[voni ^__^]

PLEASE FINISH READING THE ENTIRE ENTRY BEFORE SENDING ANYTHING!!!! Danke!

OKKKAY! Hey everyone i’m back! (haha for those of you that actually know who I am -.-)
I know we’re a little late in the game so I’m going try to make this as quick, simple and sweet as possible. So long as everyone follows the directions, everything should fall into place rather smoothly.

All songs…

• must be performed without vocal blocking, meaning you will have to locate a karaoke track, if you cannot find a cut (tv) version you might need it cut, please contact us ASAP if that is the case.
  
• must be in Japanese, or any other East Asian language, there will be no English songs permitted. However, scattered english is okay.

"But what if there is not tv sized karaoke track?"
edit: If you want something cut I need the request by THURSDAY (3.27.08). I will be out of town Friday and Saturday. I may get some cuts done Sunday but there is no guaranteed.

Staff will only cut ONE song for each person entering, so choose wisely.
Send an email to acenidol@gmail.com labeled: Karaoke Cut Request for [insert artist and song name]. An email will be sent back to you letting you know whether we have what we need to make a cut version of the song, otherwise IF and only if we don't have the proper materials we will let you know and you’ll have to prepare the following:

• a karaoke track (instrumental, no original singer singing, harmony vocals are okay)
  
• a full length audio track (has the singer original singer singing the song)
  
• FULL lyrics of the song (directly cut and paste into email)
  
• a tv size version audio track (if locatable, otherwise look for it on youtube and link me to that)

I know a lot of emails don’t let you send files past a certain size, if this happens please use MEGAUPLOAD to upload your files (another alternative is yousendit but MEGAUPLOAD is preferred since the files don't get deleted for at least 3 months) and send the link to me in the email.
Also, do NOT send us the cut on the 29th of March and expect us to get it back to you in time for you to record your audition. You should plan on it taking us 2-3 days to send you back a shortened version, the cutting staff will not be responsible for you missing the deadline.

Returnees... (those that have performed in Acen Idol in the past, winner and participants alike)

• must have completely NEW SONGS, can not perform any songs they performed the previous year, otherwise will result in being pulled from the competition

The Rounds and Themes (just to keep in mind)
Round 1 – Anime, Anime movie, or drama opening theme or ending song. This does not inlcuden insert songs in the series, MUST BE the opening or ending of the show/movie. It must be the TV version, meaning it should not be longer than 2 minutes in length, however there may be exceptions. Take note that this song will also be the audition song. If an individual does not audition with his/her Round 1 song he/she will not be allowed to participate in the competition regardless of whether if he/she made the cut. However, if for any reason the individual can not perform the piece he/she will have re-audition with the new song, but after the march 20, 2008 deadline it cannot be changed and he/she will just have to deal with it. Since this also pertains to Anime Movie Theme or Ending songs there is a high possibility that there may not be an existing shortened version. If this is the case, let us know and we will make an artificial cut to fit the alloted time frame.

Round 2 - Around a 2-3 minute cut of a Japanese/Chinese/Korean/East-Asian-language song. If you make it into the performing 20 cut, you will choose a song and we will make a 2 minute cut for you to practice and perform (don’t worry too much about this 2 minute cut for the time being).

Round 3 - Any East Asian language song is a go. This is the only time in the competition that the full version of a song will be sung.


The Audition (sorry to push this deadline, but it has to be in by MARCH 30, 2008 NO EXCEPTIONS! Don't even ask, the answer will be no.)

