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Some of the biggest names in the music world have served on the judging panel for the Radio 3 Carol Competition. This year is no exception, with Gareth Malone, Ed Balls, YolanDa Brown, Anna Lapwood and Manvinder Rattan all on board to help select 2022’s winning carol.

Aspiring songwriters can enter the competition online or by post any time up until 11.59pm on 1 November 2022. The judges, led by Gareth Malone, will then whittle down the entries to a longlist of around 50 before agreeing a final shortlist of six carols. Then it’s over to you, the listeners, to vote for the overall winner!

Hello! I'm really excited to be chairing the panel of judges for the 大象传媒 Radio 3 Carol Competition. My fellow judges and I have the difficult task of listening to the entries and coming up with a shortlist for the public vote in December.

So, what are we looking for?

Tunes! We want you to take this year's text - a beautiful, heart-warming festive poem by Niall Campbell - and set it to a melody of your own creation. That tune should be attractive. It should be memorable. And above all, it should be singable. We want to hear tunes that carol singers can take door to door this Christmas and for Christmases to come.

You don't need any special training or experience to enter. This could even be the very first time you've tried to write a song - but we very much hope it won't be your last.

It’s a piece of cake to enter. You can either record yourself singing your tune on your phone and upload it online, or write down a notated version and send it to us.

Either way, make sure you don’t miss the deadline of 1 November 2022. All the information you need is at bbc.co.uk/carolcompetition. Good luck!

Gareth x

These music heroes will help Gareth come up with a shortlist for the public vote in December

A former MP, Ed is an economist, author, enthusiastic amateur pianist and retired ballroom dancer (he appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2016). Born to family of music-lovers – his parents met aged 15 while singing in the church choir – Ed played the violin as a child and became a fan of choral music, especially that of composer Herbert Howells, whose music he first heard while attending Oxford University. Ed famously began piano lessons in 2011, at the same time as becoming Shadow Chancellor, passing his Grade One later that year. He is still a keen player.

Ed broadcasts regularly on 大象传媒’s The One Show, Radio 2 and Radio 4 and is a regular Presenter on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. His latest 大象传媒 series, Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls, was broadcast on 大象传媒 Two in November 2021.

YolanDa is a double MOBO Award-winning composer, saxophonist, broadcaster and a champion for music education. Known for her distinctive fusion of reggae, jazz and soul, she is currently composing music for Sesame Street and a new animated series, Bea’s Block.

YolanDa has toured with The Temptations, Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, Billy Ocean and collaborated with artists such as Snarky Puppy’s Bill Laurance, Kelly Jones from Stereophonics and Rick Astley. She is chair of the BPI and of Youth Music, a trustee of the PRS Foundation, an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and London Music Fund and sits on the advisory board of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

YolanDa presents YolanDa’s Band Jam on CBeebies and has also hosted the 大象传媒 Proms, Gospel Choir of the Year and 大象传媒 Young Jazz Musician of the year. She hosts Offstage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra podcast, and Jazz FM’s YolanDa Brown on Saturday, and is a regular co-presenter of 大象传媒 Radio 4’s Loose Ends.