The contest is open to ALL living in the USA with the following exceptions

1. A past Atlanta Indian Idol Champion in the Senior group cannot compete;
2. A past Atlanta Indian Idol Champion in the Junior group cannot compete in the Junior category again but can compete in the Senior category.
3. This exception does not apply to the 1st and 2nd Runner-ups and the other finalists who can compete in their eligible age group.

The competition will be held for two groups based on age:

1. Junior Group: A contestant must be between the ages of 12 (on or after the 12th birthday) and 17 (before the 18th birthday) years as of the day of the Championship Round to enter the competition in this group. Translated, this means that a JUNIOR contestant be born between November 15, 2003 and November 14, 2009, inclusive of the dates. .
2. Senior Group: A contestant must be at least 18 years old (i,e., on or after the 18th birthday) as of the day of the Championship Round to enter the competition in this group. Translated, this mean A SENIOR contestant must be born on or before November 14, 2003. However, a Junior Champion from previous a year may also compete in this category and the age criteria will not apply.
3. A contestant can compete only in one group.
4. Please see exceptions detailed in Section 01 (Who Can compete?)

Songs performed must be a HINDI song from a “Bollywood” movie. In this context a Bollywood movie is defined as a film produced by the Mumbai film industry and the song has Hindi as the primary language.

1. Qualifying Round: The Qualifying round will be held at the IACA Auditorium located at 1281 Cooper Lake Road SE, Smyrna, GA 30082. Out-of-station contestants can compete in the qualifying round remotely. Please see Section 5 for more details on “Remote Auditioning".
2. Championship Round: The Semi-Final and Championship Rounds will be held in front of a live audience. Venue: Lassiter Concert Hall, 2601 Shallowford Rd, Marietta, GA 30066
3. All room, board and traveling expenses to and from the competition venues must be borne by the contestants and the organizers will bear no responsibility to provide them.
4. All contestants MUST report to the competition program coordinator at the respective venue per the scheduled notified to them. Late attendance may be grounds disqualification.

1. Though we prefer that contestants attend the qualifying round audition in person, contestants may wish to compete remotely for the qualifying round.
2. A remote contestant will send an audio file of his/her performance following all guideline in Section 8 to info@atlantaindianidol.org at least two days prior to the Remote Audition date for pre-qualification.
3. The pre-qualified contestants will compete live via Zoom during the qualifying round competition. The actual date, time and connection details will be notified by email to the contestants who prequalify. It may not be possible to re-schedule the Zoom session.
4. Atlanta Indian Idol and its organizers are not responsible for any technical or quality issues related to remote auditioning.
5. If qualified, remote contestants must agree to compete in person during the Championship Rounds at their own cost. Please see Section 04 for more details.

1. Contestants will compete based on the Selection Method and Criteria laid down in Section 8.
2. Contestants will be scored based on the scoring rubric laid down in Section 9.
3. The number of contestants to qualify from each group defined in Section 2 will be determined at a later date.

1. Contestants who qualify from the Qualifying round will compete based on the Selection Method and Criteria laid down in Section 08.
2. Application and registration for the Qualifying round is valid for the Championship rounds of the competition.
3. Contestants will be scored based on the scoring rubric laid down in Section 09.
4. The overall score will determine the Champion, 1^st Runner-up and the 2^nd Runner-up from each group as defined in Section 02.
5. Championship round may comprise of multiple stages and may require singing more than one song.

1. For each round and stage of the competition, a contestant will be required to sing one song of his/her choice.
2. Maximum duration of the song including prelude, interlude and ending music can be 4 minutes for qualifying rounds and 5 minutes for Semifinals and fianls.
3. Contestants may sing to “Karaoke” music. The “Karaoke” track (in standard CD format or standard high-resolution MP3 format) must be made available to the on-site program coordinator on the day of the competition for qualifying rounds. Contestants qualifying for the finals will have to share their “Karaoke” track at least seven (7) days prior to the day of the Championship Rounds.  (Additional instructions will be share with the qualifying contestants at an appropriate time.)
4. The organizers will have in-house audio system to play the track music. Instruments (e.g., Electronic Tanpura, Guitar, Keyboard, etc.) will be allowed as long the instrument is played / operated during the performance by the contestant and no other performer is involved.
5. A contestant may choose to perform without any instrumental or track accompaniment.
6. Karaoke tracks cannot have dominating vocal tracks. For example, karaoke tracks with additional voices may not be allowed and may be grounds for disqualification.
7. A setup time of 2 minutes (maximum) will be allowed per performance.
8. Slips/notes/lyric sheets for rendering the song will be allowed ONLY during the Qualifying round. Slips/notes/lyric sheets will NOT be allowed during the Championship round.

