Winners of Pete Tong’s Future Talent Awards revealed, with producer and DJ Constanza Pucheta claiming the Grand Prize
The Future Talent Awards celebrated the top 10 students from Tong’s DJ Academy.
Image: Pete Tong Future Talent Awards
The official winners of DJ Pete Tong’s Future Talent Awards have been revealed, with Argentianian producer and DJ, Constanza Pucheta taking the Grand Prize.
In April 2022, Tong launched his DJ Academy, and later announced the Future Talent Awards – an initiative in which the top 10 students are celebrated and awarded by the teachers of the academy.
The tutors, Carl Cox, Nicole Moudaber, Adam Beyer, Sama’ Abdulhadi, TSHA and Jamie Jones, have selected winners who will play with them around the world and get dedicated career-building support.
Their Grand Prize winner, Pucheta, is described as “already well on her way to a successful career”, with releases this year on record labels Dushe and Relief.
“It was a complete coincidence that Carl, Nicole and I chose her, we didn’t know we had the same finalist. Well deserved, she has a lot of talent,” says Tong in a press release.
Adam Beyer chose Polish DJ DAHEIN as his top pick, after hearing his techno set: “I’ve watched and listened to all the material and the person that really stood out to me was DAHEIN,” he says. “His sound just resonates with me. I was trying to approach the judging from a Drumcode perspective, according to my own sound as well, and he nailed it with the same kind of techno vibe and tempo.”
Liz Somes was awarded as a winner by Sama’ Abdulhadi – the 57-year-old from Seattle started DJ-ing the year before the Covid-19 pandemic, and would livestream during lockdowns.
“She started DJ-ing two years ago and when watching and listening to her live set I was shocked because I wondered how she got to be so good in only two years time,” says Abdulhadi. “I fell in love with the ways she mixes.”
The additional seven global finalists – 2 Nomads, Cozmic Cat, Deefo, FiveQuestionMarks, Mista Mani, Nuans and Daniella Font – will also get a special mention and recognition.
To learn more, head to the Pete Tong DJ Academy.
