Stars of Tomorrow Rules

Stars of Tomorrow Rules

KIWANIS “STARS OF TOMORROW” PROGRAM - From District Documents these are general guidelines

I. PURPOSE:

To provide the opportunity for amateur talent of school age through grade 12 to express themselves before the public and thereby aid in the development of their abilities.

II. BASIC RULES:

Introduction: These rules apply to all senior division contestants who meet the criteria established in Section B following. For contestants not competing in the senior division, and therefore not eligible to compete in the Division or District “STARS OF TOMORROW” shows, these rules do not necessarily apply; however, they should be used as guidelines in establishing rules for the local show’s junior divisions. Whenever there is a question as to the exact meaning or interpretation of the rules either at the Local or Division level, an appeal may be made to the “STARS OF TOMORROW” District Committee for a final ruling or interpretation.

A. Shows: A Kiwanis Club or Clubs shall conduct local “STARS OF TOMORROW” shows. A club in the Division selected by the Division Lt Governor will conduct Division shows. District shows will be conducted by a club selected by the District “STARS OF TOMORROW” committee with the approval of the Governor. The District Committee will supervise the District show. The date for the District show will be established by November 1^st to allow local and Division shows to be scheduled accordingly.

B. Contestants: All contestants must be students of a public, private, home schooled or parochial school not above the 12^th grade. Each contestant must have reached his 13^th birthday prior to February 15 In the event one member of a group is below the above age level, the group will be allowed to compete in the Division and District shows if they otherwise qualify. Only amateur talent will be eligible to participate. (These requirements do not apply to accompanists to the act.) Guidelines of determining the amateur-professional standing of contestants is:

1. The contestant(s) endeavors to sell their services, has joined a musical or entertainment union, advertises, prints posters, uses business cards, the internet, etc. to obtain bookings, they will be considered a professional.

2. If the contestant(s) charges a standard fee for performing, they will be considered to be professional, except when in the opinion of the committee the standard fee merely covers expenses. Included, as expenses would be travel, cleaning and pressing of wardrobes, reasonable amount of music purchased, etc. The main criterion here is, did or does the contestant(s) receive money for personal services above necessary, usual expenses?

3. If the contestants occasionally receive money in the form of honorariums for the infrequent public appearances such as at weddings, funerals and so on, these people will be considered as amateurs.

4. If a Local or Division Committee cannot determine the amateur-professional standing of a contestant(s) based upon the above guidelines, an appeal can be made to the District Committee Chairman for a District ruling. When a District ruling is made, all available information relative to the contestant(s) must be presented to the District Committee, along with what action the Local and/or Division Committees has taken.

C: ACTS: No acts can include more than five (5) individuals including the accompanists. Each act will be allowed five (5) minutes performance time. If more than seven (7) minutes are used, the act will automatically be disqualified. The show committee of each show shall have the right to exclude any act from the performance for any reason it may deem proper. An act (contestant or contestants) may appear in only one local “STARS OF TOMORROW” Show during any school year. An act to compete in a local show must fulfill one of the following requirements:

1. At least one contestant must reside or attend school within the territory of the club or clubs sponsoring the show.

2. If the contestants reside in a territory where there is no show; the act may compete in a local show in a territory immediately adjacent to the one where the competitors attend school. If two or more “show territories” are so adjacent, the act may compete in either show if it is selected.

3. The acts, which advance to the Division Show and the District Show, must be the same act. If the act changes it is automatically disqualified.

4. During dress rehearsal cameras may be used to photograph the contestant(s). There shall be no pictures during the performance. The contestants are competing for scholarships and it may disrupt the performance and it is difficult for the viewing audience to enjoy.

5. Dress rehearsals are for the performers to be in the outfits they will be wearing during the shows performance.

6. It is the responsibility of the host club to make sure the acts are appropriate for the general viewing. If a Kiwanis Club hosting a show determines that the act is not appropriate the Club has the right to make suggestions to the performer(s) to make it appropriate. If the performer(s) do not abide by the Club decision then the act can be removed from the show.

III. DIVISION SHOWS:

A. To be eligible to participate in a Division show, an act must have participated in a local show or runoff and be certified by the local committee to represent the local show at the District level

B. Each local show will be eligible to send two (2) acts to the Division show. If each local show in the Division provides two (2) acts to the Division show, no additional competing acts will be allowed. If a local show does not provide two (2) acts for the Division show and there are fewer than 18 competing acts, the Division committee may declare that a competition vacancy exists and solicit acts from those shows which have signified a willingness to provide three (3) competing acts. However, in no case will more than three (3) acts from any one local show or more than 18 competing acts be allowed in the show when this provision is utilized. The Division Committee may waive the above limitations when the number of local shows in the Division is six (6) or fewer. When the above rules are waived, each local show is to receive, as near as possible, the same number of entrants to the division show.

C. Additional acts or fillers over and above the acts provided for in III-B above may be used to round out a performance if the Division Committee so desires. However, these additional acts cannot compete, except in a special Division designated as ineligible to advance to the District show.

D. All entrants in the Division and District Show must have reached their 13^th birthday by February 15 of the year of the District Show. In the event one member of a group is below the above age level, the group will be allowed to compete in the Division and District shows if they otherwise qualify. All acts competing in the Division show will pay an equal entry fee to be determined by the acts entered the anticipated expenses of the show and the entry fee for the qualifying acts in the district show. Each local show must arrange for the necessary transportation, food and lodging for their competing representative at the District show.

E. Each Division Committee will certify to the District Committee two (2) acts that are qualified to enter the District show. The certification will include the name, address and telephone number of all contestants and accompanists of the two (2). Also, the Division Committee will forward to the District Committee a complete release from liability form for each participant on these acts.

IV. DISTRICT SHOWS:

A. The District show is directed and supervised by the District “STARS OF TOMORROW” Committee. However, the host club will have a “STARS OF TOMORROW” Committee that will be responsible for staging the show. Each Division may enter up to two (2) acts in the District show. The club that sponsors the Division show will be responsible for paying the District entrance fee for its Division entries the amount of which will be determined by the District Committee. Other expenses incurred by the contestants, their family, or others must be negotiated by the Division Committee. All acts competing in the Division show will pay an equal entry fee.

B. The District Stars Committee shall determine the award given to the first second and third place winners of the District Stars of Tomorrow Show. Trophies are usually presented to the top three winners with certificates of participation given to all contestants. The winner of the district Show is given a $750 scholarship, second is a $500 scholarship and third is a $250 scholarship. A cash prize is not acceptable because it jeopardizes the amateur standing of the contestant. The winner must present to the District within one year of graduation from high school proof of entrance into a college or any other form of higher education. A letter of acceptance from a college or university will not be accepted as proof of entrance. A “form of higher education” could be any type of classes outside of high school that require tuition.

C. Since this is a District sponsored project, the District Secretary-Treasurer must have a full financial report, complete information on the winner (age, year in school, glossy black and white picture for publication in the Kiwanian, etc.) and if total income exceeds expenses, a check to the District, also if expenses exceed the District will reimburse the District Stars of Tomorrow Committee for the loss.

D. The scholarship funds are held in escrow in the District savings until awarded to the winner. (Occasionally the winner is an underclassmen and the scholarship cannot be awarded until after graduation from high school unless approved otherwise by the District Board.)

E. The District Show is the conclusion of the talent competition. If any club or division wishes to sponsor the winner or any other musical group or act as entertainment to the Kiwanis International Convention the exact procedure may be obtained from the District Office or Kiwanis International. The District will not assume responsibility, financially or otherwise, for any individual or group sponsored at the International Convention by a club or division.

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