<p>Chris Mason has been chosen to compete in the heats of the 2006 Next Big Thing WA&nbsp;competition, with the first heats starting mid-June. NBTWA is Western Australia&#39;s&nbsp;richest band competition and one of the state&#39;s major musical events. With heats held all around the state, competition is fierce. Each band/artist competes in their initial heat for a chance to advance to one of two Major Semis, and then the Grand Final (to be held Saturday July 29). Only 49 artists were chosen to compete out of more than 160 entries by a panel of WA music industry heavyweights - including Luke Rinaldi, Tenille Elkins and Steph Edwardes -&nbsp;which Chris admits is a little daunting.</p> <p>&quot;Yeah, guess I better practice a bit so I don&#39;t make a complete fool of myself. The quality of bands is usually pretty good for this competition, so I&#39;m not going to go in with any expectations, really. It should be great fun, though, and a bit of an honour to play such a prestigious event in front of some pretty influential people.&quot;</p> <p>Each heat winner will be included on the NBTWA 2006 Compilation CD(distributed nationally) with the winner of the grand final to receive a prize package which includes&nbsp;recording time, production and promotional material. Heat placements will be announced later this week.</p>