Rules and Regulations
Official Rules – PEERS Victoria Idol Contest
Eligibility
1. Victoria Idol is open to legal Canadian residents who live on Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands. The contest is open to individuals only — not duos or groups — who are amateur, unsigned singers and who do not make a living through singing. The top three finalists from the previous year are not allowed to enter Idol in the year after their win. Click here to download Application Form PDF.
2. Applicants must be able to attend live auditions Sept. 20 and 27, 2008, as well as all three Victoria Idol playoffs (Round 1, Round 2 and the Finals) in Victoria, B.C., in the last weeks of October and November 2008, and in January 2009. Exact dates are still being confirmed. See Tell Me More (FAQs)... #4.
3. Applicants under the age of 18 must submit signed permission from their parents or guardians.
4. The following are NOT ELIGIBLE: employees, directors and agents, and their immediate family members and people living in their households, of PEERS and of participating television stations and radio stations; and those involved in any capacity in organizing, executing, judging or supplying prizes for Victoria Idol.
How to Enter
5. Eligible applicants can enter Victoria Idol by sending their application packages to:
Victoria Idol
c/o PEERS Victoria
1-744 Fairview Road
Victoria, BC V9A 5T9
Applicants are responsible for ensuring delivery. PEERS is not liable for any failure of attempted delivery.
6. The application package must include:
- completed and signed Application Form (click here to download Application Form PDF), including the applicant’s name, contact address, telephone number and email address if available, sufficiently clear to enable PEERS or a PEERS representative to contact them;
- recent photograph of the applicant (this does not have to be a professional photograph, just a good likeness);
- one-page biography of the applicant (include school, musical influences, interests, goals, how long you’ve been singing, etc.);
- the $30 application fee in the form of certified cheque or money order, made payable to PEERS ; and
- signed permission from a parent or guardian if the applicant is under the age of 18.
If any of the above items are absent, the application will not be considered.
7. Applicants selected as one of 48 finalists to proceed to the playoff rounds must provide Victoria Idol organizers with their own pre-recorded musical accompaniment on audio cassette or CD to be played during their on-stage performances. Performers selected for the playoffs can accompany themselves on stage with a non-electric piano or guitar, but must make all arrangements for supplying their own instrument if a venue does not have instruments for public use.
8. Application packages will not be returned, and become the property of PEERS.
9. An application package will be disqualified if a majority of the members of the panel of judges that reviews the applications deems the content to be excessively vulgar, profane, rude, sexually explicit, or beyond acceptable standards of family entertainment, or otherwise unacceptable for consideration. The decision to disqualify will be final, binding and not subject to appeal.
Application Deadline
10. Applications must be received by PEERS Victoria by 4 p.m. (Pacific Time) September 12, 2008. Application packages received after this time will NOT be accepted for consideration.
Location of Official Rules
11. The Victoria Idol Official Rules will be posted online at www.VictoriaIdol.com. PEERS reserves the right to amend the Victoria Idol Official Rules at any time, without prior notice. PEERS will ensure that amendments are posted to the website as soon as possible. PEERS will not be liable to notify each applicant about the changes.
Judging and Selection of Contestants and Winners
12. A panel of judges selected by PEERS will preside over a live audition process for entrants whose application packages comply with these Official Rules, and choose what it considers to be the 48 best applicants, who will then be invited to compete in Round 1.
In the initial selection and for Rounds 1 and 2 and the Finals, the judges will take into account the vocal quality, performance style, on-stage presence and music selection, and assign a score to the performances.
Audience applause during Rounds 1 and 2 and Finals will be measured by a decibel meter to ensure accuracy and will count for up to 15 per cent of a contestant’s score.
For Round 1, the initial 48 selected contestants will be divided into four groups of 12 and will compete at one of four Victoria-area venues in the last week of October and first week of November 2008. A panel of judges will select the six best contestants from each of those events, for a total of 24, to proceed to Round 2.
The Round 2 semi-final event will take place in the last week of November 2008. The 24 contestants will be divided into two groups of 12 and will compete at one of two Victoria-area venues. Again, a panel of judges will select the six best contestants from each event, for a total of 12, to proceed to the Finals.
The Victoria Idol Finals will be held in January 2009.
