KEY POINTS:
Christchurch band Dukes beat four other up-and-coming New Zealand groups to win MTV's Kickstart (Your RockStar Career) competition.
The band is made up of brothers Jo (bass) and Matt Barus (vocals) with Brad Banks on guitar and Fausia Fialele on drums. Already with debut album Lil' Sunshine under their belts and a radio hit, Rather Be With You, the infectious personality of the southern boys makes them a brilliant live act.
The big surprise at The Studio on K-Road on Friday night was the announcement that as the winners, Dukes will play a mile-high gig on an Air NZ flight. Now that's rock'n'roll.
The other four finalists were The Hot Grits, Midnight Youth, Happy Palace, and rapper/singer Nytmare and Band.
The judges who made the final decision on the night were bFM's Mikey Havoc and Damian Alexander from Blindspott, with industry folk Groove Guide editor Kerry-Anne Brett, MTV programme director Stefan Chapman and Amplifier.co.nz's resident function attender Stephen O'Hoy.
Dukes will slug it out with the five Australian state winners at the end of the month and winners will be decided by online vote. The overall winner will net $22,000 cash, get a new video clip made, feature on MTV Australia's The Lair and have their film clip played in front of thousands during the Australia Video Music Awards' pre-show party.
