Tonight! The 2009 Annual Ultra Awesome INSANELY FUN Pitch Music DJ Contest!
If you can tell me where else you can buy an evening of dance music this diverse and this banging for only a buck, then I’ll eat my hat. And I wore the ol’ stovepipe today, yes sir I did.
The buck stops tonight at NV, (220 Admiral), when the five finalists in our DJ spinoff compete to see who can rock the house the hardest. Starting at 9, our DJs, in random order, will play 30 minutes of their best music. Best of luck to Kiko De Gallo, Shaun Duval, Scott Carpenter, Kipsquared and Jamel Rockwell.
The judging panel will consist of …
Siamack Zahabi!
Former owner of Kabal!
Talent booker since 1999 and bringer of artists such as Carl Cox and deadmau5!
Steve Tulipana!
Co-owner of the Record Bar!
DJ with the Aural Exciter, Strange Bedfellows!
Local musician with Roman Numerals, Pornhuskers, S2R and more!
Badass local DJs who won last year’s contest!
Jason Harper and Nadia Pflaum!
Gotta have some Pitch staffers, yo.
What will the judges be look for? Well, we’ll be listening to and watching each DJ’s or DJ act’s (in the case of Kipsquared) technical skill and ability to read the crowd and get butts moving. We’ll listen for whether the DJ makes original choices in mixing their set or whether they make the mistake of laying down a record that’s tired, lame or just not the right jam for the moment. Well assess whether the DJ looks and acts like a DJ or looks like he hasn’t left his basement or looked away from a computer screen in two years. A lot of the judging process, too, is gut feeling — it’s subjective. Rest assured, DJs and fans alike, that we’ll consider all spinners, and not just the ones who end up playing last (i.e., to potentially the biggest crowd).
It should be noted that in past years, we have sent the big winner to Miami, paying airfare and hotel and hooking them up with a spot at the Ultra Music Festival at the Winter Music Conference. Well, this year, thanks to the down economy, we can only give our winner two admission tickets to the Ultra Music Fest. No hotel, airfare or guaranteed gig. We knew it would be this way going in, and we’ve informed the contestants. We could have canceled the whole thing, but because we have so much fun every year and because this event seems to bring good attention to individual DJs and to the scene as a whole, we just didn’t want to give it up. We hope you’ll still join us and this year’s DJs in being totally stoked regardless. Because we know we are.
The lineup won’t be drawn until right before the contest begins at 9, so show up then to be sure you get to see your favorite.
And who knows? Maybe you’ll leave at night’s end with a new favorite DJ.
