I know some of you are constantly checking this blog for the latest updates. It was me who promised you that the themes for the various events would be posted after the 15 Nov, and it's already a week before you see anything up yet....yes, I apologise for the inefficiency and unforeseen circumstances.
Although everything is not fully finalised yet, I can still release some informations if you need to prepare the team during the long holidays.
Let me begin by telling you some of the drastic changes that we have made in 2011 after years of observations and constant modifications to improve the championship. First off, we have fixed the Solo Instrument competition only for piano and the Duet Instrument competition solely for guitars (regardless of whether it'll be two acoustic/electrical guitars, or one acoustic and the other one electrical).
Secondly, the Duet Singing and Group Singing competitions will be combined next year as we saw a lot of unnecessary repeating contestants in both competitions. It was really painful watching/listening to groups who were unprepared to sing during the finals. It was really very difficult for us to squeeze the events in the finals just because we need another singing event!
Thirdly, we will limit all the debate competitions to have only 16 teams to compete in the first prelims. That would mean the first 16 teams who register first will get to compete in each category. So, please act fast before you regret! Of course, to prevent sabotage, we are going to impose a registration fees for all the events in 2011.
For individual/duet events, EACH student will have to pay a deposit of RM2. Yes, it is a deposit. This means that if you turn up during the competitions, you will get a refund! What if you get through the first round? Then your deposit will be kept with us until you are eliminated from the competitions or after the finals are over. Will this help in reducing pull outs? Well, no one knows, but at least we will not encourage you from simply signing up without prior consideration which frustrates the Organising Committee. Ok, let me make it clear for you one more time...if you sign up for Malay Solo Singing, Duet Singing, Culinary (dessert & main course), Duet Acting and Syarahan, you will have to pay a total deposit of Rm16 which will be refunded to you at the end of the competitions.
What about group events? Yes, for group events such as debates/group singing/band (that has a team of less than 6 people), the deposit is RM15. If the team comprises more than 6 people, i.e. skit/modern dance/dikir barat, a deposit of RM30 will be charged. What if a dance team has only 6 people? Then you only pay RM15. What if a skit group has 6 people? Then, you also may just pay RM15. Yes, see, the Organising Committee will have a lot of paper work to do with this new ruling. We are not here to make money as we have a budget to run the Championship, but we are trying to curb the problem of last-minute pull outs. If one pulls out after the closing date, no refund will be returned!
Next year, there will be some new events, e.g. fine arts....we will let you know what this is next year! For the singing and dance competitions, there will be more challenging rules/themes. You will expect to dance to contemporary routines, sing different dialects/languages, compete with your fellow finalists just to get into the top 5, etc...what we can promise you is that the competitions will get more and more heated up, for both the contestants and the audience....I can't wait....
Labels: Special announcement by Zachary Wong
