The search is on for the 50 acts who'll get to take to the boards as part of the 2003 IMRO Showcase Tour.

A veritable feast of unsigned talent, the trek kicks off in March and takes in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. There's also a 'Best of Tour' gig in the capital which you can bet your pony-tail and Phil Collins tour jacket will be packed with A&R personages.

Wireless support is being lent by 2FM's Jay Ahern and Dave Fanning, who observes: "We have more radio in Ireland than ever before, and we have never had more people making good music. The irony is that there's even less time on the radio for new music and especially for new Irish music. At least the IMRO Showcases are providing a platform for all this talent, and show that there's something out there that isn't Britney, Avril and all these MTV synthetic clones."

If you want to be part of the live action, send your demo to the IMRO Showcase Tour 2003, P.O. Box 5466, Dublin 4 before February 28.