UPDATE:
Congratulations to The $5 Sugar, winner of the 2012 OKC IBC!
Honorable Mention to Big Blue Dump Truck, runners up.
It was a very close contest, the top four bands were all within 7 Points of eachother, it was the audience vote that made all the difference! Thank you to all our new members as well! Thank you for your support!
DON'T MISS THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE!
Saturday, November 3rd
Oklahoma City Limits
4801 S Eastern, OKC
8 Bands From Across Oklahoma Will Compete
Winner gets $1000 + The chance represent OBS in Memphis
Current OBS Members get to cast their vote for their favorite band!
(See Rules below for Details)
&
Current OBS Members Receive $5 off their tab!
UPDATE: Entry is now CLOSED. The competition will Saturday, November 3rd at Oklahoma City Limits, 4801 S Eastern, 7pm. Tickets are $5 at the door, with Reimbursement for Oklahoma Blues Society Members. ($5 off your tab)
For Immediate Release!
The International Blues Challenge is Coming to OKC!
The Oklahoma Blues Society is now accepting entries for the 2012 International Blues Challenge – Oklahoma City! The battle of the bands contest will take place Saturday, November 3rd at OK City Limits, 4801 S Eastern. Each band will have 25 minutes to perform before a panel of judges to determine the winner. Winning band will receive $1000, 5 nights hotel stay in Memphis for the international competition. Bands will be judged in 5 separate categories, Blues Content, Vocal Talent, Instrumental Talent, Originality, and Stage Presence. Solo/Duo acts are also eligible to compete. Download the entry form at www.OKBlues.org. It must be received by Midnight on October 29th, 2012.
The 2012 International Blues Challenge will be the 29th year of production by the Blues Foundation. Bands from affiliated societies from all across the globe will meet in Memphis January 29th through February 2nd 2013 to determine the winner in both the Band & Solo/Duo Categories. Musicians, Booking Agents, Festival Representatives and Recording Industry Professionals will all be present in Memphis for the International Blues Challenge, making this a great networking opportunity for competing bands.
For more information, visit www.Blues.org or www.OKBlues.org
Mail Entry Form to:
Oklahoma Blues Society
IBC 2011
4141 NW Expressway, Ste 340
Oklahoma City, OK 73116
Contact:
Matt Kemp, President of the Oklahoma Blues Society
405.990.2170
OBS@OKBlues.org
Eligibility:
The only artists who are deemed ineligible for the International Blues Challenge are artists whose have been nominated for a Blues Music Award-whose name has appeared on a final Blues Music Award ballot-in the 30-year history of the Blues Music Awards (and formerly the W.C. Handy Awards). A searchable database of past nominees can be found at http://www.blues.org/search/handys.php. All other musicians who have had peripheral and/or professional contact through performance with a Blues Music Award nominee, including but not limited to, touring band members and studio musicians, are deemed eligible for the IBC. The exception is band members of a band nominated for Band of the Year. Each member is considered a Blues Music Award nominee even though the band name, not each band member’s name appears on the final ballot.
An act is limited to two consecutive appearances at the IBC and must then sit out at least one year before being eligible to compete again. An act under the same name will not be allowed to compete three consecutive years.
An individual may not compete in more than one act in any capacity.
An Act can be a solo performer, duo act, or larger ensemble.
Day of Show
Order of band performance will be selected by drawing names prior to show time. Acts are encouraged to be present at the venue 1 hour prior to the first bands performance in order to draw straws and determine their time slot.
Scoring Criteria
Each band will be allowed 10 minutes to set up and 20 minutes to perform. You will be penalized for going over your allotted time.
1. Blues Content: Everyone has his or her own interpretation of what is and is not Blues. Thus, any given three-judge panel will include members with varying opinions of Blues, covering the spectrum of Blues whenever possible, from the most traditional to soul/blues and rock/blues. Bands should pick material carefully. At the Memphis semi-finals and finals, the judges are Blues professionals, not a bar crowd, and are likely to be unimpressed with song selections that are uninspired. (Call this–with all due respect to Sir Mack Rice and Wilson Pickett–the “no Mustang Sally rule.”)
2. Vocals: The acts vocal skills.
3. Talent: The acts instrumental skills.
4. Originality: Original work is encouraged. Cover tunes are allowed but playing the recorded rendition lick by lick is discouraged; will not be looked upon favorably by the judges; and will be reflected in scoring.
5. Stage Presence: Over the years, the quality of talent has risen so dramatically that we no longer consider this an “amateur” competition. Most contestants have performed on stage enough to know that they are not simply playing music, but putting on a show. This category rates how “sellable” a band may be.
To reflect the relative importance of each category in the success of a band, a band’s score in each category is weighted. Raw scores for Blues Content is multiplied by four, Talent and vocals by three and Originality and Stage Presence are multiplied by two. The total in each category represents the Weighted Score for that category. Total possible weighted score is 140.
