Gorillaz launch 'Search For A Star competition' on Gorillaz.com and in NME
Gorillaz today launched their new 'Search For A Star' competition with news items in this week's print edition of NME, a news item on nme.com and a news item on their newly-updated website. The following image was used to promote the news items:-


The idea behind the competition is that fans can submit art to the Gorillaz website when it re-opens, and this will then be judged by popular vote, for 23 weeks from 15 December 2003. Users of the website will vote for their favourite from a selection of the best entries each week (as chosen by the Gorillaz) and the best every week will go through to the grand final. These entries will be joined by 20 'wildcard' entries, the best 10 losing entries chosen by 'the Gorillaz themselves'. The final winner will be chosen by popular vote over a one month period.

Confusion reigned on the official Gorillaz forums as members debated whether it really was the case that any artform would be admitted, or whether, because the 'format' section of the rules states only that '[entries] can take the form of digital submissions - Acceptable files and formats include QuickTime, Avi. Mov. or Mpeg files', only film and animation would be accepted.'


A full transcript of the details on the site appear below:-

"GORILLAZ 'SEARCH FOR A STAR' COMPETITION

Welcome to the World's First Online-Only Talent Competition! Get Yer Skills out! Win a Chance to be a new Gorillaz Collaborator and get your work shown around the world.

We are looking to shine a light on brand new talents, and are asking people from all creative fields to send in submissions. Entries could be anything from animations, musical, sickly off-cuts, brief sketches, film scenes, caught-on-cameras clips, out-takes, voice-overs, bits of unused footage, whether humorous, dark, edgy, juvenile, insightful or thought provoking.

We are hoping that this will throw up some truly creative fresh talents, and provide an open forum for people who would normally have no outlet to display their work.

We're not looking for people to send in the slickest most, professional formats. It's much more about the execution of simple ideas, however bizarre, dark, funny, ingenious or off the wall. The nature and content of the submission is entirely up to you.

DETAILS
The competition will commence on 15th December 2004. As of then any submissions will be available for viewing in 'The Auditions Room' of Kong Studios to be found at Gorillaz.com

Clips should be no longer than about a minute long. We will accept some submissions that run over - but you better be pretty sure of yourself. Don't be dull. If you've got footage that's coming in at 15minutes long, edit it down or select the best bit yourselves. This still means it can be a brief clip from a longer piece of work!

Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel will select their favorites each week as they come in. Remember, the judging can be ruthless! After that the top ten entries will then be available for viewing. Next, it's up to the online audience to vote for the clips they think are most deserving to go forward into that week's 'Winner League Table'. All submissions will be archived for future viewing.

The winner of each weekly round will go forward into 'The Finals'. There will be 23 weeks of submissions, leading up to 'The Finals', when the viewers will get to vote for the ultimate winners.

You can enter as many times as you like.

CLOSING DATE
The closing date for submission will be 23 weeks after the 15th December opening date. This will give us a final 23 'Winnerís League' submissions to vote for. There will also be the 'Wild Card Re-Entry' additions. This will be a collection of the 10 favorite previously rejected entries, as selected by the band. These are the entries that the Gorillaz themselves have decided must go through to the final round. In total there will be 33 submissions for the Finals. The final voting will last a month, allowing the online audience to vote for the eventual 'Top Five Winners'.

VOTING
This will commence from the day of the Launch. You can only vote once a week / once per round. Use it well. The first result will be announced online on the 22nd December 2004

FORMAT
These can take the form of digital submissions - Acceptable files and formats include QuickTime, Avi. Mov. or Mpeg files.

HOW TO ENTER
Click on the 'Submissions' icon to be found in 'The Auditions Room', or to enter immediately click here and follow the instructions to upload your entries. Don't forget to tick the disclaimer! Or we can't show your clip! [ Maximum File Size is 25MB

Alternatively you can send VHS, Mini DV or files on CD or DVD submissions to Gorillaz with the signed disclaimer,
Search For A Star, PO Box 38168, London W10 5ZJ England.


DISCLAIMER
The Gorillaz disclaimer must be ticked online or printed out, signed and sent to the PO Box in order to submit entries.

Click here to download the disclaimer

PRIZE
This will vary and be tailored for the nature of the submission.

However among the guaranteed prizes:
· Winner gets their own room at the Gorillaz Kong Studios decorated by Kong Studios Decorators. This will be yours to showcase your talents on a website that gets an unprecedented amount of traffic. This room will be yours to do as you will.

· The opportunity to collaborate with Gorillaz with a way they see fit. This nature of this collaboration will depend entirely on the nature of the winner's talent.


These rules are.. er....subject to change.

Godspeed young artists!"

The disclaimer includes the text:-
I hereby agree and acknowledge the following:
(a) I have read these Terms and Conditions and understand that my entry is subject to these
Terms and Conditions;
(b) In consideration of an on-screen credit to me, with full title guarantee and by way of
assignment of present and future copyright you hereby assign to EMI Records Limited your
entire right title and interest in and to the Entry and all results and proceeds of your services
hereunder (including without limitation so-called rental and lending rights, all rights of
communication to the public by satellite and cable retransmission rights) absolutely
throughout the World for the full period of copyright therein and all renewals and extensions
thereof and thereafter (insofar as is permissible by law) in perpetuity PROVIDED THAT at all
times my Entry is used solely in association with GORILLAZ sound recordings and shall not
be used in association with any other medium, nor used within advertisements;
(c) I warrant and represent that I understand fully that use of third party copyright protected,
replayed or "sampled" material is NOT PERMITTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES for
inclusion within my Entry and I hereby fully indemnify EMI Records Limited, GORILLAZ and
EMI Music Publishing against any claims which may arise as a breach of this warranty.
(d) I acknowledge and agree that my Entry may be edited by the Artist for synchronisation
with music by the Artist (as selected by the Artist) solely for the purposes specified herein.

or click here to visit the infomation on the site itself.

As stated, both print and online editions of NME contained news items on the subject today, and the content of these items was just a summary of the key points of the information on the Gorillaz website. You can read the online version of the NME article by clicking here.


Related Items:-
Gorillaz.com updated - new intro, new story, new messageboard, search for a star details


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