July 08, 2008

Singapore Drumfest Launches Singapore Band Challenge 2008 And Drum Challenge Asia 2008 Preliminaries

By News Desk

Singapore Drumfest will kick off the preliminary rounds of the Singapore Band Challenge 2008 (SBC) and the Drum Challenge Asia 2008 (DCA) come July 12 at *scape, Youth Park.

Recognizing the tremendous pool of musicians and the emerging trend for local and regional talent, Singapore Drumfest is organizing a series of summer events that will actively promote performance, music culture and talent in all age groups, music genres and nationalities.

With the resounding success of the Drum Circle Weekend that opened the series of events on June 7 and 8 at *scape, the Singapore Band Challenge and Drum Challenge Asia have attracted over 150 contestants at the auditions held over the weekend of June 28 and 29 at US Studios. The age categories for the Drum Challenge Asia are 20 & above, 19 & below and 12 & below. As for the Singapore Band Challenge, the two categories are 18 & above and 17 & below.

For the preliminary rounds to be held on July 12, a total of 18 bands from the two SBC categories and a total of 24 drummers from the three DCA categories will battle it out for a much-coveted slot in the semi-finals. The non-ticketed event is opened to the public and will run from 12pm to 4 pm for DCA and 6pm to 10pm for SBC at *scape. Over S$1000 worth of lucky draw prizes from Singapore Drumfest, MTV, Coke Zero, Flesh Imp, Ben & Jerry's and more will also be given away to the audience that day.

The semi-finals for both SBC and DCA are scheduled for July 26 at the Arena, Clark Quay. In the following weeks to come, there will be a Finalists Preview for both competitions at *scape Youth Park on August 2. The Grand Finals for the SBC and the DCA will be held at The Arena, Clark Quay on August 16 and August 23 respectively. The entire series of events will end off with a Winners Showcase at *scape on August 30.

The electrifying buzz from this series of summer events will culminate on September 13 and 14 at the Fort Canning Park for the Singapore Drumfest 2008 main event titled Concert In The Park. The two-day festival that features an all-new experience of 'educational during day and entertaining at night' programming and will see an eclectic lineup of both international and regional musicians. Further details will be announced soon.

For more information about the competitions and prizes, log on to the official website www.singaporedrumfest.com. MTV is one of the sponsors for Singapore Drumfest 2008.