Aboriginal Canada
“We Got Talent” Competition
Over $15,000 in prizes! EVERYONE IS A WINNER!!
$5,000 Adult Grand Prize. $1,000 Child/Youth Grand Prize And an opportunity to perform/open for APTN’S ABORIGINAL DAY LIVE!
Our past winners continue to reach new heights — INEZ — 2008 winner will perform as part of APTN LIVE and has recently won Aboriginal Peoples Music Awards. This could be you!!
All contestants approved for competition will receive compensation for their performance… adults receive $250 each entry and children/youth receive $125.
Do you have a unique talent that you want to showcase? Are you an emerging artist trying to get recognized or discovered? This is the contest for you! We are searching for some of Aboriginal Canada’s best undiscovered talent. The contest is open to any talent that can be performed or showcased on stage… singers, dancers, bands, comedians, fiddlers, spoken word artists, fashion designers and more.
Requirements for registration are as follows:
- Contestants must be able to demonstrate their Aboriginal heritage (First Nations, status and non status, Métis and Inuit are all encouraged to apply!) For groups (such as bands) the majority of members must be Aboriginal (over 50%).
- Contestants must be emerging talent which would include 1) not currently signed with any professional representation such as agents, music labels etc. and 2) none of their art (CD, book etc) has been made available for sale in stores or through licensed agreements. (note self promotion, production and sales are acceptable)
- Contestants from previous years’ competition are eligible to compete with the exception of the Winner from each category, as selected by the judges. Audience favourites are able to compete once again if they did not win their respective category overall.
- Adult competition is open for all those over the age of 18.
- Child and Youth competition is open for all those age 0 to 17.
- Contestants can be affiliated with any of the organizing committee groups BUT must not be related (family or professionally) to the judges of the contest (who will be announced late May)
- Deadline for registration and submission of support materials is Monday June 7th. Following June 7th if contestant are still open and available, they will be filled on a first come /first serve basis.
- Artists applying for the competition will be juried shortly following June 7th and informed of their participation (including performance fee as outlined above) no later then Friday June 11th, 2010.
- On Saturday June 19th Adults and Children/Youth contestants will randomly select their time slot in the competition at the same time as registration. Artists must inform the judges at the time of selection if they have any previous engagements during their performance time slot or will be expected to report back stage, one hour prior to that time.
To Register:
- No entry fee. All contestants are responsible for their own travel and accommodations if required (see our hotel partners for special rates) Payments for winners and compensation for remaining contestants will be paid out on Sunday June 20th, starting at 7pm.
- All contestants must complete and submit registration before Monday June 7th. Registration can be submitted by mail to the address below or be emailed to nadottawa@gmail.com
- All potential contestants are required to print and complete the online registration form and submit along visual and/or audio “demo” piece of their work which could take the form of a CD, DVD, cassette tape, a recent photograph or homevideo (does not need to be professional) along with a short artist bio of their background and work (no more then 1 page). Please note that the registration form can be attached separately if submitted by email(the form is a PDF) although a scanned copy is preferred.
- Pre-judging of all potential contestants will select finalists to compete for both adult and child/youth category. All finalists selected will be notified by Friday June 11, 2010.
- Selected finalists will be required to report to the festival on Saturday June 19th from 9am to 12pm to complete the onsite registration and randomly select their performance times on Saturday or Sunday.
How It works:
JUNE 19 — 12PM TO 6 PM. JUNE 20 12PM TO 4 PM. ADULTS and CHILDREN/YOUTH
- Each selected finalist will receive a performance honorarium to help cover some of the expenses.
- Adult acts (Individual/Group) will receive $250 each. Children/youth receive $125 each — unless they win their category in which case they get the prize money.
- Each finalist gets a maximum of 7 minutes on stage and 3 minute set up time (with stage hand assistance if required). We will provide a basic backline and technical support, but you must submit your technical needs in advance. You can use whatever material (songs etc) you wish to perform in the talent contest to best showcases your talent. However, in case you are the WINNER, you may want to have an original song (7 to 10 minutes) that you can perform to open APTN’s Aboriginal Day Live National Broadcast. If APTN has a challenge to access the copywrite for the song you perform, they may not be able to include your performance in the national broadcast throughout the year.
- Each contestant will be judged on overall talent, professionalism, “star” quality and audience appeal. There will be 3 Aboriginal judges, all industry professionals, from different sectors of the arts (music, dance, theatre etc). Judges will score each contestant and then collaborate to select the Grand Prize and Rising Star winners. Over the day, the audience will also have an opportunity to cast their vote for their favourite performer for a separate prize.
- The winners will be announced on Sunday June 20th, just before APTN’s ABORIGINAL DAY LIVE Show.