Forget American Idol (except if you are buying ads from Marc, below), and check out WoozyFly’s WoozyIdol contest.

Music media and social-networking website WOOZYFLY.com will be hosting an unsigned band contest entitled WOOZY IDOL, offering all unsigned bands a chance to win a recording, distribution and promo deal worth $150,000.

WOOZY IDOL is open to bands and artists of all genres. Simply upload your original music, and tweak the page to enter! It’s that simple.

One grand prize winner will be selected by a panel of industry veteran judges composed of:

* Michael Bull of Caroline Distribution
* Elliot Goykhman, CEO of PAYPLAY.FM download music store
* Jane Grodd Bronstein, A&R executive of JGB Entertainment
* Duncan Hutchison. EVP of WOOZYFLY.com
* Andrew Krents, Industry Attorney
* Eric LeMasters of Koch Distribution
* Jamie Roberts of Big Machine Media
* Joel Simon, owner of JSM Studios
* David Steel of Steel Synch music licensing agency
* Daniel Wilk, SVP Business Development of Defiance Entertainment

Congrats to OVW friend and fan Marc Hernandez, who was named as the National Sales Director for FOX Branded Entertainment, including American Idol. Hot Damn!

Two video events tonight here in NYC.

First, tonight: Big Screen/Little Screen:
Date: Monday, March 24
Time: 06:30 PM to 08:30 PM
Cost: Absolutely Free
Location: For Your Imagination Studios (22 W 27th St 6th Floor)

Second, on Thursday night, March 27th, NY Video 2.0 March Meetup, with demos including:
CBS Interactive - Sean Tice, Web Producer; PermissionTV - John Zahner, Senior Vice President; SeeToo - Yoav Ilan, Co-Founder; Review Basics - Mike Grushin, Partner, CTO; and NeoVids.tv - Matthew Feldman, Co-Founder & Producer.

Where:
Webster Hall
125 East 11th St.

Be sure to say hello to Brian August, President of Webster Hall Digital, while you are down there.

Ok, its not a weekend pick (those are all college hoops related), but on Monday at 2pm, be sure to tune into Live@FYI’s webcast of Priscilla Ahn.

She’s promoting her Blue Note Records debut, “A Good Day.”

Social networking consequences. Reuters reports that McCain staffer Soren Dayton’s job was suspended for forwarding a video of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Obama’s preacher.

The article says that Dayton “sent out the video via a device used for online social networking.”

After two days at OMMA, where “widget” seemed to be every other word spoken, I was just struck by a bone jarring irony. While I praised CNBC’s Fast Money widget for its features and functionality, I can’t help but laugh my a&& off watching a television commercial promoting their widget.

TV commercials to promote widgets? Col. Kurtz said it best, “The horror…..the horror!” What a change of heart in just 24 hours.

While busy attending and covering the world of online video at this week’s OMMA Conference, I missed one of the most important political speeches given this season, and probably one of the most important speeches about race relations in this country since “I Have a Dream.”

Fortunately for all of us, the online video industry has advanced enough to deliver largely on its promise right now. I was easily able to find Sen. Obama’s speech from Tuesday night on MSNBC.com, and using my laptop to control my HTPC, play it on my TV. Just a few short months ago, this may not have been possible, at certainly not with the quality that the professional broadcasters and leading video sites have been able to deliver.

For bloggers of all types, it is becoming easier and easier for them to embed content from various sources, and bring not just opinions, but the content those opinions are based on, directly to readers. How many political bloggers will be embedding the full speech by Sen. Obama along with their commentary? After two days of digesting nothing but online video, it was nice to be able to come home and relish the idea that its not just hype.

The NCAA® Championship is here, and CBS is offering live online video coverage of all 63 games for free. Just click here to check it out. For easy access there’s also a widget you can grab with scores, news, and additional video content.

More is available at NCAA.com including live streaming of every men’s and women’s NCAA® Championship post game press conference. (If this sounds like shameless self-promotion, well, it is.)

Most of you won’t care, but this year’s Jammy Award tickets go on sale tomorrow. The email announcement sent out by Jambase included a link to this mash-up, on iMeem.

The event is hosted by personal favorites Warren Haynes and Grace Potter (thanks Seth @ William Morris!), and produced by former Wetlands owner Peter Shaprio.

Shapiro is also the producer of NYC’s Green Apple Music Festival and the IMAX film, “All Access.” We’d love to see Shaps produce more content for the Web. Maybe a live webcast from his new club in Brooklyn.

If jambands aren’t your thing (Why The Hell Not?), check out Live@FYI. LIVE@FYI consists of live performances as well as intimate discussions with artists and behind the scenes candid moments.

For Your Imagination is also hosting the next BigScreen LittleScreen meetup non Monday, March 24th at 6:30pm at their studio. See you there!

Other than widgets, the most consistent theme of the conference has been the constant hunt for electricity. Again, my battery died, so my official blogging is over. Next stop - cocktails at the pool.

Thanks to everyone who spoke on the video panels. I can honestly say that the video track has some of the most engaging discussions and content that I’ve seen at a conference in quite a while. Hats off to OMMA and Mediapost for a great event. See you OMMA Outfront!