Talent quest

A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets. Examples of music competitions include Open Mic UK, SoundWave Music Competition, All-Japan Band Association annual contest, the World Music Contest, Live and Unsigned, the Eurovision Song Contest, and American Idol.

The European Classical art music idiom has long relied on the institution of music competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest young players and contributes to the establishment of their professional careers (see List of classical music competitions). Popular instrumental ensembles such as brass bands and school bands have also long relied on competitions and festivals to promote their musical genres and recognize high levels of achievement. In recent decades large competitions have also developed in the field of popular music to showcase performances by pop vocalists and rock bands (e.g. "Idol series" and "Battle of the Bands" events).

The music competitions with the largest audiences are widely televised events in the genre of popular music, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and American Idol. The Open Mic UK and Live and Unsigned contests in the United Kingdom each garner approximately 10,000 contestants annually, making them the largest contests in the region.

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Wikipedia