DJ Awards

The DJ Awards is the electronic dance music international awards, honouring the DJ´s and the music industry that supports them. Since 1998, these awards are held annually at Pacha Ibiza in the last week of September which coincides with the closings of the most important Ibiza clubs. The DJ Awards are known internationally as the Oscars of the DJ community, being an event that gathers in each edition the most selected international movers & shakers of electronic dance music industry.

The DJ Awards were jointly created by José Pascual and Lenny Ibizarre to recognise and celebrate the talent of the best DJ´s on the planet. The fundamental philosophy of the awards is not as a competition, but instead a celebration of the electronic dance music scene, revealing the artistic ability of DJ´s to the global music audience.

This is the only international event for DJ´s held in Ibiza, the island that in summertime becomes the party island of the world. It is the longest running ______ . It has retained its ethos since its beginning; to "honor all those who have influenced and influence today’s dance music around the world".

They are known internationally as the 'Grammy's of the DJ's.

The DJ Awards was founded by Mr. Papy and Lenny Ibizarre 1998.

The 10th Anniversary of the DJ Awards took place on Thursday 27 September 2007. The event was hosted by Pete Tong (BBC Radio 1) and Gabriella Paina (Fashion TV). The DJ Awards marked a decade of honoring the world’s most popular DJs with live performances from vocalist Rebecca Brown and also Max. C the voice behind the “Track Of The Season” winner Axwell with his hit summer hit “I Found U”.

The 2007 winners:

• House - Roger Sanchez;
• Tech House/Progressive - Sander Kleinenberg;
• Techno - Cristian Varela;
• Urban DJ - MuchoMuchacho;
• Trance - Ferry Corsten;
• Newcomer - Axwell;
• Ibiza DJ - Sebastián Gamboa;
• Ibiza - Bar Mambo;
• Ibiza Night - F**K Me I'm Famous;
• Outstanding Contribution - Made In Italy;
• Technology - Ableton Live;
• Track of the Season - “I Found You” from Axwell;
• International DJ - David Guetta;
• Media - DEEJAY;
• Electro - Trentemøller;
• Breakthrough - Fedde Le Grand;
• Set of the Season - Steve Aoki at Ibiza Rocks;
• Lifetime Achievement - Dr Motte/Love Parade;
• International Festival - Monegros (Spain)

Categories and Nominees

The DJ Awards release every year online via www.djawards.com a list of categories and nominees who reflect the evolution of the electronic music scene. All nominees are recommended by a panel of music industry professionals who are broadly representative of the international dance music sectors: music media specialists, DJ´s managers, agents, promoters, technology manufacturers and of course the DJ´s themselves. This panel annually selects the nominees in each category and these nominees are then publically announced. The public are then invited to vote to decide the final winners at a gala event held in the world-famous disco Pacha Ibiza. These music genre categories as well as the nominees are changeable and responsive to the music styles and popularity of a given year, or the recognition deserved by each one of the sectors involved in the development of electronic music.

The Award – The Kryptonite

The DJ Awards trophy is a piece of green "Kryptonite". The word Kryptonite descends from the Greek Kryptos (secret or hidden element), as the force hidden behind the complex language of the turntables which generate vibration and feeling, with that the DJ guides the crowd into a state of consciousness high and Nite (nightlife and its culture. Abbreviation of “night” in modern languages. At night is when people, however different is the culture’s proceeding, finally unite as if they were one, under a common beat that shares elements from all corners of the world) and that gives shape to the sense of adventure and surprise that is hidden once the sun goes down.

In an interview in the September 2007 with Spanish music magazine "Deejay", José Pascual co-founder of the awards, answered to the question put, “why you chose the Kryptonite as an icon”?

