CBC Music's Toyota Searchlight 2022: the Top 100 artists

For CBC Music's Toyota Searchlight, the first cut is always the deepest.

Here's how this national Top 100 were decided. Each artist was judged on the following:

• Potential for success in the Canadian music industry.
• Vocal performance, quality of music and lyric composition.
• Our judges' impression of your song and your career to date.
• Social media engagement and streaming numbers.

Please also note that the quality of each song is being judged on audio, not video. 

The top three artists who received the most votes have automatically made it into our Top 100 by winning our Fan Choice Award. Those artists include a teenage indie-rock band from Windsor, a country artist from the mountains of B.C., and a hard-rocking roots singer from Wellington County, Ont.:

• ​​Heather Gemmell, "North Star Burning" (Kimberley, B.C.)
• Leave Those Kids Alone, "Where She Was" (Windsor, Ont.)
• Madison Galloway, "Devil in Her Eye" (Fergus, Ont.)

Congratulations and great job getting out the vote! Besides the artists' placement in the Top 100, their Fan Choice Award also includes:

• A $1,000 gift certificate from Long & McQuade, Canada's music store, for anything including instruments, equipment rentals, repairs, lessons.
• Play MPE distribution deal for the song.
• A one-hour meeting with a mentor from Canada's Music Incubator (CMI) to help address immediate music business challenges or questions. CMI is a Toronto-based, national, not-for-profit organization specializing in professional development, ongoing mentorship and live events for artists, managers and music companies.

The other artists in the Top 100 have made it through by internal judging from a team of CBC Music producers and leading Canadian music industry experts.

