News 2005
Send a band on the Road to V
15/08/2005
- Televised final of Virgin Mobile’s search to find a band to open the 10th anniversary of the V Festival
- Virgin Mobile, The Big Issue magazine and Channel 4 team up to find new, upcoming acts for the chance of a lifetime – six finalists chosen
- Performances to be shown on Channel 4 in the run up to V
15.08.05: Virgin Mobile is proud to announce the return of the ‘Road to V’, which has launched a search for the best new unsigned bands in Britain, and is giving them a chance to win a place on the V Festival stage. The winner of the Road to V contest will open this year’s V Festival on the 20th August at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire on 21st August.
The V Festival is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and has confirmed a stellar star music line-up including Oasis, Scissor Sisters, The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, among many others.
This year, Virgin Mobile linked up with The Big Issue magazine to find the cream of the crop in British music talent. The Big Issue magazine invited music acts to send in their CD demos, which were then judged by a panel of judges from Virgin Mobile, Channel 4, and the music industry. Hundreds of bands submitted CDs and the final six were finally chosen: Special Needs, One Self, Leon, Crazy Girl, The Young Knives and Fleeing New York.
The six bands will now battle it out in a series of televised performances on Channel 4. Two bands will perform each night on Monday 15th, Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th August. At the end of the shows, music lovers will be invited to text in to vote for their favourites, the performances will also be shown on the C4 website, www.channel4.com/roadtov, and viewers can e-mail in their opinions on the bands. The winner will be announced on Thursday 18th August and the band will have 48 hours to practise, pack up and get ready for the performance of their lives at the V Festival.
Steve Rogan from Virgin Mobile comments: ‘Virgin Mobile is really pleased to once again be able to support new bands and help send new talent the on the road to stardom. The standard of entry for this year’s Road to V was remarkably high and it was a real challenge to find six finalists. All of these bands are desperate to get on the V stage and are calling on their fans to make sure that they get there!’
Virgin Mobile – the V in the V Festival
Channel 4 show times and running order:
| Monday 15th August: | 00:00 – 00:15 |
| Special Needs & One Self | |
| Tuesday 16th August: | 01:40 – 01:55 |
| Leon & Crazy Girl | |
| Wednesday 17th August: | 01:55 – 02:10 |
| The Young Knives & Fleeing New York |
Special Needs: Tipped by Q magazine in their class of 2005 and described by the NME as "reinvigorating our belief in Rock n Roll and classic pop tunes alike" Special Needs are one of the few bands from UK that have that need for reinvention. Instead of a three-chord thrash, they live in a technicolour universe that brings in Phil Spector, Scott Walker, the Ronettes and Dexy's Midnight Runners.
One Self: If you think a story that starts off with an American, a Russian and a Swedish-born Chilean/Brazilian ought to end up with a terrible punch line, then you've not heard the one about the multi-national hip hop trio One Self. Their tale might seem unlikely, but their music is definitely no joke.
Leon: "Like Blur at their most lo-fi, sweet band with a stiletto blade in each hand" – NME. Leon were formed last year from a hybrid of bands from the incestuous Derby music scene and pride themselves on fusing new and old in the mix from an injection of Hammond organ here to home-grown electronica there!
Crazy Girl: Crazy Girl, aka Tiff McGinnis, began song writing as a child in a specially built recording room at her family home in Columbus, Georgia, USA. She’s so passionate about her music, not even a recent skirmish with Pete Doherty could throw her off the scent. The Baby Shambles front man attempted to upstage her and take over the show. She was having none of it…
The Young Knives: The Oxfordshire trio are new contenders on the indie-punk scene. Dazed and Confused recently described them as the “angriest ridden metal scene of the countryside”. Indeed.
Fleeing New York: Rather than New York, they’re actually from Southampton. The name was actually picked from Hunter S Thompson’s “Songs of the Doomed”. Despite interest from major record labels, they decided to stick to recording them in the comfort of their own shed converted into a studio… A serious outfit, they’ve amassed a huge and faithful following.
For further information, please contact:
| Virgin Mobile | |
| Alison Bonny | alison.bonny@virginmobile.com or 07802 430276 |
| Henry’s House | |
| Krissy Knights | krissy@henryshouse.com or 020 7291 3035 |
| Rachel Moule | rachel@henryshouse.com or 020 7291 3033 |
Notes to Editors:
The V Festival takes place on 20th – 21st of August at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire. Oasis · Scissor Sisters · Franz Ferdinand · The Streets .The Prodigy ·The Chemical Brothers · The Streets · Embrace · Maroon 5 · The Hives · Ian Brown · Texas . Athlete · The Zutons · Doves · Kaiser Chiefs · Super Furry Animals · 22:20's · The Music · Robert Plant · The Roots · Jet · Joss Stone · Idlewild · The Bravery · Ordinary Boys · Good Charlotte · Dizzee Rascal · Goldfrapp· KT Tunstall · GLC · Thirteen Senses · I Am Kloot · The Stands · Tony Christie · Polyphonic Spree · The Departure · Tom Vek · Jem · Estelle · Lucie Silvas · Natasha Beddingfield · Tom Baxter · Diefenbach · Josh Rouse · Kubb · Leaves · Morning Runner · Ray Lamontage · Roisin Murphy · Stephen Fretwell
About Virgin Mobile:
Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK) plc, the UK's largest mobile virtual network operator, is majority owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and uses T-Mobile's network. Since its launch in November 1999, Virgin Mobile has attracted more than 5.6 million customers.
In the UK, Virgin Mobile phones are available direct on 0845 6000 600; on the web at www.virginmobile.com or on the high street at approximately 5,000 outlets including Virgin Mobile Stores within Virgin Megastores, The Carphone Warehouse, The Link, Dixons, Phones 4 U, Curry's, Comet, Tesco, Asda, John Lewis, Argos, TOMO, Woolworths, Toys R Us and Ryman plus hundreds of independents mobile phones dealers and available via Shop Direct, Littlewoods, Grattan and Empire home shopping channels.
Virgin Mobile employs approximately 1,400 staff at three sites, Trowbridge, London and Daventry, and has an outsourced customer service centre operated by approximately 200 staff in Middlesbrough.
Virgin Mobile's customers were found to be the most-satisfied mobile consumers in the pre-pay sector for two years running in 2005 and 2004, according to the surveys by J.D. Power and Associates. Virgin Mobile is also featured in "The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For" list 2005 and is part of the FTSE4Good Index.
