An unusual night for female DJs only will be starting up in September, with a special competition for an unknown DJ to win a residency.

The event called B.O.D.S (birds on deck) will take place at Images nightclub in Worcester every two weeks.

During the opening night - on Friday, September 3 - there will be a one-off competition for a female DJ to win a warm-up set to open the headlining act.

The winner will then be given a monthly residency for playing the warm-up set.

Talia Kepinska, who is running the night, believes it to be the only all-female DJ night in the country.

"This is the first one nationally - I have been on lots of websites looking for such nights and found none," she says.

"There are a lot of female DJs out there, but we don't get the respect, and people don't seem to want to employ us.

"If you're looking at a big warehouse party in Manchester, you might see one female DJ out of 30.

"I haven't found it awkward being a female DJ, though, because I'm really cheeky!"

Sharon O'Love, Jay Whitehouse, and juliandre will be playing in the main room, and Carmel, Vixen and the competition winner will be playing in the second room.

The winner could end up like DJ Talia, who will be jet-setting to Egypt this September to DJ for two weeks.

She has come a long way since last year, when she won a Nightlife competition for DJ training worth £400, thanks to DJ Academy.

DJ Academy offered a free place to Talia on the 10-week course.

The course, which is still going, teaches beat mixing, music programming, marketing, promotions, gigs, tax and accounts, self-employment, how to find work, producing demo tapes and CDs, ticket design and dealing with management.

Talia also learnt about the practicalities of DJing and how to market and promote herself.

Talia, from Tolladine, Worcester, was originally going to study sound engineering but, since her DJing has taken off, she hasn't had time to pursue anything else.

"I could hardly mix when I entered the competition," she says.

"When I went on that course, I realised I couldn't mix - I was taught by Andy King, DJ Trixta, and DJ Tanz.

"I wasn't even going to put into the competition at first."

Since the competition she has a residency at Foundation, The Con Club, Church Street, Malvern on a monthly Friday night.

The next night is on Friday, August 13.

Talia also has just secured a residency at The Lounge Club, in Burton-on-Trent, every month, where she rubs shoulders with the likes of Judge Jules.

She will be playing a bank holiday special at Images on Tuesday, August 31.

Anyone who would like to take part in the competition on the opening night of B.O.D.S. should ring Talia on 01905 28076, or 07742357874.

They should then post a CD or tape demo of their work for the short-listing process.

DJ Academy can be contacted on 01905 22551, or 079809 15424, or www.djacademy.org.uk