Things to include (PLEASE FOLLOW THE FORMAT! ^__^):

• Artist – Song name – Opening/Ending of _________
  
• The original song.mp3/someaudiofile (if your song was cut by staff or taken from the forum, you’re exempt from this. Just indicate either “Done by staff” or “Taken from Forum”)
  
• The Karaoke Track.mp3/someaudiofile (if your song was cut by staff or taken from the forum, you’re exempt from this. Just indicate either “Done by staff” or “Taken from Forum”)
  
• The audition itself (note that it may be released to the public for their listening pleasure and may also be attached to the email)
  
• Your picture (note that it will be posted online for the public's viewing pleasure)
  
• Survey:

• Name:
  
• Birthday: (no year necessary)
  
• Number of Years Attending Acen:
  
• Sounds like: (what/who you think you sound like)
  
• Favorite Artist(s): (include one East Asian artist)
  
• Favorite Song(s): (include one East Asian song)
  
• Favorite Manga(s):
  
• Favorite Anime(s):
  
• Why you are entering the contest:
  
• Why you should be the next Acen Idol:
  
• Extra: (any last thoughts/brides you may have?)

Please send your auditions to acenidol@gmail.com and label it Audition for [insert your name].

Again please use MEGAUPLOAD to upload your stuff (another alternative is yousendit but MEGAUPLOAD is preferred since the links usually dont expire for at least 3 months) and send the link to us in the email.


EXAMPLE OF A GREAT AUDITION! (note that file is fake, don't ask why you can't download it...)

Quote

BoA – Every Heart – Ending of Inuyasha
Taken from Forum
Taken from Forum
Audition: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=somecode (<--not real)
Attached picture to email
Survey:
Name: Yvonne
Birthday: April 19
Number of Years Attending Acen: 3
Sounds like: a dying squirrel
Favorite Artist(s): YUI, Younha, The Melody (among many others)
Favorite Song(s): First Love by Utada Hikaru, Paradise by The Melody
Favorite Manga(s): EVERYTHING
Favorite Anime(s): Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin, Samurai Champloo
Why you are entering the contest: Because I like singing regardless of how bad I sound!
Why you should be the next Acen Idol: Because my dying squirrel voice is unique and I feel I would really bring something different to the table!
Extra: (any last thoughts/brides you may have?): If you bribe me enough I’ll consider never singing again, big IF though

Here are a few cuts that I already have so I just figured I'd post them here. If you choose to use one of the cuts, just indicate in your audition that the cut was “Taken from Forum” so you don't have to send the file to us. I will do my best to continue adding to the list as more cut requests come in.

These are all .rar files meaning you have to unzip the files with either winrar (google it) or zip7 (google it) and each file should contain two files; a .mp3 and a word document of the lyrics.

BoA – Every Heart (TV Version)
Chieko Kawabe - Sakura Kiss (TV Version)
Sowelu – I Will (TV Version)
Younha – Houki Boshi (TV Version)



I think I've just about covered everything, but do feel free to leave questions and I'll do my best to answer them as soon as possible :3

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE! We're all looking forward to your auditions!

voni ^__^

[misty]

Is the deadline the 30th or the 20th? The subtitle and the post vary.
Thanks for posting all this, by the way!

[bexxie]

I'm sorry, but is the deadline the 20th or the 30th?

Oops, someone got to it before me. >D

[voni ^__^]

beckiebootwo, on Mar 9 2008, 11:43 PM, said:

I'm sorry, but is the deadline the 20th or the 30th?

Oops, someone got to it before me. >D

30 30 30 sorry! i must have not been looking what i was typing >.<
EVERYONE ITS THE 30th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bold&Delicious]

First, thank you so much for posting!

I have a question: the cut of my song that I made is like 2:05, is that problematic? :x
The anime that it is the ending song to only plays 40 seconds of the song, and there isn't too much singing, so I wanted to make a longer cut up to the limit. After I cut it, it ended up being perfect, but a few seconds over 2 minutes... is it allowed, please?

[Sean Chen]

Hey Yvonne, I'm a bit confused. In the thread started by Dotnull, she said that I could try again this year. I remember the rules from last year saying that I couldn't. I've got no complaints if I can't compete again, but I'm just wondering if the rules changed at all.

[Komurin II]

Hi, um... I'm confused.

Does this mean dotnull's sticky about ACen Idol is yet again obsolete?

My audition song is an anime ending, but the actual ending cut is only a 1:20 long. Because I didn't feel I could really showcase my voice with barely a minute of singing, I asked if I could cut the extended version down to two minutes and was given the okay. That's what I've been practicing.

