20-20 vision of battling bands in a Eurovisionstyle contest

Event organisers are hoping MK will be more successful than the UK when it comes to song contests.

Arts group Monkey Kettle is staging the first Eurovision-style music competition in Milton Keynes, dividing the city into 20 areas, each of which will be represented by 20 bands on Saturday, March 28.

The MoneyVision Song Contest, held at music venue The Pitz, requires acts who either work or live in the city to play one song of their own composition.

Prizes for the winners include an amp, recording studio time and a band photoshoot.

Each act will nominate someone, a band member or friend, to be a judge, who will cast their votes on the other groups in the same way the viewing public does at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Organisers ask: 'Will Caldecotte trounce all rivals, or will the winners be from Tattenhoe? Will Pineham even manage to raise a band, given that it's the sewage works?'

Brian Amyes, one of the people behind the event, is unsure how the competitiveness will play out - whether the music will kindle inter-estate rivalries, or the eastern flank areas will form an eastern bloc-style coalition. But he is just determined to ensure the competition is diverse.

"We're open for bands to apply for the selection process and we want as many bands entering as possible. We don't like limiting it to a certain genre. We want to get as far into the consciousness of MK as we can. Milton Keynes is diverse, it has a lot to offer, and we want our contest to reflect that."

At the moment entrants are being whittled down to the final 20, but if you think you could represent your area there is still time to apply before February 28 at (urln "http://www.monkeykettle.co.uk/monkeyvision.
html")