For Hornito’s Mariachi-Mash up contest, bands were asked to cover 1 of 5 pre-approved rock songs like The Kingsmen’s Louie Louie or Surrender by Cheap Trick.  But…the covers had to be done in the style of a Mariachi Band.  Judges alone would pick the winner and they would rate entries based on the following criteria:  Creativity (50%) Quality (25%) and Overall Fun (25%).  The prize they put up was pretty good; $10,000 cash plus an interview with Billboard magazine.  It sounded like a fun contest to me but it turned out that very few bands thought it would be worth their time to enter.  It looks like Hornito’s only recived 8 entries and that was after a deadline extension.  Here’s the video that wound up winning:

Winner.  Prize: $10,000 and an interview with Billboard

Ok, I thought that was pretty cute. It was simple but the band did a nice job of composing a “Mariachi Mash-Up.” But now that you’ve seen the winner, check out this entry that DIDN’T WIN:

Holy Shit, that was ridiculous! I thought the opening was kind of over-kill but that was still one of the best video contest entries I have ever seen. Whoever directed did a hell of a job. For example, a less experienced director would have had the drummer wear his Mexican wrestler mask throught the entire video. But this director saved that gag until near the end. I’ve directed a few low budget music videos and you can’t blow your visual wad in the first 30 seconds. You have to keep showing the viewer something new to keep them interested.

But anyway, back to the contest. So what happened here? Why did a simple, one-shot video beat out a mariachi masterpiece? Well I think the answer is obvious. As awesome as it was, the second video wasn’t a “Mariachi Mash up!” The video had a great Mariachi look but other than one shout of “arribba!” the band just did a straight cover of Surrender. They missed the entire point of the whole contest.

So…let this be a lesson to you. No matter how insanely good your contest entries are, you’re not going to win if you don’t give the sponsors what they ask for.