Release Date: Friday, May 28th 2010

Teens Prepare for Battle at First Night Akron 2011

Applications Now Being Accepted for First Night Akron’s First Teen Battle of the Bands Event

Calling all teens to arm themselves for battle. Grab your guitars, drums, and best rock attitude and get ready for First Night® Akron’s Teen Battle of the Bands. First Night Akron will celebrate its 15th year on December 31, 2010. What better way to celebrate then through a night filled with music and some friendly competition? Bragging rights for your band and a 30 minute performance are on the line for First Night’s Teen Battle of the Bands. Area teen bands will participate in an online voting process for a chance to perform and compete live at the First Night Battle of the Bands. It’s up to the public to vote both online and at the final event. Promoting by the band will be crucial to success! This is a chance to get your band known throughout the community! The competition is free to enter. Applications are due on Friday June 18th to secure a spot in the online voting process and a chance to participate in the First Night 15th Year Celebration.

Requirements for applicants are as followed:

Bands must complete the First Night Akron Artist application.
Bands must have 50% of their members currently in high school.
Once the application process is complete, bands must submit a 3 to 5 minute video presentation. The video should feature a band performance of a song (original or cover) and footage of a band performance and/or photo slide show. The song can either be a studio recording or a live performance recording. * (Voting will be based on band performance, not video production quality)
5 bands will be selected by a public online voting process to compete live at First Night 2011. (Voting will begin in the fall.)
The First Night competition will be held on December 31, 2010 from 6-9:30 p.m. The audience will cast their votes for their favorite performance. The band with the highest number of votes will be selected to play at the Mainstage, that evening between 11 p.m. and midnight.
Bands Must be available all evening on December 31, 2010.

Email fnbattleofbands@gmail.com or call First Night Akron at 330-374-7690 with any questions. To learn more, visit www.firstnightakron.org/teenbattleofthebands.

Applications are available at www.firstnightakron.org/artistproposals.

About First Night Akron
Now in its 15th year, First Night Akron is a New Year's Eve celebration unlike any other! This family-friendly, alcohol-free celebration of the New Year through the arts brings the community together to experience a brief moment in time while creating lasting New Year's Eve memories. Entertainment and fun featuring music, dance, theater, visual and interactive arts will delight everyone throughout multiple venues in Downtown Akron! For more information, visit www.firstnightakron.org or call 330-374-7690.

First Night Akron is a program of the Downtown Akron Partnership. Founding partners are the City of Akron and the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com.