Rustic from Beijing, China GBOB 2009 World Champions!

I’m delighted to tell you that RUSTIC (the Beijing and China champion of GBOB 2009) WON the World Final in London in April 2010. 

We are so so happy that a young band from Beijing is the first Asian winners for Global Battle of the Bands!   Below are the press releases in English and Chinese.   Attached are some photos of their winning moments, all photos taken by Ken Ruesenberg.

The Global Battle of the Bands 2009 World Final at the London Scala on April 27^th 2010 featured national final winning bands from every corner of the globe.   The World Final was delayed due to snowstorms and the volcanic ash almost delayed this rescheduled date.

The bands competing came from Italy, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Norway, England, Kazakhstan, Israel, Montenegro, Ukraine, Romania, China, Netherlands, Scotland, Serbia, Nepal, Malaysia, Canada, Iceland and Germany to compete for the GBOB Best New Bands in the World title.

After an entertaining evening of truly fantastic performances it was a shame that only one band could take the title – and that honour fell to flamboyant punk rockers Rustic from Beijing, China (pictured).   They were the unanimous first place choice of the judges with Endless Dark from Iceland in second place and Explicit Licks from Norway in third.

The Global Battle of the Bands is a yearly challenge open to bands of all genres with the top prize being US$100,000 in band development: one week in a London recording studio, a 10-date UK tour and US$10,000 in cold hard cash.   The competition is open to all genres and in China in 2009, nearly 100 bands signed on to take part. 

Rustic first won the Beijing final on 20^th September 2009 and then went on to win the China final in Hong Kong on 7^th November 2009.  Before winning the world final, Rustic had already pocketed a Gibson SG guitar, free Dragonair flights & accommodation to Hong Kong as well as a mini-tour of Hong Kong.

The World Final judging panel comprised of Mads Hauge (co-writer of Natasha Bedingfield’s US smash “Soulmate”, more recently Mads has co-written and produced the #1 hits “Mama Do”,”Boys & Girls” and “Cry Me Out” for Pixie Lott).   Alex Revenco (Romanian rock journalist who recently interviewed AC/DC in the States and also Senior Editor for "Jurnalul National" newspaper) and Kjell Haune (Norwegian composer & producer and first Norwegian composer to have two of his own musicals produced in London's West End.)

Rustic’s story from their preliminary heat performance all the way to them winning the World Final was filmed by niurenku.com and will be released as a documentary later on in 2010. 

 “For Beijing and China, Rustic’s win has firmly opened the eyes of the live music scene.”  - Chris B, China National Director of GBOB

In 2010, the world final will be held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2010.    Heats for China bands will open by July 2010. 

中国Rustic乐队称冠2009年全球乐队争霸赛！

2009年全球乐队争霸赛（Global Battle of the Bands，GBOB）全球总决赛于2010年4月27日在斯卡拉剧院（London Scala）举行，来自全球各地的各国优胜乐队参加了冠军的角逐。全球总决赛由于雪灾而延期举行，并且险些由于冰岛火山灾害导致再度延期。

参赛乐队分别从意大利、澳大利亚、比利时、日本、挪威、英格兰、哈萨克斯坦、以色列、黑山、乌克兰、罗马尼亚、中国、荷兰、苏格兰、塞尔维亚、尼泊尔、马来西亚、加拿大、冰岛和德国赶赴伦敦，竞逐GBOB全球最佳新生乐队的头衔。

当晚的表演精彩纷呈，但遗憾的是只有一支乐队能够夺得冠军头衔——而这一荣誉最终被来自中国北京的眩目朋克摇滚乐队Rustic（附图）斩获。评委们一致地将冠军票投给了他们，而来自冰岛的Endless Dark乐队和来自挪威的Explicit Licks乐队分列第二、三名。

全球乐队争霸赛每年举办一次，是一项对所有类型的乐队开放的赛事，最高奖品为价值10万美元的乐队发展大奖，包括一间伦敦录音室一周的使用时间、英国十日游，以及1万美元现金。2009年，该赛事接受中国所有类型的乐队参加，吸引了近100支乐队报名参赛。

Rustic先在2009年9月20日的北京赛区决赛中胜出，随后又赢得了2009年11月7日在香港举行的中国区决赛。在称冠全球总决赛之前，Rustic已经赢得了一把Gibson SG吉他、免费的港龙航空机票和香港住宿，以及香港的短期旅游。

全球总决赛的评审团成员包括Mads Hauge（Natasha Bedingfield风靡全美的《Soulmate》词曲作者之一；近期还参与创作并制作了Pixie Lott的榜首歌曲《Mama Do》、《Boys & Girls》和《Cry Me Out》）、Alex Revenco（罗马尼亚摇滚乐记者，近期在美国采访了AC/DC乐队，并兼任报纸《Jurnalul National》的高级编辑），以及Kjell Haune（挪威作曲家兼制作人，首位拥有两部音乐剧在伦敦西区上演的挪威作曲家）。

Rustic从最初的预赛表演到夺得全球总决赛冠军的经历都被niurenku.com一一录制了下来，并将制作成纪录片于今年晚些时候发行。

GBOB的中国赛区总监Chris B说：“Rustic的获胜为北京和整个中国的现场音乐表演扩阔了视野。”

2010年的全球总决赛将于2010年12月在吉隆坡举行。中国乐队预赛将于2010年7月启动。