RULES:
When and Where (Subject to Change):
• Stage Presentation: Main Events: TBD
What's Required to Enter:
All contestants / creators / models MUST have a current Omni Fandom Expo Badge (VIP Pass, Weekend Pass, Day Pass for the day of the contest, etc.), and must have their sign up form filled out.
Who may enter:
Anyone EXCEPT Omni Fandom Expo owners, core staff, family members of owners / staff, Sponsored Cosplay Guests, Judges, significant others of judges, or owners and family members of affiliated partners may enter (if you are not sure this applies to you, ask before you submit an entry).
How many people can be on a Team:
Teams are made up of one (1) to six (6) people. No more. No less. No exceptions.
How to Enter:
Signups will be conducted online. You will upload a video of you or your team performing and provide all the information asked in the form. From there they will contact you and inform you if you have been accepted to participate.
Pre-judging and Judging:
The first wave of judging will be conducted by the Contest Coordinator and selected staff members based on your demo video you send in. If you are accepted you will be entered into the tournament and be judged during your different performances per round. This is a tournament-based competition so it is elimination-style judging. Meaning if you’re cut you don’t proceed to the next round.
How to Enter / Upload:
- Register for an Omni Fandom Expo account or log into your account if you already have one.
- After you have logged in, go to the "Contests" section.
- Select "Omni's Lip Sync Throwdown "
- Click on "Upload Entry"
- Fill out the form completely.
- Leave as much information as you can in the comments. (ie: Who’s on your team, any special moves you plan to do, etc.)
- Hit "Submit" and wait until the file has fully uploaded.
- You may now preview, edit or delete your file from this area
Demo Performance File Upload Criteria:
Your demo performance that you upload should showcase your incredible lipsync / dubsmash talents and serve as pre-qualification into the tournament.
- Please upload a maximum of Three (3) video files of your demo performance.
- Your demo video should be no longer than 30 seconds.
- You do not have to perform any song that you will enter into the final round.
- You do not have to perform an entire song.
- You do not have to demo all three songs you will choose if you make the final round.
Finalists Entry:
All finalists will be notified no later than February 15th, 2019 if not sooner.
All finalists that are chosen to perform in the on stage tournament held at the con will be required to sign additional paperwork at Omni Fandom Expo. During this time the finalists entering the main competition will also submit their Songs / MP3’s.
IMPORTANT: Finalists will provide their song in MP3 format at the convention on a FLASH DRIVE. You must have your performance MP3 with you with the name formatted correctly. It will be copied and the FLASH DRIVE returned to you.
Please go to the Contest Signup (location TBD) at the convention and fill out your forms and provide your music to the Contest Coordinator BEFORE the competition.
Filename Criteria (Only for On Stage Performances):
- File must be MP3 format.
- File must be on a USB Flash Drive. No other device will be allowed. (Omni Fandom Expo will only copy your file and will not keep your Flash Drive).
- File must be easily accessible in the root directory of the Flash Drive. Please do not bury your file in multiple directories.
- Filename MUST follow the following format “Team Name - Song Order - Song Name.
- Filename MUST contain underscores (_) instead of spaces ( ). Again, DO NOT put spaces between words, use the underscore.
- Example: TeamAwesome_1_Toxic.mp3
- Example: TeamAwesome_2_Bad_Romance.mp3
- No special characters allowed (*&%!"', etc...).
RULES:
ON STAGE RULES:
- Because this requires repeating: All content MUST comply with the Omni Fandom Expo General Guidelines, Code of Conduct, Prop / Weapon Policy, Orlando City ordinances, and The Florida Hotel & Conference Center guidelines. Nothing should exceed the PG-13 rating. This means no swearing, no depiction of sexual acts. Bleeps or other forms of censoring are acceptable.
- Props are acceptable but must be approved by OMNI FANDOM EXPO before the performance and must conform with convention prop guidelines.
- TIME LIMIT: All performances may not exceed 5 minutes. The MC (Master of Ceremonies) or Contest Host narration/introduction will not count towards the performance time.
- LANGUAGE: All language MAY NOT exceed a PG-13 Rating.
- Microphones will not be provided on stage for contestants to use.
- The use of GLITTER, fire, flash powder, fake blood, fireworks, lasers, electrical flashes, smoke machines, silly string, or any other effect that may cause potential damage, by the entrant are PROHIBITED due to Fire Marshal and The Florida Hotel & Conference Center regulations. The use of any of them will / may cause immediate disqualification or removal from the convention. Please ask before you attempt to use any of these effects.
