ON THE ROCKS:
“ON THE ROCKS: The Search for America’s Top Bartender” featuring Absolut Vodka is an online bartender series being run on LX.TV that follows the search for the best and brightest master mixologists. Hosted by nightlife impresario Pedro Andrade, ten bartenders will demonstrate their talent, knowledge, speed, accuracy, and agility in the face of a crowd of bar patrons. Contestants will have to score tips and create cocktails to pair with foods and desserts created by top Las Vegas chefs, all part of the competition. Weekly challenges will include, among others: the $1OO Cocktail, Matchmaking, Flair Bartending, Breaking the Ice, and The Tipping Point. Show contestants are pitted against one another to serve up delicious libations, with the judges weighing in on both substance and individual style. Following each challenge, the three judges – Cecile Raubenheimer, nightclub marketing expert; Fabrizio Brienza, international nightlife legend, and Gregory Filler, casting guru for a Las Vegas talent agency, will select a winner, who will reign supreme for another week, and a loser, who will be disqualified and asked to leave the show. Shot on location at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the show hopes to raise the bar in online programming. After 12 weeks of competition, contestants will be narrowed down to the crème de la crème of the bartending bunch. The winner will be announced and awarded $1OO,OOO and the title America’s Top Bartender at the Nightclub and Bar Show in Las Vegas in March, 2OO9.
To spread the word, promotional spots will be airing during late night television, including “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Last Call with Carson Daly” in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Cutdowns of webisodes will be fed to relevant websites and full webisodes will be released and housed on lxtv.com/ontherocks. There will also be a weekly promotion in the LX.TV e-newsletter. For more information log onto lxtv.com/ontherocks.