Miss Greater Derry Scholarship Pageant, Inc.® Competing 2008-2009


MISS GREATER DERRY SCHOLARSHIP PAGEANT JUNE 27, 2008 WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT COMPETING
AREA OF COMPETITION	% OF SCORE	REMARKS
PRIVATE INTERVIEW	25	-A podium will be used. -Interview begins immediately -Interview continues until the 9:30 timing mark. -30 seconds to close this phase of competition. -If discussion ends before the 30 seconds are up, then the interview ends.
EVENING WEAR	20	The Evening Wear phase of competition is designed for the judge to assess the contestant's beauty, poise, grace, and commanding stage presence. The contestant's total look is considered. Her evening wear (not the value of the evening wear) should complement the contestant's individuality.
ON STAGE QUESTION	5	The judges will evaluate your ability to respond to a question in front of a large crowd. Your knowledge, poise and charisma will come into play here.
TALENT	35	The time limit for talent presentation is two minutes. Nothing longer will be accepted, and this will be strictly enforced! Contestants should plan a performance that will not exceed this limit. Judges will be informed immediately if a contestant runs over her allotted time . Each judge will then use this information to assist in determining his/her score of the contestant’s talent competition. See below for more information about your talent presentation.
SWIMSUIT	15	The Lifestyle and Fitness in swimsuit is designed to see how well the contestant maintains a lifestyle of good physical health, whether she meets the public expectation of a titleholder, and whether or not she has the confidence needed to be a titleholder. The contestant's drive, energy, and presence are to be likewise considered.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES ABOUT YOUR TALENT PRESENTATION Accompanying Oneself with a Pre-recorded CD A contestant may pre-record herself as a back-up vocalist or instrumental accompanist and use that CD to accompany her live talent performance. However, it cannot be announced to the judges that the accompaniment CD contains any performance by the contestant. She will be judged solely on what she is doing live, and no exceptions will be made. A talent cannot be performed electronically (i.e. video tape) or with live accompaniment. CD Enhancements Regardless of the talent performed, the background CD cannot have voices, instruments, or other noises which mimic the talent of the contestant. (Example: A vocalist may have background vocals with "oohs and aahs" or other background lyrics, but cannot have a CD with a voice singing the melody line for the contestant to sing along with. The same would be said for instrumentalists, dancers, and any other talent which could provide for an unfair advantage if a judge could not delineate from the talent on the track versus the live performance of the contestant.) Double Talents If a contestant wishes to perform a double talent, i.e. singing and dancing, or singing and piano playing, she must do both live on stage. She will only be judged for what is done live. For example, if a contestant danced to a pre-recorded tape of herself singing, she would only be judged on her dancing. If she sang on stage and performed a dance segment with it, she would be judged on both singing and dancing. Talents Involving Original Work or Material Any contestant who plans to present a talent act that involves prior original work on her part; i.e. own painting, dressmaking, music arrangement, song writing, dramatic reading, etc., must have notarized authentication that she created that work if she wishes to receive credit for the same. The National Office will require this authentication. This responsibility will rest with the contestant and her director. Duplication of Talent At the national level there can be no duplication of a talent act among the contestants. Miss Greater Derry also subscribes to this rule. This is determined on a first-come, first serve basis. The first contestant to register her talent with the Miss Derry Scholarship Program office by sending in her completed Talent Request Form "A" is the one who will have preference (e.g. two dancers can not perform to the same music) A contestant may not include in a vocal medley the same song another contestant is planning to sing as a solo or as part of a different medley. The same song, though, may be played on a musical instrument by a second contestant or used as accompaniment for a dance. Talents Involving Original Work or Material Any contestant, who plans to present a talent act that involves prior original work on her part; i.e. own painting, dressmaking, music arrangement, song writing, dramatic reading, etc., must send us notarized authentication that she created that work if she wishes to receive credit for the same. Such authentication must be received in this office with her competed application. Talents Involving Published Literary Material Any contestants performing a talent presentation involving the reading of a literary work (i.e. dramatic reading) must contact the author and/or publisher for “Permission Letters”. These letters should indicate that we have the owner’s permission to use his/her material, both in a live production and in a live telecast, as her talents may be aired on TV. Props Any article brought on stage must actually be NEEDED. Non-functional props tend to distract from the performance. Use and Restriction of Props - No props will be permitted unless they are absolutely functional! - No mood setters or background enhancers - No props that imitate those used in a Broadway or screen version of your music - No props that require excessively large stage areas and complicated setting up - No use of motion pictures, slides or projection of any kind - No live animals - No props involving safety hazards, such as fire batons, sword and/or knife twirling, bow and arrow skills - No lighting enhancements (We will adjust our stage lighting if it interferes with your presentation) (Ref: Miss America Organization "Quick Reference Guide 2007")