Fanime Con 2009 Karaoke Contest Rules

[Hank-KKD]

I have submitted the 2009 Karaoke Contest rules to the Fanime web site. For reference, I have also posted them here. In the unlikely event the two versions are different, the version on the Fanime web site takes precedence.


Fanime Con 2009 Karaoke Contest Rules

Contest Overview
The Fanime Con 2009 Karaoke Contest will take place on Friday, May 22. 35 Individuals and Groups will vie for the right to be crowned the best singing act of Fanime Con!

The Preliminary (qualifying) round will be in the late afternoon/early evening, and those who qualify will sing in the finals which are at 9PM. Contestants do not need to be present for the entire Preliminary round.


Eligibility
You must have a valid Fanime Con badge for Friday.

Fanime Con Karaoke staff, Guests of Honor, and Industry members are ineligible to compete in the contest.

If you compete as a group, all members of the group must perform in both rounds to be eligible for a prize. You may not add or change group members between rounds. All members of the group must sing during both songs, either as lead or as backup.


Signing Up/Checking In

Online contest signups will start on Sunday, May 2. Stay tuned to the Fanime Con Live Programming forum for the most current information on online signups for the Karaoke Contest.

To keep the length of the contest reasonable, the number of acts is limited to 35. Signups are first come, first served.

We will accept up to 25 spots before the convention. An additional ten spots will be reserved for at-con sign-ups. Online sign-ups close once we receive 25 valid entries. Any at-con sign-ups in excess of the ten allotted spots will be placed on a waiting list.

Contestants who pre-register for the convention must check in no later than 30 minutes before the start of the qualifying round. Failure to check-in could result in loss of your spot in the contest. Once the contest starts, the MC will only call the names of those who have checked in. To check-in for the contest, you will need your Fanime Con badge and your contest music.

Check-in and at-con sign-ups for the contest will be taken in the Karaoke room (Hall C in the San Jose Convention Center), starting when the Karaoke room opens on Friday.

Selecting Your Songs

Songs must be from the following categories: Anime, video game, or J-rock/J-pop.

Songs are limited to two and a half minutes (TV version, or one verse and chorus) for the Preliminary round, and five minutes for final round songs. Songs longer than these limits will be faded out when the limit is reached.

You may not use the same song in both rounds of the contest.

English songs which were not originally created for an anime series or video game, or straight covers of such songs (for example, Fly Me To The Moon) are not allowed.

Original English or other non-Japanese songs created for the dubbed version of an anime series or game are okay. (For example, the American version of Sailor Moon, or songs from Robotech.)

No a cappella singing. a cappella singers are invited to join our Acoustikaraoke! Contest on Saturday afternoon.

You should follow the song's original lyrics- this is not a "filk" contest.

If contestants bring their own music, they must provide their own songs on an audio CD. No MDs, mp3s CDs, cassettes, or mp3 players.

If you are making a CD especially just for the contest, please make Track 1 your preliminary song and Track 2 your Final song. Also, write your real name on the CD.

We will make a reasonable effort to return your CD to you, but are ultimately not responsible for lost or forgotten CDs. It is the responsibility of the contestant to claim their CD after the contest. Unclaimed CDs may be disposed of at our discretion after the convention. If your CD is hard to replace, we strongly suggest you claim it immediately or use a backup.

Contestants who sign up at the convention may choose songs from our open mic library. However, this is done at the contestant's own risk. We are not responsible if the song sounds different from what the contestant was expecting, and we do not guarantee the availability of any particular song.

Contestants must provide their own song lyrics, if needed, except for contestants who use our song open mic library.

Songs must be in their original format as on the released CD and may not be rearranged by the contestant or other party in any way. Remixes which have appeared on an official released CD are okay.

All contestants who do not use karaoke versions of their songs must perform with vocal dampening turned on. We want to hear you, not the original singer.
Note: Vocal dampening has been known to have unexpected effects with some songs, so if you plan to use vocal dampening, we strongly suggest that you test out your song before you sign up.


