As of Nov. 24, 2007, Pittsburgh’s own electronic act Alex Burkat is one step closer to… As of Nov. 24, 2007, Pittsburgh’s own electronic act Alex Burkat is one step closer to reaching worldwide fame, flying into outer space and bringing peace to the Middle East.

Well … the first one is true.

Burkat, the Pitt senior better known as his enigmatic alter-ego Pfunkt, is a finalist in the Famecast.com electronic competition and will be flown to Austin, Texas, Dec. 5th to compete against four other artists for the chance to make a professional music video and win $10,000.

Pfunkt has been competing in the online competition since September, surviving a series of online-voting rounds to end in the top five artists out of an original 100. He will face four other artists, three of whom are from the UK, in the finals.

“I have to say I’m mostly excited about this Austin adventure,” Burkat said. “I’m not too anxious about performing [because] I have fun at every show. If something goes wrong or right, I roll with it.”

The event itself will be covered by such big-name media as Rolling Stone magazine, SPIN and The New York Times. Judges include Alessandro Cortini, the keyboardist from Nine Inch Nails, and Heavyweight Production House, the team behind acts like Rihanna and Ne-Yo.

Online voting at Famecast.com for the final acts begins Saturday, Dec. 9th. So while most of us are getting ready to buckle down for a week of library lovin’, Burkat will be getting ready to take one of the biggest steps in his musical career since he figured out how to post homemade videos on MySpace.

Considering that’s a pretty big step, does the artist feel any pressure about this? Not really. In fact, like any college student, he’s more worried about tests of a different sort.

“I’m actually more nervous about exam week on top of this,” Burkat said. “So if you’re one of my professors and reading this, thanks for giving me an extension on my final papers.”

“Who knows what will happen in Austin,” he adds. “Bring it on.”