(From left) DJ Shivam of Bhubaneswar who won the first prize, DJ Navendu of Delhi who won the second prize. Also seen with him in the background are DJ Whosane and Dale Anderson and the young crowd at the event cheers for the DJs. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: They came, they played and they conquered, leaving the city to recover from the Saturday night hangover.

Thanks to the grand finale of ‘Metamorphose 2010’ – a war of disc jockeys (DJs) that made the capital city come out alive and kicking.

Seven DJs, shortlisted from over 30 contestants hailing from different parts of the country, set in a pulsating mood at the Mayfair Convention with power-packed mixes. The super seven were DJ Ryan, Subrat, Shivam (all from Bhubaneswar), Navendu (Delhi), Preet (Calcutta), Ruchir (Mumbai) and Herk (Chennai).

Organised by Green Monkeys Productions in association with The Telegraph, the preliminary rounds of the contest were held earlier last week at Xstacy.

Renowned music producers and DJs including Dale Anderson, Plus91, Jazzy Joe, Carlotta Lackman, Whosane, Mazzr, Vikrant and MTV video jockey Bani J of Roadies fame were the judges for the final who also sizzled to the power-packed mixes of the warring DJs.

The contestants were judged for various skills like running mixes, beats, time and harmonics, levels and control, track selection and scale, rap, voice over and so on. Each jockey was allowed to play for 10 minutes to showcase his talent in disc jockeying on the brand new console, CDJ 2000, which came to Orissa for the first time.

Looping, rapping and scratching the disc, the seven finalists put in their best efforts to outdo the other and woo the crowd.

The contestants mostly played rocking music fused with Bollywood tunes. Giving in to the “once more” demands of the crowd, there was a special performance by well-known DJs Mazzr and Sameer, who had flown all the way from Chennai. This was followed by a session of psychedelic house music by Plus91, which floored everyone. Carlotta and Bani J also got up on the stage and greeted the crowd. There was loud cheering and jubilation as city boy DJ Shivam was adjudged the winner. He received a hefty cash award of Rs 75,000. “This was a huge event and I feel thrilled about winning,” said Shivam, who hails from Cuttack. DJ Navendu and DJ Herk were placed in second and third places, winning Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. Jazzy Joe gave out signature vinyl discs to the winning DJs.

Anderson, who visited Bhubaneswar for the first time, said: “This is the first time I am judging a contest in India. Talent here is as good as anywhere else in the world.”