The online votes have been counted, and we’d like to congratulate the first band to win a spot in our fourth live showdown, scheduled for May 9 at the Mohawk Place: Way to go, Seen It All!

Round 4 Week 1 Winners: Seen It All

Your win earns you the chance to impress the crowd that night, and if you collect the most votes down at the ‘Hawk, you’ll join TypeRelevant, Peanut Brittle Satellite and Fashion Expo 1990 in the live Grand Finale at the Tralf on May 15.

This week, you, as a local music fan, should check out the music of the Guest Speaker and the Beggar’s Best, and vote for your favorite. By next Wednesday, one of them will have won the chance to join Seen It All on stage May 9 at the Mohawk Place.

Remember that our IT guy is very savvy, and he’ll be monitoring the votes more closely than an election lawyer in Ohio. Vote once. Don’t try to stuff the ballot. If you’re caught cheating, you can be disqualified. And there’s nowhere to appeal our decision.

Also, musicians, there’s still time to enter BOOM. Half a dozen more acts will be featured on these pages before the big Grand Finale. Visit Artvoice.com to find out how to enter. JUST MAKE SURE YOU SEND US ALL THREE THINGS: SONG, PHOTO & QUESTIONNAIRE. Meatloaf tells us that two out of three ain’t bad, but I’m telling you that two out of three won’t do! Because we can’t include you in our contest without all the required materials.

The rewards for the winners are great. They will receive a recording package from Audio Magic, and 100 CDs of that recording from ESP CD & DVD Manufacturing. The four winners of our live quarterfinals will face off in our Grand Finale in May. The winner that night will win a slot on WBFO’s Wednesday night concerts live from Allen Hall, a video produced by Artvoice, and a nice cash prize as well. Special thanks to our friends at Guitar Center.

We’re happy to present this contest with the help of our great sponsors: Nietzsche’s, ESP, WBFO and Audio Magic.. They all play a vital role in making our town a hotspot of original music. But we can’t make msic without u. And may the best band win.

Voting is closed for this pair of bands
Visit the BOOM Page to see who's up!

The Beggar’s Best You need to have the Adobe Flash Player installed to listen. Download it for free here. Listen to Gone by The Beggar’s Best When/where did the band form? Buffalo N.Y., in March of 2007. You might like us if you like: We’re a bit Punk, touch of Blues, and a splash of Rock. 311 meets the Beatles, who then jammed with Nirvana. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: We sound like nobody else, we write all our own music...and I think we’re the best at it. BOOM in a nutshell, right? Website: www.myspace.com/beggarsbest

The Guest Speaker You need to have the Adobe Flash Player installed to listen. Download it for free here. Listen to Beluga by The Guest Speaker When/where did the band form? We formed in the summer of ‘05 when we were still in high school just to get together and mess around with our instruments. Sadly, we were all absorbed into other personal responsibilities at the time and left the band behind until the summer of ‘07 when we all decided to start playing music again. As we matured, so did our music, and our love of playing has always remained. We love to have fun with our music. You might like us if you like: Broken Social Scene, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: We just want to play our music and for you to have as much fun listening and dancing as we do playing it for you. Website: www.myspace.com/theguestspeaker

Visit the BOOM page for more