Audience Vote
Each official member of the Oklahoma Blues Society is eligible to cast their vote for ONE band or individual performing. The results of the popular vote will determine the amount of bonus points awarded to each band. The band/performer with the most popular votes will be awarded 10 bonus points on top of their total weighted score. The group with the second most popular votes will be awarded 9 bonus points on top of their Total Weighted Score. The group with the third most popular votes will be awarded 8 bonus points, and so on.
Penalty Points
A Band is penalized one point from its Total Weighted Score (see below) for each ten seconds that it runs overtime. There is no penalty for using less than the allotted time.
SCORING SYSTEM FOR JUDGES
Here is the scoring procedure for 2011 IBC.
1. All categories and weightings are as previously stated.
2. Each judge will indicate his or her Raw Score (a whole number between 1 and 10) in each category and turn that information over to the scorekeeper.
-1-3 Typical of a beginning blues band.
-4-5 Typical of a local weekend band.
-6-7 Typical of an advanced local band but not yet ready to headline a
major blues club.
-8-9 Typical of the quality of blues artists who headline major clubs.
-10 Typical of those who play the main stage at major festivals such as Chicago or Arkansas Blues and Heritage.
3. The scorekeeper will multiply the Raw Score in each category by the established multiplier to get each judge’s Weighted Score in each category for each act. The weighted multipliers will be Blues content (4); talent and vocals (3); originality (2) and stage presence (2).
4. The Weighted Scores from each category for an act are added together to determine the acts’ Total Weighted Score for each judge.
5. Any penalty points will then be deducted to obtain the act’s Net Weighted Score for each judge.
6 Each Net Weighted Score is then added together to determine the act’s Total Score.
7. At the end of the evening, the popular votes will be counted, and each band ranked from most to least popular and awarded points based on their rank, 10 for most popular, to 0 for least popular. The bonus points are then added to the band’s Total Score to determine their Final Score.
8. In the case of a tie, the winner is determined by a vote from the 5 judges.
Notes for Competitors on the Memphis End
Act Check-in
Act check-in time will be 10 am – 2:30 pm Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at Alfred’s, 197 Beale St
Orientation
There will be a 20-minute orientation on Wednesday February 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm at Alfred’s, 197 Beale St. Orientation will review contest rules, introduce key people, and seek to resolve any questions or special problems that contestants may have. Any competitor failing to check in by the orientation without special arrangement will be disqualified.
2012 Blues Challenge format
Band and Solo Duo competition
Band and solo/duo quarter-finals are a two-day competition (Wednesday & Thursday night). All bands and solo/duo acts are required to play both Wednesday and Thursday night at the same venue. Two or more top scoring acts from each venue will advance to the semi-finals.
Wednesday & Thursday quarter-final sets will be 25 minutes long. Sets for the semi-finals will be 30 minutes long. PLEASE NOTE: All set lengths are subject to change, notice will be sent to all affiliates and acts.
Acts that advance to the semi-finals will be announced on Thursday night in the venues. The venue assignments and playing times will be announced Friday on our website, Facebook page and listed on a printed schedule that will be available by 1pm at the IBC store.
The Blues Foundation reserves the right to change this format depending on the number of bands and number of venues participating.
Once the participating Beale Street venues have been assembled and all entry forms received, the number of performing acts in each venue can be finalized. Each act is assigned to a participating venue by a scientific process known as “drawing slips of paper with band names on them out of a hat.” Adjustments may be made in the cases of, for instance, number of band members, size of venue stage and other production concerns as determined by The Blues Foundation. Quarter-Finalists will return to the same clubs as they played the preceding night.
Final Round Structure
Sets will be scored on the same criteria as other rounds. All Final Round judges will not have served on any previous round, so each band will be performing for a totally new set of ears. Additionally, no judges in the Finals will be members of The Blues Foundation Board or from any Affiliate for maximum impartiality.
Staging and Equipment
The Blues Foundation will provide backline and sound. The setup on stage will include a drum kit with snare drum, amps, and mics. Drummers should bring their own cymbals and kick pedals (Yes, you will need your cymbals, you might want to bring your own snare too) and Harmonica players CAN (but are not required) bring their own harp amp. Keyboard players may bring their own keyboards and keyboard amps, stands will be provided. Effects racks and other auxiliary equipment are permitted. Musicians must include on the Affiliated Organization’s application any additional or special equipment needed.
Competitors are prohibited from bringing their own amplifiers (harp amps and keyboard amps being the only exceptions.)Please bring a DI (if you use one) every effort will be made to provide suitable equipment. Exceptions to this prohibition may only be granted pursuant to a formal written petition submitted in writing and received via email by the Event Producer (joe@blues.org)
no less than 60 days prior to the quarter-finals competition. Include a request in the act’s on line registration. With the number of bands participating in each venue, it is impossible for us to allow every player to bring an amp, space considerations prohibit it. Thus, any petition for an equipment waiver must include a compelling reason for exclusion.
The Blues Foundation reserves the right to approve or restrict any and all equipment an entrant wishes to bring on stage.
Past Winners of the IBC include:
2012- The $5 Sugar
2011 - Garrett "Big G" Jacobson
2010 - Jeffrey James Trio
2009 - Benmore Blues Band
2008- Dan Danger Band