LIVE/Wired is back, offering Island bands the chance to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival, scoop a recording session at a top studio and get guaranteed airplay on Isle of Wight Radio.* The station has joined the County Press and Platform One to ensure this year’s Live/Wired is the best yet.

The winning band will earn a slot on the massive acoustic stage at the Isle of Wight Festival, which last year hosted performances from Midge Ure, Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Sharon Corr.

They will also win a two-day recording session with a professional sound engineer at Platform One’s studio.
For the first time in the competition’s history, the County Press and Platform One have teamed up with Isle of Wight Radio, which will give the winning track airplay.

The competition kicks off this week with bands and acts of all genres, ages and abilities invited to submit tracks to be put forward into an online poll, hosted at www.iwcp.co.uk  

There, fans will be able to hear the tracks, learn more about the bands, check gig listings, watch videos and check out photos of the performances.  They can vote for their favourites and the top four will go through to a live heat. The top two bands from the live heats, as chosen by a panel of judges from the County Press, Isle of Wight Radio and the music industry, will go through to a grand final.

There will be two live heats, the first on December 18, followed by another round of voting and a live heat in February and a grand final in April.  This year’s live heats will be held at Ryde’s Wight Rock Bar, with the grand final at The Venue, Ryde Theatre.

Entries for the first round must be received by noon on November 13.
Please submit photos, short profiles and band line ups with your tracks.

• Click here: www.iwcp.co.uk/livewired/index.php to view last year’s Live/Wired with profiles, pictures and video of the acts.

*Live/Wired rules and how to enter:*

1. Tracks must be written and performed by bands/artistes based on the Isle of Wight. Tracks should be a maximum of four minutes’ long.
2. No offensive material, as determined by the County Press/Platform One, will be accepted.
3.To be eligible, tracks, plus contact details, must be submitted by the deadlines set by the County Press/Platform One.
4. The finalists for each live heat will be the acts which have received the most votes via the CP website, by the date set by the County Press/Platform One.
5. The winners of the live heat will be determined by a panel of judges chosen by the County Press/Platform One. The panel’s decision is final.
6. The top two acts from each live heat will be put forward to a grand live final, where an overall winner will be chosen by a panel of judges chosen by the County Press/Platform One. The panel’s decision is final.
7. Entry to the competition is free.
8. One track only may be submitted by each band/artiste and each act may only enter once.
9. Tracks must be submitted on CD or as MP3 by noon on November 13. MP3s can be e-mailed to livewired@iwcp2.demon.co.uk
CDs can be sent to Live/Wired, Isle of Wight County Press, Brannon House, 123 Pyle Street, Newport, IW, PO30 1ST.
10. The competition is open to all ages and genres of music.
11. Only one vote per IP address.
12. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. No relatives of County Press, Platform One or Isle of Wight Radio employees can enter.

See more details from the Isle of Wight County Press online www.iwcp.co.uk