Toyota Searchlight 2022 Top 100 

• Aiona Santana, "Fronteo" (Ottawa)
• Ajay Friese, "Jasper" (Vancouver) 
• Alexis Lynn, "House on Fire" (Vancouver) 
• Angel Baribeau, "Wish we Were Older" (Montreal) 
• Ann@lise, "Tightrope" (Montreal) 
• Arcane Ghosts, "Rollercoaster" (Burlington, Ont.) 
• Avery Raquel, "All Up To You" (Toronto) 
• Bermuda, "Fonce" (Sherbrooke, Que.) 
• Black$tar, "Gametime" (Calgary) 
• Braden Lam, "Silence" feat. Wolf Castle (Halifax) 
• Bree Taylor, "Kryptonite" (Mississauga, Ont.) 
• Brixson, "I Wanna Live" (Toronto) 
• Capri Everitt, "Not Your Toy" (Vancouver) 
• Cec Lopez, "Sunlight" (Winnipeg) 
• Chad Price, "Somehow, Someway" (Toronto) 
• Charissa, "People Like You" (Burlington, Ont.) 
• Childlike, "Feel the Same" (Toronto) 
• Chloé Caroline, "Ready" (Kingston, Ont.) 
• Chris Grey, "I Should be Happy" (Toronto) 
• Christine Jackson, "Room to Grow" (Toronto) 
• Close Kicks, "Coming Up" (Lindsay, Ont.) 
• Colour Tongues, "Control" (Vancouver) 
• Dani Doucette, "Run With Me" (Toronto) 
• David Jay, "The Spaniard" (Edmonton) 
• Dawson Gamble, "What You Don't Know" (Toronto) 
• Desarae Dee, "Late Arrival (Remix)" (Oshawa, Ont.) 
• Dimples, "Vibez" (Montreal) 
• Double A-Ron, "Chills" (Abbotsford, B.C.) 
• Dustin Bird, "Get Go" (Stirling, Ont) 
• Electric Religious, "Hard Skin" (Edmonton) 
• Elenee, "My Stoning" (Lloydminster, Sask.) 
• Emanali, "Friction" (Saskatoon) 
• Eric Ryan, "Better" (Toronto) 
• falcxne, "Slowly" (Toronto) 
• Fionn, "I Won't Lie" (White Rock, B.C.) 
• FKA Rayne, "Love it When U Lie" (Surrey, B.C.) 
• FKB, "Beautiful Fantasy" (Edmonton) 
• Geneviève Racette, "Hostage" (Montreal) 
• girly., "Kids" (Abbotsford, B.C.) 
• Glisha, "Staycation" (Surrey, B.C.) 
• Graham Scott Fleming, "Better Man" (Elmvale, Ont.) 
• Greg Rider, "Sixteen Sticks" (Calgary) 
• Hayley Wallis, "Coffee Cup" (Vancouver) 
• Hendrix, "Found My Way to You" (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) 
• Jerry Sereda, "Two People one Shadow" (Winnipeg) 
• Jess and Tay, "Wish You Were Mine" (Hamilton, Ont.) 
• Jesse Slack, "Before it Was a Memory" (Peterborough, Ont.) 
• Joe Gez, "Life is Good" (Ottawa) 
• Jordan Astra, "To the Stars and Back" (Toronto) 
• Josh Sahunta, "This Party Sucks" (Edmonton) 
• Julianna Jones, "Bad for Me" (Toronto) 
• Justin Fancy, "Better Than You" (Conception Bay South, N.L.) 
• Kaeley Jade, "Ego" (Edmonton) 
• Kasey Nugent, "60 Cycle Hum" (Toronto) 
• Kaylee Patterson, "Time Machine" (Montréal) 
• Ken Presse, "Somebody Like You" (Montréal) 
• Kresnt, "One More Thing" (Vancouver) 
• Kylie V, "Solace" (Vancouver) 
• Lawrence Maxwell, "Better You" (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) 
• Lolo Boy, "Love Yourself" (Montreal) 
• Lyle Kam, "​​Relax" (Toronto) 
• Madisyn Gifford, "Except for You" (Vancouver) 
• Mattmac, "Paradise" (Garden Hill, Man.) 
• Meltt, "Love Again" (Vancouver) 
• Michelle Hopkins, "Careless Over Coward" (Mississauga, Ont.) 
• Mikalyn, "Blame" (Guelph, Ont.) 
• Milan André Boronell, "500 Days" (Montréal) 
• Mindflip, "Mind Control" (Gatineau, Que.) 
• Moira and Claire, "South Shore" (Antigonish, N.S.) 
• Molly Annelle, "Dior" (Toronto) 
• Naika Oko, "I See Only You" (Vancouver) 
• Nick Souza, "Light Show" (Toronto) 
• Nicole Rayy, "Feels Like Yesterday" (Alliston, Ont.) 
• Nova Rose, "Walls [Version française]" feat. Alexe (Montréal) 
• Odum Abekah, "Breath" (Calgary) 
• Oliver Michael, "Parachute" (Rossland, B.C.) 
• Paris Pick, "I Can't Help It" (Whitehorse, Y.T.) 
• Patrik Kabongo, "98 Degrees" (Montréal) 
• QuietLove, "No Feelings" (Toronto) 
• Rachel Cousins, "For Myself" (Portugal Cove, N.L.) 
• Riell, "Lie to Me" (Edmonton) 
• Robin Cisek, "Memories" (Edmonton) 
• Roveena, "Time" (Toronto) 
• sahara, "fire with fire" (Toronto) 
• Sarah Lake, "You Don't Have To" (Montréal) 
• Scribe Music, "Fo' Rilly Flow" (Vancouver) 
• SHAH FRANK, "Ride or Die" (Laval, Que.) 
• Shauna Seeteenak, "Therapy Session" (Iqaluit, Nvt.) 
• Shawn Molko, "I Will Wait" (Toronto) 
• Simone Miller, "Older" (King, Ont.) 
• Spitty, "Dice" (Brampton, Ont.) 
• True Mamba, "We Lit!" (Calgary)
• Tyler Lorette, "Phantom" (Courtice, Ont.) 
• Vicky Chand, "Can't Deny It" (Vancouver) 
• Violet Night, "(if) you are the ocean (then) i would like to drown" (Toronto) 
• Wayfie, "Compliment" (Vancouver) 
• Zoey Leven, "Closer" (Vancouver) 

Congratulations once again to our Top 100. Please check back in on Tuesday, June 21, at 8 a.m. ET when our Top 10 finalists will be revealed. All 10 artists will be chosen by our judges, as there is no further fan voting this year. 

Our grand prize winner and the four runners-up of CBC Music's Toyota Searchlight 2022 will be announced on Tuesday, June 28. 

Good luck and congratulations to all Searchlight 2022 Top 100 national contenders, and thank you to every artist who has participated this year!

And hey, check out this great news: You can now listen to more than 100 of the top songs entered into the 2022 Toyota Searchlight contest. Listen to the playlist here on CBC Listen or via the CBC Listen app. 

CBC Music's Toyota Searchlight 2022 is brought to you in part by Toyota.

Questions? Email [email protected].