MIDDLESBORO — Locals will get there shot to compete for $100,000 during the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival this year. WANO and WFXY Kat Country are taking part in and promoting the Texaco Country Showdown. To enter the contest, contact the radio station at 248-8993.

The radio station will then get you the entry forms and the rules and regulations. Anyone participating will need to send a mp3 or demo tape to the radio station.

Those who do not have the means to make a demo will get there chance as well. The station will have an open audition some time in the future at the Bell Theater. The date will be announced closer to the Mountain Laurel Festival.

Out of all the entries, three independent judges will choose the top seven artist. The judges will be Debbie Gulley, Vanessa Nichols, and John Bradley.

Those seven artist will have to pay a $20 entry fee. The top seven will then perform on Friday, May 25, at the Mountain Laurel Festival. The competitors will be judged on stage presence, talent, and vocal ability.

The judges will determine the final two. Those two performers will then perform on Saturday, May 26. The winner will then advance on to the state competition.

If the winner of the local contest wins the state competition, then the Texaco Country Showdown will give him/her $1,000 to advance to the regional competition. The winner of the regional competition will then advance to the national competition in Nashville, Tenn., and get a chance to win $100,000.

“We have a lot of talent here,” said owner of Kat Country, Frank Smith. “We are trying to give the Bell County talent an opportunity to get involved in the competition. This is their chance to see if they can move up the ranks (of the competition).”

The local contest is open to anyone in the tri-state area, from Tennessee, up to Whitley County, Ky., and some parts of Virginia.

The Texaco Country Showdown is open to vocal and/or instrumental performers, individuals, or groups of up to seven members. Contestants must have never performed on a record listed in the national record charts of billboard, radio and records, or the Gavin Report within 18 months preceding local competition.

The 2011 winner, Laurel Wright, is from Knoxville, Tenn.

For more information about the contest visit www.countryshowdown.com or contact WANO or WFXY at 248-8993.