R&V Protege semi-finalists announced

Rhythm & Vines is a step closer to finding its “ultimate understudy”, with the announcement of its Top 6 semi-finalists for R&V Protege.

The opportunity of a lifetime for one lucky candidate, the winner of R&V Protégé will work alongside the R&V team and learn the ins and outs of putting on a music festival.

Attracting 76 video entries, R&V Program Director Hamish Pinkham says organizers were blown away by the calibre of entrants and their knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and creativity.

“Thanks to everyone who entered, especially those who really pulled out all the stops to impress the judges with everything from celebrity endorsements, to raps, role-plays and stop motion movies. Whittling it down to the top six was a really hard task.”

The Top 6 will fly to Auckland later this week with grabaseat to meet the R&V team and undertake in-depth job interviews. Staying at the Quadrant Hotel, they will also get to attend the Vodafone Music Awards on Thursday night. Friday will involve some media training and challenges along with interviews with R&V’s major media partners ZM and MTV.

From there, the R&V Protégé winner will be announced in December and will have the opportunity to work alongside the R&V team at the upcoming festival, where they will get the chance to meet artists, hang backstage and rub shoulders with music and media personalities.

They’ll also receive a three-month paid contract to work on the event with the R&V team.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, the winner will receive $3000 in Amazon clothing, Panasonic equipment, and three-day R&V passes, onsite camping, VIP passes and backstage access.

So without further adieu, here are the R&V Protégé Top 6 semi-finalists:
Matt Gordon, 23, Newton, Auckland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnHR8VpVAs
Music lover Matt (aka Flash) currently lives above famous live music venue the Kings Arms Tavern, and is endorsed by Kids of 88 as their choice.
Cameron Clarke, 22, Cambridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgIUO_NqJWQ
From the Tron, Cameron (or Diaz to his mates), is a bar manager and event promoter (covertraves.com), and the people’s choice favourite to date.
Sven Exeter, 27, Napier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XunJ0EJIEL8
Music lover and international festival-goer Sven also has a love for the environment and is a consents planner for the Hawkes Bay Regional Council.
Jimmy Mason, 27, Te Aro Wellington, hometown Hastings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61IuAACufro
A commercial lawyer and band manager, Jimmy (aka Mace) has five years experience running his own exclusive events called Summer Starter.
Leo Murray, 23, Mt Victoria, Wellington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iocn10SMvns
Leo, better known around town as Mufasa, works in events at Wellington Regional Council, is a DJ, and holds his own events in Wellington every six weeks.
Breiana Bennetts, 18, from Roxburgh, Central Otago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS8tsZ23hOs
The popular Breiana is our youngest semi-finalist but judges were impressed by Breiana’s maturity and understanding of the event considering she is yet to attend.

Special mention also goes to the remaining Top 10 (actually 12 because we couldn't decide):
Ella Spittle
Emily Anderson
Matt Smith
Josh Smith
Ashleigh Martin
George Nuridzhanyan

Amazon Award for Best Video
Ella Spittle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjRIE_-Cg7o

grabaseat Entertainer Award (got the most laughs from the team)
George Nuridzhanyan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQc2cuKlrpQ

Best Endorsement Award
Kyle Donegan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhH-mlEdAc

Stay tuned for more on R&V Protégé in December. And for more information or to check out the entries, head to:
www.rhythmandvines.co.nz
www.facebook.com/rhythm.vines