Sunday night's International Turntable Federation World Championships and Category Finals, held in San Francisco's posh Palace of Fine Arts, was intended as a competitive showdown, but it also served as a salute to the concept of DJ as artist or, rather, turntablist.

\When New York hip-hop pioneer DJ "Grand Wizard Theodore" Livingston (acknowledged creator of the scratch technique in hip-hop) received a lifetime achievement award, the crowd of about 1,200 people -- who came from as far away as New Zealand -- applauded more than they did for the winners of the second annual DJ battle.

\For that matter, most of the audience seemed barely concerned with the competitive aspects of the event. People came to watch DJs create music spontaneously, like when the Beat Junkies lined up like a rock group behind mixers and turntables and deconstructed a beautiful mix of found sound that ran the gamut from James Brown to Saafir. Other highlights included the spellbinding turntable orchestration of the Beat Junkies and the turntable assault techniques of New Zealand's DJ Raw.

\The more competitive-minded noticed that the winners were Vin Roc for the "1997 ITF World Championship", the Beat Junkies in the best "Team/DJ band" category and that group's DJ Babu in the Beat Juggling and Scratching categories. Livingston, who also served as a contest judge, won the first "Grand Wizard Theodore Award," named in his honor.

\"The whole idea behind this particular award and the whole contest is to give respect to all the DJs who have contributed to advancing the turntable as a musical instrument," said chief ITF organizer former Invisibl Skratch Piklz manager Alex Aquino.

\Although the International Turntablist Federation-organized event is only in its second year, it seems set to become the leading DJ battle, deposing such long-running events as the annual DMC battle.