WHAT JUDGES LOOK OUT FOR IN A SINGING COMPETITION.

Participating in a music competition can most times be scary and tension-packed. This is because most of the participants do not know or understand the template used by the judges to measure their performances and award marks to the contestants. This article is aimed at analyzing what the judges look out for in a contestant’s rendition, in order to award high marks or choose a winner. Once you know and understand these criteria, participating in a competition can become great fun for you. Some of these criteria are explained below.

VOCAL STRENGTH

This is the first and most important factor in any singing competition. The strength of your voice (Voices for a group or choir), your ability to sing on keys and your ability to harmonize your parts correctly (for a group or choir), is the most important factor for any judge during a competition. This is why it’s important to sing within your vocal range to avoid lazy notes during your rendition in a competition. See how to avoid cracked voice here

DICTION

This is another very important quality that judges look out for in your rendition during a competition. When the judges cannot hear what you are saying it turns them off and can make them score you low points. your words have to be clear so that they can make meaning to the judges and your audience… this also means you must use the right phonetics for every pronunciation during singing.

USING MUSICAL DYNAMICS PROPERLY

Your ability to know when to use Vibrato, Staccato, Crescendo, Slur etc. during your rendition is a major turn-on for judges during a competition… this adds beauty and maturity to your singing and it actually separates the Men from the boys! So, if you want to win a major competition these have to be part of your rendition.

ORIGINALITY/CREATIVITY

This is the ability to make a song look like your personal song! it’s the ability to make a song sound so well that the audience will think the song was composed by you! most times the judges know the songs being rendered by the contestants, but the ability of a contestant to put an extra spice to a song and make it sound better than it was originally written can be the magical act that determines the winner!

UNIFORMITY

Your Appearance is very important to the judges… how you step out can either distract or attract them more to your singing. if you are not properly dressed it can be a major turn off for your rendition. Dressing according to the Genre of your musical rendition is also very important. for instance, wearing a native attire to sing an English song can score you low points…same if it’s the reverse. for a group or choir, the major denominator of your dressing should be very pronounced. i.e. if it’s an all-white canvass or an all-black turtle neck that you want the judges to observe, it must be complied with by everybody so that it can be easily observed by the judges.

DURATION

It’s advisable to always know the time allocated to every participant in a competition before the day of the competition… this is to help you compress your rendition to fit within that time limit. This is because anything you sing outside the time apportioned to you will not be scored by the judges. In most cases, the end of a rendition is always better than its beginning. So why risk losing the best part of your rendition to poor time management? it’s always better to underutilize the time allocated to you than to exceed it.

STAGE MANAGEMENT

This is your ability to use your stage properly. standing in a corner like someone who is timid can be a major damage to your rendition. Not arranging yourselves properly as a group or choir, or not placing the band, conductor or soloist in their proper position can cause you to lose major points. Also singing outside the centre stage light for a single artist or soloist can be very risky. you should understand your stage very well and your movement boundaries.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE (CROWD APPEAL)

This is also important to the judges, though not in all cases.  The crowd response to your rendition proves to the judges that you have actually been communicating with the Audience and not just yourself and the judges alone.

YOUR BAND

Your instrumentalists are a very important part of your rendition. You must do everything to make sure you are on the same plain as them!  No matter our powerful or sophisticated your vocals are if you don’t follow the beat or sing on the right keys your vocal prowess will be useless!  This is why I advise every band to do their best to avoid too many syncopation during a singing competition. this is because it can be a huge distraction to the judges when scoring the vocals of the artist or Choir… Remember it’s not a band competition but a singing competition… what the judges want to hear more is the vocals. the band is majorly for accompaniment. So, keep the play simple to avoid distortion.

PROPER PREPARATION

Your rendition always reveals to the judges how much time you spent preparing for a competition. This is a whole complex topic on its own and it will be dealt with in a later edition on this site. You can also read how to become a successful gospel minister.