“I would say that she chose us. We wanted the trophy to be something else, something with meaning. We liked the idea that it would be of natural crystal and after a survey of people around us, we chose this for its energetic component, for transparency, for ease of transport ... Somebody thought it was like Superman’s kryptonite, the alien element that removed his power to give it to the DJ. Furthermore, the etymology of the word tells us that "Kryptos" comes from hidden message and "Nite" from night, a message closely related to DJ, so organically everything came together. "

The Mascot – “Snuffy”

The DJ Awards have a mascot named "Snuffy" which is a cross between the famous symbol associated with the Acid House (The Smiley) and a little green man. According to the legend, the first contact of this mascot was with one its creators:

.. I remember the date, it was 12th October. I was in the Pirate's Tower opposite the island of Es Vedra, a magical place for the people of Ibiza, watching a beautiful sunset and when it was already dark suddenly from the back of the island came towards me at high speed a ball of bright green leaving behind a luminous trail, then it stopped in front of me at a very short distance, what too my surprise I saw it was the size of my fist and oval shaped, but then I noticed that its size could vary, and it was of an intense fluorescent green with two big eyes looking at me with great intensity and a pair of small antennas oscillating slightly. I also noticed that its colour changed depending on the circumstances. Totally stunned by what I saw, but without any fear or concern, it started moving around me as it was inspecting me and in its movements it produced a sound like "Snuffy, Snuffy ...". After a while, I do not know if they were seconds or minutes because I felt that time had stopped, a great peace seized over me and exactly at that time, giving me a shock, it disappeared at high speed going towards the same direction it had come. Soon it returned with a large crystal-like object that produced flashes and stopping in front of me again, it threw it to the floor breaking it into pieces, which curiously had a shape similar to the island of Es Vedra. At all times it had a friendly attitude, with a certain mischief in his eyes and a quizzical expression as echoing my disbelief at what was happening, disappearing subsequently towards the horizon and that was the last meeting i had with it. I usually always carry a camera and a tape recorder in my pockets. Unfortunately I could not photograph it, I will remember it perfectly for the rest of my days though, but what I managed to do was to record the sounds emitted in its movements. It took a while until I recovered from this fantastic meeting, then I picked up the crystals that it had left me, that glow with the same light as it did which I call "Kryptonite". Carl Cox affectionally calls them "Radioactive Snot" and some people call them "Vedranita" although their composition is unknown to me. Later, I contacted a friend in the United States who’s interested in this kind of phenomenon and I told him what happened. He asked me to send him the recording so that he could analyze it, as he’s working with George Lucas in the production of space effects for its movies; he has access to one of the world's most powerful computers, the "Deep Blue". Once processed the recording it was found that the sounds reproduce musical notes with numerical sequences, from which we could decode the following message, "... In my mission around the Universe, I’m looking for elements that project positive energies and I help to empower them with this that I’ve left you and thus balance the cosmic forces, I have observed that here on your planet there are some entities that you call DJs who have the gift of combining rhythms with musical notes, gathering many of your fellow around, that enter a state of harmony and good vibes in dances full of magic, therefore now you have to give to the best of these DJs in their various categories of dance music, some pieces of this and in doing so you will help me with this mission that I have entrusted ....". And this is why I had to get to organize the DJ Awards, because in this way I had the most logical path to access to the best DJs and once a year gather them at a big party to deliver them their piece of "Kryptonite", carrying out in this way the task of "my friend" "Snuffy".

History The DJ Awards each year creates an annual theme that translates into all the graphic production of the event. In its first edition in 1998, it was the “Alien Arrival”, recurrent theme due to the nature of the prize (a piece of kryptonite) and his extraterrestrial mascot "Snuffy". In this first year remarkable winners were Erick Morillo for the "House" category, Daft Punk for the Best DJ Band category and Fernandisco for the "Radio DJ" category.

