As tradition dictates, a panel of 30 judges from various fields will determine the winners of this year’s Sing Song competition.
Tom Craig, director of student productions and Sing Song director, said the judges were drawn from faculty and staff, alumni and professionals from the music or event industry. However, Craig said the names of the judges are not released prior to the shows.
“We try to get a good mix of judges each year,” Craig said. “We don’t release the names of the judges before each show so people can’t go out and try to persuade our judges.”
Craig has said one of the Sing Song judges this year will be a well-known music video producer. He also said many of the other judges would be music educators or professionals in the music industry. Many of the alumni judges participated in Sing Song when they were students at ACU.
The 30 judges will be divided into three groups, with 10 judges for each show. Three of the judges will judge solely on vocals, while the other seven will rank the acts based on originality, appearance and entertainment. The highest and lowest scores from those seven judges will be dropped. Craig believes this practice reduces the chance of bias.
“Our scoring method is a lot like the way they judge figure skating in the Olympics,” Craig said. “We really haven’t had any judging issues since I came on board.”
The judges will award first and second place in all four voting categories. Additionally, the judges will pick the best overall act in the men’s, women’s and mixed-vocal groups.
John Delony, director of Residence Life, judged Sing Song in 2009 and said he valued his chance to play a part in a great ACU tradition.
“It was a cool experience,” Delony said. “I graduated from Lubbock Christian, so I was more familiar with their Master Follies acts. So, it was great to see firsthand how ACU’s Sing Song works.”
Audience members also have a chance to participate in the judging process. Spectators can go online and vote for their favorite act after each show. The votes will be tabulated, and an audience favorite award will be given. Online voting can be found at www.acu.edu/events/singsong/index.html.
