We don't remember our tenth birthday, but one we won't forget in a hurry is that of ANTS - Ushuaïa's in-house Saturday production. The world-beating colony is celebrating a decade of parties this summer. Last weekend, it raised the curtain as we raised a glass.
A stage mocked up as a giant birthday cake with the DJ playing from the centre and the whole venue illuminated by towering candles pointed to just how much this landmark means. Playing the sunset set, young gun Franky Wah brought us under uniformed control, before passing the controls to his senior Kölsch.
In a thrilling finale, the Great Dane treated us to music from Solee, his Mind Dimension remix, Raxon's new Ellum track The Cage Of Love, evergreen Techno brain-melter Domino and his future classic Grey.
When the fireworks shot off at the end of his set to signal the end of the daytime action (and prompt the migration to Hï Ibiza for part two), we were left in little doubt of his headline quality.
Which got us thinking... what does it take to close the ANTS stage?
ANTS: Next Gen DJ competition
Fancy yourself one day playing the closing set at Ushuaïa yourself? All dreams start somewhere and ANTS has a vacancy within its ranks...
To honour the mighty milestone of ten years strong, ANTS has teamed up with Beatport to offer a career-launching competition to find the next breakthrough DJ and a coveted spot alongside the party's esteemed residents.
Amongst the prizes up for grabs, one lucky winner will earn a DJ set at Ushuaïa on 9 September and join ANTS on tour. The prize also includes a one-on-one studio session with resident DJ Francisco Allendes, a guest feature on ANTS Radio, a merch bundle and Pioneer equipment.
Entrants were asked to submit a 30 to 35-minute DJ mix with an ANTS crowd in mind and upload it to Soundcloud. The competition closes at midnight tonight (Monday 8 May).
Total plays, likes and the expertise of the ANTS: Next Gen judging panel will select the winner.
The panel will consist of Yann Pissenem (The Night League CEO), Leslee Clarke (head booker) and ANTS residents Andrea Oliva, Nic Fanciulli, Chelina Manuhutu, Syreeta and Francisco Allendes.
On 17 May, the top ten mixers will be declared, followed by the overall winner on 31 May.
Here are our favourites so far from the almost 1,000 entries:
Carly Wilford
Including music from: Rebūke, Shadow Child, Andrea Oliva and more
Caruana
Including music from: Jey Kurmis, Denney, Ross Evans and her own
Father & Son
Including music from: Bassel Darwish, Carlos A and several unreleased cuts from themselves
Tate Flowers
Including music from: RSquared, Basti Grub and Italobros
Miss Foster
Including music from: Late Replies, Sosa, Francisco Allendes and Sorley
Perhaps the winner is amongst the entries highlighted above?
Winning DJ competitions aside, to join ANTS to celebrate ten years of the colony, you can do the tried, tested and traditional way by heading below and booking your tickets.
Each ticket comes with our free-cancellation guarantee, giving you up to 24 hours before the party's start to cancel your ticket and get a full refund. We make that the best ticketing terms in the whole industry.
WORDS | by Jo Dargie and Stephen Hunt
