The 2006 PALME DJ of the Year Competition, the Middle East's most prestigious DJ event and regarded by DJ's as one of the world's leading DJ events, was the tightest fought in the history of the event. The quality of the entries this year was the highest ever, and the judging panel was faced with a difficult task, such was the level of talent of the six finalists.
DJ Mass Ramli, the ultimate winner, is the first previous winner ever to regain the title of PALME DJ of the Year. Following his win in 2004, he decided not to compete in 2005, saying that "Winning the title of PALME DJ of the Year opened up a whole new chapter in my life, and a lot of exciting opportunities came my way - ones that I probably wouldn't have had without the prestige of winning. I decided not to defend my title last year as there were many young upcoming DJ's that deserved to win and have the same opportunities, but the first prize - a place on the School of Audio Engineering's Diploma of Audio Engineering programme - was just irresistible, and I was determined to win."
Founded in 1976, the SAE today has branches in 47 cities in 30 countries, with Dubai the latest to be added. SAE Dubai has four professional studios that boast the best equipment in the region, the highlight being the very latest digital Neve recording console, the only one of its kind in the UAE.
Marco Batelli of the SAE, who were supporting the competition for the first time was very impressed. "It's a great idea and a very good, well organised event. What I really appreciated was the passion and commitment of the DJ's - for me, this showed just how important the competition is to them. The size of the crowd that came along to cheer on their favourite DJ was also exceptional."
Since his first win in 2004, DJ Mass has been busy working all over the region - he now has a unique opportunity to further enhance his skills at one of the world's greatest audio schools, and also received a selection of superb prizes from Venuetech, Denon, Sennheiser, Martin Professional and Jem.
The atmosphere throughout the finals, which were staged in a marquee purpose built by Harlequin inside the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, was electric. The crowd of spectators and supporters were treated to a selection of international quality sets played on the very latest cutting edge DJ equipment.
"This is a great competition," added DJ Mass. "It really brings out the best in each of us, and with only ten minutes to impress the judges, you have to work hard to get noticed, particularly when the standard is as high as it was this year."
The competition builds over a three week period, with the first qualifying heats staged at the Virgin Megastore in The Mall of the Emirates in early April, and culminates with two days of heats followed by the grand final where the six DJ's judged to be the best playing off against each other for the title.
"In addition to the valued support that Virgin give us during the heats, we're grateful for the enthusiastic support of Venuetech, Sennheiser, Dynacord, Martin Professional, Denon DJ, Jem and Eurotruss, who helped us create the perfect environment for the competition," said Jonathan Gadalla, Project Manager, IIR Exhibitions. "I must also thank Solutions, who were the technical coordinators for the event."
Since it was first staged in 2003, the PALME DJ of the Year competition has had a positive effect on the Middle East DJ community. "The region already has a growing international reputation for the creativity of its DJ's, and from what we saw at this year's competition, the level just keeps getting higher and higher every year - we're delighted to be able to encourage this, and are already looking forward to 2007!" said Gadalla.
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© Press Release 2006