Is that still allowed? This post seems to suggest not and with the deadline only twenty days away, I don't think I can prepare another song in time.

Also I think it's a bit upsetting that only the final round contestants get to sing full-length songs. That means that we as contestants have to work the hardest on the one round that statistically we're least likely to ever participate in.

[Bold&Delicious]

Komurin II, on Mar 9 2008, 07:23 PM, said:

Also I think it's a bit upsetting that only the final round contestants get to sing full-length songs. That means that we as contestants have to work the hardest on the one round that statistically we're least likely to ever participate in.

That's the way the cookie crumbles If everybody performed full length songs it would #1 not hold an audience's interest the whole time. And #2 take way too long. Just do your best.

[Komurin II]

Bold&Delicious, on Mar 9 2008, 08:28 PM, said:

That's the way the cookie crumbles If everybody performed full length songs it would #1 not hold an audience's interest the whole time. And #2 take way too long. Just do your best.

Well I'd hope that by the top ten the contestants would be the cream of the crop enough to entertain a crowd for 3-5 minutes, and the event will only take... maybe half an hour, tops, if ten contestants are singing two minute songs. That's half as long as most panels.

If everyone in the top ten sang 3-5 minute songs, at max the event would take an hour and that's assuming most of them go for songs closer to five minutes rather than closer to three.

I don't know, those are just my thoughts.

[voni ^__^]

Bold&Delicious, on Mar 10 2008, 12:19 AM, said:

First, thank you so much for posting!

I have a question: the cut of my song that I made is like 2:05, is that problematic? :x
The anime that it is the ending song to only plays 40 seconds of the song, and there isn't too much singing, so I wanted to make a longer cut up to the limit. After I cut it, it ended up being perfect, but a few seconds over 2 minutes... is it allowed, please?

no it will be fine. usually its around 2 minutes so i figured that would be a good way to round it off. sorry to scare you!

Sean Chen, on Mar 10 2008, 12:21 AM, said:

Hey Yvonne, I'm a bit confused. In the thread started by Dotnull, she said that I could try again this year. I remember the rules from last year saying that I couldn't. I've got no complaints if I can't compete again, but I'm just wondering if the rules changed at all.

well since he said you guys can compete again, you're all in . i look forward to seeing good stuff from everyone!

Komurin II, on Mar 10 2008, 12:35 AM, said:

Well I'd hope that by the top ten the contestants would be the cream of the crop enough to entertain a crowd for 3-5 minutes, and the event will only take... maybe half an hour, tops, if ten contestants are singing two minute songs. That's half as long as most panels.

If everyone in the top ten sang 3-5 minute songs, at max the event would take an hour and that's assuming most of them go for songs closer to five minutes rather than closer to three.

I don't know, those are just my thoughts.

i do understand your concern. last year we had round 2 perform full length songs and it just dragged so long (about 2 hours and there were only 8 people singing) that everyone got a tad bored. this summer i was watching reruns of american idol (god knows why) and i realized that each round each singer only sang about 90 secs of their song which was short, sweet and kept people interested.

regarding the rounds you have to also remember there is some talking of the judges in between, so everyone singing around lets say 2-3mins and introductions of singers and judges talking could very easily add up to more than an hour. getting into the top 20 is already "the cream of the crop." getting into the top 20 is a lot harder than people think. There were plenty of AMAZING people that I was sure would be performing at acen last year that didn't make the cut. Its extremely competitive >.<

also just a side note the plan for elimination will be 20, 8, 3.

hopefully those answers help a bit

[Komurin II]

Thanks for explaining, Voni! I get your point. x3; It just breaks my heart a little to know even if I make the top eight I won't be able to preform/attempt to do justice to the song I have planned and there's really no saving it for round three because I'm not that presumptuous of my abilities. xD; Ah, well. I understand the need for it. And there's always plain old karaoke.

