With the yearly Sun God Festival looming barely a week away, the A.S. programming office has yet to finalize the lineup of artists to perform May 17 on RIMAC field.

The festival has typically announced its music lineup anywhere from three weeks before the concert to during the week of the concert itself.

The A.S. programming office said it has contracts out for negotiation, but it cannot release names until those contracts are confirmed. So far, the only confirmed artist is underground punk-rock band No Use For A Name, who are currently slated to play on the Vans Warped Tour this summer.

UCSD alternative rock band Five Crown won yesterday’s Battle of the Bands and also will be playing at the festival

“”Delays always happen. I am not worried because we have had worse situations in the previous years,”” said Eisha Christian, A.S. programmer for 2001-2002. “”I don’t think we need any contingency plans because I am still very confident that we can have an awesome lineup. As with every year’s Sun God lineup, it might not be our first choice — it rarely is.””

Christian said she plans to release finalized line-up on Monday, May 13.

Brandon Freeman, festivals coordinator for the A.S. programming office, remains confident that a roster will be in place soon.

“”We hope to have the lineup by [Wednesday] or Thursday,”” Freeman said.

The programming office said it had rapper Ludacris confirmed in mid-March, but he had pulled out in mid-April because he had to serve a court-mandated community service sentence the weekend of Sun God.

The office had also aimed to enlist the Foo Fighters to play, but “”they are not thrilled at the idea of playing a college,”” Christian said.

Christian attributes the delay to the difficulty involved in booking any artist for any show. The programming office must contact the artist through an agency or locate an artist that it wants, then research his or her performance history to see if there have been any problems in the past such as riots at concerts.

The office must also determine whether it can meet the technical requirements for the artist’s performance, as well as negotiate a contract with the artist while still staying within the bounds of university policy.

“”This year we’ve been lucky to book our previous shows way in advance; I think we set a record with our WinterFest confirmations,”” said Christian, referring to the yearly February concert the programming office organizes.

This year, WinterFest featured bands City High and Fenix TX, as well as local artist Jason Mraz.

Christian attributes much of the scheduling problem to funding issues.

“”However, I think it’s interesting to note that, contrary to popular belief, most artists — no matter how cool they seem — are all about the money,”” she said.

The A.S. Council budget has about $80,000 allocated for artists’ fees for Sun God this year.

Christian remains optimistic about the event.

“”I have no worries that everyone’s going to have a great time once again this year,”” she said.