VH1 & Talent Quest are partnering to increase awareness for the popular game show "Don’t Forget the Lyrics," premiering September 20 at 7PM ET/PT on VH1. Talent Quest participants will have the opportunity to win prizes from VH1 and learn about how they can indulge their love for Karaoke at home! Tune-in to "Don't Forget the Lyrics" on VH1 every Mon-Fri at 7PM ET/PT.
. Contestants from prior TALENT QUEST national contests are eligible to enter the 2010 contest at any level, with the exception of the 2009 1st place winners who must sit out for one year in the category they won in.
2. All notices, rule changes, contestant advancements or other pertinent information will be posted on a bulletin board located near or inside the Pavilion Showroom.
3. Each contestant is responsible for providing their own discs for competition. There will be a selection of CDG discs available for contestant use during contest rounds.
4. All contestants will sing in two preliminary rounds. No contestants will be eliminated until Friday. First preliminary round will be Monday and Tuesday. Second preliminary round will be Wednesday and Thursday. At or about 8am on Friday the numbers of 20 male and 20 female contestants advancing from each category will be posted. These 120 contestants will compete in the Friday semi-final round. Times for each round will be posted on a bulletin board located near or inside the Pavilion showroom or on door of the Pavilion showroom.
5. All contestants will have their individual scores from rounds one and two added together to determine which contestants advance to the semi-final round Friday. Top 120 contestant’s semi-final round scores will be added to rounds one and two to determine top 10 contestants in each category. All final night scores will be added to previous rounds to determine the winner of the competition.
6. At approximately 8:00am on Saturday, a notice providing the contestant number of 5 male and 5 female contestants from each of the categories will be posted. These contestants will meet in the Pavilion showroom at 10:00am for a finalist meeting. These contestants will compete Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:00pm for the National Singing Championship.
7. Contestants must use different songs for each of the rounds (Preliminary 1, 2, semi-finals & finals). For a total of 4 songs if advancing to the final show.
8. Contestants may perform the same song as another contestant in any round.
9. At times contestants will not appear at their prescribed time to perform, thus eliminating them from that round of competition. When this occurs it speeds up the contest process, thus changing the order of appearance time for contestants due to compete. It is the contestant's responsibility to be present when his or her number is called for competition regardless of the estimated and posted start time. Contestants who do not appear when their number is called will receive a zero for that round of competition. It is suggested that contestants be in the showroom 30 minutes prior to your posted competition time. Contestants must have their song and disc turned into TALENT QUEST emcee's two songs prior to their performance.
10. Each contestant is required to sign an eligibility/waiver of liability/registration form. Contestants not doing so will not be allowed to advance to the national finals.
11. The order of contestant appearance will be done by random drawing prior to being posted at the Pavilion Theater. Contestants will be grouped into their respective categories for all judged events.
12. Fairness is the main objective in this contest. To that end the contestants name and/or number will be the only identifying marker used during the competition. Area, town or location of the competing contestant will not be announced. The exception to this rule will be when making the presentation of awards on finals night.
13. Songs used by contestants in the two preliminary rounds are limited to 4 minutes. Songs continuing beyond the 4 minute mark will be cut at the 4 minute mark. Judges will be instructed not to make any deductions due to a song being cut short. Contestants continuing to sing after the time limit and music stoppage will have points deducted from their scores.
14. Songs used by contestants in the semi-final round are limited to 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Remainder of rule 11 applies.
15. Songs used by contestants in the final round are limited to 5 minutes. Remainder of rule 11 applies.
16. Upon completion of performances in preliminary and semi-final rounds the contestant is given a brief moment to bow and take audience applause, then must immediately exit the stage and take along any props used by the contestant. A delay by the contestant to leave the stage area may result in points being deducted from the contestant's score.
17. Contestants must sing from a legally manufactured Karaoke CDG. The CDG's must be manufactured and sold on the retail market, No downloaded discs are allowed. Such discs as Priddis, Pocket Songs, Star Tracks, etc., that are void of graphics, are allowed. No laser or other type discs are allowed. No tapes are allowed.
18. A contestant who approaches any TALENT QUEST representative and attempts to use a "burned" or "pirated" disc will be disqualified from advancing in the competition.
19. Using "burned" or “pirated” discs are a serious copyright infringement and are against the law. Contestants found to be using "burned" or "pirated" discs at any time during any portion of the competition will be immediately disqualified from advancing in the competition. No Exceptions. This includes open-Mic performances in the Caboose Lounge.
