[KnowItAll]

Date: 18 May 2004
Media Inquiries:
Clare Tyrrell
clare@tyrrellcorporation.com
Tel: (852) 6197 4588

A new phenomenon is about the take over the world as the World Battle of the Bands competition swings through Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Australia and New Zealand.

The World Battle of the Bands is a global competition seeking out the hottest, unsigned acts of four countries spanning the Pacific Rim. This is a competition organised by musicians for musicians. The aim is to seek out the most astounding live music the world has to offer.

Competitions take place in four countries starting in Hong Kong on June 17th and following on to the United States, Australia and New Zealand - with the winners of each respective region flying to Auckland this December for the world finals.

WE ARE APPEALING TO YOUR MEDIA CHANNELS TO SPREAD THE WORD NOW TO HONG KONG BANDS! WE WANT ALL OF THE BANDS WHO ARE NOT YET SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL TO STEP FORWARD!! PLEASE HELP US FIND THEM!!! BANDS CAN REGISTER AND FIND OUT ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE: WWW.WORLDBATTLEOFTHEBANDS.COM

The Hong Kong leg of the journey begins on June 17th when bands hit the Wanchai drinking spot, Carneigies and the Fringe Club in Central on the 19th. With rounds of heats, semi-finals and finals at the twin venues, followed by a grand final on the weekend of August 6-7 in a still to be confirmed venue ?the event promises to offer Hong Kong audiences a refreshing onslaught of live, original music. It will equally be a bonding experience for the music scene, with musicians, label executives, pop stars and media personalities being invited to act as judges for the various heats of the event.

After the final on the weekend of August 6-7, the Hong Kong winners will be given five months to practice. Then they're being flown to New Zealand to battle against the other countries in December. There are precious prizes for the world winners: as well as recording a single with Intergalactic Records, they'll be earning precious recording equipment not to mention the global glory...

There will be an official press conference on Monday June 14th ?we will keep you posted on news about that.


EVENT HISTORY:
It all started with the New Zealand Battle of the Bands?

The New Zealand Battle of the Bands (as it was formerly known) is a respected, nation-wide music event that has grown significantly in popularity and size over its 11-year history. It has now become the largest music contest in New Zealand. The event provides a platform for emerging bands to present themselves to a larger audience, as well as to industry figures. It forms a middle ground between artist's first performances and resulting careers in the music industry. It equally gives the music industry an amazing opportunity to spot the hottest emerging, unsigned acts.

For the winning band, the glory aside, it's a chance to win musical equipment and gain exposure: the winning band is given recording time and the New Zealand release of their recordings. This single / EP, is released through NZ Independent record label, Intergalactic Records (Member of IMNZ). There is the added bonus of being able to travel to the country's cultural capital, Auckland, for the national final where they have the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of an experienced and professional judging panel.

Many companies support the New Zealand Battle of the Bands by contributing to the prizes and promotion. These include: APRA, NZ Rockshops, Marshall, Software Images, Area 51 Studios as well as 03 media partners - The Rock and Juice TV, some select regional radio stations, Rip It Up, NZ Musician and more. Several of these sponsors have supported the event for a number of years.


International Expansion of the Event

In 2004 the event was re-named the WORLD BATTLE OF THE BANDS.

In 2004 the decision was made to spread the magic of this event to encompass the world. In a time where the televised media and internet make us a global village, this is the time for bands from every culture to share the same stage and a united, global audience. The World Battle of the Bands involves various nations with winning bands from each country playing off against each other, competing to be the World Winner.

Initially inspired by several entry forms submitted from bands based outside of New Zealand, as well as reaching a point in NZ where the event has spread throughout the whole country; this international growth opens the door for the event to become a world-wide established brand reaching an even larger audience.

2004, 'Phase 1 - Pacific Rim' will begin the international growth, with NZ, Australia, Hong Kong and Los Angeles being the first regions invited to join in. These regions have been selected due to geographical location to New Zealand as well as existing business destinations of the organisers. Although other regions are a possibility, it has been decided to limit 2004 to 4 regions only, with more countries / cities to be added in 2005.

Each of the four's countries, throughout various venues, will host heats, semi-finals and regional finals to determine the competitors for each National Final. The Winning band from each country will fly to Auckland, New Zealand to compete in the first ever, WORLD FINAL.







JUNE / JULY / AUG - HONG KONG

JULY / AUG - LOS ANGELES

JULY / AUG / SEPT - NEW ZEALAND

OCT / NOV - AUSTRALIA

DEC - WORLD FINAL - NEW ZEALAND

The two main venues in Hong Kong (Fringe Club in Central and Carneigies in Wanchai) will host seven shows: four heats, two semi-finals and one final.


Carnegie's, Wanchai


THURSDAY JUNE 17 - HEAT

THURSDAY JUNE 24 - HEAT

THURSDAY JULY 1 - HEAT

THURSDAY JULY 8 - HEAT
THURSDAY JULY 15 - SEIM-FINALS

THURSDAY JULY 22 - SEMI-FINALS


THURSDAY JULY 29 - WANCHAI FINAL


Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central

SATURDAY JUNE 19 - HEAT

SATURDAY JUNE 26 - HEAT

SATURDAY JULY 3 - HEAT

SATURDAY JULY 10 - HEAT
SATURDAY JULY 17 - SEIM-FINALS

SATURDAY JULY 24 - SEMI-FINALS



SATURDAY JULY 31 - CENTRAL FINAL





AUGUST 6/7 (TBC) - THE HONG KONG FINAL, VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED


Each heat and the finals will feature an intriguing cast of judges. These will combine label executives with media personalities, journalists, musicians and pop stars. A final list of judges will be revealed as the event gets underway.
Band registration
Bands are being urged to register as soon as possible, via the website: www.worldbattleofthebands.com . Full terms and conditions are explained on the website. Further inquiries can be answered via e-mail to clare@tyrrellcorproation.com or by calling (852) 6108 4588.
Media Inquiries:
For more information and interviews with the charismatic founder of the event, Andrew Featherstone, please contact the Hong Kong Co-Producers:

Clare Tyrrell
clare@tyrrellcorporation.com
Tel: (852) 6197 4588

[KnowItAll]

Err .. did you check the date on the press release?

[Baron]

it was a joke...but i took it off for this
exact reason

[Baron]

i'm serious....i'm not an idiot....shut-up!