Future Star has changed its format. Based on feedback from contestants, viewers and judges, we made some changes to the contest that we hope will make it our most successful year yet! Below, I will outline how the contest will work this year.

Auditions: Tuesday April 8, 15  & 22, 2008

*you will audition at MetalWorks studio for faculty and students
*you will have 1:30 to sing. You must have a backing track with NO vocals (background vocals are okay, but no lead vocals – we need to hear YOU)
*if you are not starting at the beginning of a song, your cd must be burned to the correct spot (the sound tech’s will not be able to cue your cd during the audition)
*at the end of April, you will be notified if you have made the Top 30 and if you will be moving on to perform on June 7 at the Living Arts Centre
*if you are selected to be a part of the Top 30, you will be paired up with students from MetalWorks. Over the next month the students will work with you on your stage presence, your performance, your self promotion and everything else it takes to make you a success in the Future Star contest. The students will also be with you should you make the Top 30 and the Top

Round 1 – Living Arts Centre: Saturday June 7, 2008.

*the Top 30 will perform in front of an audience and our panel of judges and vie for a spot in our Top 10
*the Top 10 will be selected that night – 5 will be voted in by the judging panel, 5 will be voted in by ballot voting by the audience

How the Ballot Voting will work:

*audience members purchase a ticket to the LAC show for $10 (money goes to Waterfront Festival – Sponsor a Child Fund).
*each audience member will receive a ballot. They must vote for 3 people (the ballot will be void if they don’t select 3 people)
*ballots will be accepted after all 30 people have finished performing
*ballots will be tallied and the 5 people receiving the highest votes from the audience will move on to the Top 10 at The Waterfront Festival (the remaining 5 people will be voted in by the judging panel)

Round 2 – Waterfront Festival: Saturday June 14, 2008.

*the Top 10 will perform in front of an audience at The Waterfront Festival
*the Top 3 will be selected and announced along with our Wildcard winner
*the Top 3 and the Wildcard will perform and a new Future Star will be announced

How the Wildcard Voting will work

*The top 30 will have their performances recorded the week of May 5 by MetalWorks students
*Videos will be put online at Mississauga.com/furturestars for viewers to watch
*Viewers can vote for their favourite performance
*Voting commences on May 14 at 12:00pm and closes on Friday June 14 at 12pm
*The person receiving the highest number of votes will win the opportunity to perform in our final round (Top 3 + Wildcard) at the Waterfront Festival on June 14
*The Wildcard pick will be announced at the Waterfront Festival after the Top 10 have performed. The winner MUST be in attendance at the Waterfront Festival in order to compete. In the event that the person with the highest number of votes is not in attendance when their name is announced, the person with the next highest number of votes will take their place.
*Wildcard picks must have their cd’s with them and be ready to perform within 30 minutes of their name being announced

$300 Cash Prize

*people that vote online will have their name entered in a draw to win a $300 cash prize
*the winner of the $300 cash prize will be announced on June 14 at the Waterfront Festival (this will be announced at the same time that the wildcard winner is announced)
*the winner MUST be in attendance at the Waterfront festival in order to accept their prize. In the event that the winner is not in attendance, another name will be randomly selected for the prize.

Please register at Mississauga.com/futurestars to secure an audition.

If you have a photo of yourself or a biography, please feel free to send it on to me at ahughes@mississauga.net.

Thank you to all our Sponsors of the contest. And a special Thank You to our Co-Sponsor the Mississauga News for their dedication and hard work in making the 4th Mississauga Future Stars Contest such a tremendous success.