I still had my other question, though. It got buried somewhere up there so I'll just paste it again:

My audition song is an anime ending, but the actual ending cut is only a 1:20 long. Because I didn't feel I could really showcase my voice with barely a minute of singing, I asked if I could cut the extended version down to two minutes and was given the okay. That's what I've been practicing.

Is that still allowed? This post seems to suggest not and with the deadline only twenty days away, I don't think I can prepare another song in time.

[voni ^__^]

Komurin II, on Mar 10 2008, 01:53 AM, said:

Thanks for explaining, Voni! I get your point. x3; It just breaks my heart a little to know even if I make the top eight I won't be able to preform/attempt to do justice to the song I have planned and there's really no saving it for round three because I'm not that presumptuous of my abilities. xD; Ah, well. I understand the need for it. And there's always plain old karaoke.

I still had my other question, though. It got buried somewhere up there so I'll just paste it again:

My audition song is an anime ending, but the actual ending cut is only a 1:20 long. Because I didn't feel I could really showcase my voice with barely a minute of singing, I asked if I could cut the extended version down to two minutes and was given the okay. That's what I've been practicing.

Is that still allowed? This post seems to suggest not and with the deadline only twenty days away, I don't think I can prepare another song in time.

wanna send me a full version of the instrumental and lyrics to acenidol@gmail.com?

[Sean Chen]

Just thinking, I really loved the original judging panel of the first Acen Idol, so I hope that this year guest judges are deemphasized. Maybe have two main judges and one guest judge? It was a cool idea, but the three ladies from last year, although very nice and knowledgable, were somewhat bland and all of the same mindset usually.

[lauralyn]

Do theme songs from japanese video games count for the first round (like from a Final Fantasy game)? And what about songs in english by Japanese bands (like some songs from NANA)? Thanks!

[Bold&Delicious]

lauralyn, on Mar 10 2008, 09:30 AM, said:

what about songs in english by Japanese bands (like some songs from NANA)? Thanks!

It has to have an east asian language in it. It can't be fully in english.

[voni ^__^]

lauralyn, on Mar 10 2008, 02:30 PM, said:

Do theme songs from japanese video games count for the first round (like from a Final Fantasy game)? And what about songs in english by Japanese bands (like some songs from NANA)? Thanks!

you can do it from a final fantasy movie or a final fantasy series however video games are a no go. they want to make things more visually entertaining and play a clip of the series/movie/drama in the background while you're singing at the con hence why we're saying no to video games. sorry :\

and as bold&delicious has already said, it has to be an east asian language. stuff like "life is like a boat" is acceptable but don't do that song specifically because i've never been able to locate the instrumental for that song (and i've been looking for over 3 years) -.-

[bexxie]

voni ^__^, on Mar 10 2008, 11:22 AM, said:

stuff like "life is like a boat" is acceptable but don't do that song specifically because i've never been able to locate the instrumental for that song (and i've been looking for over 3 years) -.-

I know, right!? And that's the one song I REALLY wanted to do... ):

[Bold&Delicious]

beckiebootwo, on Mar 10 2008, 11:46 AM, said:

I know, right!? And that's the one song I REALLY wanted to do... ):

I don't think there ever was one officially.
You could try removing the vocals from the original mix. :\

[voni ^__^]

Bold&Delicious, on Mar 10 2008, 05:24 PM, said:

I don't think there ever was one officially.
You could try removing the vocals from the original mix. :\

nope there wasn't. i dunno why... you'd think since it was so insanely popular they would have stuck it in karaoke bars in japan (of course they didn't)

and i've tried that. it just becomes an icky mess -.-

[bexxie]

Bold&Delicious, on Mar 10 2008, 12:24 PM, said:

I don't think there ever was one officially.
You could try removing the vocals from the original mix. :\

I know there's no official one...I wish there were, though. ):
I've already tried that a long time ago, and just so everyone knows...a large majority of songs sound really bad when you try to remove the vocals...so if there's no karaoke, don't bother (probably why they're not allowing vocal-removed songs in ACen Idol).

