Bedfordtimesregister.com - Maddie Finn aces final exam at Rock Off

Maddie Finn, a singer-songwriter outfit from Streetsboro and Cloverleaf, earned first place at this year's Final Exam Feb. 6 at the House of Blues.

They were among 19 finalists who competed that day.

Their prize package included $500 in cash and their high school band fund received a $200 donation, a $500 gift card from Sam Ash Music and a total of 24 hours of recording time courtesy of Ante Up Audio.

Maddie Finn will appear on Tri-C's cable television program, Crooked River Groove. They will perform a 45-minute concert in front of a studio audience while being professionally videotaped and recorded. In addition, they will be featured on the third-time Emmy Award-winning program, Words & Music, with an interview and unplugged performance. Both shows are produced by Cuyahoga Community College's Smart TV, with support from the Recording Arts & Technology Program.

Maddie Finn has also scored the opportunity to open for a concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City this summer. Fuse TV also awarded each member of Maddie Finn a Phillips® iPod Dock with a 7-inch video screen and tickets to the 2010 Vans Warped Tour at the Time Warner Cable Amphitheater in Cleveland courtesy of Fuse TV.

Second place went to instrumental metal rockers ESD from Padua, St. Albert the Great, Brecksville-Broadview Heights.

Trancemitter, an original hard rock band from Independence and Nordonia Middle School, took third place.

All finalists received a ticket to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a $25 gift certificate to Sam Ash Music and a free "Hot" band photo courtesy of Ohio Natural Gas taken by renowned Cleveland entertainment photographer Amy Weiser. Finalists will also record a song for this year's High School Rock Off CD at Ante Up Audio. The CD and cover art can be downloaded for free from www.cleveland.com/rockoff online.

In addition to the musical honors that were given out at this year's competition, all bands participating in the Tri-C High School Rock Off were eligible to upload a video and enter the Plain Dealer's High School Rock Off video contest. The winner of this contest was Stefani Reeder from Streetsboro and Cloverleaf schools. They will receive tickets to an upcoming concert courtesy of Live Nation and The Plain Dealer.

In addition, Saints and Poets from Aurora and Twinsburg High School won the Verizon Wireless Text to Win People's Choice. Each band member won a Motorola Droid phone. Second place winners Cheyne-Stokes from Streetsboro and Cloverleaf will receive tickets to an upcoming concert this summer at Blossom Music Center. A total of 300,000 text votes came through in three weeks.