Play Live with Iggy Pop
Thursday, October 8, 2009 by M. Maca
New Zealand telecommunications company Orcon have joined forces with punk rock icon Iggy Pop for a very interesting experiment. Pop has recently issued a challenge to the aspiring rock stars of New Zealand to audition for a recreation of his hit The Passenger.
Interested individuals can submit their video auditions to a dedicated Facebook page (here) where they can be viewed by others. They will then be sifted through to find the best eight who will then be declared the winners of the contest and will then be able to record the song with Pop.
This will be done over the internet (via Orcon broadband of course) with Iggy in the comfort of his Miami recording studio with the competition winners interacting via webcam in NZ. It will then be used for a television commercial to be screened in November.
While this is obviously yet another example of a telecommunications company gaining endorsement by attaching itself to the image of an international celebrity (joining the likes of Rhys Darby with 2 Degrees and Richard Hammond with Telecom XT) it presents an interesting use of Web 2.0 technology that allows fans to interact with an icon and make music history. It is definitely a unique use of technology and although admittedly not entirely original, could pave the way for future collaboration between celebrity and aspiring musicians alike.