Eleven Queens bands and musicians will be competing on March 2 to represent the borough in the third annual “Battle of the Boroughs,” a citywide talent competition produced by the Greene Space at WNYC and WQXR. The three organizations form New York Public Radio.

More than 400 acts from all five boroughs answered the radio giant’s call for submissions from September to December, according to Rosalin Luetum, a spokeswoman for NYPR, and Indira Etwaroo, executive producer of the Greene Space.

From that pool, 55 finalists were chosen. Each borough’s representatives fight it out over the course of one night, when the audience as well as online viewers — streaming the shows live — and people tuning in via their mobile phones can vote for their favorite. After the event, clips of the five top picks will be posted online for an additional two-week voting period.

The ultimate winners from each borough will then compete on June 29, when a panel of judges, in addition to live, online and mobile audiences, will select the big winner.

The prize is a headlining show at the Greene Space, a multimedia performance venue in Manhattan, as well as a free recording session in one of NYPR’s studios and iPads and other electronic goodies from Tekserve.

But for many of the bands, the biggest prize might be the exposure.

It’s an opportunity that “doesn’t come your way too terribly often,” said Sunnyside resident and Queens native Kathleen Deane, a member of SisterMonk, one of Queens’ competing bands. Deane described the trio’s sound as “experimental-soul-funk.” She and guitarist Jody Rubel have been playing together for some 10 years. Of the other Queens bands vying for the top spot, she said she had listened to them “just to hear what music is coming out of Queens these days,” and not necessarily to scope out the competition.

Astoria resident Zach Abramson, bassist for competitors the Great Apes, noted that all 11 Queens acts play widely divergent styles of music. Latino, soul, rock and more are represented. The band, together since late 2010 and fronted by East Elmhurst native Joe Trombino, has an unabashedly funk sound.

Their music is “about that primal energy that makes you want to dance,” Abramson said. Because of the contest’s genre diversity, the show will be more about asking, “How good can we do what we’re trying to do?” Abramson said, rather than trying to “beat other bands.”

Etwaroo agrees. In determining which bands and acts would participate in the competition, she noted that the selection committee looked for a “high level of musicianship” across genres.

The goal of each borough’s contest, she said, was that the listeners hear what they might if they were “walking down a New York City street.”

Pop and soul singer Shelly Bhushan, who was born in Houston and has lived in Long Island City for eight years, said she started listening to her competitors but quickly stopped. “I started getting scared,” Bhushan said with a laugh.

“Of course they’re really great, they’re all really different,” she noted.

Like all the contestants, Bhushan will be performing one song only on the night of March 2, which the rules stipulate must be the same tune she originally submitted for the competition: in her case, “All the Time,” first released as part of her EP “Make Believe” in 2010.

She’ll be backed by a full band — husband JohnCelentano on drums, bassist Harry Cordew and keyboardist Ben Hoffstein — as well as three Queens-based singers and one from Brooklyn.

“I tried to make sure we’re keeping this Queens,” she said. “I feel like there’s such and up and coming music scene in Queens.”

Astoria singer and competitor Tatiana Kochkareva, whose deep voice has a hypnotic quality, would seem to agree. While she noted that Brooklyn is home to a lot of great music, Kochkareva is happy in Queens. “I’m definitely more interested in staying here and developing the arts here,” she said.

Kochkareva will be performing “Downville Town,” which she’ll release on Feb. 15. The song will also be on her upcoming album, “Infinity,” which will come out on April 19. The Russian native moved to Miami from Moscow in 2003 to study jazz at the University of Florida, but said that ‘70s rock, as much as jazz, influences her songwriting.

The best part of the contest for her will be the chance to play at the Greene Space. She recalled watching a video of Regina Spektor, a popular singer also from Russia, performing at the venue.

“Just even being a part of this is awesome,” she said.

‘Battle of the Boroughs: Queens’

When: March 2 at 7 p.m.

Where: The Greene Space, 44 Charlton St., Manhattan

Tickets: $15 with free glass of beer or wine, $30 with open bar

thegreenespace.org