Voting is closed on the sixth round of Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 and we hope to have a winner announced at some stage tomorrow. Registration is still open for round seven, where we’ll give away another 200 euro cash. Five rounds left in all before the final. If you want to earn a shot at a top prize of €1,000 then you must enter (and win) one of the rounds. Busking gets underway in Kilkenny from midday on Saturday July 11th.

Visit Busker2009.com for more.

We asked the band if they’ve got plans to reschedule and they’re considering August, though possibly with a change of venue. The band are up next in Cyprus Avenue in Cork on Friday July 24th.

Pierre Lec’hvien is one of the buskers looking for your vote before round six closes on Sunday evening. You can vote for Pierre, Pete, Shane or Liam by visiting Busker2009.com.

Here’s Pierre performing on the harp outside Dunnes on Kieran Street on Saturday June 27th.

IT’S THAT time of year again when Kilkenny’s budding musicians get ready to go to battle to win the title of ‘Best Band 2009′ in the 9th Hype Entertainment Battle of the Bands competition.

Entries are now being accepted and bands are advised to get their names down quickly as the contest is set to kick off in mid July.

Application forms are available at Essaness Music, St Kieran’s Street, and Broderick’s Music Warehouse, New Building Lane. Bands can also enter the contest online (and we’re encouraging acts interested in doing so) by visiting the official BOTB site at BattleOfTheBands.ie.

The new website, created by Event media especially for the competition, will also cover the entire contest through photographs, reviews, interviews, videos and more.

Organisers are this week finalising the prizes that already include a demo recording package, an EP recording package and a website, photography and PR package for the lucky winners. Sponsors so far include Broderick’s Music Warehouse, The Mill Recording Studios, Essaness Music, Kilkennymusic.com, Ross Costigan Photography and Zoo Club.

Plans to launch a South East contest have been put on hold until next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the competition.

The competition is restricted to bands within Kilkenny City & County (north and south of the county). To register today, visit BattleOfTheBands.ie.

Voting has opened in the sixth round of the Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 competition where you can help another of this past weekend’s buskers towards a €200 prize and a potential place in the final this autumn.

To cast your vote, visit Busker2009.com today. Voting closes this Sunday, July 5th, at 6pm GMT. Suspicious voting patterns, use of proxies, or spamming will result in all votes from those IPs being removed. Judges decision on the winners is final.

Slave Zero have posted an update on their MySpace and on the forum here in relation to their new album, Exempt From All Tolerance, which gets its release on August 20th this year. The album was recorded and mixed in Silverline Studios in Wicklow and has been mastered by none other than Richard Dowling who has worked with Napalm Death, Carcass & Entombed to name a few. The official CD launch/ full tour and merchandise will be released in the coming weeks but for the time being they’ve uploaded “Engineering opportunities to ‘ordain’ the innocent” to their MySpace profile to keep fans entertained until August. They’re also working towards relaunching the Slave Zero website and will be giving away the track as a free download.

The album itself gets a launch in Whelan’s in Dublin on August 20th though you’ll be able to catch the band in Galway at An Pucan next weekend on Saturday July 4th.

The tracklisting for the new album looks like

1. Exempt from all tolerance
2. Antidote to suffering
3. Engineering opportunities to ‘ordain’ the innocent
4. A sacrifice for the greater good
5. Impervious determination undermining a malignant ambition
6. The insult that feeds
7. Allegiance of deceit
8. Straight for the jugular
9. Vengeance

Sky News’ website has been crawling. Google’s news search was inundated with the same two words, ‘Michael Jackson’. With the news breaking last night, late-risers (or those who missed it) will get up this morning to find that Michael Jackson has died at age 50. Some people are already comparing the day of his death to that of JFK (See here).

Jermaine Jackson read a statement for news declaring that the King Of Pop had died following cardiac arrest at his home yesterday at 2:26pm local time, though cause of death remains unknown until the autopsy results come out. Paramedics had attempted to revive him for over an hour before declaring the singer dead.

