MUMBAI: Abraxas emerged the winner at the Campus Rock Idols finals held in Hyderabad over the weekend. Along with bagging a cash prize of Rs 75,000, the band has also won the chance to open for Rock n India, the international rock music festival to be held in Bangalore on 14 and 15 February 2009.

The band will be performing along side international rock icon �Iron Maiden'.

The national finals of the "Nokia Hero Honda Campus Rock Idols" in its fifth year were held for the first time in Hyderabad at Treasure Island, Gandipet. The competition saw eager young talented contestants from various cities in India - Shillong, Kolkata, Delhi, Chandigarh, Indore, Pune, Manipal, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The eight bands which competed against each other in the national finals for the coveted title of �Campus Rock Idol' were Jester, Seize Her, Melodrama, Digital Suicide, Abraxas, Rosemary, Crimson Wood and Skrat.

The gathering also got a musical treat with the performance of India's famous rock band – Euphoria.

A panel comprising Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonsa (of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composing team) and Luke Kenny (of 'Rock On' movie fame) judged the participating bands. Rock bands Melodrama and Jester were adjudged as First Runner-up and Second Runner-up respectively. The First Runner-up and Second Runner-up were awarded cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000. Apart from the prizes, all the winning bands also got hampers from On Stage, a musical instrument retail store which houses brands like Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez, Remo, Dean Markley, Tama, Ernie Ball, Dunlop and many more.

Campus Rock Idols (CRI), India's biggest inter-college rock music competition, provides a unique opportunity for amateur rock bands at the college level to compete on a national platform. This annual competition travels nationally to metros as well as other cities across four zones of the country. Over the years, the competition has produced a number of extremely talented rock bands that have gone on to achieve national as well as international exposure. Winning bands in earlier series of CRI have also been given the opportunity of playing alongside international rock icons such as the Rasmus, Bryan Adams and more recently Iron Maiden.