Deck the Halls Poetry Slam-Poet Registration

201 East Main Street,Rock Hill SC 29730

11 December, 2021

Description

Poet registration for the "Deck the Halls" Poetry Slam. 12 slots available! Prizes are: 1st place-$2,500, 2nd place-$1,000 3rd place-$500 Rules for the Deck the Halls Poetry Slam I. POEMS & PERFORMANCE 1) Poems can be on any subject and in any style. 2) Each poet must perform work that s/he has created. 3) No props. Sampling It is acceptable for a poet to incorporate, imitate, or otherwise "signify on" the words, lyrics, or tune of someone else (commonly called "sampling" in his own work. If he is only riffing off another's words, he should expect only healthy controversy; if on the other hand, he is ripping off their words, he should expect scornful contumely. The Three-Minute Rule No performance should last longer than three minutes. The time begins when the performance begins, which may well be before the first utterance is made. A poet is certainly allowed several full seconds to adjust the microphone and get settled & ready, but as soon as s/he makes a connection with the audience ("Hey look, she's been standing there for 10 seconds and hasn't even moved"), the timekeeper can start the clock. The poet does not have an unlimited amount of "mime time." Poets with ambiguous beginnings & endings to their performances should seek out the timekeeper at each venue to settle on a starting & ending time. After three minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (up to and including 3:10.00). Starting at 3:10.01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet's overall score according to the following schedule: 3:10 and under no penalty 3:10.01 - 3:20 --0.5 3:20.01 - 3:30 --1.0 3:30.01 - 3:40 --1.5 3:40.01 - 3:50 --2.0 and so on [-0.5 for every 10 seconds over 3:10] The announcement of the time penalty and its consequent deduction will be made by the emcee or scorekeeper after all the judges have reported their scores. The judges should not even be told that a poet went overtime until it is too late for them to adjust their scores. Slam structure 1st round- 12 poets 2nd round -8 poets 3rd round- 4 poets (12) competing poets will enter the slam. Poets will draw for order before the slam begins. After round 1, the top 8 poets with the highest scores will move to the second round. The order for the second round will be high to low. At the end of the second round, the top 4 poets with the highest cumulative score will move to the third round. There will be a new bout draw before the 3rd round begins to determine the order. The third round will be a clean slate round where the highest score in that round will determine the winner. III. JUDGING & SCORING Judging All efforts shall be made to select five judges (volunteers from the audience) who will be fair. Once chosen, the judges will: 1) be given a set of printed instructions on how to judge a poetry slam 2) have a private, verbal crash course by the emcee or house manager on the do's and don'ts of poetry slam judging (where they can ask questions 3) hear the standardized Official Emcee Spiel which, among other things, will apprise the audience of their own responsibilities as well as remind the judges of theirs. Having heard, read, or otherwise experienced these three sets of instructions, a judge cannot be challenged over a score. Complaints, problems, and/or disagreements regarding the impartiality of the judges should be brought privately to the attention of the emcee or house manager BEFORE the bout begins. Having heard and understood the complaint, the house manager or emcee will then make a decision (also privately) that cannot be further challenged Scoring The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or "perfect" score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to preclude the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together. Ties At the initial bout draw, all competing poets will collectively determine if they will do a slam off in the event of a first place tie or split the win and prize money. If they elect to do a slam-off, each poet who ties for first place will perform one more poem that will be scored by the judges. The poet with the highest score in the slam-off will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie in the slam-off, each judge will be instructed to indicate which specific poet they deem as the winner. (i.e. a judge will write an "A" on their board if they choose poet A or a "B" if they choose poet B, etc). *Slam-offs will only occur for a first place tie. In the event there is a tie for second or third place those tieing poets will share and split the prize money. Prizes Prizes for the slam are as follows: 1st place-$2,500 2nd place-$1,000 3rd place-$500 IV. OFFICIALS Emcees The emcee will announce to the audience each poet's name. They will also require that all judges hold their scores up at the same time and that no judge changes their score after it is up. They are expected to move the show along quickly and keep the audience engaged and interested in the competition. Since they must be completely impartial, any witty banter directed at individual poets, poems, or scores is inappropriate. Even genuine enthusiasm has to be carefully directed. The safest thing to do is encourage the audience to express their own opinions.