In celebration of the 60 Years of Philippines-Japan Friendship and the Philippines-Japan Friendship Month this July, the Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with The Japan Foundation, Manila is inviting Filipino amateur solo singers age 18 years old and above to join the 2016 J-pop Anime Singing Contest.

Interested applicants may choose to cover any Japanese song originally performed by a Japanese artist. To join, applicants should send a filled-out application form, a photo, a print-out of the song lyrics with the name of the original performing artist/s, a short write-up about the participant (50-100 words) and a demo CD containing an audio file in MP3 format.

All entries must be submitted to the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) Library, Embassy of Japan, 2627 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City 1300 on or before the extended deadline of Friday, June 24, 2016.

Fifteen participants will be carefully selected to compete in the Grand Finals to be held on Saturday, July 23, 2016 from 1 to 5 pm at the SM Cinema Centerstage, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Exciting prizes await the winners, including an all-expense-paid trip to Japan.

The 2016 J-pop Anime Singing Contest is supported by Ajinomoto Philippines, All Nippon Airways, Animation International, Bandai Namco Philippines, Inc., Bobson Jeans, Canon Information Technologies, Inc., Canon Marketing Philippines, Center for Pop Music Philippines, HERO TV, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Inc., Lotte Confectionery Pilipinas Corporation, Nihongo Center Foundation, Panasonic Philippines Corporation, SM Mall of Asia, SM Cinema, SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc., Sony Philippine, Inc., Toei Animation Philippines, Yakult Philippines, and Yoshinoya.

For more information about the 2015 J-pop Anime Sing and Dance Contest, please visit http://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp, send an E-mail to jicc-mnl@ma.mofa.go.jp, or call 551-5710 locals 2311 or 2312.