&What kind of music can we play at the Festival? Any style of music is welcome in the Festival: rock, pop, urban, blues, funk, metal, etc. You can sing in any language you chose. We only ask that bands already signed to major labels abstain from registering in the Festival to leave room for new, emerging bands to be heard. What can I win? All registered bands will get to perform in the top venues of the town they registered. Upon registration, all bands will receive FREE guitar and bass string sets courtesy of ERNIE-BALL, REGAL TIP drumsticks and REMO snare drum head. The best bass players and best guitar players will individually be awarded one customized MUSICMAN and OLP bass and guitar instruments. In addition to this there are 420 SABIAN handmade cymbals and 10 MAPEX PRO-SERIES drum sets for the best drummers, 24 SENNHEISER WIRELESS SYSTEMS, 24 CRATE DIGITAL AMPS, stands and hardware from KONIG MAYER and 120 TKL professional flight cases will be also awarded to the best performing bands. The material of best performing bands will be selected and presented to the A&R production team of Columbia Record Germany. The GRAND FINAL of the contest will be held in Germany at the TAUBERTAL OPEN AIR FESTIVAL, one of the top European open-air festivals, alongside major international acts and in front of 30,000 people! Do I have to send Emergenza a demo or press kit? No. Emergenza does no pre-selection of bands before the concerts. It works on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. We prefer to let the audience choose the band they like best & let those bands advance to the semi-finals! It’s terribly democratic, don’t you think… What is the deadline to enroll my band in the Festival? The last day to register and pay the fee is DECEMBER 31, 2003. However, we STRONGLY recommend that you register as soon as possible – places are limited & are filling up fast! Woah – I have to pay to enroll!??!! Yes. But unlike other contests or festivals, once you pay this one-time fee, you are GARANTEED to play a minimum of one show in the eliminatory round in your city. Plus, every band enrolled will receive string sets for guitar and for bass courtesy of our main sponsor, ERNIE BALL, as well as a pair of REGAL TIP drumsticks & a REMO snare drum skin. These will be given out at the technical meeting before the show. I registered by phone/on the Internet. Do I have to go pay the registration fee right away? The sooner you pay the registration fee, the sooner you can guarantee your spot in the Festival. We of course prefer that bands pay the enrollment fee as soon as possible. When we call to arrange the first meeting with each band, we will give priority to the bands that have already paid – it’s only fair. But if you prefer, you can wait to pay at our first meeting. Either way, your money is safe – should you change your mind about participating in the Festival, you will be reimbursed the full enrollment fee at the first meeting. Just remember to bring along your receipt! I already enrolled my band online. Why am I asked to fill out the registration form again once I go to pay the registration fee? We know it may seem redundant to you to fill out another form. The reason we ask you to fill out the paper form at the payment even if you have already registered online is because it gives Emergenza more details about your band (i.e. the name of each member, the instruments you play, etc.) so we can better prepare your performance & we get to know you better. Don’t worry, your online registration was indeed valid & is in the hands of the Emergenza staff. I tried registering online, but I got a message back saying the Festival was not happening in my region. I want to participate anyway!! What do I do? The reason we screen out bands that live far from the cities where the Festival will unfold are: We request that all bands members attend the meetings we organize before<