David Bruce Murray
Jan 12, 2008
Advice|Fan Awards|NQC|Singing News
Keeping The Fan Awards Show On Schedule
Speaking of the Singing News Fan Awards, Daniel Mount has expressed an idea for keeping the 2008 show on schedule. Daniel suggests having only five final nominations in the Song category rather than ten “leaving time for winners of lesser awards (who can be told in advance to keep remarks brief in the event they win) to accept the award during the program.”
More yakking.
Fewer songs.
I prefer an opposite approach.
Start the show with the 30 nominees for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Lead, Baritone and Bass already standing on the stage. Read their names, announce the winners and hand them their plaques. Don’t call them to the podium for a speech. As they leave the stage, invite one representative from every nominated group in the Male Quartet, Mixed Quartet, Trio and Soloist categories to the stage, and present those awards in the same manner. Boom…half the awards are presented in the first ten minutes.
Include the ten nominated songs and use the time gained by the award presentation methods above to allow full-length versions. If time permits, add performances by the five Horizon Group nominees, abbreviating song lengths if necessary. Allow acceptance speeches for the remaining ten prestigious categories, showing a clear delineation between the level of honor being bestowed on a lesser category vs. big categories for the overall Male Singer, Female Singer, Young Artist, Horizon Individual, Song, Album, etc. Close the show with a song featuring the Vanguard Artist category winner, showing that this is the most prestigious Fan Award of the entire evening.
Presenting awards and hearing artists say thanks is an important part of the evening, but equally important is a demonstration of why the fans voted in the first place. That’s best accomplished by having as many nominees as possible do what they ordinarily do every time they take the stage.
Sing.
