Rules

Eligibility: The STAR 88.3 & Huntington University 2011 Battle of the Bands, presented by Sweetwater Sound, Inc. and Reusser Design is open to all individuals and groups not signed to any major record label and subject to additional restrictions as determined by the management team of the Battle of the Bands. The Battle of the Bands is open to all residents of the United States and Canada who are 18 years or older at the time of entry or have provided a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian. Staff of STAR 88.3, employees of Huntington University, sponsors, vendors, suppliers, and each of its respected affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any person domiciled with, any such employees or staff, are not eligible to enter or win.

How to Enter: All entries must submitted via the Battle of the Bands link on STAR 88.3.com by no later than midnight, March 25, 2011. Check here for details.

What to Enter: Participants should submit one (1) or two (2) recordings to STAR883.com and band point of contact information. All songs must be accompanied by complete lyrics to be eligible for consideration. Participants may also wish to submit band photo, logo and website or fan page links. Finally, there is a $60 processing fee that must be paid at the time of entry.

The Battle: The 2011 Battle of the Bands will occur in five rounds:

Round 1: This is the submission stage. All entries will be submitted via the Battle of the Bands link on STAR883.com for consideration from March 1, 2011 to March 25, 2011 by midnight EST (Eastern Standard Time). These entries will then be reviewed by the Battle of the Bands management team and various judges and 12 will be selected from the entries received. These 12 entries will then proceed on to Round 2.

Round 2: This is the online fan voting stage. On April 1, 2011, the top 12 bands will be submitted online for fans to vote. All online voting will end April 15th at midnight EST (Eastern Standard Time). After this stage, the field will be weighted based on the average scores of the fans..

Round 3: The 12 entries selected during Round 2 will be invited to Round 3. In this round each band will have ten (10) minutes to play two (2) songs. (Be prepared to play three if time permits.) Each band will be given a total of 15 minutes to include both performance and set-up and tear-down. Set-up and tear-down time will overlap between entries. The third round will be held at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne on Saturday May 7th and Saturday May 14th. Six bands will be invited the first week and six bands will be invited the second week. Set times to be determined. All entrants are required to send at least one member to a pre-event meeting to be held on the day of the event at a time and place to be determined.

Round 4: Here's where the Battle takes an exciting new turn. In 2011, the Battle of the Bands will be a regional qualifier for the Battle For Christ, a much larger competition with bands representing TN, KY, IN, OH, NJ, GA, NC, SC. The top two bands from May 7 and the top two bands from May 14 will advance to the Semi-Final Round of the Battle For Christ on June 3rd in Chattanooga, TN. For more information regarding judges, rules, awards, etc. for Round 4 go to http://www.thebattleforchrist.net.

Round 5: The top four bands from the Semi-Final Round of the Battle For Christ will advance to the Final Round the next day, June 4th, at JFEST 2011, East Ridge, TN. For more information regarding judges, rules, awards, etc. for Round 5 go to http://www.thebattleforchrist.net.

Technical Information: For Round 3 of the Battle of the Bands, a stage with a PA with 48 inputs including 10 D.I.s, 16 monitor mixes, 4 SM58 microphones with stands and cables, and a basic lighting package will be provided. Additional mixes are available if you have an in ear system (we will not provide transmitter, receiver or buds). A 5-piece drum kit of sufficient quality with standard equipment including high-hat stand, crash stand, and ride stand will be provided. Drummers are required to use this kit, but must provide their own sticks and cymbals as well as any additional hardware if necessary. They may use their own snare drum and/or kick pedal. An SWR410 with a head or comparable amp will be provided. All bassists are required to use this amp. A keyboard will be provided with sustain pedal, but it is up to the group to choose whether or not to use it. Guitarists and any other instrumentalists are required to bring their own equipment. Stage crew as well as a monitor and "front-of-house" engineers will be provided. All bands must use these personnel. No exceptions. For technical information regarding Rounds 4 and 5 please go to http://www.thebattleforchrist.net.

Judging Criteria: Entrants picked for Round 3 of the competition will be judged on the following criteria: (1)Musicality including, Instrumental Ability, Lyrics/Vocal Quality, Rhythm/Tempo, and Song Structure. (2) Stage Presence including, Energy Level, and Crowd Interaction. (3) Originality. (4) Professionalism including, Set-up/Tear-down Efficiency, and Time. Note: for the Time category, points will be deducted for every minute an entrant goes over the specified time limit. For Judging criteria for rounds 4 and 5 please go to http://www.thebattleforchrist.net.

Prizes: The top four bands from round 4 will perform at JFEST 2011 in the "Final Battle". The overall winner at JFEFST will open before the Afters, Mandisa and Sanctus Real at the Three Rivers Festival in Fort Wayne, IN on July 10, 2011 and perform at Legacy Production's 2nd annual Christian concert at Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens, TN on August 25, 2011 in front of a major label Christian artist.

