Christine wins in Norway
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The GBOB Challenge 2008 Norway has been won by Christine, who are four guys and a girl singer called…you guessed it…Christine! The panel of judges were unanimous in their choice despite one of the strongest national final line-ups that GBOB Norway has ever seen.
Blue Monday, who came second, were “one of the best metal bands in Norway”, according to one judge, and Bastarized were praised by another judge for their “fantatic energy – rock ‘n’ roll all the way”. Honorable mentions also went to Artilius (third place) as well as Pandora Peaks and 7 Days And A Miracle (joint fourth).
GBOB winners rock German TV show
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GBOB challenge Germany 2006 winners Amplify took a lot of confidence out of that victory. So much so, that after the experience of sharing a stage with some of the world’s best new bands at the World Final in London, they returned to Germany determined to go for all or nothing.
Having just finished school, the four lads from Hittfeld near Hamburg moved into a house together and set about making a living with the band. Well, three years down the line, they’re well on their way. They have played over 200 gigs driving all over Germany in their van, produced two self-released albums and built up an impressive fan base.
Darksound set their sights on London
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Rock metal band Darksound from Badajoz in southwest Spain are the winners of the GBOB Challenge Spain 2008. In a tightly contested national final at the renowned Garaje in Murcia, the judges chose them to be the band to represent Spain at the GBOB Challenge World Finals at the Scala in London in December 2008.
Formed in 1999, Darksound were originally Ricardo Larios on guitar and vocals, David Lopez on bass and Jesús del Castillo on drums. In 2001 Javi Caldito (guitar) and Pedro Wichards (vocals) came on board to take the line-up up a gear to an entirely new level.
Lab Rat heading for London
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Out of 106 bands that registered, Lab Rat bettered 14 other finalists to win the GBOB Challenge Malaysia 2008 Final at a filled-to-capacity Planet Hollywood in Kuala Lumpar.
Victory was as sweet as it was unexpected for the five-piece alternative folk band because the GBOB was their first public exposure as a band. Their victory was sweetened further by a 50,000 Ringgit Malaysia cash prize (more than USD15,000) and an all-expenses paid trip to London on where they will represent Malaysia at The GBOB Challenge World Final on December 14 and 15 They also received prizes from The Guitar Store, Radioactive and will represent Malaysia at the Jack Daniel’s Global Tour three-day two-night party in Singapore in May 2009.
Metro win in Denmark
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The thrilling national final of the GBOB Challenge 2008 at Stengade30 in Copenhagen showed what a wealth of musical talent is bubbling under in Denmark. The hardest task of the evening fell to the panel of industry judges: Thomas Hohne from EMI Publishing, Michael Espensen, A&R man for EMI and award-winning artist/film composer George Keller.
When the judges stopped fighting...sorry, deliberating, the band they chose to send to the World Final in London was classy rock band Metro. Special mention should go to Born To Love Mary, who narrowly missed out to come second and LSD on CIA who came a close third.
