A riot of colors -- Singapore's winning Doodle 4 Google entry

Come August 9 this year, local student James Rotanson's entry for the first Doodle 4 Google contest will be front and center on the Google Singapore homepage as the nation celebrates National Day. It's a depiction of the various panoramic places of interest in Singapore and according to Google, represents Singaporean values such as education, punctuality, racial harmony and total defense.

Of the 30,000-odd entries received, 17-year-old James beat out the competition to be handpicked by original Google Doodler Dennis Hwang after his work was voted by the public as the winner of the 17-19 age group. Hwang sent over a special video message announcing the national winner and explaining his choice. "I had the tough job of choosing just one winner for this competition," he said. "James' work was exceptionally creative. I loved the artistic style and how it worked in harmony with the message the doodle was trying to send. I loved the creative use of the Singapore MRT and the Merlion for the letter 'g.' Clearly, James is so proud of his country and I could immediately tell that from his work," he said.

James Rotanson is the first Doodle 4 Google winner and his prize is a dream visit to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, USA, where he will be meeting Dennis and the rest of Google's doodle team in person. His doodle, along with those of the top 50 finalists, will be displayed at the Asian Civilisations Museum, venue sponsor of this year's Doodle 4 Google special exhibit, from now till May 23.

To see all the shortlisted entries online, click down to www.google.com/doodle4google.