Carnatic Music Idol USA 2014 — Rules and Regulations

Entry and Eligibility

  • All participants should be between the ages of 5 and 25 (inclusive) to participate.
  • The participant should be traditionally dressed, as and how she/he will appear for an Indian classical concert.
  • Preliminary round may be preceded by a screening round, depending on the number of entries received for the preliminary round. In such a case, the screening will take place the day before the preliminary round or a date announced by the local host organization.
  • The local host organization may charge an entry fee for participating in the preliminary round solely at their discretion. The entry fee, if any, is not refundable.

Preliminary Round

Junior and Senior (Vocal)

  • Juniors must have completed 5 years of age, and not yet completed 15 years.
  • Seniors must have completed 15 years of age, and not yet completed 25.
  • Participants should be prepared with 3 krithis in 3 different ragas to perform for the competition. The judges may select any part from any of the listed items for performance.
  • The participant’s proficiency in handling manodharmam will be an added advantage.
  • There will be no accompaniments provided for the preliminary level contests. Accompaniments will be provided only for the finals.

Melody Instruments

  • Instrumentalists must be between ages 5 and 25. They will not be divided by age into Juniors and Seniors.
  • Instrumentalists must bring their own instrument to the competition. We will not provide any instruments for participants.
  • The judges may test participants' knowledge of the lyrics for the songs they are performing.
  • All other rules are as for Vocal participants.

Percussion Instruments

  • Percussionists must be between ages 5 and 25. They will not be divided by age into Juniors and Seniors.
  • They must be of a caliber to perform in concert as an accompanying artist.
  • Instrumentalists must bring their own instrument to the competition. We will not provide any instruments for participants.
  • Participants should be prepared with 3 different thalams to perform for the competition. The judges will select from the listed items to perform for the preliminary round.
  • Participants will perform solo during the prelims, and will be asked to accompany main artists during the finals.
  • Participants should be able to vocalize as konnakkol everything that they perform on their percussion instrument.

Groups (Vocal)

  • Groups should be composed of a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 participants, between the ages of 5 and 25.
  • The groups should provide 3 song choices for the prelims.
  • All three choices should be krithis — no varnams or geethams. No niraval or kalpana swarams. Alapana is allowed.
  • Performance time for groups: minimum 4 minutes.

Judging

  • The duration of every participant's performance in front of the judges is solely the judge's discretion.
  • The Judges' decision will be final in all cases. No arguments, disputes, or conversation with the panel will be entertained.
  • The judges/organizers have the right to disqualify any participant on the grounds of misbehavior, violation of the rules, misconduct, disrespect to the judges, or not meeting the requirements of the competition.
  • If the selected participants fail to report to the next round, the opportunity will be given to the immediate wait-listed candidate chosen/reserved by the judges.

Policies

  • Participants will have to be selected during the preliminary round to go to the finals.
  • No one else, apart from the participant, can be on stage before, after, or during the performance.
  • The participant need not carry his/her own sruthi box / tambura. We will provide a tambura set to the requested sruthi.
  • The Grand Finale will be held in Chicago. The participants must be willing to travel to the preliminary contest centers and to Chicago to participate in the finals, as necessary, at their own expense.
  • The above listed rules are for the preliminary selections only. If selected for the finals, the rules will be slightly changed and will be intimated at the appropriate time.
  • The participant's visibility on television during the telecast is solely at the discretion of Maximum Media. The participant, parent, or guru, will not have any claims about appearance, non-appearance, or duration of appearance whatsoever.
  • All the rules mentioned above shall apply uniformly across all centers in North America.
  • Should there be any changes to the rules, it will be communicated by the local host organization.
  • All legal disputes will be settled under Chennai jurisdiction.