Ryan N. Harrison of LaVerne, California, won the grand prize in the 15th Annual Mid Atlantic Song Contest for his Adult Contemporary Song "(I Just Can't) Feel the Beat" at the Awards Gala on May 16th at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington, VA.

Harrison took home a check for $1,000 and assorted prizes provided by contest sponsors BMI, OASIS CD and Cassette Duplication, Omega Recording Studios, Songcasting, and Writers Digest Books. Mary Beth de Pompa from Falls Church, VA, won first overall with her pop song "It's True, I Do." Jeff Venables from New York, NY, won 2nd Overall with his modern rock song "Viagra Balls."

The crowd heard live performances from Harrison, de Pompa, and Venables and other winners in such categories as Rock, Gospel, and R&B/Urban/Hip Hop/Dance as well as a tight performance by local guitar-pop heroes Smartbomb.

"Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to our sponsors and volunteers," said Contest Director Connie Poole.

The 16th Annual Mid Atlantic Song Contest will be getting underway shortly -- the contest fell behind schedule in previous years and SAW will attempt to close the gap this year by moving to complete MASC16 before the end of 1999.

The Official Winner's List is available for download in the following formats:

• Excel 97 (.xls)
• Excel 95 (.xls)
• Lotus (.wk4)
• Standard Text (.txt - not a zip file)

Smartbomb played an upbeat, energy-laden set at "halftime" in the festivities.