The preliminary round for the series of events started 14th of July at Xtasea Sports Bar in Shekou of which Kaktooz won the 1st place Champion title against 30 bands. The next round was the Shenzhen City Final held at the Musibase Concert Hall also in Shenzhen on August 3. Again, Kaktooz won 1st place. The last round for Shenzhen was the Finals for Guangdong Province also held at Musibase on August 17, and again Kaktooz won first place which entitled them to compete for the China National Semi-Finals. The outdoor tarmac of the old Kunming Airport in Yunnan was the chosen venue for the national semi-finals, a massive set-up attended by the thousands. That time, unlike the previous rounds, Kaktooz competed with China's best as the bands were all champions from different areas all over China filtered to reach the semi-finals. The date was September 15 and Kaktooz had to fly a day before to Yunnan for the event. Kaktooz prevailed once more and won 1st place as Champion.
The China National Semi-Finals was held at a massive concert hall venue in Beijing called Tango. The date was set at September 22 and like Yunnan, Kaktooz flew to Beijing a day earlier for sound-check and preparations. This time a local Chinese band won the Champion title which gave them the title to represent China for Tiger Translate International engagements. Although it was a sad day for Kaktooz, there were no regrets and in reality, it might be awkward for a non-Chinese band to represent China if ever they won. A grand slam of 4 rounds as Champion but unfortunately, Beijing, the city which the band was so anxious to see was their Waterloo. Kaktooz put out one of the best rock n roll shows Beijing has seen and although they did not bring home the bacon, getting that far within China for a national band competition was well worth it.
Photo courtesy of Yereth Jansen Photography
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Photo courtesy of Yereth Jansen Photography
