'Battle For Ozzfest': More Details Revealed

October 22, 2004

According to DailyBreeze.com, "Battle for Ozzfest", premiering Monday (Oct. 25) on MTV, represents the Osbournes' attempt to steer Ozzy's career away from TV and back to music, where his long-term legacy lay.

In "Battle for Ozzfest", eight metal bands selected from hundreds compete for a coveted main-stage slot on the entire Ozzfest tour next summer.

The premise of "Battle" seems reminiscent of the 2001 MTV reality show "Bands on the Run", in which rock groups competed to see who could draw the biggest concert audience. But there's an interesting twist.

Entire bands don't compete. Only one randomly chosen member represents each group on the "Battle for Ozzfest" tour bus. This removes the musicians from their support groups and increases the strain on them to represent to the fullest.

"There are certain challenges they have to go through and I don't want to reveal too much because I'll give the plot of the show away," Ozzy says.

The first episode's coming attractions reveal that those challenges include dealing with tour-bus hazing, declining sexual favors from underage groupies and, funnily enough, biting the head off a bat. They'll be administered and overseen by Ozzy and various twisted members of the bands headlining Ozzfest 2004: BLACK SABBATH, JUDAS PRIEST, SLAYER, SLIPKNOT and HATEBREED.

Those who fail must face Sharon the eliminator, who wields the "you're fired"-like catchphrase, "The time has come for one of you to become roadkill."

"Yes, I did all the firing," Sharon says. "Ozzy would go to me, 'Who's going?' And I'd tell him, and he'd go, 'No, no, no! Not him! Not her!"

"I found it very uncomfortable when it came to doing that," Ozzy jumps in. "I'm on their side. I can't tell a guy he's no good. I admire anyone that can play an instrument who has the balls to go up there and sing or perform."

"Battle" has already wrapped production — except for the live finale in January, when a winner will be chosen.

Ozzy and Sharon first cracked the door to democratic control of their tour last year, allowing fans to choose second-stage groups by voting on Ozzfest.com. It's the fans who also get to choose the winner of "Battle for Ozzfest".

"The important thing is that the show is really educating people to how this industry works and what you have do — on every single level," Sharon says, "from being a tech to a publicist." Read more.

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