The time has come for Taiwanese turntablists to put their skills to the test once again in the "world's most authoritative" DJ contest, the DMC Championship. Founded in 1986 the competition has gone from strength to strength as the status of DJs reached epic and artistic proportions and dance music crossed into the mainstream and climbed the pop charts.
The DJ Olympics helped kick start the careers of Cash Money, Q-Bert, Kid Koala and Kentaro. The battle can be fierce, such as 2004's final between Japan's Akakabe and Silk Kuts from the UK held in London, England; only the brave and supremely skilled survive. Videos of the sometime boisterous battles can be seen at www.dmcworld.com.
The opening shots have been fired in the US, Canada, Denmark and the UK.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DMC TAIWAN
DMC Taiwan will host a series of spin offs, sponsored by Technics, Ortofon and the Loop, to pick a winner who will be sent to the world final in September.
Each entrant will be given three minutes to show a panel of judges what they're made of. This year, the rules have been tweaked and contestants will be allowed to use only two Technics SL1200 (or SL1210) turntables, a mixer of their choice and a pair of Ortofon stylus. The mixer must not have any effects or sampling functions such as echo or reverb. Turntablists are, of course, to bring along their own vinyl records.
The Taiwan leg of the competition will be held in four stages. A press conference at Luxy with guest Turbulence will open proceedings on July 8, followed by the North Taiwan Elimin-ation round with guest judge Jazzy Jeff, for which the venue has yet to be confirmed, but will most likely be at Partyroom on July 15. The South and Central Taiwan Elimination round will be held in Taichung at Seduce on July 22 with the Taiwan Championship and grand finale party to be held at Luxy on July 29.
The judges will be paying close attention to tune selection, technical skills, presentation and creativity.
So which is the most important?
"Creativity. Don't copy previous champions or other people's style. And of course practice," Tony Lin, DMC Taiwan event manager, told the Vinyl Word.
Lin revealed that a sponsorship agreement has been reached with Ortofon and talks are underway with Technics to provide the two finalists with prizes.
Taiwan's champion will be provided with round-trip tickets and accommodation for the world final that was originally scheduled for Paris, but which may be relocated.
Registration is free, but is restricted to ROC passport holders. Entry to each competition is also free. For more information visit www.dmc-taiwan.com (in Chinese only) or send an e-mail to info@dmc-taiwan.com. May the best spinmeister win.
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