GENERAL COMPETITION RULES
Below are the general competition rules for Campus Challenge at Southern Wesleyan University. Scroll down for rules and rubrics on specific categories.
Participant Qualifications
- AGE LIMIT – All participants must be within the approved age limit – 12 through 19 anytime during the year of the competition. Participants may compete the summer/fall following senior year in high school, but cannot compete past that fall.
- REGISTRATION – Each participant must be registered and pay established entry fee.
Entry Qualifications
- CHRISTIAN VALUES – Entries in all categories will be consistent with Christian values.
- NUMBER OF ENTRIES – A participant may have no more than one entry per category, but there is no limit to the number of categories in which they may participate. Also, a participant may only participate in ONE GROUP per category.
- REUSE OF ENTRIES – Participants may not reuse an entry for which they have been awarded a scholarship. A participant may not present the same entry in multiple categories.
- SPECIAL EQUIPMENT – Any special equipment needed should be requested from the Campus Challenge Director two weeks in advance and is subject to availability. Other than a piano, Campus Challenge does not provide musical instruments for your performance.
Presentation
- TIME LIMITS – Presentation must not exceed 5 minutes except in the Oration categories. The timekeeper will inform the participant when to begin the performance. If the performance goes over the allotted time limit, two points will be subtracted from the final score.
- SET UP – For performances where set-up is required (drama, etc.), a time limit of one minute will be allowed for set-up.
- MEMORIZATION – All participants must have their presentations memorized, with the exception of Instrumental Division Groups.
- COPIES – All participants will submit five copies of their music/manuscript to the judges prior to the performance. ONE of the five will be AN ORIGINAL MUSIC/MANUSCRIPT of the arrangement performed by the participant. Failure to submit copies will result in an automatic disqualification (unless specified “not required”). Copies of these materials MAY be used for judging purposes only. Your photocopies will not be returned and will be destroyed after the performance. Downloaded music is acceptable provided a copy of the purchase receipt is attached.
- ACCOMPANIMENT – All tapes/CDs submitted for performance must be original. If a track was downloaded from the internet, proof of purchase must accompany the track.
- COPYRIGHT LAWS – Copyright laws prohibit the use of photocopies in performance, including by an accompanist. If a photocopy is used in the performance, the performer will be DISQUALIFIED. Downloaded music is acceptable provided a copy of the purchase receipt is attached.
- UNPUBLISHED MUSIC – Unpublished music is acceptable provided it includes a lead sheet and melody line. Make a note on the music copies that the piece is unpublished.
- NON-ENGLISH ENTRIES – Presentations in a language other than English must include a translation into English. Translations must be typed or printed clearly and provided to the judges with the five copies of music/manuscript.
- CHRISTIAN VALUES – Entries in all categories will be consistent with Christian values. Music must be sacred or classical, appropriate for church music or to be performed in worship either historically or in contemporary practice, or any vocal music whose lyrics are Christian in context. See Category Rules for specific application.
- SCORING CRITERIA – The official scoring sheets contain criteria on which each participant shall be judged. The participant is responsible to choose material that fits the criteria for the category. Each criteria will be scored on a numerical scale. The highest scores indicate the best performance.
- ATTIRE – Campus Challenge is a scholarship competition. As such, a certain standard of dress is expected. Therefore, participants should keep the following guidelines in mind when choosing clothing or costuming appropriate for the competition:
- You will be judged on the appropriateness of your appearance. An example of appropriate attire for men might be dress slacks and a collared shirt; for women, a pantsuit, dress, skirt or dress slacks and a nice top. (Exceptions: Dressing as a character for a dramatic presentation is an example of acceptable attire. Dressing in jeans and t-shirts because you are a “casual worship band” is not acceptable.)
- Be careful not to dress in such a way as to inadvertently draw attention away from your performance.
- When unsure, it is better to dress more conservatively.