20. Reasonable care is taken by TALENT QUEST, its sponsors, representatives and the Tropicana Express Hotel and Casino to provide adequate equipment for contestants. All contestants will be required to sign an affidavit holding TALENT QUEST, any of its sponsors, representatives, or the Tropicana Express Hotel and Casino harmless should any problem occur as a result of malfunctioning equipment or disc failure during competition.
21. Due to time constraints, a disc that fails to play, skip in mid-performance, or has any other malfunction does not give the contestant the right to start over or use a different disc during rounds one and two or semi- final round. The cause of malfunction may or may not be taken into consideration for allowing a contestant to continue. A contestant who has performed a portion of their song prior to any malfunction may or may not have their performance cut short. In the case of such action the judges will be instructed to judge the contestant as though the contestant completed the song.
22. Contestants, their family members or associates are not allowed to have any contact with any judge during the contest performance periods. Judges on break during a contest period are treated as though they are still judging the contest. Offering bribes of any nature to a judge to help advance a contestant is strictly prohibited. Contestants, do not hang out with the judges, don't drink with them, and don't eat with them. It is okay to say hello when passing them in the hall but, there is no reason for you to develop any kind of relationship with them.
23. Decisions of the judges are final.
24. Any contestant, family member or associates who argue the decision of the judges may be considered unruly and the contestant may be disqualified from advancing in competition. Should the argument concerning the judged outcome of a final event, and the contestant be awarded a prize that contestant may be stripped of the prize and such prize awarded to another contestant.
25. Contestants, their family or associates who exhibit offensive behavior during any portion of the contest will disqualify that contestant from further competition. If the contestant, their family or associates exhibit offensive behavior after the contestant has competed, and such behavior is on the Tropicana Express Hotel and Casino property, even after the winners are announced, that contestants score will be nullified. If the contestant whose score has been nullified is a winning contestant, the next contestant in scoring position for that particular category shall be the winner. It will not be the responsibility of TALENT QUEST or any of its representatives to recover any money or prize awarded a contestant who is later disqualified or found to be ineligible following the final event and decision of the judges.
26. TALENT QUEST will have present, during all phases of the National contest, a representative to answer a complaint concerning TALENT QUEST competitions. No TALENT QUEST representative shall answer a complaint concerning the outcome of a judged event.
27. Complaints, not made in person, concerning any breach of TALENT QUEST rules must be made in writing and sent by registered mail to: TALENT QUEST, P.O. Box 946, Mustang, OK 73064. A complaint must reach the TALENT QUEST office no later than October 1, 2010 to be considered for action. Such complaint should include all relevant facts concerning such complaint. If the complaint concerns the eligibility of a winning contestant the complaint must include relevant documents. Any statements of fact are to be notarized, including statements by witnesses.
28. Contest prize money will be paid immediately following the announcement of winners. Any complaint found to be valid concerning the disqualification of a winning contestant will not constitute a right of the contestant next in line to advance or receive additional prize payment until the disqualified contestant has returned such money or prize awarded. It will not be the responsibility of TALENT QUEST or any of its representatives to recover any money or prize awarded a contestant who is later disqualified or found to be ineligible following the final event and decision of the judges.
29. Prize money is as follows: 1st place in each category is $3,000 plus Trophy, 2nd place is $1,000 plus Trophy, 3rd place $500 plus Trophy. Each 1st place contestant (National Champion) may be offered opportunities as they become available.
30. No adjustment for prize money will be made for any category regardless of the number of contestants entered for that particular category.
31. Regional sites are required to supply winning contestants with travel allowance, National entry fee and hotel accommodations. It is not the responsibility of TALENT QUEST to furnish any contestant travel allowance or accommodations regardless of any regional site not fulfilling its obligation to supply the winning contestants with travel allowance, entry fee or hotel accommodations.
32. Contestants that would like their scores for each round need to e-mail us at tim@talentquest.org include your contestant Number. Or send a self addressed stamped envelope to TALENT QUEST - P.O. Box 946 - Mustang, OK. 73064. All requests must reach us by October 30, 2010. Scores will not be available after this date.
THESE RULES MAY BE CHANGED OR MODIFIED AT ANY TIME BY TALENT QUEST OWNERS ONLY.