In its second year it was the theme of ¨African Tribal Rhythms¨, as a source of inspiration for music producers. It emphasised the expansion of categories such as "Ambient /Experimental" or "International DJ" and winners such as Pete Tong, Roger Sanchez, Basement Jaxx all picked up their awards. Frankie Knuckles and Joe T. Vanelli were the first winners in the categories of "Outstanding Dedication" and "Outstanding Contribution" respectively. The year 2000 hosted the third ceremony, this time under the theme of the ¨Mythological Inspiration of the Muses¨ and under new categories, renaming the category formerly known as "Ambient/Experimental" into "Chill Out" due to the increasing flow of productions in this style. Other categories and winners featured that same year were Paul Oakenfold for "Trance", Sven Väth for "Techno" or the song "Lady" by Modjo for the category "Track of the season," amongst others. In 2001, technological advances happening in the industry did not go unnoticed to the direction of the awards, establishing the theme "Man and Machine" as a starting point. For the second time Erick Morillo won "House DJ" alongside other winners; Mixmaster Morris for "Eclectic" and Carl Cox for "Techno", and Superchumbo the winner in the category for best production. In 2002, now the fifth edition of the awards, the ¨Vinyl¨ theme was created as a romantic sample of the DJs beginnings, at a time when the CD format was becoming a standard. Amongst the winners in that year were prominent names like Pete Tong for "Outstanding Contribution", Mambo Cafe for "Best Ibiza Bar", "It Just Won’t Do" by Tim Deluxe for "Track of the Season" or Wally Lopez as "Best Newcomer". In 2003 it was ¨The Essence of the Universe¨, the inspired theme for the sixth edition and winners such as Steve Lawler for "Techhouse/Progressive", Junior Jack & Kid Crème for "Best Newcomer" (also winners for the "Track of the Season" with "E-Samba ") or the crowning of Manumission as the best promoter, which gave a joyful note to this gala. 2004 and ¨The Sense of Man¨ has seen crowning DJs the size of Trevor Nelson for "Urban DJ", Tania Vulcano as "Best Ibiza Resident" and Shapeshifters with their track "Lola's Theme" as "Track of the Season." The gala had started with the opening video of "Made in Dixland: Searching Krypto" realised by the Spanish DJ and producer Nando Dixkontrol, this video worked out to be one of the most memorable images of the ceremony. In the same spirit and with the video "Made in Dixland: Ibizú" also by Nando Dixkontrol, would begin the ceremony of 2005. A ceremony that celebrated the centenary of the ¨Vacuum Tube¨ creation, one of the first aspects of primary electronics circuits. Ferry Corsten for "Trance", Steve Angello as "Best Newcomer" and Cut Killer for "Hip Hop" were some of the winners featured, with a new Honorary Award being presented to Argentine DJ Alfredo Fiorito for his historic career in the industry, one of the most special moments of that year. In 2006 ¨Nature¨ broke through as the theme and served as an excuse to reward twice over Bob Sinclar as best House DJ and best song of the year for "World Hold On" together with his vocalist Steve Edwards. Other special moments of that year would be, after three attempts, the "Best Ibiza Resident" to the Australian Sarah Main with the highest votes in history for this category, and also the "Outstanding Contribution" given to Brasilio de Oliveira creator, among other things, of the party "La Troya". 2007 celebrated the tenth anniversary of the awards under the theme of “Time”. Using the graphic reference belonging to the Salvador Dali’s painting "The Persistence of Memory", the prizes would be handed to the DJs Cristian Varela for "Techno", Mucho Muchacho for "Urban DJ" as well as David Guetta for "International DJ" amongst others. The eleventh edition in 2008 celebrated the awards under the slogan "Do not change the climate, change yourself" with David Guetta as Best House DJ, Valentin Huedo as best Ibiza resident and crowning Mark Knight & Funkagenda with the "Track of the Season" for "Man with The Red Face". In 2009 the twelfth edition of the awards used the theme of ¨Dreams¨ as its subject, once again the French king of DJ David Guetta won the "House" category, Sven Väth for "Techno", Sasha for "Progressive House" and Michel Cleis for his tune "La Mezcla" as "Track of the Season" were some of the winners in a year that has included even more new categories. For 2010 the chosen theme was ¨Water¨, which urged everyone to join the onedrop organisation. Winners this year included the Swedish House Mafia boys - Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello for the House category, Deadmau5 picked up best International DJ, International Festival was given to Kazantip amongst many others. So now onto the 14th edition of the DJ Awards which this year will mirror the theme of ¨Fire¨, nominees and categories will be announced very soon www.djawards.com.

External links

• DJ Awards Official website