Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has teamed up with XP Music Futures for this year's XPERFORM vocalist contest, offering contestants the opportunity to perform live on the world stage during the upcoming Formula 1 race weekend in Jeddah in March 2024.

XPREFORM is a music competition aimed at discovering and nurturing emerging musical talent in the Middle East, organised by XP Music Futures in collaboration with YouTube. Launched in 2022, XPERFORM allows applicants to showcase their talent and potentially grow their music careers with MDLBEAST Records, a Saudi record label that produces and distributes music by local, regional, and international artists.

The XPERFORM competition follows a multi-stage process. After the application period, the top 25 applicants are invited for a live audition. The contestants perform acapella or with an instrument in front of five XPERFORM judges. From there, the judges select the top 10 contestants who advance to the exclusive bootcamp. The boot camp teaches artists to utilise YouTube's formats effectively and optimise their channels. After the boot camp, the 10 finalists participate in a popularity contest on YouTube Shorts.

The top five contestants from the Shorts challenge then move on to the grand finale, which takes place at XP Music Futures, an annual conference in Riyadh. The ultimate winner of XPERFORM gets crowned and earns a career-boosting opportunity to collaborate with MDLBEAST Records.

“At MDLBEAST - and through XP Music Futures - we’re dedicated to creating opportunities for artists as we continue to accelerate the development of the music scene in our region,” Ramadan Alharatani, CEO at MDLBEAST and XP Music Futures tells SceneNoise. “We’re proud to unveil this powerful initiative with The Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix1 to provide another stage for incredibly talented artists.”

In March 2023, the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and XP Music Futures joined forces to deliver awe-inspiring performances at Jeddah Corniche. Rap sensation Travis Scott, five-time Grammy-nominated producer, DJ and songwriter Calvin Harris, acclaimed DJ Afrojack, and Arab pop sensation Ahmed Saad took over the stage with their electrifying performances.

This partnership arrives months ahead of this year's XP Music Futures, which is scheduled to take place in Riyadh from December 7th to 9th. Tickets for the three-day event are now available at XP Music Futures' official website.