PLANS for a free night of live music for pop and rock fans are shaping up as The Big Chance search for the region's top acts gets under way.

The competition being run by The Northern Echo's music website, Revolution, is launched today and will run for two weeks.

A concert for the top three bands will be held at Darlington College of Technology on Thursday, June 6, from 6.30pm, and entry is free.

The audience will then be given a chance to cast their votes as part of the overall poll to find the top pop and rock acts.

There will be competitions on the night for fans to win a range of prizes, including CDs and DVDs.

Music fans will also be able to vote online until 5pm on Friday, June 7, and it is hoped the overall winners will be announced during the following week.

A panel of judges, which will select the shortlists, will also oversee the final voting process.

Each winning act will receive a number of prizes, including three days of recording time, two days of rehearsal time and a photo-shoot, courtesy of Sanity Multimedia, in Stockton.

About 300 tickets for the show will be made available in about two weeks' time.

To enter the competition, acts must send in either a CD, tape or MP3 (no larger than 3MB) featuring an original track.

This must be accompanied by an entry form, available on the Revolution website, at www.thisisrevolution.co.uk, where a list of rules and regular competition updates will be available.

Band members must be 16 or over today, and entries should be posted to The Big Chance, Revolution, The Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF, or emailed via the website.