ABC Expands Unsigned Band Competition, Assures 'This Is Not The Voice'

Today, ABC has announced the nationwide expansion of the 702 ABC Sydney band competition Exhumed, the search to discover some of the 'Best Bands You've Never Heard Of'.

Originally created by James Valentine, the Sydney competition received a huge response from striving bands with 250 acts applying, influencing the ABC to promote the search Australia-wide and across all platforms – every ABC Local Radio station in the country, ABC Multiplatform, ABC Open and ABC TV.

Stations will announce their local winners and from this pool, six finalists will be chosen to participate in the ABC1-screened five-part TV series, hosted by James Valentine, uncovering Australia's top six unheard bands, leading towards a Live Grand Final where a winner is named 'Exhumed Winner 2013'.

According to Valentine, the competition aims to show appreciation for those acts who do it tough in the business, strictly not to be confused with a commercial televised talent quest.

“We want to applaud those who make music for the fun of it. We want to find those who play for their friends, at fundraisers, at street fairs and school fetes. We want to say, we think you're fantastic, it's great what you're doing and don't stop doing it,” Valentine said.

“This is not The Voice. We are not looking for a great undiscovered singer. It's not X‐Factor or Idol – we are not about to create a new pop sensation. This is about recognising that there's a lot of great, passionate, inspired music making going on purely for the love of it”.

Entries open on Monday 24 June, and band members must be over 30-years-old and be active in a band of two or more people, with entries closing on Monday 15 July and local winners announced in August.

Entry details can be found on the ABC Exhumed page.