Nooooooo, not Rossi!!!!!! But you know - that is a pity because they are missing out on a truly kick ass band not allowing you to compete!!!
 

That sucks! So sorry it didn't work out for you guys.
 

That's retarded
 

that sucks! and nay too Lukas Rossi....
 

Bogus. Good effort guys.
 

Did a little research and found there is NO REQUIREMENT that anyone entered in the contest be an AMERICAN CITIZEN. The rules are posted as I have included below and the ONLY reference I found was to LEGAL RESIDENCY.

You don't have to be an AMERICAN CITIZEN to be a LEGAL RESIDENT, thus the Nationalised and/or RESIDENT ALIEN status. In Constitutional Law, or more specifically Immigration Law, an alien is anyone who is not a national or citizen of the United States. Any number of individuals living or staying within the borders of the United States can be considered aliens. All aliens are non-citizens, but a national is neither a citizen, nor an alien.

The basis for categorizing individuals as aliens is set by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA). The INA defines the different categories to which an individual alien is assigned as follows; resident and non-resident aliens, immigrant and non-immigrant aliens, and documented or undocumented/illegal aliens.

In more general terms, United States federal immigration laws define whether or not an individual is an alien. Federal immigration law also elaborates the legal rights, duties, and obligations of an alien living within the United States, as well as how and whether an alien may pursue naturalization. Naturalization refers to gaining naturalized citizenship, which grants full citizenship rights to any individual who was not born in the United States.

In a sense, the currency for aliens within the United States immigration system is the visa. Different types of visas are granted to aliens based on the purpose and intended duration of their time within the United States. For example, a non-immigrant visa is granted to an alien who intends to stay in the country temporarily for the purpose of business or tourism. Some non-immigrant visas allow the holder to work, others do not.

An immigrant visa, on the other hand, is granted with the idea that the alien will remain in the country permanently, and eventually apply for U.S. citizenship, or nationalized citizenship. Holders of immigrant visas are allowed to work within the country.

******RULES POSTED ON THE GUITAR CENTER MOTLEY CRUE CONTEST WEBSITE REGARDING RESIDENCY: (Cut and pasted as follows.)*******

"The Contest is open only to legal residents of the contiguous 48 states of the U.S. and the District of Columbia who, at the time of entry, are eighteen (18) years of age or older and from the time of entry throughout the Contest Period are not, individually or in any musical group, under a recording contract with a music recording company, management company and/or agency (the “Individual Eligibility Criteria”) and the group of musicians that comprise the group which is featured in the Submission (as defined below) (each, a “Band”) must not be an Established Professional (as defined below), may not have more than seven (7) members, must be accurately represented in the Submission (the “Band Eligibility Criteria”) (the Individual Eligibility Criteria and the Band Eligibility Criteria, collectively the "Eligibility Criteria"). As found here... http://www.makerockhistory.com/rules.php

I sent a letter to Guitar Center CEO Marty Albertson, 5795 Lindero Canyon Rd. Westlake Village, CA 91362 folded in half, placed in a 6x8 inch padded envelope, placed two blank CDs inside and on the outside I addressed To: Marty Albertson at the address above, then along the lower edge of the envelope I printed in 24 point font (ran the envelope through the laser printer for a clean, professional look) "REQUESTED SOFTWARE ENCLOSED".

I have sent mail DIRECTLY to some of the top CEOs in the country using this technique.

Their Executive Secretary gets the padded envelope addressed to, NOT the CEO, but the guy's name only and they can read that HE REQUESTED THE SOFTWARE that they can feel is enclosed. Not wanting to risk embarrassment in opening their bosses, lets say... PERSONAL CDs, they pass it directly to the boss without opening it.

If you want to get a message to a CEO and have that message get past the Exec. Sec, package it to look like something he ordered, not as the CEO, but as the private person, mark it professionally so it reads, "REQUESTED SOFTWARE ENCLOSED!" and the odds are... quite good, they will get it.

My letter to Marty Albertson read, "I am a Nevada Press Association award winning photojournalist covering newsworthy events for nearly 30 years.

A few days ago I was made aware of an issue that I find obscene.

Recently a local Las Vegas band, Underground Rebels was notified by Guitar Center officials stating that the band had won a spot in the top 30 bands to go on to compete for the opportunity to perform as the opening band for Motley Crue.

During questioning of band members, the fact that three of the band members are Canadian Citizens was addressed.

All band members are LEGAL RESIDENTS of the United States, they own homes in the United States, their kids go to school in the United States and apparently, because they are Canadian Citizens or more accurately, not American Citizens, they were excluded from the list of candidates for the contest.

This is not only a ridiculous action on the part of Guitar Center, but in fact, IT IS CONTRARY TO THE RULES SET FORTH BY GUITAR CENTER'S CONTEST as quoted below.

RULES CUT AND PASTED FROM THE OFFICIAL CONTEST RULE LIST: "The Contest is open only to legal residents of the contiguous 48 states of the U.S. and the District of Columbia who, at the time of entry, are eighteen (18) years of age or older and from the time of entry throughout the Contest Period are not, individually or in any musical group, under a recording contract with a music recording company, management company and/or agency (the “Individual Eligibility Criteria”) and the group of musicians that comprise the group which is featured in the Submission (as defined below) (each, a “Band”) must not be an Established Professional (as defined below), may not have more than seven (7) members, must be accurately represented in the Submission (the “Band Eligibility Criteria”) (the Individual Eligibility Criteria and the Band Eligibility Criteria, collectively the "Eligibility Criteria").

Something is wrong at Guitar Center and of course no effort will be made to RIGHT this WRONG, but... there are those of us out here that can protest in our own way such RIDICULOUS actions.

I, an amateur drummer for over 40 years, have in the past four years purchased three Pearl drum kits and a collection of Zildjian cymbals from Guitar Center here in Las Vegas, but even though I purchase a new drum kit every year or two, I will NO LONGER BUY ANYTHING FROM GUITAR CENTER! I know you don't care. I know it doesn't matter... but it should!

I do not and will not support such ridiculous actions and as I said, I find the banning of a FANTASTIC BAND such as Underground Rebels from the contest, when they are more productive, contribute more to America than many AMERICANS... well... I find it OBSCENE!

Yes! I am an American citizen. My family came over on the boat with John Smith and were among the original four families that developed and incorporated the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Your RULES say nothing about CITIZENSHIP, they clearly say as long as a person is a LEGAL RESIDENT of the United States and every member of Underground Rebels meets that criteria.

I am going to suggest to the band that they seek legal representation and consider litigation. The contest rules were clear."