Hip-Hop Icon Ludacris Makes Special Appearance, Joins Top Eight HBCU Marching Bands at January Invitational Showcase

(BLACK PR WIRE) TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A Hip-Hop Icon, 1,800 student musicians, an aspiring vocalist and more than 60,000 fans will converge in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, January 30, 2010, to celebrate music, community and creative expression at the world’s largest and best-known marching band showdown the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase.�

The Invitational Showcase Line-Up
This year’s dynamic three-hour show kicks-off promptly at 3 p.m. on Jan. 30, and features a special guest performance by Ludacris, along with performances from the country’s top eight Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Marching Bands. Atlanta’s own Clark Atlanta University opens the show and leads the great eight band performances in the following order:

1. Clark Atlanta University Mighty Marching Panthers
2. Virginia State University Trojan Explosion Marching Band
3. North Carolina Central University Marching Sound Machine
4. Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm
5. Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band
6. Albany State University Marching Rams
7. Tuskegee University Marching Crimson Pipers
8. Florida A&M University Marching 100


Atlanta’s Own Ludacris to Perform
Hip-hop music icon and actor, Ludacris, will be on hand as a special guest performer. The Atlanta native is best known for his extensive musical library and performances in the Oscar-winning film Crash, and the Academy Award-nominated film, Hustle & Flow.

Who’s Got Talent? Atlanta Residents Invited to Audition for National Anthem
This year the Honda Battle of the Bands National Anthem will be performed by a talented local vocalist selected through a promotional radio contest. WVEE/WAOK-FM, Atlanta’s top-ranked urban radio station is teaming up with the Honda Battle of the Bands to invite listeners to flex their vocal skills for a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to open the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands. Five finalists will be selected by a panel of judges at an open audition on Sat., Jan. 16, 2010. Fellow Atlanta residents can then log on to the station's web site and vote for their favorite performer’s rendition of the National Anthem. The winner will be announced on-air Jan. 22, 2010, and will open the showcase on January 30th.

Grants, Internships, and More
As the largest and most highly anticipated musical event of its kind, the Honda Battle of the Bands serves as a platform to shine a rare spotlight on the pageantry, pride and showmanship of HBCU music and culture. It is also the only national music scholarship program of its kind. For the 2010 program, the 45 participating HBCU marching bands in the Road To the Honda qualifying program were each awarded a $1,000 grant for their music programs, with an additional $20,000 awarded to the eight winning institutions selected by national opinion polls to participate in the Invitational Showcase.

In addition, the event will include the announcement of the third annual Honda Battle of the Bands Fox Music Experience award winner. The Fox Music Experience provides one lucky Invitational Showcase student musician the opportunity to spend a few weeks in the summer interning on the Twentieth Century Fox studio lot in Los Angeles learning film and television music production first-hand. Also, for the fifth year in a row, the HBOB program also will include the Honda Battle of the Bands HBCU College Recruitment Fair.

For more information on the Invitational Showcase, Fox Music Experience music internship program and HBCU Recruitment Fair, visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com, the official online destination and clearinghouse for all HBOB information including Invitational Showcase updates, voting, polling status, photos and video footage.

Group and individual tickets for the show are still available, but going fast. They can be purchased at the Georgia Dome Box Office, Ticketmaster.com or www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com for just $10 and $12.
About Honda
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., was founded in 1959 as the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda currently produces automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, lawn mowers and engines at its nine major U.S. manufacturing operations, using domestic and globally sourced parts. Honda has a long-standing commitment to the support and success of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities that began more than 20 years ago with the establishment of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, a program designed to showcase the academic gifts and prowess of HBCU students. American Honda established the Honda Battle of the Bands eight years ago as an effort to support HBCU music programs.