Hip-Hop Star and Actor "Bow Wow" to Appear Alongside Top HBCU Marching Bands at One of the City's Most Highly Anticipated Events

(BLACK PR WIRE) TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 60,000 fans will flock through the gates of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome on January 29th, 2011 to witness the 9th annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase, an unparalleled performance and celebration of the nation’s elite marching bands. Renowned Hip-Hop performer and actor “Bow Wow” will join more than 1,800 student musicians and one of Atlanta’s best amateur vocalists to celebrate the music and creativity found at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The Invitational Showcase Line-Up
For the highly anticipated 2011 showdown, the curtain will go up promptly at 3:00 p.m. EST. The bill includes a special guest performance by “Bow Wow,” along with crowd-pleasing routines by the nation’s top eight elite black college marching bands. Georgia’s own Albany State University will open the show and lead this year’s “great eight” performances in the following order:

1. Albany State University “Marching Rams Show Band”
2. Tennessee State University “Aristocrat of Bands”
3. Virginia State University “Trojan Explosion Marching Band”
4. Clark Atlanta University “Mighty Marching Panthers”
5. Jackson State University “The Sonic Boom of the South”
6. Winston-Salem State University “Red Sea of Sound”
7. South Carolina State University “Marching 101”
8. Bethune Cookman University “Marching Wildcats”

Hip-Hop Icon “Bow Wow” to Perform
Hip-Hop artist and actor “Bow Wow” will be on hand as the special guest performer this year. The Columbus, Ohio native is best known for his musical lineage, taking his stage name from his mentor, fellow rapper-actor “Snoop Dog,” Bow Wow’s film credits include The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Lottery Ticket. He is also noted for his cameo appearances in the critically-acclaimed television series, “Smallville,” “Ugly Betty,” “Entourage” and others.

Amateur Vocalists Welcomed To Audition for National Anthem
The Honda Battle of the Bands national anthem will be performed by a talented local vocalist selected once through a promotional radio “sing-off.” WVEE-FM, or “V-103,” Atlanta’s top-ranked urban radio station, is partnering with the Honda Battle of the Bands once again to invite listeners 16 years of age or older to demonstrate their vocal skills for a once–in-a-lifetime opportunity to open the 2011 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase. This year, three finalists will be selected by a panel of judges at the open audition on Saturday, January 8th, 2011 at the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia, Georgia. Music fans can then log on to the station's web site and vote for their favorite rendition of the national anthem. The winner will be announced on-air on January 21st, 2011, and he or she will command the spotlight to open the showcase on January 29th.

Grants, Internships, and More
The Honda Battle of the Bands program not only provides a platform to shine a rare spotlight on the pageantry, pride and showmanship of HBCU music and culture, but it also is the only national music scholarship program of its kind. For the 2011 program, 45 HBCU marching bands participated in the pre-qualifying “Celebration Tour,” and received $1,000 grants for their music programs. An additional $20,000 will be awarded to the eight institutions selected to participate in this month’s Invitational Showcase.

In addition to the distribution of grant monies, the program also includes internship opportunities through the Fox Music Experience, and an HBCU Recruitment Fair will expose future college students to all HBCUs have to offer. The Fox Music Experience, now in its fourth year, provides one HBOB Invitational Showcase student-musician the opportunity to spend a few weeks during the summer months as an intern at Twentieth Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, learning film and television music production first-hand. The Honda Battle of the Bands HBCU Recruitment Fair, now in its sixth year, gives young people the opportunity to meet with marching band and admissions recruiters to discuss admissions requirements and scholarship opportunities.

Group and individual tickets for the show are still available, but moving quickly. They can be purchased at the Georgia Dome Box Office, via www.Ticketmaster.com or www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com for just $10 and $12.

For more information on the Invitational Showcase, Fox Music Experience summer internship program and HBCU Recruitment Fair, photos, press materials and video footage visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com, the official online destination and clearinghouse for all HBOB information.

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 nine years ago as an effort to support HBCU music programs.