Letter to editor from Jenny Robinson Sauble Beach:
Many comments (which have now been removed from the anthem site’s blog page) accused CBC of foul play. Some earlier complaints stemmed from concerns like famed Canadian rocker Randy Bachman’s entries featured not once but twice on the site (while many felt he was ineligible due to [his] hosting a CBC radio show). [...] And then there’s the alleged conflict of interest between Bob Rock and one of the semi-finalists, Gerry Mosby. It was public knowledge that Mr. Rock would be creating the arrangements and it was shocking to learn that he and Gerry worked together on at least one record album in the past. Some complained that Gerry would’ve known the type of music that resonated with Bob, giving him an unfair advantage.
Other questionable practices of CBC include how they could’ve possibly reviewed all 15,000 entries in their entirety.... How could each and every entry have been reviewed by the first few weeks in September when the contest closed Aug. 31?
Even the CBC Ombudsman told one irate entrant that “it was out of their jurisdiction.” [...]
I still firmly believe that my song is a great one... I’m not even 100% sure that it ever got listened to, having been entered June 24.