Best Song Contests Go Live

Talent contest and skill competition website Make A Star (www.MakeAStar.com) has opened its gates to the millions of singers, musicians and groups around the world who want to expose their music and compete against other emerging artists with their all-new ‘Best Song’ contests.

Working much like their famous Original Music and Best Music Video contests, but without requiring a music video, the Best Song contests allow free uploads of MP3, WAV, or WMA files to the Best Song contender round, and when up to 8 qualified contenders are confirmed, a bracket tournament begins, with a combination of online fan votes and the scores from Make A Star’s esteemed panel of judges crowning each $50 cash prize winner.

While the Best Music Video contests have seen some great competition, only a select few can afford to make great music videos and stand a realistic chance at winning. The Best Song contests look to change that, allowing the wide world of music to compete – from established artists to up and coming unsigned talent.

Rock, pop, country, r&b, rap, soul, metal, world, gospel, experimental, electronic – the possibilities are endless. While the field of genres has been left open (expect to see some interesting clashes of styles) the Best Song contests have been sequestered amongst the boys, the girls, and the bands.

Solo male artists can enter Make A Star’s Best Song – Male Vocalist contest, women can enter the Best Song – Female Vocalist and groups can enter the Best Song – Duo or Group contest. Plans are also in the works for a Best Song – Instrumental contest soon.

The first few entries have already come in, so stay tuned for more as the Best Song winners start to arrive.

Unsigned Guitarists Battle on Webcam for the Guitar Star Contest Title

The guitar is a lovely instrument with a history that goes far beyond the current rock and roll era. Long before the Rickenbacker, the Les Paul and the Fender Esquire helped shape the sound of the century, the guitar has been charming the ears of humanity for thousands of years.

Talent and contest site Make A Star is now giving talented but previously unknown guitar players the chance to let their music emerge from the shadows of their homes and into the worldwide Internet stage through the Guitar Star contest, which is awarding a $150 cash prize to the winning guitarist.

With so many styles of guitars and methods of playing, each guitarist brings a personal touch and style to this contest, and allowing the guitar’s sound to be heard solo, without any drums, bass or vocals, gives the guitarists a full voice. The MakeAStar.com music fans and panel of music industry judges, which includes Zen Vendetta guitarist Ben Sairin, will have a tough time comparing the many varied styles and sounds, but the staff are confident that the three week long bracketed tournament will produce the deserving champion from the nine finalists.

Here is the full list of all nine finalists: Jamey Smith (Chico, California), Dean Ruiz (Riverside, California), Gabor (Surrey, Canada), Jeremy Breedlove (Roseville, California) , Jake Crawford (Bloomington, Indiana), Daniel Thomson (Irvine, California), C.G. (parts unknown), Crypticlord (The Bronx, New York), and David Bergen (Atlanta, Georgia)

Best Music Video 3 Winner

Matthew McAvene and Landon Austin were the two finalists to survive the 8 contestant tournament bracket and face-off for the scores of Make A Star’s panel of judges and the online votes from music fans around the world. The final round ended Sunday afternoon, and it was a close battle.

The McAvene / Austin showdown was a battle of male singer-songwriters with great guitar skills, talented voices, good looks, and a wealth of creativity. While McAvene’s song ‘Brighter’ brings the likes of Jack Johnson and G. Love & Special Sauce to mind, the Santa Barbara, California resident’s creative lyrics and music stand on their own, and the aptly-named video for ‘Brighter’ features a cascade of artistic imagery, showcasing McAvene’s talent for painting and some great puppeteering work.

Landon Austin hails from Dallas, Texas, and his video for ‘Waitin’ showcases the skyline and streets of big D as Landon performs on his guitar downtown. Austin is no stranger to music competitions, as he was a top ten finalist in the Texas 10 under 20 competition during his freshman year of high school. In January 2008 Austin was voted a top three finalist of the competition by online voters. Austin was then flown to L.A. to record a music video for his original song “Waitin.’” Austin along with two other finalists from the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl competition were flown to Phoenix for the Super Bowl. Austin performed at the Saturday Night Super Bowl block party and part of his performance was aired during the pre-game show of the Super Bowl. Austin’s song “Waitin’” was then released as a single on iTunes by Interscope Records.

Watch their two videos here:

Matthew McAvene : Brighter

Landon Austin : Waitin'

In the end, it was McAvene’s video for ‘Brighter’ that came out ahead in a close competition amongst both the judges and the fans. Who will be the next to join Romance,Team Rockit and Matthew McAvene as Make A Star ‘Best Music Video’ champions? Some great contenders have already lined up to take part in Best Music Video 4, which may launch any day, and feature an expanded voting time table! Stay tuned, because the Music Video quality on MakeAStar.com keeps getting better.

Best Music Video 3 Winner

Matthew McAvene and Landon Austin were the two finalists to survive the 8 contestant tournament bracket and face-off for the scores of Make A Star’s panel of judges and the online votes from music fans around the world. The final round ended Sunday afternoon, and it was a close battle.

The McAvene / Austin showdown was a battle of male singer-songwriters with great guitar skills, talented voices, good looks, and a wealth of creativity. While McAvene’s song ‘Brighter’ brings the likes of Jack Johnson and G. Love & Special Sauce to mind, the Santa Barbara, California resident’s creative lyrics and music stand on their own, and the aptly-named video for ‘Brighter’ features a cascade of artistic imagery, showcasing McAvene’s talent for painting and some great puppeteering work.

