For immediate release: April 3, 2013 San Jose California
The final round of judging in the Hit Like A Girl contest kicks off this week. After 6 weeks of global public voting, the leaders and wildcards for the final round have been chosen. Public voters chose twenty girls and women in the “Under 18 “and” 18 And Over categories. A sponsor judging crew that included critics, editors, and drumming equipment manufacturers selected an additional twenty wildcards. In the next week a team of celebrity drumming judges will choose the final winners in each category. Celebrity judges include Dawn Richardson (4 Non-Blondes, Tracy Chapman) Kimberly Thompson (Beyonce, Wallace Roney), Jess Bowen (Summer Set), Meytal Cohen (independent), Shauney Baby Recke (ex Will.I.Am, Pussycat Dolls), Hannah Ford (Prince, Bellevue Suite), and Elaine Bradley (Neon Trees).
BACKGROUND: Female drummers from 35 countries entered the contest in January and February. The contestants were divided into under 18 and 18 and over categories to help level the competition and shine the spotlight on a broad cross section of drummers. The contestants submitted videos of their playing and filled out an online bio sheet online at www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com. The finalists can be found on the site as well.
The quality of the entrants in 2013 exceeded the previous year, according to sponsors. Mindy Seegal Abovitz, publisher of Tom Tom Magazine said “Dividing the entrants into under and over 18 groups makes a lot of sense.”
The winners of the Hit Like A Girl Contest will be announced April 18 during a global webcast hosted at Drumchannel.com in Oxnard, California at 6:00 P.M. PST. Details and guests for that event will be announced shortly.
The Hit Like A Girl Contest is designed to support and highlight the development of female drummers. It is produced by Tom Tom Magazine and DRUM! Magazine in conjunction with TRX Cymbals. Prize sponsors include a cross-section of the drum and percussion industries leading firms including DW Drums, Pacific Drums and Percussion, Yamaha DTX Drums, Evans Drumheads, Vater Sticks, SKB Cases, Alfred Publishing, Drumchannel, Online Drummer, and the Percussion Marketing Council. Media sponsors include iDrum magazine, (UK), Drummercafe (US), The Black Page (Canada), Drums and Percussion (Germany), Indian Drummer (India), and Bateros.com (Chile).