Beat junkies and turntablists beware! The 2006 DMC World DJ Championships are upon us, with this year’s event looking set to be the biggest yet! The event will be taking place at the Hammersmith Palais in London on the 10th and 11th September. This year is the 21st Anniversary of the championships and there is a whopping $30,000 in prize money up for grabs along with those world-renowned golden turntables.
This year the rules have been brought back to basics with only one set of Technics SL1210 MK2 turntables, one mixer with no effects or modifications and only stylus in the Ortofon range allowed per competitor. A factor which will give each participant an equal platform and really crank up the pressure for each round!
The competition is broken down into three key events: The Battle For World Supremacy, a solo head-to head knock out with rounds leading to the last two DJs standing. The Team Event, which features teams of two, three or four DJ’s using up to 8 turntables to battle each other. And finally – the Individual Event, the main solo event to find and crown the new DMC World DJ Champion.
The DMC World DJ Championships is an event that has made musical history. Back in 1986 DJ Cheese changed the event forever by introducing scratching into his routine, and from that point onwards scratching has been an integral part of DJ’s routines. Check out each individual take on the flare, the orbit and the crab, and expect to see much more turntable wizardry in 2006!
In 1997, and at only 15 years of age, a young DJ A-Trak won first place at Rimini, Italy, subsequently becoming Kanye West’s tour DJ, and of course, no one will forget the world domination of DJ Craze with his hat trick of titles from ’98 to 2000.
With this much history, the DMC World DJ Championships is truly the most important date for any budding DJs calendar. Last year we saw DJ ie.MERG from the USA winning the coveted individual world title, with Pro Zeiko from Germany winning the World Supremacy title, and C2C from France winning the Team Championships. Although ie.MERG and Pro Zeiko are not back in the running this year (Pro Zeiko will be judging), C2C is defending their team title for the fourth time — which has never been done at DMC!! As for homegrown talent, this year you would be crazy to rule out UK beat supremo Asian Hawk, who qualified from this years UK heats in style.
Of course it’s not all about the DJ’s, B-Boys and B-Girls out there can watch the ‘Planet Hop Dance-Off Competition’ which sees teams of break dancers throwing it down, in their attempts to see who is king of the dance floor! Along with graffiti walls and headline performances (TBC), this really is an event not to be missed!!
Tickets are £15 per day or £25 for a weekend ticket from www.dmcworld.com
THE RULES AND THE PRIZES (more prizes to be confirmed) A brief breakdown of rules and descriptions of the events:
DMC WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st: Technics Golden Turntables and Mixer. Ortofon Gold/Diamond Tipped Stylus + $10,000 presented by Ortofon
2nd: Technics Silver Mixer and Ortofon Silver stylus.
3rd: Technics bronze mixer and Ortofon Bronze stylus.
6 minute set where DJ’s display mixing and turntablist skills.
DMC BATTLE FOR WORLD SUPREMACY
1st: $10,000 presented by Ortofon.
Runner Up Prize includes equipment.
Individual DJ’s battle head to head in a fast paced competition giving the contestants 90 seconds to prove themselves as the World’s best.
DMC WORLD DJ TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1st: $10,000 presented by Ortofon.
2nd and 3rd Prizes include equipment.
Team version of the Individual event: 6-minute set where DJ teams display mixing and turntablist skills.