Landon Austin hails from Dallas, Texas, and his video for ‘Waitin’ showcases the skyline and streets of big D as Landon performs on his guitar downtown. Austin is no stranger to music competitions, as he was a top ten finalist in the Texas 10 under 20 competition during his freshman year of high school. In January 2008 Austin was voted a top three finalist of the competition by online voters. Austin was then flown to L.A. to record a music video for his original song “Waitin.’” Austin along with two other finalists from the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl competition were flown to Phoenix for the Super Bowl. Austin performed at the Saturday Night Super Bowl block party and part of his performance was aired during the pre-game show of the Super Bowl. Austin’s song “Waitin’” was then released as a single on iTunes by Interscope Records.

Watch their two videos here:

Matthew McAvene : Brighter

Landon Austin : Waitin'

In the end, it was McAvene’s video for ‘Brighter’ that came out ahead in a close competition amongst both the judges and the fans. Who will be the next to join Romance,Team Rockit and Matthew McAvene as Make A Star ‘Best Music Video’ champions? Some great contenders have already lined up to take part in Best Music Video 4, which may launch any day, and feature an expanded voting time table! Stay tuned, because the Music Video quality on MakeAStar.com keeps getting better.

Make A Star’s Rap Battle 2 : Good Guys Finish First

MakeAStar.com has launched its second Rap Battle, where defending champion Sean Delaney from upstate New York hopes to fend off the challenge of Raleigh North Carolina’s B. Willis.

The online Rap Battle is a 48 hour contest where the votes from registered users on the site count for 25% of the total score. The other 75% emerge from Make A Star’s panel of judges, who rate the entries on the criteria of creative expression and performance quality. The contest began at noon Pacific on Wednesday, June 10th and will close for votes at the same time on Friday, June 12th. Registration is free at MakeAStar.com and fans are only allowed one vote per match. The winner will claim a $20 cash prize and be given the option to battle once more against a new opponent.

What makes this 1 on 1 showdown especially interesting is that both of these MCs deliver very positive, socially conscious messages. Champ Sean Delaney is a big promoter of mental health issues, as he has done a wealth of work and volunteer service for special needs children in his home state. B. Willis also takes the high road of hip hop, a proud family man who shares the values of his religious faith through his rhymes.

Rap Battles have been around since the dawn of hip hop culture, but perhaps reached a new level of cultural awareness after the success of Eminem’s feature film 8 Mile in 2003. The art of improvisation and freestyle flowing isn’t a skill that any MC excels at, but for those who can, they earn the respect of all their peers.

While Make A Star’s Rap Battles currently do not allow for improvising on the spot, the ability to turn on a webcam in your bedroom, rap for 30 seconds a cappella, and enter a worldwide Rap Battle contest instantly is still a remarkable website feature. Real-time webcam streaming rap battles may not be too far away.

Check out Rap Battle 2 and many of the other current music and talent competitions now live on MakeAStar.com

Unsigned and Independent Musicians Compete in Make A Star’s Best Music Video Contests

The $10,000 Original Music Contest stands as Make A Star’s signature contest so far this year, and with well over 200 contestants, it goes without saying that plenty of great music videos did not win any cash.

Some of those music videos are now coming around again to compete in the all-new Best Music Video contests. While offering a much more modest cash prize of $100, a Best Music Video contest gives everyone a 1 in 8 chance of claiming the prize. But with the quality of the competition seen so far, winning isn’t easy.

Best Music Video 1 saw Seattle post-punk band Romance prevail over Los Angeles indie songwriter Victor E. Romance’s video for “Killer in the World” features a fast-paced, kinetic style that flowed well with the relentless rhythm of the song. Adding ‘screen within a screen’ effects and themes of psychological control that recalled Apple Computer’s famous ‘1984’ commercial, the video, directed by Petit Robot Media, created an ominous atmosphere wrapped in a slick and media-accessible package.

Victor E’s video “Meditation No. 6 (Getting To Know You)” bared an uncanny semblance to Romance, as it also raised themes of social repression in the video, which Victor said gained inspiration from the classic film ‘Metropolis’. But to help shine some light on the darkness, Victor E’s video also featured lots of roller skates and claimed inspiration from ‘The Wiz’ and ‘Roller Boogie’. Though he claimed the higher judge scores, Victor E had far fewer fan votes than Romance, which helped put the Seattle rockers over the top.

Best Music Video 2 was won by Chicago band Team Rockit, with their video “Know What I Mean”. A celebration of comics and animation, the Jim Distasio and Mark McCutcheon directed video used entertaining visual effects to place the band inside the funny pages, complete with odes to Dennis The Menace, Dick Tracy, Peanuts and even Sudoku puzzles. Team Rockit were challenged by New York electronic songwriter ISADAR, whose video for “Dream of the Dead” recalls the classic film noir movies of the 40s. Shot in lush black and white with a sound recalling some of the best 80s new wave, ISADAR plays a detective in a cemetery attempting to solve a mystery. The final voting in this battle was very close, but Team Rockit prevailed by a 51 – 49% margin.

The Best Music Video 3 contest should launch soon, as a few contenders have already lined up to compete for a spot in the 8 contestant money bracket. Make A Star’s talent and skill competitions give artists around the globe the equal chance to rise to the top, and give fans a great opportunity to discover new music and have their voice count as their votes can sometimes make the difference between winning and losing. But even for the artists who don’t claim the cash prizes, the exposure and networking opportunities at MakeAStar.com are well worth the experience.