If the registration fee for “Capital Region’s Got Talent” event going on in Revolution Hall in Troy, wasn’t $50.00, if the registration fee was a tad bit cheaper, like if it was $15 or $20 to register for the contest, I would have auditioned for it.
Check it out here:
http://www.revolutionhall.com/show-1208-Capital_Region%E2%80%99s_Got_Talent!.htm
Isn’t $50.00 pretty ridiculous to you? I think so. Because what if you sign up for the contest, and you don’t make it, bam, that’s a waste of $50.00. Down the drain.
If you don’t like how the “Capital Region’s Got Talent” at Rev. Hall is running their show, you can simply create your own talent show that would be similar to America’s Got Talent/American Idol that you see on TV.
Since this isn’t national music and unsigned, you can always create a show like this on your own for free. How???
- Simply contact a venue to see if they are interested in putting an event like this together.
- If you want to have people sign up for a contest like this, make registration fee, FREE, if the venue owner doesn’t want it for FREE, make it cheap, make the fee cost between $15-$20 or lower, not too expensive.
- Make the theme nights for the finals.
- Pick some special prizes like free demo recordings at a studio, if you can’t afford that…there are other options for other prizes. Like cash money, free CD’s from other local bands, free music equipment (like guitars, and other gear), you get the idea. You should have each musician in the contest win something so they don’t have to feel like they went there for nothing.
As you can see, if musicians at the “Capital Regions Got Talent” event don’t win the 5,000 dollar demo recording and a gig at the venue, each contestant just win a t-shirt, sticker and a few tickets for a show there. I don’t think that’s a very good prize for the losers of the show. Do you think the losers of the talent show would think about those things? Each of them would want a demo recording which is why they signed up for the contest for.
How about giving the losers of the contest $50 each for a demo recording? Or a piece of music gear. Something that has to do with a musicians music, that they can walk out of the contest happy.
I can assure you these musicians that lose the contest and if they get a t-shirt, sticker and a few tickets, they are not going to be happy. They all went to the contest for a $5,000 recording demo and a gig at Rev. Hall. Musicians care most about music. They don’t give a rats ass about these little prizes.
I don’t like their age limits when this thing should be for all ages. Kids deserve to be a part of this too.
I understand people want the opportunity for a $5,000 recording deal and a chance to play at Rev. Hall, but you can create your own opportunities for your own cash and prizes for a similar contest. Who needs the Rev. Hall when you can do a contest like this where everything is not so strict and difficult?
I can put together a talent show like this myself but I don’t have the budget to get all the prizes for it though that will make musicians happy. This talent show at Rev. Hall is a joke, and you know it. These musicians that went on these shows, how much do you want to bet they don’t care about these prizes and the contest itself? They’re performing on there for publicity, to promote their music and a good opportunity to get recognized in the area.
I hope other venues will come up with talent shows that are better than this.
Kev
K'Brocking 
As a person who has first hand knowledge of the contest, I hope after my comments your perspective on Capital Region’s Got Talent will have shifted towards the positive.
First of all, you cannot simply create something like this for free. A venue has to pay rent, has to pay the man hours to put on a production of this size (it takes months to plan something like this), and create all of the materials that go into promoting the contest such as the graphics, advertising work, print and television media.
This event took a lot of planning and love on behalf of people in the music community who ultimately wanted to help others in the music community.
Yes, it started out as a fee-based registration of $50, but it quickly became free when we listened to members of our music community. Some musicians were completely fine with paying the $50 registration fee and understood the undertaking of a production of this size on behalf of Revolution Hall.
On October 16, 2009, after having an incredible turnout of talent who audition throughout October and having heard excellent performances during the three final competition rounds, the Capital Region’s Got Talent judges selected Danielle Gaudin, a 28-year old medical assistant from Schenectady, NY. Without this competition her voice may never have been heard. Through the urging of her sister, Danielle decided to apply for the contest, she had never performed in public before.
Events like these, as well as other opportunities for musicians should be respected, because they create an opportunity where an opportunity may never have been presented before.
I invite you to consider these points, and to try to flesh out a rational and plausible plan of your own for a similar contest/competition. I look forward to seeing it in action.
Having positive experiences for the local music community is important and if you can create something that can make an earnest impact, then outstanding work! We all are working for the same thing-to bring undiscovered music to people who may not have been able to discover it on their own.
Check out what Capital Region’s Got Talent was really about at: http://www.myspace.com/capitalregionsgottalent and http://www.518fever.com/CRGT.htm.
Hello, thanks for the reply. I’m glad you guys changed the application fee to FREE, that’s good news to hear. Now that the application fee is free, I’ll definitely consider trying out the competition for next year.
I’m sure it was fun, it’s just that the $50.00 app fee bothered me like a lot of people.
You guys did a smart thing making it free, kudos. Hope you didn’t take this post personal as it is just me ranting and giving my opinion on it. Thanks.
Kev
And congrats to Danielle by the way.
Kev