Queen drummer Roger Taylor recently announced the launch of a North American talent search looking for players to star in "The Queen Extravaganza" tour. A plethora of vocalists, guitarists, drummers, bassists and keyboard players auditioned online at queenextravaganza.com, submitting video footage of themselves performing one of four classic Queen songs: "Killer Queen," "Somebody To Love," "Seven Seas of Rhye" and "I Want To Break Free."
With one week of open auditions remaining, Taylor continues to pour through the submissions and is preparing for the November 9th announcement of the lucky semi-finalists.
"What an amazing storehouse of talent we have unlocked," said Taylor. "The standard is mind blowingly high, it's really a thrill getting to discover some of them, keep them coming!"
The buzz surrounding "The Queen Extravaganza" tour has sparked worldwide interest with video submissions generating more than 6.4 million views to date. Television host Ellen DeGeneres was so impressed with the level of talent, that she invited one hopeful to perform his audition on her show. The contestant, Nashville's Marc Martel, went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on October 3rd and gave a stunning rendition of Queen's "Somebody To Love." Fans around the country felt the same way, awarding Martel the MTV O Award last night for Best Fan Cover. His performance from The Ellen DeGeneres Show can be viewed here
Unlike Round One, in which vocalists and musicians were allowed to audition by performing one of four Queen songs, Round Two will see each semi-finalist assigned a specific track.
* Vocalists must submit a video of themselves performing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."
* Drummers must perform "One Vision."
* Guitarists must play "Keep Yourself Alive."
* Bassists must audition to "Another One Bites The Dust."
* Keyboardists must perform "Bohemian Rhapsody."
The semi-finalists will have between November 9 and 13 to submit their auditions. In another twist, Round Two auditions will be judged by the public. Between November 14th and 28th, fans can vote for their favorites at www.queenextravaganza.com , casting one vote per category. The top vote-getters will advance to the Final Round. Those finalists will be flown into Los Angeles in early December, where they will perform live for Taylor and a panel of judges. More information on the final auditions to be announced shortly.