At the Victoria Idol Finals, the three contestants with the overall highest scores, as determined by the panel of judges and audience applause, will be chosen as Grand Prize winner and second- and third-place winners, using the same process as in previous Rounds.
13. Decisions of the judges are final and not subject to appeal. Feedback will not be provided to contestants.
Songs to be Performed in Rounds 1 and 2, and the Finals
14. Contestants may perform the same songs that they sang in live auditions or choose different ones, but are to sing a different song at each of Round 1 and Round 2 if selected to enter the contest. It is recommended that singers have at least three songs that they are comfortable performing.
Notification of Selected Applicants and Contestants
15. PEERS will attempt to contact by telephone and/or e-mail the 48 applicants selected by the panel of judges. A selected applicant who cannot be contacted or does not respond after three attempts, forfeits any claim to being a potential contestant, and PEERS will then attempt to contact the applicant who the judges selected as the next best. PEERS will use this process until 48 Round 1 contestants are successfully contacted.
Once the initial 48 have been contacted and confirmed, if a selected contestant is not available to continue or fails to attend Rounds 1, 2 or the Finals, she/he will forfeit any claim to continue as a contestant and may be replaced with another contestant selected by a panel of judges. Regardless, the Victoria Idol Contest events will continue without delay or adjournment with the remaining contestants.
Prizes
16. The Grand Prize is professional studio production of a three-song demo CD, value approx $5000. Second and third prizes are to be announced.
17. Prizes are not transferable, convertible to cash or refundable. Changes to any component of a prize are not permitted.
Limits of Responsibility
18. Applicants agree that PEERS is not liable to them or to their heirs and assigns for death, personal injury, losses or damages of any kind caused by travelling to or from Victoria Idol venues, being present at the venues, participating in the contest or being selected to, or disqualified from, continuing in the contest.
General Conditions
19. Eligible applicants who participate in Victoria Idol events agree to abide by and be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Victoria Idol panels of judges and PEERS, whose decisions are final, binding and not subject to appeal. Failure to abide by the rules will result in disqualification from the contest or forfeiture of prizes, without any liability on the part of PEERS, sponsors or any other person, firm or corporation.
20. Contestants who participate in Round 1, Round 2 and/or the Finals, agree to provide such information and cooperation to PEERS or a Victoria Idol panel of judges as may be requested in order to verify their eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.
21. Applicants agree to the use of their photograph, name, personal biography, demo CD or audiotape, and recorded or live Victoria Idol music performance(s) by PEERS for all promotional purposes related to Victoria Idol in 2008, 2009 and future years, and the use of that information in all forms of media and communication related to Victoria Idol without compensation or notice, and hereby release PEERS and its directors, employees, representatives, and agents, from any claims or liability arising out of or with respect to such use.
22. Applicants are responsible for their own arrangements and expenses incurred to participate in Victoria Idol. Neither PEERS nor any of those involved in any capacity in organizing, executing, judging or supplying prizes for Victoria Idol is responsible for covering or reimbursing any expenses incurred by applicants.
23. Nothing in these rules imposes any obligation on PEERS or any other individual, company or organization to broadcast or rebroadcast any performances submitted by contestants, or imposes liability on PEERS or any other individual, company or organization for failure to do so.
24. At PEERS’s sole discretion, prior to the awarding of the Grand Prize, the winner may be required to sign a declaration of eligibility.
25. All application packages, demo CDs and audiotapes are the property of PEERS and will not be returned to applicants. PEERS is not liable for any loss, distortion, theft, delay, damage, misdirection, or change in any application package or for the failure of technical capability which affects or may affect performances or the recording or attempted recording of any performance.
26. Subject to any required government approval, PEERS reserves the right to terminate or amend these Official Rules, any aspect or all aspects of the Victoria Idol contest in any way at any time, without notice, should anything interfere with the fair and proper conduct of the contest as envisaged by these rules. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that he/she complies with these rules. Any changes or amendments to the Official Rules will be posted online at: www.VictoriaIdol.com.
27. While recognizing that judges, corporate sponsors, applicants and contestants may know each other outside of this competition, PEERS asks that no contact or communication intended to influence, or that would tend to influence a judge’s decision about an applicant’s or contestant’s performance shall occur between applicants, contestants and Victoria Idol judges or corporate sponsors between the application deadline of 4 p.m. September 12, 2008, and the final event in January 2009.