1. A panel of judges will individually score a performance based on the following criteria:
   • Tonal Accuracy
   • Sense of Rhythm
   • Lyrics
   • Tonal Quality
   • Diction, Articulation & Pronunciation
   • Mastery & Overall Presentation Style
2. Judges will be allowed to comment but not reveal the scores they have recorded on the scoring sheet provided.
3. Judges will score and rank the current performance based on all previous performances.
4. The judges’ score will have 100% weightage.
5. In case of a tie, the average of the judges’ ranks of the contestants tied will be considered.
6. For the Championship round, Audience Favorability Factor (AFF) will be considered to break ties if ties cannot be broken using rule 9.5. The methodology for determining the AFF will be announced prior to the Championship round.
7. The methodology for aggregating the judges' score will be announced prior to the competition rounds.
8. In all cases the decision of the Judges’ Panel will be final.

1. All contestants are required to pay a registration fee to enter the competition. The applicable registration is $15 for juniors and $25 for seniors as defined in Section 02.
2. Contestants and register and make online payment at the Atlanta Indian Idol website. Click here to register.
3. Deadline  to Register: Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 11:59 PM.

1. Certificate of Participation (against request in the application form)
2. Attractive trophies will be awarded to the Champions, 1^st Runners-up and 2^nd Runners-up from each group outlined in Section 2.
3. Cash prizes will be awarded to the Champions, 1^st Runners-up and 2^nd Runners-up from each group outlined in Section 2.
4. Other categories of awards will be announced at a later date.
5. The top contestants from both categories will be provided with opportunities to sing in various IACA programs throughout the year.
6. It is very likely that one of the Indian media channels will cover the program and may open up opportunities to participate in other national and international programs.

1. IACA Atlanta Indian Idol will have the right to all the performances and may decide to use audio/video/images from the competition for promotion and publicity at their will.
2. IACA Atlanta Indian Idol Contest organizers have the right to amend rules of the competition at any time as they may be necessary. However, no rules will be modified to favor or disfavor a contestant.
3. All participants agree that they shall treat the judges’ decisions as final. This is one of the major conditions for participating in this contest.

• Logo on all IACA communications (includes: newsletters to 10,000+ subscribers, & web page.)
• Stage recognition during Championship Rounds
• Full-page color ad, prominently placed, in the program souvenir
• 20 Free VIP Tickets

• Logo on all IACA communications (includes: newsletters to 10,000+ subscribers, & web page.)
• Stage recognition during Championship Rounds
• Full-page color ad, prominently placed, in the program souvenir
• 10 Free VIP Tickets

• Gold Sponsor: $2,500
• Logo on all IACA communications (includes: newsletters to 10,000+ subscribers, & web page.)
• Stage recognition during Championship Rounds
• Half Page Color ad in program souvenir
• 5 Free $50 Tickets

• Logo on all IACA communications (includes: newsletters to 10,000+ subscribers, & web page.)
• 3 Free $50 Tickets

• Logo on all IACA communications (includes: newsletters to 10,000+ subscribers, & web page.)
• 2 Free $50 Tickets

• Souvenir Page Size: 8”x10.5”(approx)
• Back Page/Full Page: Ad material layout: Portrait.

• Souvenir Page Size: 8”x10.5”(approx)
• Back Page/Full Page: Ad material layout: Portrait.

• Souvenir Page Size: 8”x10.5”(approx)
• Half Page Ad Sixe 5.25"x8" (approx)
• Half Page Ad material layout: Landscape.

• Artwork for advertisements and logos must be either in High Resolution JPG or High-Resolution PNG file format. Please verify with us if other formats are acceptable.