53 bands register for Red Ribbon Unplugged contest

AUDITIONS TO BE HELD ON 19 JANUARY
GANGTOK, 15 Jan: The countdown to the AIDS awareness mega event, the Red Ribbon Unplugged competition under Red Fest 2013, has begun. With the first leg of registration of the performing bands over now, auditions for the 53 bands that have registered will begin on 19 January.
Registration for the unplugged competition started from the first week of 2013 with no registration fee charged and the auditions will be held at 31A Studio at SNOD Complex, Deorali.
The Project Director, SSACS, Dr. Uttam Pradhan today said that this year SSACS has included an open drama contest to the programme in the Red Fest and also transformed the Red Ribbon Super Band contest into the unplugged contest. Prizes for the unplugged contest have been declared as Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively for the first, second and third positions while the winners of the drama contest will receive Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.
It may also be informed that the winners of the Unplugged competition, rounds of which will be held in all the four districts have also got the option to choose between the prize money or get a winning package of getting their album recorded at Viacom Studio, Mumbai along with videos of the album which will be directed by local film maker, Prashant Rasaily.
It may be mentioned that the date for the South and West district Red Ribbon Unplugged audition is slated for 26 January at Jorethang. The Quarter Finals of the competition have been scheduled for 02 February at Gangtok while the Semi Finals will be held on 09 February at Namchi and the Grand Finale to be held on 17 February at Gangtok.
The Judges for the Unplugged competition are S.K. Pradhan, Niki Rai and Albert Gurung.