Sing Song judges are anticipating the opportunity to provide feedback for the student performances this weekend.

Tom Craig, director of student productions, said 30 judges will participate, with 10 judges per show. Seven judges evaluate the category for each evening, and three judge vocals.

Judges fill out a score sheet for the groups every night. Score sheets are collected and compiled using an Excel program developed by Jeff Arrington, associate vice president for student life, which extrapolates the information and processes the results.

Category winners will be announced at the end of every show, and vocals are judged with a cumulative score to be announced Saturday night, Craig said.

Judges look at how original each concept is, how creatively the concept is executed, how cohesive the act is, how the parts of the act fit together, how good the vocals are and how entertaining and how engaging it is for the audience, Craig said.

John Delony, assistant dean for residence life and education, will  judge Saturday night’s show, and said he looks for acts that are fun for the audience to watch.

“It’s essentially a competitive arm waving competition,” Delony said. “The best thing is that we’re all able to suspend reality for a night and focus on the production.”

Delony said he tries to stay out of the loop about Sing Song activity before he judges so he can allow the whole thing to unfold during the actual performance without ruining the surprise of the acts.

Delony said he enjoys judging the shows because they are fun to watch. He said an important thing students can walk away from Sing Song with is the ability to create something from nothing.

“They can take something that originated in a student’s head and turn it into a big majestic production that is performed in front of thousands of people,” Delony said. “The most amazing thing is that it’s so student driven and so unique to ACU.”

The overall winners are also announced Saturday night and receive a trophy that is passed down from year to year. Also, the three overall winners, one in each category of men, women and mixed voices, receive $1,000 to contribute to a charity of their choice.

“That’s a neat thing,” Craig said. “While the students are working for bragging rights, they also have the opportunity to turn their efforts into something good for an organization that they think is good.”

Judges are selected from three distinct areas.

Individuals are selected who have musical knowledge outside of the ACU community, who don’t know the students but who know music well.

Judges also come from the faculty and staff who know the ACU culture and know what Sing Song is all about.

Judges are drawn from the ACU alumni base. They are people who have actually been in Sing Song, typically in key leadership roles, that have been graduated for more than 10 years. These past participants know the inner workings of Sing Song and what it takes to put on an act.

“Alumni are the people are the most excited about being a judge, because they know firsthand what the students pour into the show itself to make it happen onstage in Moody,” Craig said. “It’s exciting for them because they see some of the things they do as students still come to life onstage.”

Craig said some current students already eager for the opportunity to become a judge themselves.

“Because once they go through the process,” Craig said. “They develop an affinity for the people they work with but also for the university as a whole because we’ve created this experience where people get to work together and create something good in a very positive environment.”