The top two bands from Round 5 will be invited to perform on stage at Ichthus 2011 in Wilmore, KY and compete in the Ascenxion Scout Project with 10 other bands. Check out http://www.ichthusfestival.org/info/ascenxion for the Ascenxion Project. Bands that progress to the Ascenxion Scout competition will perform on another stage at Ichthus during the festival. The Acenxion Scout winner will move on to the CFA National Talent Search Competition with a chance at an opportunity to perform at 14 Christian festivals in 2012.

The grand prize winner from the Ascenxion Project will get a 10 minute slot on the Ichthus Main Stage and a 30 minute slot on the Ichthus Deep End Stage. The grand prize winner will also move on to the national competition to compete against the other 14 festival winners. The second place band will receive a slot on the Ichthus Deep End Stage The third and fourth place bands will each receive slots on the Ichthus Edge Stage. The remaining 6 bands will all receive a slot on one of the Ichthus Indie stages sometime during the festival. Each band that qualifies for the final battle at Ichthus will have the opportunity to submit a biography and several mp3s to be used on the Ichthus radio station that broadcasts during the festival.

The Ascenxion Scout winner will compete against the other festival finalists and will be both voted on through a National fan voting page and considered by the CFA (Christian Festival Association) National Talent Search panel.

Fan voting will take place between September 15 and October 31. The 2011 CFA National Talent Search Winner will be selected by considering both the fan voting results and panel judges' voting selection.

The ultimate winner of the CFA National Talent Search will be Final winner to be selected and notified by November 7, 2011.

The CFA National Talent Search Winner receives:
• Full performance slot at each participating 2012 CFA festival (stage and time slot to be determined by each individual festival).
• Inclusion on artist list of each participating 2012 CFA festival.
• Featuring of National winner on all participating CFA member festival websites.
• Listing on all participating CFA member festival Facebook pages promoting winner.
• 3 songs recorded free in Chicago land. Artist is responsible for travel / meals / lodging. We'll take care of tracking / mixing.

Winner Notification and Acceptance:

Round 1: The Thirty (30) bands selected from Round 1 will be notified no later than Midnight EST, March 31st, 2011.

Round 2: The Twenty-four (24) winners picked by the fans will be notified no later than Midnight EST, April 22nd, 2011. Lineups for Round 3 will be provided at this time.

Round 3: The four (4) winners of Round 3 will be announced from stage at Sweetwater Sound on May 7th and May 14th. Two winners from each date will be picked and announced each day.

Round 4: The four (4) Semi-Final winners will be announced from stage in Chattanooga, TN at the conclusion of the round on June 3rd, 2011.

Round 5: The Top two (2) winners and the overall Battle For Christ 2011 winner will be announced on June 4th from the stage at JFEST 2011 in East Ridge, TN at the conclusion of the battle.

All entrants must complete an affidavit of eligibility certifying that the entrant has complied with Official Rules of the Contest, and a liability and publicity release before the prizes are awarded. Failure to sign and return the affidavit of release, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner's disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a substitute winner.

Participation: By submitting via www.star883.com, contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and the management of Battle of the Bands. Battle of the Bands reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any respect of this Contest as solely determined by Battle of the Bands. In the event the Contest is compromised by non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Battle of the Bands, which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness, or proper operation of the Contest, Battle of the Bands reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify, or terminate the Contest. Should the registration be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Battle of the Bands reserves the right to terminate the contest or selected bands based on the entries received up to that point in time. On performance days, band members must be dressed in clothing free from obscenities, drugs, alcohol, sex, or any other subject matter not suitable for the festival atmosphere. Band name and lyrics must not contain any obscenities. The entire performance must be clean, non-offensive, and suitable for the atmosphere of Battle of the Bands and the Battle For Christ. Drugs and alcohol are not permitted in the stage/performance area during the duration of the contest, festival, or any performance associated with the Battle of the Bands or the Battle For Christ. If the band incites moshing or any other sort of violence in the crowd, it will be disqualified. Any willful or negligent destruction or theft of equipment or personal property belonging to STAR 88.3, Huntington University, Sweetwater Sound, The Battle For Christ, Legacy Productions or other sponsors by an entrant will result in automatic disqualification. The entrant will also be liable for the replacement value of the item.

Liability: Battle of the Bands, Battle For Christ, and management will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, or misdirected registrations or for failure to receive registrations due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware, or software. Battle of the Bands and its management will also not be responsible for any damaged, lost, or stolen, equipment or personal property belonging to the entrants or guests of the entrants.

Construction: The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

Sponsors: The Battle of the Bands and the Battle For Christ may be sponsored by a variety of entities, including STAR 88.3, Huntington University, Sweetwater Sound, Inc. and Reusser Design. The decisions of Battle of the Bands, the Battle For Christ, and the contest judges regarding the selection of the winners and all other aspects of the contest shall be final and binding in all respects. Battle of the Bands nor the Battle For Christ will not be responsible for typographical, printing, or otherwise inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the Contest.

For a list of winners (available following the contest), visit www.star883.com.

If you have any questions regarding the Battle of the Bands, please email .