You can watch Jermaine Jackon’s statement to journalists here on Sky.

The highs and lows of his career have been well documented, rarely with the singer seen out of the tabloids for some reason, good or bad. He was also due to perform 50 nights at the O2 in London later in the summer with some dates rescheduled due to rumours he was battling skin cancer.

Via Sony / MichaelJackson.com - Five of Jackson’s solo albums – “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Dangerous” and “HIStory,” all with Epic Records, a Sony Music label – are among the top-sellers of all time. During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and “Thriller” as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award.

Michael Jackson started in the music business at the age of 11 with his brothers as a member of the Jackson 5. In the early 1980s, he defined the art form of music video with such ground-breaking videos as “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and the epic “Thriller.” Jackson’s sound, style and dance moves inspired subsequent generations of pop, soul, R&B and hip-hop artists.

I’ve (Ken) got a lot of his albums in my collection, copies of Bad, Thriller and Dangerous knocking around the house on tape as well - music like that will live on, and it’s that music that he’ll always be remembered for.

THIS WEEKEND sees favourites of the local theatre scene, The Devious Theatre Company, take to the stage in Rothe House as part of the Shakespeare In The House festival to present their own twist on the classic works of William Shakespeare.

Indeed, the company promises that “you’ve never seen Shakespeare performed like this”, according to co-founder Ken McGuire.

Actors including Scott Barriscale, Stephen Colfer, John Doran, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney, Niamh Moroney and John Morton will perform a number of Shakespearean works including scenes from The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Shakespeare’s Editor Sketch, a Shakespearean version of the recent rant by Batman Star Christian Bale interspersed by a selection of monologues and sonnets.

Their diversion into Shakespeare comes at a time when the group, who last year brought us the hard-hitting Trainspotting and comedic Smitten, are gearing up for a production of Willy Russell’s Stags And Hens, running at the Watergate Theatre next month.

“We wouldn’t be a devious group of actors if we weren’t working on a few projects at once”, says Ken. “All the cast involved in our appearance at the festival have been involved in performing Shakespearean works at some point over the last few years from Macbeth to Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and more, versions of which you can also see over the course of the two days.

“We’re also in the middle of rehearsals for our next major production but at some point in your theatre career you’ve got to try your hand at Shakespeare. For us, it just happens to be this coming weekend.”

The festival, now in its second year, runs in Rothe House on Parliament Street this Saturday and Sunday from noon each day and also features performances by the junior and senior groups of Dreamstuff Youth Theatre based out of Young Irish Film Makers here in Kilkenny.

The setting of Rothe House in itself is ideal for the festival as the building of the house mirrors the timeline of Shakespeare’s own career in theatre.

Further information is available by contacting The Devious Theatre Company, Dreamstuff Youth Theatre and the office at Rothe House on 056 - 7722893.

Adam Nolan has done enough to see himself through Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 Round 5, winning the round ahead of Chaser, Neil (Eustace) and Pete, all of whom featured in Round 5 on Saturday June 16th.

Voting at the top was close but the saxophone player, later spotted playing at the castle, did enough to seal the top spot and win a €200 prize. Hopefully we’ll see all acts again in later rounds with over a thousand euro, plus a standalone prize of one thousand euro left to play for.

If you fancy your chances and want to register for round six which takes place this Saturday, please click here to do so.

Our apologies again to the acts and to those of you who were coming to check them out.

They’ve already announced some of the festival lineup for 2009, and this morning the Kilkenny Arts Festival team, aided by a load of volunteers and flash-mob lovers danced their way around Connolly Station in Dublin to mark the launch of the Kilkenny Arts Festival for 2009.

The festival this year runs from August 7th to August 16th bringing acts (already announced) like Amiina, Low, Katie Kim and many more to the music scene in Kilkenny. There’s more to come, plus the full line up of dance, theatre, visual arts, poetry, exhibitions and all the other fun bits that go along with the festival.

