PATTAYA, Thailand – May 16, 2019 – Talented guitarists took the stage Saturday, 11 May 2019, at Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya. Hard Rock Pattaya partnered with Yamaha, Laney, Line6, Beatspot and Chordtabs to find the best guitarists from all corners of Thailand and Southeast Asia. This year, 92 guitarists entered to compete in the Hard Rock Pattaya Guitar Battle 2019, but only the top 16 finalists made it to the final battle, performed live on stage at Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya.
Following several qualifying battle rounds and an evaluation by Hard Rock Pattaya’s panel of musician judges, comprised of top international and Thailand guitarists, the competition was narrowed down to the top five – Alex Hutchings, Matteo Mancuso, Woravit Charoenponnapachai, Vinai Trinateepakdee and Porntep Vuthiparum. The finalists were selected based off of skill, improvisation, sound, acting and crowd reaction and interaction. At stake for each finalist was a chance to perform live on the Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya stage.
Finally, the winner was announced as Alunda Chantharattanachoke, who took home with a cash prize of Bt. 20,000, a Laney Guitar Amplifier GH50R-212 and a voucher for a free stay. Piyawat Chumjairak was the first runner up and received a cash prize of Bt. 10,000 and a SLG 200S Yamaha Silent Guitar, and Rati Prachayanuporn was the second runner up, receiving a cash prize of Bt. 5,000 and a LFR-112 Laney Active Speaker. For the Popular Vote Award, Yudthapong Samorn won, gaining the largest number of views on YouTube and received a free stay.
“I was impressed by the high energy and passion of talent shown from all 16 finalists in the competition,” said Woravit Charoenponnapachai, one of the judges of Hard Rock Pattaya Guitar Battle 2019. “I know it was difficult to reach the final round, but all of the finalists were awesome. This was the 6th Annual Hard Rock Pattaya Guitar Battle, some of them lost the competition last year, but they put their effort and continued to practice, and then this year they made it to the final round. It was such an amazing event, Hard Rock Pattaya giving these guitarists the amazing opportunity to share their talent and passion with the community.
At the end of the event, the winner got the chance to showcase his talent in front of Hard Rock fans and the to jam live on stage with Alex Hutchings; one of the judges who is UK guitarist and has extensive experience in playing rock, jazz fusion and R‘n’B and has toured throughout the UK, Europe and South Africa.
Stay tuned for next year’s competition and other fun events for music lovers. Please visit our page, https://www.facebook.com/HardRockCafePattaya.
