Vardhaman Megatech Pvt. Ltd. Conducts Mix-Ministers 2018 Open DJ Championship
The Grand Finale of the “Mix-Ministers” Open DJ Championship, presented by Vardhaman Megatech, in association with JBL Professional & Pioneer DJ was held on December 5, 2018 at the VMT Mumbai Store.
The gates opened at 9:00 AM with 1250 audience members and 60 contestants making their way to VMT Mumbai through the day. The 60 participants performed on the latest Pioneer Nexus 2 Set-up & JBL VRX FOH System. The contestants were judged on the following skills:
1. Technical
2. Presentation
3. Mixing
4. Song Selection
Each participant got four minutes to perform while the judges looked keenly at their mixing on the huge LED wall. There was a rotating judging panel for the elimination rounds and 11 judges for the final one.
Judging panel comprised of DJ Hi2, DJ KD. DJ LiL ‘B, DJ LLOYD, DJ OSH, DJ Raj, DJ Ryan Beck, DJ Shameless Mani, DJ Shanaya, and DJ Smokey. Mr Ram Sheshadri, President – DRIA was also present.
The final round of the event was further enlightened by the presence of DJ Akbar Sami, one of the most respected DJ’s globally and a favorite amongst the party circuits in the country. The entire event was covered on Facebook Live on the VMT page, and a snippet of each contestants performance is available online. “The number of viewers skyrocketed every second. This was a massive event. The total views were more than 100k even before the closure of the event” said Mr. Rahul More, Marketing, VMT Central.
After five hours of performances and eliminations, the below 12 contestants were selected to battle it out for the top spot and prizes worth Rs. 5 Lakhs.
1. DJ ASHTRON
2. DJ ANIMESH (ALTRAX)
3. DJ TUSHAR
4. DJ VAIBHAV
5. DJ AJAY
6. DJ BAREFACE (Delhi)
7. DJ VISHAL
8. DJ SHAILESH
9. DJ SAHIL
10. DJ PRASHANT
11. SOUMIL KOUL
12. DJ NEERAJ
The first Mix-Ministers Champion was DJ Ashtron who won a Portable DJ Kit that includes a Pioneer DJ Controller, an Eon One, an AKG Headphone and some DJ Accessories along with a few goodies.
The first Runner-Up, DJ Altrax (Animesh) and the second runner up DJ Tushar won a Hobby DJ Kit which includes Pioneer DJ Controller, a JBL Studio Monitor, an AKG Headphone and some DJ Accessories amongst other goodies.
4th Place DJ Vaibhav & 5th Place DJ Ajay took home a Mini-DJ Kit which comprises of a Pioneer controller, an AKG headphone and some DJ Accessories and goodies
“Mix Ministers is a platform for the young and ambitious entrants in our industry. It’s a sense of giving back for us. The industry has received us, our stores and our team with open hearts and we feel privileged to be able to contribute to its growth and development. We are also humbled by the gesture of the judges who took time out of their precious schedule and graced the event. We would also like to thank JBL Professional & Pioneer DJ for their association with the event” said Farhaad Elavia, Public Relations, Vardhaman.
What the Judges had to say:
Hi2: Winner of DJ Championship in 1999 and War of DJ in 1998 DJ Hi2 from Muzink, commented, “I feel that it is been better before because participants were much more prepared. When I won these competitions, I practiced hard for one year for six minutes set and took part to win and I won. Here, I can see a lot of mistakes because the Pioneer player is not easy along with many different features, which hardly anyone uses.” He adds, “I could also make out that some of the guys who took part are actually playing in clubs and therefore, they have that edge of that practice and to win any competition it’s important that one should know their equipment very well.”
DJ Raj: “The show was really good. I always appreciate all the activities taking place for DJ Fraternity. Especially, when these aspiring DJ’s meet experienced DJ’s and share their experience with these talented participants it helps them a lot. On the other hand, when we see these participants performing then we also get to learn a lot from them in terms of new technologies been introduced recently.”
DJ LLYOD: “I think this platform which Vardhaman is giving to these aspiring DJ’s is definitely an advantage because we never had this trend in our time for us to come and showcase our talent. Also, because of these events lot of our Indian talent are coming up and getting international exposure, which is otherwise really difficult for someone who wants to start his career in these fields. This is a great step that these guys have taken to encourage aspiring DJ’s to show their talent.”
V DJ Shaan: “The show was good because I got to see many underground DJ’s. From underground DJ’s I meant with the people who can play hip-hop and they don’t get a platform like this and therefore giving a platform for somebody like this is a really good step.”
DJ Wills: “I am happy to see these participants because they are trying to understand the equipment upgrades. Earlier, if anything new came out in the market, they were oblivious to it.”