[Wing Godess]

Hey Voni Just a couple of things:
1.) So I sent in something to be cut like a while ago. You have it up on the forums as one you ahve already cut (Houki Boshi) HOWEVER, my computer will not open the file. Is there anyway I could have it e-mailed to me or have it be downloaded in a different format?
2.) I am allowed to use the same songs that I used last year since I didn't actually get to perform?
Thanks!
Heather

[voni ^__^]

Wing Godess, on Mar 11 2008, 12:12 AM, said:

Hey Voni Just a couple of things:
1.) So I sent in something to be cut like a while ago. You have it up on the forums as one you ahve already cut (Houki Boshi) HOWEVER, my computer will not open the file. Is there anyway I could have it e-mailed to me or have it be downloaded in a different format?
2.) I am allowed to use the same songs that I used last year since I didn't actually get to perform?
Thanks!
Heather

yes (gawwwd you're troublesome! jk jk) i guess you and the four other people that couldn't make it to the performance last year would be the only exception to that rule. i would probably go for a different audition song though, a lot of the initial judges that we're having judge pre-lims (we're still deciding whether the performing group will be 20 or 15 - it will depend on the amount of auditions we receive - and out of the 20/15 one will probably be chosen as a forum favorite like a wild card i guess...) will be ones we used from last year and they won't be impressed by the same thing if you know what i mean... or now that i think about at least re-record it?

[LilacChrome]

I submitted mines. I'm excited to hear everyone's! and I switched my audition song from Rasion D'Etre to Kesenai Tsumi<3

[Komurin II]

xD Pssst, Voni. You're asking us how many brides we may have? ^_~

I was just wondering, for the audition does it matter if we have the karaoke track playing in the background while we sing? Like are we supposed to have it/not allowed to have it/doesn't matter if it's there or not?

[sushi_noodle]

Bold&Delicious, on Mar 10 2008, 12:28 AM, said:

That's the way the cookie crumbles If everybody performed full length songs it would #1 not hold an audience's interest the whole time. And #2 take way too long. Just do your best.

oh nooos what will we doo ony!?!?!

[voni ^__^]

Komurin II, on Mar 11 2008, 07:33 PM, said:

xD Pssst, Voni. You're asking us how many brides we may have? ^_~

I was just wondering, for the audition does it matter if we have the karaoke track playing in the background while we sing? Like are we supposed to have it/not allowed to have it/doesn't matter if it's there or not?

we would prefer to have you singing with the karaoke track. are you having difficuities or something?

[Komurin II]

Oh, no, not at all. I was just wondering. Thanks for the quick response~!

[Chibisuke]

I really hope I get to do this. Despite the fact I have horrible stage fright, I've been wanting to do this since you guys started A-Cen Idol.

I just have one question though...how do you record stuff? That's my only problem (since I can ask you to help me with cutting tracks if I should need it). I just really hope that I can come up with something before it's too late.

[Kethry]

Wing Godess, on Mar 10 2008, 07:12 PM, said:

Hey Voni Just a couple of things:
1.) So I sent in something to be cut like a while ago. You have it up on the forums as one you ahve already cut (Houki Boshi) HOWEVER, my computer will not open the file. Is there anyway I could have it e-mailed to me or have it be downloaded in a different format?

Can I also get in on that? I tried both Houki Boshi and Every Heart, and neither would work on my computer. Help please? XD

[killercherrypie]

Kethry, on Mar 12 2008, 01:06 AM, said:

Can I also get in on that? I tried both Houki Boshi and Every Heart, and neither would work on my computer. Help please? XD

I assume the problem you are having is that the files she posted on the forum/first post in this thread are compressed into .rar files and you don't have the software to deal with them. You need a program such as WINRAR to open them and extract the music file. Places like rarlab.com will have the software you need to download. The software is free (don't let the popup in the program fool you). Once you've downloaded the program, open your .rar files and they will automatically load WINRAR so you can extract them.

Hope this is helpful

BTW, I'm totally looking forward to entering again and seeing the competition! Yay for Voni coordinating again!