MusicON 2014: KEEPING THE BEATS ALIVE
Last Friday, 7teen events came back with their most anticipated “MusicON Grand Finale-Featuring Nemesis”, after the highly successful “MusicON Round One” back in October last year. The last event saw AIUB, South East University, BRAC University and East West University making it to the grand finale. This time they set the stage on fire with an illustrious panel of judges to oversee their performances. Among the judges were the much loved local rockers Nemesis who would later on perform.
This was the most competitive, diverse and riveting MusicON to date. Every slot allotted to each university was well utilised and there were a few surprise appearances as well. The show faced a slightly awkward beginning with a power failure just as South East University Cultural Club appeared on stage. To help keep the crowd entertained during the break, Nafeez Al Amin, Arbovirus' drummer, got on the drummer's throne and enthralled the audience with a funky ten minute solo. As the power came back on, the East West University representatives started the show. Their 30 minute performance time slot was followed by that of American International University Bangladesh, South East University and finally the reigning champions BRAC University. Bands were to be rated by a combination of marks from the judges via Facebook likes on the music video they had to make, SMS, and crowd reception.
All universities (except for BRAC) started their slots with a brief presentation with ideas about how to make MusicON a more competitive and an engaging event. Each university had its unique approach and ideas and it made for a rather fun part of the whole event. The universities started their slots with music videos they made for the event and then went on to perform a diverse set of songs ranging from a Metallica cover to smooth jazz/fusion/classical numbers, qawwali renditions and indie pop covers. Each and every slot included one Nemesis song cover. Almost all the performances were accompanied by dance as well (including some LED and shadow dancing). The crowd went absolutely ecstatic when the BRAC dance crew 'Faceless' came back to grace the event with a high octane and wonderfully synchronised collaboration.
There was no doubt from the very first slot that each and every university took this event seriously, judging from the quality of performances and how the respective audiences from the universities made their presence felt with their thundering response. Plenty of people hung around in the gaming zone dancing to Dance Central or taking shots at the karaoke machine. It was a well-rounded and entertaining event. Roughly 1700 people attended, and their inclusion went beyond just physical presence on to the digital world, where they showered their respective representatives with a combined 10,000 votes for the music videos and 10,000 more votes were sent in through SMS. This was one mighty packed event and to those of us who attended the earlier instalments, the changes were quite apparent.
After the universities completed their slots, Nemesis took the stage and performed for an audience of diehard fans, leading on to the results of the competition. The winner was AIUB, followed by runner-up BRAC and second runner-up East West University.
“Our approach is evolving,” said Sheehan Rahman, one of the founding partners of 7teen events. “We learn from our mistakes and that is making us better at this.” The event on its own has come a long way as a brainchild of the young event management firm, has amassed a passionate following, and is attracting more excited youngsters every time. This time, the event was co-sponsored by Munch and Rexona, who handed out free goodies, and regular sponsor PMI.
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