Scoring and Judging
Each contestant will be scored by each judge on a scale of 1 to 10 in the following categories:

•   Vocal: musical quality of performance, song selection, breath control, pitch and tone
•   Visual Performance: stage presence; overall entertainment value; style and poise

Vocal counts for two-thirds of the total score, and Visual Performance counts one-third.

The top 10 scores advance to the Finals. Preliminary scores are carried over to the Finals.

In the Finals, the winners will be determined by the sum of their preliminary round score and their final round score.

In case of a tie in the preliminary round, the tied acts will advance to the final round. In the event of a tie in the finals, the final round score is the tiebreaker. If the final round scores are the same between the tied contestants, then a vote of the judges will determine final placement.

All decisions made by the judges are final.

Conduct
As a convention for anime fans of all ages, Fanime Con has certain standards of behavior which all convention attendees should abide by at all times. Karaoke is no exception.

All aspects of the act, including, but not limited to: costume, conduct on stage, and song lyrics, are to abide by no worse than a PG-13 standard. If you re in doubt as to whether something is suitable, just ask yourself: Would you do this in front of your mother?  If you're still in doubt, please email or post and tell us what you have in mind, and we'll make a decision.

If any violations of this policy occur, Fanime Con Karaoke staff reserves the right to disqualify offenders from the contest and/or terminate the act in mid-song. In extreme cases, offenders may also be subject to convention penalties including loss of badge and removal from the convention.

During the contest, no interaction with the judges or the MC is allowed. Contestants may not touch or approach the judge's table. Contestants may not go into the audience or use an audience member in their act. Actions that encourage general audience participation as a whole (such as asking the crowd to sing along) are okay.

The only persons allowed in the performing area are the MC, Fanime Con Karaoke staff and guests, judges, and contestants.

[Enkai]

I had a question regarding the song that I would like to sing for the preliminaries:

This song has a minute long intro; I've discovered that if you start the song at :55, it doesn't cut off too strangely, and it comes in at 2:30 minutes (the full song is just under 3:30).  Would it be possible to request that the song be started at that point?

Thanks!  ^.^

[konataFTW]

are there any age restrictions?

[Kimiko]

I'm also wondering about the age restrictions ^^

Aww so this year, groups and individuals are still lumped together?? I hope eventually you guys will be able to separate the two. I know it's a lot of work though, so no worries ^^ See you next month!

[Hank-KKD]

I had a question regarding the song that I would like to sing for the preliminaries:

This song has a minute long intro; I've discovered that if you start the song at :55, it doesn't cut off too strangely, and it comes in at 2:30 minutes (the full song is just under 3:30).  Would it be possible to request that the song be started at that point?

If the intro is all instrumental, this is okay, just tell us when you check in and confirm again with the our tech staff when you're about to go on stage. If however there is singing in the intro, you can't skip it.

are there any age restrictions?

As mentioned in another post, basically there is no limit as long as you are able to perform by yourself without another person assisting you.

Aww so this year, groups and individuals are still lumped together?? I hope eventually you guys will be able to separate the two. I know it's a lot of work though, so no worries ^^ See you next month!

Yes, it's still one competition for both groups and individuals. We would need at least 8-10 groups on a regular basis to consider a separate competition.

[Enkai]

If the intro is all instrumental, this is okay, just tell us when you check in and confirm again with the our tech staff when you're about to go on stage. If however there is singing in the intro, you can't skip it.

Nope, no singing.  Sounds good, thanks!  ^.^

[xXunyuuXx]

Is Vocaloid songs allow in the contest?
There is one that I want to sing and of course its in Japanese.

[Kimiko]

Yes, it's still one competition for both groups and individuals. We would need at least 8-10 groups on a regular basis to consider a separate competition.

Ah I see, that makes perfect sense then. Thank you.

[konataFTW]

As mentioned in another post, basically there is no limit as long as you are able to perform by yourself without another person assisting you.

ok, yes I can perform without any assistance though I will have my group supporting me but I wouldn't call that personnal assistance... <3

and thanks! =)

[PrincessCake]

Is Vocaloid songs allow in the contest?
There is one that I want to sing and of course its in Japanese.

you mean that finnish song that the anime world has taken over? Just like the swedish song carameldansen.