- PLEASE BE AWARE THE FLORIDA HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER HAS A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR FOG/SMOKE. Do not bring any costumes that may require this as an effect!
- Do not throw any items into the audience (flyers, candy, silly string, etc..).
- Do not leave debris on stage that cannot be quickly cleaned by stage hands in fewer than 10 seconds.
- During your performance, interaction with the MC, Contest Host, Judges, any staff, or the audience is prohibited. Your team may not leave the stage during your performance.
- Contestants cannot be in more than one group.
AWARDS:
TBD
Judging Criteria:
On Stage Performance judging will happen on stage in front of the audience members and the panel of judges and is based on but not limited to:
- Lip Sync Ability
The ability to mouth the words of a song, performed in perfect synchronization as it is reproduced on a recording, creating the illusion that the person or group is actually performing the song on stage in concert. Precise synchronization between the sound and performer is critical. When a word or note is being sustained for a long period of time, the performer(s) must exhibit, as part of their lip-syncing skills, the same amount of tension or energy which it takes to actually sing the song. Spoken words should be recognized without any issue.
- Originality
Originality and creativity of the performance based on existing fandom characters and the content of the song being performed.
- Audience Response
Stimulate audience response, i.e., applause. If all of the above criteria is done properly, the audience should be attentive to the performance and show their enthusiasm by their applause. In other words, do something that will make the audience cheer till they pass out.
FAQs:
I want more / less people on my team!
Well, you can't have zero people and our max limit is 6. Sorry.
Can I use a microphone during my performance?
No, contestants WILL NOT be given microphones on stage. This is a Lip Sync competition. You do not need one.
I have a cosplay I want to dance in. Is this ok?!
Absolutely. As long as it conforms to convention guidelines.
I want to dance to a song that has rated R language. Is that ok?
We're sorry, but all songs and performances must be within a PG-13 rating.
Can I choreograph rated R dance moves?
Again, we're sorry, but all songs and performances must be within a PG-13 rating.
Can I do a burlesque style dance with suggestive / erotic moves?
Nothing rated R is allowed. If you have to question it, it's better to not do it.
I really want to do a special effect but it involves silly string or better yet, GLITTER!
Silly string and glitter have been completely outlawed at Omni Fandom Expo by the governing laws of the Time and Space anomalies commission. It has been found that using such items may completely damage the time space continuum surrounding you and will result in your ejection of the Omni Fandom Expo localized timestream. In other words... NO! DO NOT ASK IF YOU CAN. IN FACT, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT USING THEM!
I am going to totally ignore the rules and do something incredibly cool like, use a rated R song, do rated R dance moves, throw glitter, shoot fire during my performance, or some other crazy thing that I think is super cool but the convention won't let me do it normally! It's an AWESOME surprise and the audience will love it, so I am not telling anyone including the Judges or the Contest Coordinator. Everyone will think it's so AWESOME that I will be forgiven and just win automatically CUZ THE AUDIENCE WILL LOVE ME!
While that might sound really AWESOME, and your routine might be really AWESOME, this idea could get you AWESOMELY DISQUALIFIED and then possibly (depending on what you did) AWESOMELY EJECTED from the convention and the hotel. We aren't even going to talk about how AWESOME paying damages, or the rules of Orlando City Ordinances are, or how AWESOME getting arrested for breaking them are. Sooooo... don't...
My entry was rejected in preliminaries / I didn't get selected. What do I do now?
We are sorry, but all decisions are final.
Can I modify my entry form after I turn it in?
No, you cannot normally modify your entries at the convention after they are turned in. Once you have turned it in, you must speak to the Contest Coordinator directly and explain why it needs to be modified. Any such modification is up to the sole discretion of the Contest Coordinator.
What if I have large, props, and set pieces for my dance?
If approved, special arrangements for loading and unloading can be made for these items. Please email and consult with the Contest Coordinator AHEAD OF TIME (not at the convention) about your needs and if they will be allowed.
My team was better than everyone else and EVERYONE knows it! The competition is RIGGED and the entire internet will know of this! HEAR MY ARMCHAIR INTERNET RAGE!
Our competitions are judged fairly. Please remember that these competitions are for fun and also enjoyment of the audience. Being a good winner also means being able to be a good loser. Not everyone can win. Please don't ruin someone (or everyone) else's day just because you can't accept that someone else won. If you didn't win, please congratulate the winners and be happy for them. They did their best also.
