Judging Policy
A primary reason groups participate in our competitions is to receive constructive feedback from professional practitioners. The following judging forms, criteria and policies are designed both to improve each adjudicator’s ability to provide quality feedback and to enable the judges to arrive at an outcome that is well-grounded in the necessary criteria.
Judges, it is important that you familiarize yourself with these materials, policies and criteria before the evening of the event. Although you will have this material available to you on the evening of the show, judging always becomes more complicated at the event itself.
We strongly encourage you to do several trial runs of judging using these materials and the videos we will provide you with once you are approved by Varsity Vocals to be an adjudicator. This will help you make a more conscientious, informed decision and to provide quality constructive feedback to our competitors, who take this competition very seriously.
Competitors, we strongly encourage you to review this material in preparation for competition as well. We believe that having an understanding of how you will be evaluated will help you immensely in your careful and frequent preparation for our events.
Any questions about the following material should be directed to headquarters.
Policy
The judge panel will consist of professional practitioners who are qualified to evaluate vocal music and performance; there will be three judges at college quarterfinals and all high school events, and five judges at college semifinals and finals. Each of the judges has the responsibility to critique the performances in the following categories: Vocal Performance, Visual Performance, and Subjective Rank. The judges will determine their scores individually and without deliberating among themselves.
The producer and an approved tabulator will total the scores for each group. First, second and third place winners will be recognized according to their final scores. Outstanding soloist, outstanding arrangement, outstanding vocal percussion and outstanding choreography may also be awarded at the judges' discretion.
Groups who exceed the 12-minute time limit will be penalized by one place. Please review our competition policy for more information.
Judge sheets may be retained by the producer for our records.
Groups will receive a copy of their judge sheets within one week of the competition
date, if not on the evening of the event. Group members and judges are prohibited
from interacting before, during, or after the competition, unless the judge
initiates or encourages this contact.
Judges are required to maintain the highest ethical standards and practices
in judging all events and must report any potential conflicts of interest before
sitting on a panel.
Judges deserve to be treated with respect from our competitors and their friends, families and fans. Penalties for abusive behavior toward judges, including that from directors, students and parents, may include disqualification from future Varsity Vocals contests.
The following is the evaluation form and the definitions of their criteria that our judges use in evaluating competitors.