Competition Policy

Eligibility

Groups must consist of permanent, full-time, full-fledged participants who are full-time students enrolled at your school or university. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis and will take into account the academic enrollment status of the member in question as well as the individual school's policy for participation in registered student organizations. Please contact headquarters with membership questions.

You must notify headquarters of any exceptions or new members not on the original roster included in your application in order for these members to be eligible to compete. Groups who lose members between rounds will not be penalized.

Under no circumstances should groups bring in outside performers for competition. Failure to comply with this regulation may result in disqualification from any and all future competitions.

The Varsity Vocals Championship accepts vocal ensembles of all styles, but it is not a choral competition. Groups composed of more than 24 members should contact headquarters before applying.

Music restrictions

Any music style is acceptable, but repertoire and choreography inappropriate for a family show is not acceptable. No instruments of any kind are allowed.

Set list

Your producer will contact you shortly after you are accepted to notify you of your set list deadline. You are permitted to alter your set list between rounds and before any event, but you will not be eligible for special awards if you do not inform headquarters of these changes five business days before the event.

Time limit

Each group has 12 minutes. Remember to leave time for brief applause between songs.

Timekeeping begins and ends when a performance begins or ends. If a choreographed or sung entry or exit is part of the set, time begins the moment the first person enters or exists. Otherwise, time begins with the first note sung or pitch blown, whichever comes first, and time ends when the last note is sung.

A timekeeper seated in the front will hold up warning cards as you approach the end of your time limit. Groups who exceed the time limit - if only by several seconds - will be penalized by one place.

Sound

Microphones will be provided at the competitions. Equipment will differ from event to event, depending on what the venue can provide. Producers will describe the sound setup to competing groups before the event date. Groups may not bring or provide their own sound, microphones, headsets, processors, or sound technicians.

Groups will be allowed a 10-minute sound check before competition.

Placement and performance order

We do our best to slot groups in the quarterfinal events nearest their schools or universities. This is not always possible, given group scheduling conflicts or an overwhelming number of selected applicants being too close or too far from particular competitions. In these situations, we do our best to minimize the amount of travel any group has to do.

Performance order will be determined by a random draw before sound check. Please remember that, historically, groups have performed and placed well from all time slots.

Advancing

College Tournament Structure:

There are six regions total: West, Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Western Europe. There will be an average of three quarterfinals per region, although a quarterfinal may be cancelled at the discretion of headquarters. Each quarterfinal will have a maximum of eight competitors, chosen at the discretion of the headquarters based on the musical aspects of the competition judging criteria. Quarterfinals may start as early as the first weekend in January, and semifinals may be as late as the first weekend in April.

The first place and second place groups in each quarterfinal will be named Quarterfinal Champion and Quarterfinal Runner-Up and will advance to their region's semifinal.

The highest scoring group at semifinals will be named Semifinal Champion and will advance to the finals in New York City's Lincoln Center. They will join the other semifinal champions as well as the winners of any other country's a cappella tournament that has been approved for inclusion by Varsity Vocals by January 2009.

The highest scorer at finals will be named the 2008 International Champion.

The final score of the advancing groups will be made public. The scores of the eliminated groups will remain confidential.

High School Competition Structure:

There are four regions total: West, Midwest, South, and Northeast. Each region will feature one semifinal.

The winner of each semifinal will advance to ICHSA finals. If the semifinal champion cannot attend finals, the second-place group from that semifinal will be invited. If the second-place group cannot attend, no group will advance to finals from that semifinal. There will be a maximum of four high school groups competing at finals.

Judging

Our adjudicators are vocal music professionals who have been trained and certified by Varsity Vocals to evaluate our performers. As part of this process, they are required to maintain the highest ethical standards and practices in all judging activities. Judges who do not uphold these standards may be suspended or have their certification revoked.

A school or university affiliation is not adequate to preclude a certified adjudicator from serving on a panel. Other potential conflicts of interest will be handled at the discretion of headquarters.

In awarding subjective rank points, the judges will not deliberate. However, the judges will deliberate in selecting recipients of the outstanding soloist, outstanding arrangement, outstanding vocal percussion and outstanding choreography awards. In the event that a Varsity Vocals staff member is present during this deliberation, he or she may not cast a vote or influence the judges in any way. When necessary, an external moderator will take the place of the staff member.

All scores will be tabulated by a Varsity Vocals staff member and approved tabulators.

Please visit our judging policy page for more information about our policies and procedures.

Conduct

Competitors are required to maintain the highest ethical standards and practices as Varsity Vocals representatives. They will recognize that judging is a service, because the competition and judging are a way of promoting the art of a cappella and gaining valuable feedback. Critical evaluations of the program should be directed to headquarters.

Merchandise

Groups may sell their merchandise after concerts only. Groups will not be allowed to sell the Best of Collegiate A Cappella (BOCA) or Best of High School A Cappella (BOHSA) albums. At some competitions, Varsity Vocals must take a percentage of the merchandise sold to accomodate venue overheads or other associated fees. At any show where this applies, headquarters will notify the competitors as soon as possible.

Withdrawing

Groups accepted to competition are expected to appear in any competitions to which they advance. Groups who drop out for any unapproved reason will be barred from competition for one year. Their competition entry fees will not be returned.