The Ibiza competition is over. Entries closed on 9 August and the winner has been chosen — a house and tech house DJ from Liverpool who flies out to the island on 26 August.
Out of 16,870 entries from DJs in more than 3,000 cities, one name came out of it: @w3lls.music — house and tech house, out of Liverpool. Flights, hotel, soundcheck at Hï, backstage on the Wednesday, and the island after that. Congratulations.
📍 Liverpool
🎙️ House & Tech House
🎵 Featured in the official DC10 2026 Playlist
📚 EPK & Contact ↓
Followed by jameshypeThere was no panel, no public vote and no scoring sheet. James explained the whole process himself in the announcement video — here it is in full.
I wasn’t looking for the best DJ. I was looking for the person who deserved this opportunity the most.
There was no realistic way for one person to go through every entry by hand. AI was used to cut the field down to a shortlist of 100 — based on who had been posting consistently and who had genuinely been putting themselves out there.
The shortlist was where the machine stopped. James went through the final 100 himself and watched what each of them was actually doing: making music, making content, making noise online — doing the work it takes to build a career as an artist.
In his words: “I wasn’t looking for who had the most followers or anything. I was looking for the person who was already putting in the work — because you can’t just start doing the work when the opportunity comes along. The opportunity should find you when you’re already working.”
Five people were incredibly close.
But there could only be one winner.
In June I put one thing on the table: a fully paid trip to Ibiza this August for one DJ. Not a t-shirt, not a playlist add — flights and hotel on me, a day inside the operation at Hï, and then the island to make your own moves. Entry was free and open to any DJ aged 18 or over, anywhere in the world. All you had to do was put your name in.
entries between 12 June and 9 August 2026
cities the entries came from
the competition stayed open
trip to Ibiza
Flights to Ibiza and hotel fully covered by James. The winner just shows up.
Soundcheck at Hï Ibiza with James and the team — seeing how the show actually gets built.
Meeting everyone at Hï. The people behind the residency, in the room, on the night.
Full backstage access on the Wednesday — on the inside, not in the crowd.
Drinks on James at Hï on Wednesday night while the residency goes off.
Then three more days on the island to network, take it in, and create their own opportunities.
16,870 of you entered. To everyone else who put themselves forward — keep going. There were honestly so many people who deserved this. This won't be the last one.
Follow @jameshype so you don't miss the next one.