[PrincessCake]

I also have a question. Should I apply through email? or just wait until the day of. I want to do it through email cause I'm afraid I won't be able to sign up. But I don't want to end up going first either.

[xXunyuuXx]

Is Vocaloid songs allow in the contest?
There is one that I want to sing and of course its in Japanese.

you mean that finnish song that the anime world has taken over? Just like the swedish song carameldansen.

o.O
Vocaloid had over hundreds of songs sung by different vocaloid character. Yes Ievan Polkka the Finnish song is one of them but it's not the one I wanted to sing.

[LakuriSyaoran]

just to clearify, is the english version of 1,000 words ok? cause I really want to sing it for the contest :3

and another thing, when u say remix, to get the 2:30 time, are you allowed to "remix" it so it fits in the limit?

[PrincessCake]

Is Vocaloid songs allow in the contest?
There is one that I want to sing and of course its in Japanese.

you mean that finnish song that the anime world has taken over? Just like the swedish song carameldansen.

o.O
Vocaloid had over hundreds of songs sung by different vocaloid character. Yes Ievan Polkka the Finnish song is one of them but it's not the one I wanted to sing.

lol okay cause that song is absolutely annoying!!!!!

[xXunyuuXx]

Is Vocaloid songs allow in the contest?
There is one that I want to sing and of course its in Japanese.

you mean that finnish song that the anime world has taken over? Just like the swedish song carameldansen.

o.O
Vocaloid had over hundreds of songs sung by different vocaloid character. Yes Ievan Polkka the Finnish song is one of them but it's not the one I wanted to sing.

lol okay cause that song is absolutely annoying!!!!!

LOL ^o^
When its over play then I guess it can be quite a nuisance. But it never happen to me. 8P

[arcadiapandora]

By videogame, are you refering to specifically Japanese-developed videogames, or are any games allowed? Such as Guitar Hero, Rockband, etc. Just asking for some clarification. Since the majority of said songs are actually covers, they're not really elligible anyway, and I've no intention of singing songs from either game. I have a friend who would be interested in doing Bark At The Moon and Holy Diver if permitted though. :P

[PrincessCake]

By videogame, are you refering to specifically Japanese-developed videogames, or are any games allowed? Such as Guitar Hero, Rockband, etc. Just asking for some clarification. Since the majority of said songs are actually covers, they're not really elligible anyway, and I've no intention of singing songs from either game. I have a friend who would be interested in doing Bark At The Moon and Holy Diver if permitted though. :P

i think they mean like final fantasy things like that.

[Nina Star 9]

About songs in English:

What about songs by Japanese artists, originally written an performed by them (not covers), that are in English? By Japanese artists, I mean artists that live in/work in Japan exclusively and 98% of their releases are entirely/mostly in Japanese.

Also, songs that are about 66% in English and 33% in Japanese by an artist fitting the above the description would be allowed, correct?

I'm not sure if I will do Amano Tsukiko's Jam Tommorrow (doubtful, more likely for open mic) or Kitchen (more likely), but if a song like this is not allowed, even if it is by a Japanese artist, then it will aid me in deciding. :D


Songs entirely in English but by Japanese artists seem to be somewhat of a rarity and it isn't clear in the rules, so I thought I would ask.

[konataFTW]

I'm also wondering the same thing since I wanted to sing Life is like a boat D:

[Hank-KKD]

Alright I'll try and cover all the answers in one post:

Registration: That will start about two weeks from now. It's not done by email- There will be a web page to handle the registration. The link will be posted to these forums on Sunday, May 3.

Vocaloid songs: Not for this contest, you can sing it in the Gong Show though!

Video games: yes, the spirit of that rule is for Japanese video games.

Remixes: By remixes, we mean official remix versions of a song. You can't remix a song yourself.

English songs:  English versions of Japanese songs (for example, 1000 Words) are fine. Original dub versions of anime themes (for example, the North American Sailor Moon theme songs) are fine. Original songs by Japanese artists in English are fine.  What we don't want are covers of well-known English songs (such as stuff from Guitar Hero). This isn't American Idol ;-)