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Power Surge will rock you
While music enthusiasts had their eyes glued to the television screens hoping that their favourite band would win, Rafi Zahed narrates his experience at the Djuice DRockstars 2 gala night
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After four months of gruelling judgment, the largest and only platform for the search of the next generation rock band of the country came to on end at the Sheraton Winter Garden Ballroom on September 9, drawing the curtains on one of the most amazing talent hunt shows this year.
Packed to full capacity of eight hundred people, the ballroom was filled with celebrities, media people, friends and family of the six finalists. ‘Today, we reap the fruits of the seeds we sowed two years back,’ remarked Atul, a member of the Radio Active band.
The tension and excitement was running through one and all. The evening commenced with a short speech given by Stein Naevdal – Chief Marketing Officer, Grameen Phone.
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Stein mentioned that, as a leading telecom company in Bangladesh, they would not like to limit themselves in giving people superior telecommunication services but also to enhance and contribute in other sectors like music. Like anyone else, he was hoping that the best band would win. The winning band will be the brand ambassadors for the Djuice segment.
Hamin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh Music Band Association (BAMBA) was quick to make his remarks. ‘It was a hectic four months, yet interesting and exciting for us to discover the hidden gems in our country. As a strategic partner we did what we could!’ Hamin also mentioned that the response this year from the participants was huge. Initially they had to audition over seven hundred bands, where the selection process was stringent and unbiased. From there, they chose twenty bands and in the end, six bands made it to the final round.
The show was anchored by a young and exuberant Grameen Phone official Sazid Islam, who has been working for the Djuice brand for the past few years.
The six finalists were all tense and geared up for the show, ready to rock the crowd at the grand finale. The first band to perform was Dreek. With their stunning vocals and guitar, they gave a stellar performance.
Bortoman, a band from Khulna, strived hard to get to the finals. The band, comprising of young talents, have a profound love for creating and performing music. Interestingly, during the show, some of the audience commented that they somewhat sounded like our very own Souls. The band did admit that Souls were their inspiration but they still possessed their unique singing style.
Eclipse and Power Surge were truly powerful with their mighty guitars and talented vocalists. It was evident from their singing that American rock and metal bands played a huge influence on their songs.
When Dour was on stage, some felt that their performance was not as strong as the other competitors. Nonetheless, they managed to entertain the crowd, followed by Radio-Active, who seemingly burned the stage during their performance.
One of the major highlights of the show was the performance by all the members of BAMBA. It was a rare moment to cherish and remember since all the top musicians of the country were on stage to entertain their fans. Hamin, Shafin, Partho and Sumon were at the vocals. The remaining stars sang in chorus.
Before the results were announced, Rubaba Dowla Matin, Head of Brand, Grameen Phone made an appearance before the audience to provide a few pointers on DRockstars. She mentioned that a total of Tk 11 lakhs was raised through sms voting, which would be donated to the flood affected victims for their rehabilitation.
Finally, the results were based on two criterions – marks from the judges and audience poll. The band with the highest number of combined score won the title. The chase was close. Bortoman had a total score of 40.35 followed by Dreek’s 59.82. Eclipse and Dour had 63.61 and 63.51 marks. Radio Active with their mark 73.01 could not manage to win the title.
Power Surge was crowned as the next rock band with a total score of 89.69.
The band members were ecstatic on hearing their name as tears of joy continued to trickle down their cheeks for a long time afterwards. The winning band was given a monetary award of Tk five lakhs, Djuice brand ambassadorship, a recording contract and mobile sets from Sony Ericsson, one of the event partners.
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