MUMBAI: The annual hunt for the nation's definitive rock band, the 'Nokia Hero Honda Campus Rock Idols'  is out once again, with a fresh season of extraordinary battle between the best of Campus Rock Bands. Chennai and Indore are the two cities that have been added to the CRI city itinerary this year.

Over the years, the number of original compositions that the different bands play has helped the bands define their own identity. It is true indicator of talent that exists at the campus level – it takes more than just craze and taste for rock music to come up with an original composition.

DNA Networks MD T Venkat Vardhan says, "Nokia Hero Honda Campus Rock Idols has struck the right chord for rock music lovers at the campus level and its one of the most anticipated events of the campus calendar. Some key highlights of Campus Rock Idols have been the huge number of entries from all corners of the country, bands singing in their local language, the various different styles, and attractive cash prizes. In fact Afflatus, an all girls band from Shillong were the runners up in the 2004 edition".

CRI is divided into four zones and the regional winners from these zones (Pune, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad) go on to compete against each other at National Finals in Hyderabad on 7 February. CRI has been adding new cities each year in their route  Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Goa were the part of CRI roadmap over the previous years. The most regular stopover of the Campus Rock Idols tour are Shillong, Calcutta, Delhi, Indore, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Manipal

Apart from winning the coveted title 'Campus Rock Idol' of the year, the winning bands in earlier series of CRI have had the unique distinction of performing alongside international rock icons such as the 'Rasmus', 'Bryan Adams' and more recently 'Iron Maiden'. This year regional winners in each city get a gift hamper from 'On Stage' equipment. On Stage is a musical instrument retails store which consists of brands like Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez, Remo, Dean Markley, Tama, Ernie Ball, Dunlop and many more. The national winner apart from winning cash prize and On Stage gets a chance to open for Rock n India, India's first and only international rock music festival.

Campus Rock Idols is organized by DNA Networks in association with Nokia, Hero Honda, Reliance, Force India and VH1.