing. You're a total sponge, and I think that perhaps you have this heightened sense of creativity.

– Judge Emily Johansen from NZ On Air on the creativity of the entrants, early in this documentary

When you're at secondary school and you write a song, you're true to yourself. You're not part of some professional star-making machinery out there trying to get hit records.

– Play It Strange head Mike Chunn on the authenticity of the competition entries, early in this documentary

Singing is like my outlet. It gets really hard when you bottle up all your emotions and stuff, and you just feel like you're going to explode. So I guess singing is the way that I express emotions  . . .  If you look at my songs, it's like a map of my life, a giant diary of my life.

– Finalist Lydia Gammie on why she sings

The best thing about the song competition is that if there is a little Neil Finn in there aged 14, or a Dave Dobbyn or some Salmonella Dubs running around or whatever, they can be more upskilled, more savvy and more ready to go when they leave school.

– Play It Strange head Mike Chunn on the value of the competition for scouting talent

The way I see it is that the difference between the top five will be personal taste now: they'll all just be good songs. So it'll just be what the judges like, what they think sounds good. It won't be because it's bad or anything. And you get the same amount as the winner anyway....

– Finalist Sjan Giles-Oza, late in this documentary

My part in entering the song competition? I didn't enter the song competition: my mother entered it for me. Nice mother aye?  

– Jessy Wadesdon on her mum's support

These guys are all entrants in this year's Play It Strange national secondary school songwriting competition. It's the second time round and the amount of budding songwriters out there is huge. The aim is to find talented teenagers from all over the country, and give them an opportunity to shine. 

– Narrator Carly Binding introduces the competition