Fanime Con 2010 Karaoke Contest Rules

[Hank-KKD]

Fanime Con 2010 Karaoke Contest  Rules

The Fanime Con 2010 Karaoke Contest will take place on Friday, May 28. Up to 40 Individuals and Groups will vie for the right to be crowned the best singing act of Fanime Con!

The Preliminary round will start at 6PM, and those who qualify will sing in the finals which are at 10PM. Contestants do not need to be present for the entire Preliminary round.

The contest (as well as at-con signups and check-in) will be in the Karaoke room (Hall C in the San Jose Convention Center).


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 sing during both songs, either as lead or as backup vocals. No backup dancers. You may not add or change group members between rounds.


Signing Up/Checking In

Online contest signups will start on Sunday, 5/2. Stay tuned to the Fanime Con Live Programming forum for exact time/details.

Online sign-ups close on 5/16, or when we receive 40 valid entries. Any remaining spots will be reserved for at-con sign-ups. Any at-con sign-ups in excess of 40 will be placed on a waiting list.

Contestants who pre-register for the convention must check in no later than one hour before the start of the qualifying round. To check-in for the contest, you will need your Fanime Con badge and your contest music (either on a CD, or the song numbers from our song library). Check-in starts when the Karaoke room opens on Friday.

If you don't check in, your spot will be given to any singers on the waiting list. Once the contest starts, the MC will only call the names of those who have checked in.

Selecting Your Songs

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

Songs limits: 2:30 (preliminary), 5:00 (finals). 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 songs created for the localized version of an anime series or game are okay (For example, songs from Robotech).

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

No a cappella singing. a cappella singers are invited to join our Acoustikaraoke! Contest on Sunday 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 phones or mp3 players please. Unclaimed CDs will be disposed of at our discretion after the convention.

Contestants may choose songs from our open mic library. Just tell us the song ID number at check-in. 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. If you are unsure, you should try it out during the warmup period before the contest.

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 at home before you sign up. No song changes are allowed once the contest starts.
 
Contestants should provide their own song lyrics, if needed. We will make a reasonable effort, but do not guarantee any lyrics will be available at con.

Scoring and Judging
Each contestant will be scored by each judge in the following categories:

•   Vocal: musical quality of performance, breath control, pitch and tone (60%)
•   Visual Performance: stage presence; overall entertainment value; style and poise (30%)
•   Song selection (10%)

The top 10 scores advance 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 are 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 Fanime Con staff, contestants.

[princesskitty18]

what happens if all 40 spots get taken online? will u do the same thing as last year and reserve some for at-con sign up?

[Hank-KKD]

what happens if all 40 spots get taken online? will u do the same thing as last year and reserve some for at-con sign up?

If all 40 spots are filled online, then we will take waiting list signups at the convention. Usually at least a few people are no shows so even if you are on the waiting list there's still a reasonable chance you'll get in.

[KusanagiShiro]

You probably get this every year, but are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

This also applies to songs from the various live-action Sakura Taisen musicals over the years (i.e. Sakura Taisen Kayou Show, Sakura Taisen Super Kayou Show, etc.)

[Hank-KKD]

You probably get this every year, but are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

This also applies to songs from the various live-action Sakura Taisen musicals over the years (i.e. Sakura Taisen Kayou Show, Sakura Taisen Super Kayou Show, etc.)

If it has a clear anime/video game tie-in (such as Sakura Taisen, Sailor Moon, etc) then it should be fine.


-Hank

[yumicchi88]

just to make sure.

dealer's badge is ineligible for the contest?

[KusanagiShiro]

You probably get this every year, but are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

This also applies to songs from the various live-action Sakura Taisen musicals over the years (i.e. Sakura Taisen Kayou Show, Sakura Taisen Super Kayou Show, etc.)

If it has a clear anime/video game tie-in (such as Sakura Taisen, Sailor Moon, etc) then it should be fine.


-Hank

OK, but as I said, what about tokusatsu songs, such as Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, or Let's Go!! Rider Kick?

[Hank-KKD]

just to make sure.

dealer's badge is ineligible for the contest?

Dealers badges are okay for the contest.

Are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

The rules state: "Songs must be from the following categories: Anime, video game, or J-rock/J-pop."
Therefore, no on "tokusatsu" songs that don't have an anime/video game tie-in.

[stormsworder]

Selecting Your Songs

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

Songs limits: 2:30 (preliminary), 5:00 (finals). 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.

I seem to remember last year that the prelims song limit was 3:30 and not 2:30. shortening it to accomodate the contestants?

