Show Choir Nationals Competition Guidelines

  1. High School and Middle School Show Choirs will be invited from all regions of the country.
  2. There will be a High School Mixed Division, Women’s Division and Middle/ Jr. High Mixed Division.
  3. Judges for the competition will be current educators in the show choir activity or retired directors that are still active as judges in show choir competitions.
  4. The first twenty choirs to respond to the invitation will compete.
  5. Preliminary performance order will be determined by postmark. The first application received will perform last, et cetera.
    Women’s Division and Middle/ Jr.High School Competition will be held Thursday evening.
    Mixed Division Prelims will be held Friday morning and afternoon.
    The six (6) choirs in the Mixed Division with the highest preliminary scores will compete in the finals competition.
    Mixed Division Finals will be held Saturday morning. Performance order will be determined by scores from prelims, with lowest score performing first to highest score performing last. Scoring for finals is by the Consensus Ranking System.
  6. Thirty (30) minutes will be allotted for each group’s performance. This includes set-up, performance and breakdown.
  7. A penalty of one point per minute will be assessed for exceeding the time limit. Timing will stop for the introduction of the group’s performance and will resume on the first musical note or first movement by a performer.
  8. Thirty (30) minutes will be allotted for warm-up and transfer to stage.
    1. Twenty (20) minutes for warm-up
    2. Five (5) minutes to transfer to stage
    3. Five (5) minutes to prepare equipment for set-up
  9. The stage will be set with four levels of Stage Right Risers.
    1. Four (4) 4x8x8
    2. Four (4) 4x8x16
    3. Four (4) 4x8x24
    4. Four (4) 4x8x32
    10. Choirs may place risers in any arrangement, remove risers or add extra risers, however, risers must be returned to original arrangement within the thirty (30) minute time limit. Clinton Attaché stage crew will assist in set up and break down.
  10. Taped accompaniment tracks will not be allowed.
  11. To be eligible for the combo award, only one adult may play in the combo. All others must be current students.
  12. Lighting will be available for choir’s performance. Cue Sheet will be emailed.
  13. The Grand Ole Opry House sound system will be used for the competition. The stage will be set with five (5) corded stand microphones, four (4) cordless handheld microphones, four (4) audio technica booms, six (6) monitors for piano to singers and one (1) monitor for singers to director. Other sound reinforcement for singers will not be allowed.
  14. The competition area will be 40ft. across and between 38 ft. and 40ft. deep.