Welcome to the Kumoricon 2008 Karaoke Contest! The Kumoricon Karaoke Contest is an exciting and entertaining vocal competition featuring your favorite anime, J-pop, and video game songs. Featuring a diverse group of passionate and talented singers, this event brings the spirit of friendly competition and the excitement of vocal performance to the convention stage. If you enjoy singing, come sign up for our contest, or just come and cheer on your fellow fans!

Eligibility

The contest is open to all registered convention attendees. You must have a valid Kumoricon badge for the days of the contest. There is no additional cost to register for the contest. You may compete in both the Kumoricon Idol and Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid contests if you so desire—the two competitions will be held back to back as a single show.

General Information

Contest registration will begin on Saturday, June 7, 2008 and run until Saturday, August 23, 2008, or when all spots are filled, whichever occurs first. Signups are first come, first served. For more information and sign-up info, please check the Kumoricon Karaoke Forum.

Additional at-con signups will be placed on a waiting list. To be guaranteed a spot in the contest, we highly recommend that you sign up online early in the sign-up period before the convention. Please note though that every year, we get some cancellations and no-shows, so even if you are on the waiting list, your chances of being in the contest are still very good.

A list of accepted pre-registered contestants will be posted on the Karaoke Forum by Wednesday, August 27, 2008. All pre-registered contestants are required to check in 30 minutes before the start of the auditions to confirm their appearance. Contestants who fail to check in will lose their spot in the auditions. Once the auditions start, only the names of those who have checked in will be called. For check-in, you will need your Kumoricon badge and the music you will be using in the audition, which must be in audio CD or MP3 format. The Karaoke Lounge will be open for check-in and contestant warm-up before the start of the auditions.

Once the online signup period has ended, you can sign up at the convention. Forms can be found at the Information Desk on in the Karaoke Lounge. All at-con signups (and any additional waiting list signups) will be accepted in the Karaoke Lounge.

You must specify the songs you are going to sing when you sign up for the contest. You may change your songs freely up until you check in for the auditions, but you must specify something when you sign up. Once you have checked in at the convention and handed over your music, you are committed to your song selection.

Contest Categories

There are two categories of competition: Kumoricon Idol and Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid. Contestants may compete in both categories.

Kumoricon Idol

Contestants are judged on vocal ability and talent.

There can only be one person on stage. Entries with more than one person on stage must compete in the Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid.

All Idol entries must have a karaoke version of their song so that we can truly hear your voice.

Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid

Contestants put on skits, perform artistic acts, and go for audience appeal, all while performing songs to complement their performance.

Groups will be allowed to enter, but all members of the group must sing, either as lead or as backup. No “back-up” dancers. If the number of group members exceeds the number of microphones, you will have to share.

All members of the group must perform in both rounds to be eligible for a prize.

Once you have checked in, you may not switch group members. Adding, subtracting, or substituting group members in between rounds of the contest is prohibited.

Contestants may only compete for one group.

Song Selection

Songs must be from the following categories: Anime, Video game, J-rock/J-pop, or Filk. (Filks—anime-themed song parodies—will only be allowed during the Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid contest).

English or other non-Japanese songs from the dubbed version of an anime series or video game are acceptable. (For example, the German theme to Sailor Moon, or songs from Robotech.)

English songs which were not originally created for an anime series, or straight covers of such songs (for example, Fly Me to the Moon, or a “popular” song used as an anime series theme song) are not allowed. English songs which are significantly changed or adapted from the original version (for example, has Japanese lyrics) might be okay. If you are in doubt as to whether a song is acceptable for the contest, please ask us before signing up, and we will make a ruling.

Be prepared to sing at least two different songs. If two people make it to the final round with the same song, one will be asked to sing an alternate for the final round. You may sing your first choice for the audition round.

You may sing the same song for both the audition and the final round. Contestants competing in both Kumoricon Idol and Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid must have a different song for each contest, but only need to audition once.

Songs are limited to the following lengths:

• Audition round:
  • Individuals – 2.5 minutes (TV version, or 1 verse and 1 chorus)
  • Groups – 4 minutes
• Final round: 5 minutes.

Songs longer than these limits will be faded out when the limit is reached.

If the contestant wishes a song to be faded out early, he/she must indicate so to the Karaoke staff either by placing the microphone back on the stand and bowing to the audience, or giving the “engine shutdown” (hand across the throat) signal.

Song Formats

Contestants must provide their own music in either audio CD format or MP3 readable on CD. No portable music players, flash memory devices, MDs, or cassettes are allowed. Audio tracks with vocals are allowed for the Hybrid competition, but karaoke versions are strongly recommended.

We will make a reasonable effort to return your CD to you, but we are not responsible for lost or forgotten CDs. It is the responsibility of the contestant to claim their CD after the contest! Unclaimed CDs will be available in the Karaoke Lounge until the end of the convention.

Contestants must provide their own song lyrics, if needed. Song lyrics must be the original lyrics from the original version of the song (the exception being Filks).

Contestants may not sing a cappella style—you must have a backing track.

Songs must be in their original format as on the released CD and may not be edited, cropped, remixed, or otherwise altered by the contestant or other party in any way. Remixes that have appeared on an officially released CD (for example, one of the many different remixes by Ayumi Hamasaki) are acceptable.

All contestants who do not have karaoke versions of their songs must perform with vocal dampening turned on. For those who are not familiar with karaoke, vocal dampening automatically removes or masks the original vocal track so that your singing can be heard. We want to hear your singing voice, not that of the original singers.

Vocal dampening has been known to have unexpected effects with some songs, so if you don’t have the karaoke version of a song, we strongly suggest that you test out the song first at home.

Judging

Contestants will be assigned a numerical score by each judge based on vocal/singing performance, and showmanship/presentation. In addition, “Coolness Points” can be earned. Coolness Points can be earned for anything which, simply, in the judge’s determination, is cool, and can add an additional bonus to the score. The scores from each judge are then tallied to come up with a total score for the contestant.

All decisions made by the judges are final.

Awards

Awards will be awarded to the following winners:

Kumoricon Idol:

• First Place
• Second Place
• Third Place

Karaoke Cosplay Hybrid:

• Best Anime Song
• Best J-Pop/J-Rock
• Best Filk

Prizes will be awarded to all winners. In addition, each judge can award a Judge’s Choice Prize at their discretion to the act of their choice.

Conduct

As a convention for anime fans of all ages, Kumoricon has certain standards of behavior which all convention attendees should abide by at all times. For more information, please refer to the Convention Policies.

The following rules are in addition to the Kumoricon Convention Policies that applies to all attendees:

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 work something out.

If any violations of this policy occur, Karaoke staff reserves the right to disqualify offenders from the contest 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 Emcee is allowed. Contestants may not touch or approach the judges’ 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 clap) are okay.

The only persons allowed in the performing area are the Emcee, Kumoricon staff and guests, judges, and contestants. Friends, relatives, fans, mascots, managers, agents, and any other persons or beings not actually performing in the contest are not allowed on stage.