By// Julius Rea
The world-renonwed Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, will hold Amateur Night auditions for the 2013 season line-up on Sept. 29, 2012.
Amateur Night, which has launched countless careers including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Dionne Warwick, Billie Holiday, Luther Vandross, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Sarah Vaughan, is an opportunity for new artists to be discovered. Auditions will be open for singers, dancers, comedians, spoken word artists, musicians and variety performances. For live auditions, judges will only see the first 300 acts.
Chosen performers will have a spot in the Amateur Night 2013 season lineup. Adult contestants will compete for the $10,000 grand prize, while child contestants will compete for a $2,000 grand prize.
“The Apollo is truly the world’s stage and, as such, we always want to make sure we are getting the best possible talent to compete by reaching out to talent in different areas,” said Amateur Night producer and audition judge, Marion J. Caffey. “However, there is definitely something special about auditioning at the Apollo. It seems to give people that extra boost of confidence and energy they need to be able to get in front of us and show us what they’re made of – for better or worse. We hope for the better.”
Live Auditions Guidelines
— An “amateur” is anyone who has not had a recording, Film or TV contract with a major studio.
— No profanity including any racial epithets or slurs; all material must be appropriate for a family show.
— Children under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
— Only children ages 5 to 15 will be considered for the “Child Star of Tomorrow” segment.
— No lip synching, singing along with track vocals or post-production engineering of vocals is permitted.
— Each live contestant will have up to 90 seconds to perform.
— Singers can bring a track on cassette, CD or sing a cappella. A band is not available.
— Musicians must bring their own instruments.
— Dancers should bring a CD.
— Do not bring CD’s in CD-RW format.
Visit The Apollo Theater website for further details.
