DIMAPUR, Dec 11 � �Underground Authority� from Kolkata was adjudged the winner of the 2013 Hornbill International Rock Contest at a spectacular grand finale held here at the Naga Solidarity Park, Kohima on Tuesday night.
Pitted against the best of the best among 150 bands that auditioned for the competition, the Kolkata-based fusion rock band battled with eight bands from Darjeeling, Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Jharkhand and Nagaland and emerged the winner.
�We The Giants� from Nagaland and �The F16s� from Chennai were placed first and second runners up respectively.
With the prize money totalling up to a whopping Rs 17.2 lakh on the platter for the winners, the Hornbill International Rock Contest boasts of carrying the highest prize money for a music competition of this genre (Rock) in India. The competition, an integral part of the annual Hornbill festival, had evolved from a local beat contest about ten years back to a national level contest from 2008.
As the winner of the competition, �Underground Authority� walks away with a grand prize of Rs 10 lakh, �We The Giants� won Rs 3.5 lakh and third place winners �The F16s� will be going home Rs 2.5 lakh richer.
In the individual category, S Serivasagar (Underground Authority) won the Best Vocalist, Best Bass Guitarist � ArenLongkumer (Infuse, Nagaland) Best Bassist � Soumyadeep Batthacharya (Underground Authority), Best Drummer � Sourish Kumar (Underground Authority) and Best Keyboardist � Harshan Radhakhrishnan (F16s). All the individual winners were given Rs 30,000 each. True School of Music, Mumbai also sponsored various special category prizes worth Rs 30 lakh. The finale of the rock contest also brought down the curtains on the much hyped 10-day Hornbill Festival.
