Toronto-based band A Thousand Cures has $25,000 US worth of guts.

The group hopes this will be a case of guts turning into glory. And it all has to do with an Internet music competition, run by garageband.com, which is kind of like a web-based version of TV game show Deal Or No Deal.

"We advanced far enough in the competition that we were offered $25,000 to quit, but we decided to keep going for the big prize," said lead singer Paul Macri, whose band already has qualified to be one of the five finalists.

The big prize, by the way, is a recording contract with Capitol Records. Not too shabby.

"It really was a no-brainer," Macri said.

"We figured the worst that could happen is we keep getting a lot of exposure, even if we don't win. But the support we've been getting really has been incredible so far. And we're very proud of the song we entered, White Top Cadillac, which is a really hooky song. We think the time is right for it."

Macri and his bandmates Mat DeCaria, Dusty Emer, Rick Beddia and Luca Caracciolo have been members of garageband.com for more than a year. It basically is an avenue for up-and-coming bands to showcase their tunes, which subsequently get reviewed by other musicians.

Eventually, garageband.com decided to have a competition -- dubbed the Garageband Faceoff -- between the most popular bands on its site. Macri said it was just sort of a cool distraction when A Thousand Cures advanced once, then twice ...

"But now we've won five times in a row and it has become a far bigger deal than we ever could have dreamed," said Macri, whose band was selected to open for Bon Jovi at the ACC last January.

The Garageband Faceoff final begins on Dec. 12. More details can be found at garageband.com/faceoff, athousandcures.com or myspace.com/athousandcures.

Macri was asked if he has a message for Sun readers who also are A Thousand Cures fans.

"We really appreciate the support so far and we hope you'll continue to support us," Macri said. "Keep your ears locked."