The powerful teenage four-piece raised the bar and electrified the stage with rocking sounds reminiscent of Led Zepplin and AC/DC and will now be heading off to London for the world Final! And for their chance to scrape up the $100,000 USD first prize!

Twenty-two bands from 13 Ukrainian cities played in a dramatic final to decide which band would make the trip to London. The standard was very high with at least five bands seen as potential winners by most observers. In the end, the judges awarded first place to Tango Tempo, It was a hugely popular decision. Tango Tempo are a trip-hop/acid jazz band from the small town of Uzhgorod with a singer who comes from Uganda. The band formed in 2004 and released their debut album “Taximan City” in 2007.

Eleven bands had progressed through qualifying heats and regional finals to get to the German final at the renowned Werkstatt club in Cologne. The judging panel consisting of Winni Ebert (retired EMI promotion manager), Salvatore Chianta (music support group) and Cosimo Erario (renowned live and studio guitarist) didn’t have an easy job choosing a winner. While the judges stated that the final decision was very close, panel regular Salvatore Chianta added that “this time we had the balls to choose a band that isn’t necessarily mainstream.”

The event allowed nine highly talented bands from across the country to strut their stuff in front of a prestigious judging panel consisting of Al Douglas (Wildplum live), Solomon Penumuchi (Sony Music) and Michael Harwood (Goldust Productions) at Jools Holland’s Jam House in Birmingham this week. The diversity of music genre on offer – which ranged from acoustic folk to rap-infused indie to metal – adds weight to the argument regarding the importance of the GBOB Challenge as a stepping-stone for talented young bands.

The 2008 GBOB Challenge Canada final was held at Foufounes Electriques, an institution on the Montreal music scene for decades. Fifteen bands competed intensely for the right to represent Canada at the World Final. While the judges agreed that the competing bands made choosing a winner very difficult, it was clear that the performance given by Fable made them the obvious choice to represent Canada on the world stage. They blew away the raucous crowd with a high energy, in-your-face set that exhibited melodies and song-writing skills indicative of a band many years their senior.  Coming in second place were The Maddhatters from Niagara Falls, Ontario. Finishing in third this year was repeat competitors Midstream from Quebec, another top five finish from the talented quartet.