You can book your tickets for gigs and events now by visiting KilkennyArts.ie.

It’s your last chance (today) to vote for your favourite busker from round five of the Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 competition. Your vote will help one of the acts from last weekend walk away with an additional €200.

If you think you’ve got what it takes and can busk for two hours in Kilkenny next weekend, Saturday June 27th, the click here to register today. All acts welcome.

Chaser (the band) are on the hunt for votes as part of the Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 competition, the fifth round of which is currently at voting stages. To cast a vote for Chaser, or for any of the other buskers, head along to Busker2009.com.

If you head over to pop culture collective Culch.ie, it looks like they’re giving away two copies of Strands by The Lions Mane. Well, it doesn’t just look like it, they are giving away two copies of the album in a competition running until June 24th.

Check out the post on how to enter.

Adam Nolan was one of the buskers involved in the fifth round of the Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 competition and he’s looking for your vote. If you think Adam stands out as your favourite of the weekend, vote for him and help him on his way to €200.

Cast your vote now at Busker2009.com.

Voting has opened in the fifth round of Kilkenny 400’s Busker 2009 and here’s one busker looking for your vote. Performing on the Butterslip this past Saturday, Neil Eustace will be familiar to fans of local act Original Lineup (formerly of). Speaking to Neil at the weekend it sounds like there’s another act on the horizon but for the moment, he might be found busking in Kilkenny.

You can make his first busking day out a profitable one by voting for Neil now over at Busker2009.com. There you’ll also find performances of the other buskers on the day. Spread the love and encourage others to vote as well.

Buskers interesting in performing on Saturday June 27th should get in touch today or click here to register online. You can watch all previous videos under the one roof at Kilkenny Music TV on YouTube.

For those of you who’ve been waiting on news of this year’s Battle of the Bands competition, you won’t have to wait much longer. The competition is set to go ahead this year, a month from now and applications will soon be taken for bands interested in competing.

Stepping on from previous year’s (after a meeting we had today), this year’s competition is going to be a fast paced one, open to more bands, bringing in some additional special guest judges and there’s a prize pool there that packs a serious punch.

Don’t forget too that the competition is open to bands from all walks - metal, indie, rock, electronica, progressive, reggae and beyond. The only stipulation is that you must be resident in Kilkenny city or county (north Kilkenny / south Kilkenny).

Last year’s winners, South, have benefited greatly from topping the judging at last year’s competition - the prize pool from last year has allowed them to record a full-length debut album, secure distribution, an Irish tour, a video documentary and more PR and promotional goodies than you can shake a stick at.

Keep an eye on the homepage for more updates over the course of the week.

Registration is now open for the sixth round of Kilkenny 400 Busker 2009 taking place two weeks from today on Saturday June 27th. Today saw another helping of new faces to busking in Kilkenny (at least in terms of the competition) with Neil Eustace, Chaser (Wexford) and Adam Nolan amongst the busking acts.

We’ll have their videos online in time to open up the voting on Monday where YOU will decide which act walks away with an additional 200 Euro for their efforts. To be in with a chance of winning 200 Euro on Saturday June 27th, you must register your act in advance by visiting this link.

Dublin act Heritage Centre are on their way to Kilkenny for a gig on Saturday night at The Pumphouse. We (or at least I) have been listening to their The City, The Tree & The Fox EP since before its release and would happily give these lads a big thumbs up. They’ve got a great sound that parades its way from the radio-friendly opener of You Are Something to the edgier Death By Science and beyond.

Check their sounds out on MySpace but keep an eye in the press for them down the line, as they gather more traction and more gigs they’ll be marked as one to watch before the release of their upcoming debut album (which has seen near twenty tracks demoed for it already).

Support on Saturday night comes from Neil Coyne, doors for 9:30pm and admission is (quite possibly) five euro.

Heritage Centre photo by Sasha Bond