[arcadiapandora]

Possible to get a little more info on the warm-up pre-contest time? :)

There are two songs I've been unable to find a karaoke version of, and saw that they are in the library. However, I'm not sure if they're series length or full length, etc, so hearing them once through would help affirm if they're what I know or not. Especially since one of them has the first line pretty much a capella. That said, last year we were allowed to change our song, as long as it was done at sign-in. Still possible?

Also, for the library songs: I assume if there's a "K" in the karaoke section, it means it has a karaoke track, and if it is devoid of anything, it does not. So, are we safe in assuming vocal dampening works for any song in the library? If not, do ya'll mind informing us of the program you use so we can test it at home? :)

[yumicchi88]

Selecting Your Songs

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

Songs limits: 2:30 (preliminary), 5:00 (finals). 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.

I seem to remember last year that the prelims song limit was 3:30 and not 2:30. shortening it to accomodate the contestants?

I remember it's always been 2:30.

[Hank-KKD]

Possible to get a little more info on the warm-up pre-contest time? :)

The warm-up time will be from 2PM to 5PM on Friday. More info closer to convention time.

There are two songs I've been unable to find a karaoke version of, and saw that they are in the library. However, I'm not sure if they're series length or full length, etc, so hearing them once through would help affirm if they're what I know or not. Especially since one of them has the first line pretty much a capella. That said, last year we were allowed to change our song, as long as it was done at sign-in. Still possible?

Yes.

Also, for the library songs: I assume if there's a "K" in the karaoke section, it means it has a karaoke track, and if it is devoid of anything, it does not. So, are we safe in assuming vocal dampening works for any song in the library? If not, do ya'll mind informing us of the program you use so we can test it at home? :)

Vocal dampening works for any song, but it's not perfect. On some songs, it can also remove some or most of the music itself. This is why we urge you to try it out at home first.

The software we use is called Audio Hijack Pro, which runs on Mac OS X. For those on Windows or Linux, DeFx is a rough equivalent.

-Hank

p.s. Yes the limit was 2:30 last year.

[KusanagiShiro]

just to make sure.

dealer's badge is ineligible for the contest?

Dealers badges are okay for the contest.

Are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

The rules state: "Songs must be from the following categories: Anime, video game, or J-rock/J-pop."
Therefore, no on "tokusatsu" songs that don't have an anime/video game tie-in.

Well, I know that iDOLM@STER's covered "Let's Go!! Rider Kick" from Kamen Rider on one of their radio shows...seeing as I 've followed that series regularly. This is kind of off-topic, but have people performed any iM@S songs in the karaoke contest before yet?

[SakuraNek0]

just to make sure.

dealer's badge is ineligible for the contest?

Dealers badges are okay for the contest.

Are songs from the various tokusatsu series (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, Kikaider, etc.) also eligible to enter?

The rules state: "Songs must be from the following categories: Anime, video game, or J-rock/J-pop."
Therefore, no on "tokusatsu" songs that don't have an anime/video game tie-in.

Well, I know that iDOLM@STER's covered "Let's Go!! Rider Kick" from Kamen Rider on one of their radio shows...seeing as I 've followed that series regularly. This is kind of off-topic, but have people performed any iM@S songs in the karaoke contest before yet?

im@s is a game, so I'd think so. I sang "Go My Way!!" in 2008.
/rolls away

[palmnut]

Hi.  Just wondering if we're allowed to edit our song so it fits the 2:30 rule for prelim round.  ie: make the song start from the middle instead of the beginning.

[Hank-KKD]

Hi.  Just wondering if we're allowed to edit our song so it fits the 2:30 rule for prelim round.  ie: make the song start from the middle instead of the beginning.

No song editing is allowed. However, if your song has a long instrumental introduction, you may request that we start it part of the way through. You cannot skip over any vocal part though.

[Seraphil]

Several Tokusatsu, Kamen Rider, and Ultraman series have been featured in games by Banpresto like Super Hero Sakusen, so there's that tie-in.  I know for certain that the classic Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider V3 and Kamen Rider Black have been in several videogames, but beyond that I can't help much.

[FScarlettHenry]

Could we possibly sing Vocaloid Songs for the Karaoke Contest?
It would be really cool if we get to use it.

[Hank-KKD]

Could we possibly sing Vocaloid Songs for the Karaoke Contest?
It would be really cool if we get to use it.

Yes, as long as they are well-known songs and not just something you made yourself using the Vocaloid software.

[yumicchi88]

Hi.  Just wondering if we're allowed to edit our song so it fits the 2:30 rule for prelim round.  ie: make the song start from the middle instead of the beginning.

No song editing is allowed. However, if your song has a long instrumental introduction, you may request that we start it part of the way through. You cannot skip over any vocal part though.

The song I am preparing has about 25 second short intro, and the whole vocal part ends alittle over 5 minutes, so I want to cut just few seconds of it so I can finish it off. It's possible, right?