Singing First in Competition
Posted by Kevin Keller | Posted in Contests & Judging | Posted on August 7, 2012, 6:46 PM
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Mike Edison asks another:
I would also like to know if drawing the first performance position has an impact on judging. Do they have to leave “room” for higher scores later in the event? Does or should a chorus have to do anything different if they are early in the contest?
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Hi again Mike
Since everyone else appears to be “on vacation” let me give a couple of thoughts. Each performance is judged on it’s merits, regardless of where in the lineup. Since we assign a score based on the totality of each performance [we neither start with 100 and deduct, nor do we start with 0 and add] as the performance develops.
Thus all competitors can achieve up to the maximum score regardless of order of appearance. it is quite possible for a number of performers to have the same or very similar scores, so there is no need to “leave room”.
Our task it really to be as alert, aware and focussed as possible so as to award the most correct score we can, wherever the perormance occurs. Accuracy in our levelling is important right from the start.
Ensembles singing early in a contest may face a smaller audience than later in the contest but our scoring should not be influenced by the size of the audience. In Prs we are analyzing the degree of entertainment and emotional impact, and that can be determined regardless of the size fo the audience.
Marty Lovick
Prs Category Specialist
Singing in first place or first after intermission didn’t seem to matter this year’s midwinter. The group that started ended up winning, and the group that came on aft intermission didn’t even come clase, but should have. There are more angles to this than what we see, for sure.
What, exactly, are presentation judges looking for? I don’t think THEY know.
There is always discussion about performing early in a competition, however judges are scoring the merit of their
category, up to 100 points, regardless of the singing position of the competitor. The size of the audience, acoustics, and venue, come into play more from an audience and competitor perspective.
Interesting, that at the recent mid-winter senior competition in Orlando, 3 of the first 4 quartets in the competition placed second & third and fifth in the final results.
The only disadvantage I can think of to singing very early in a contest is being derailed by contest logistics (a late arriving judge, sound problems, etc.) I remember being stuck in a non-singing space backstage for 20 minutes at an NED contest in 1987, though now these things are handled much better and heels are cooled in a singing warmup room instead.
In the 2001 International Quartet Contest, the first quartet of the entire contest was Michigan Jake, who won the competition that year (and had the highest scores of that entire round). In other words, there were 50 quartets in that round and the highest scores were given to the first quartet out of the box.
Judges work VERY hard to assign a score based on their perception of a perfect performance and on the leveling they all go through at Category School. Singing order and audience reaction don’t influence the scoring. Venue can influence the scoring, but only in how it affects the performer. Since all performers sing under the same conditions, it affects the judges equally. However, competitors may react differently to what they hear. That’s why we train singers to sing according to what feels right, rather than by what they may (or may not) hear on stage.