Balloon Dress and Costume Competition Rules
Twist & Shout’s annual Balloon Dress and Costume Competition is a unique and special event. It is both the convention’s Thursday night entertainment and a coveted competition. The evening is the world’s best balloon fashion/costume show, and always showcases new and diverse balloon wearables. Parts of the evening are designed to produce an excellent night of entertainment, and parts are designed to facilitate a fair competition. Every year the show is different, but it is always a lot of fun for the contestants and inspirational for the audience.
Rules for Voters
Fully-registered attendees of T&S cast 1 vote in the "People’s Choice" Category after the show.
Rules for Contestants
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Each contestant in the Balloon Dress and Costume Competition must be a fully registered attendee of Twist & Shout Balloon Convention.
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The number of competitors in each category is limited to twelve (12), on a first come first serve basis.
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The stage management team retains the discretion to further limit the number, or allow additional entrants, as circumstances dictate.
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Competitors may only enter one piece in each category.
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You may perform as a team, but only one registrant can be considered the contestant for scoring and award purposes.
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All Competitors must submit a competition entry form no later than 12pm on Thursday to Patty or the show management.
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All competitors are responsible for finding their own models
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Score sheets will be available to competitors after the awards are announced Saturday night.
Rule for Dresses and Costumes
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The competition consists of two separate categories, one exclusively for balloon dresses, one for balloon costumes.
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At least 75% of the dress or costume must be made of balloons.
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All designs must be appropriate for all audiences.
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Bodypaint, makeup, and accessories will be allowed, but will not be considered by the judges.
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The organizer will determine the performance order after the dress rehearsal.
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Each dress and costume must walk the stage displaying their piece in succession according to the determined order.
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If the competitor is not prepared to display when their time is due that participant will be disqualified.
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All Competitors and their models should arrive backstage by 5:00pm to prepare for the show.
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All competitors must be backstage, fully dressed, and ready to be judged by 5:30pm.
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All competitors must participate in the dress rehearsal from 6pm-7pm.
Guidelines
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Artists may provide the MC a short written introduction or suggestions of phrases for their intros.
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A sound system will be provided with standard audio inputs. If you have your own music, please have your sound file ready before the tech rehearsal on a USB drive or portable audio device.
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Stage lighting will be provided.
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The performing area will be raised platform with pipe and drape and/or a balloon backdrop and wings. There will be steps on either side of the stage. Make sure that your piece can get on and off of the stage.
Judging:
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Seven judges will be selected by the convention organizers. They will be a mix of balloon professionals, lay persons, and/or fashion and entertainment industry professionals.
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The judges are expected to act impartially and to advise if there is a conflict of interest.
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The judges will score each dress on a 90-point scale:
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Proportions and Scale
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Use of Color
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Originality
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Details
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Overall Visual Appeal and Appearance
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Wearability (ability of models to walk, move, etc)
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Additionally, the stage management team will award up to 10 points total for professionalism. These points are easy to earn!
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Information: Provided before arrival or at Registration on arrival to convention, the performer will submit their competitor information sheet (including cast size), a working music file, and a list of props and set advising on the approximate space required (5 points)
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Tech Rehearsal: arrive on time for the tech rehearsal (2 points); Competitors that do not come to the tech rehearsal are disqualified
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Show night, arrive for prepared by call time (3 points
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5. Fully-registered attendees in the audience cast 1 vote in the "People’s Choice" category.
6. The People’s Choice award will be open for voting at the end of the show for 30-minutes.
The Awards:
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For each competitor, the highest scoring and lowest scoring judge sheet will be discarded, and the sum total of the remaining 5 score sheets will be tallied.
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The votes of the judges will be added up and three prizes will be given:
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First Place, to the competitor that receives the highest total score.
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Second Place, to the competitor that receives the second highest score.
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Third Place, to the competitor that receives the third highest score.
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The decision of the judges is final.
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In the event of a tie, the judges will reconvene to break the tie.
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The People’s Choice award will be given to the competitor with the most number of votes by the attendees.
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Balloon Dress and Costume competition awards will be announced at the Saturday night banquet.

