What is the 1st World Song Festival for the Blind?
The Festival is established as a song competition during which the blind or visually impairedsingers compete for the best performance. The songs are original, created specially for the purpose of the Festival.
Why is the Festival held?
The main aim of the festival is to promote talented blind amateur artists and enable them to beginprofessional vocal career on the international stage. On the occasion of the festival, knowledge of the importance of early detection of vision deficiencies and the need for regular testing for peoplebeing at risk for vision loss, will be promoted. Additional goal is to promote the city of Krakow as a friendly place for the people with disabilities, especially taking the initiative to help people withimpaired vision.
Who is the organizer of the Festival?
The organizers are four Lions Clubs in Krakow: the Old Town, Bona Sforza, Downtown andStanczyk. The project supports the Governor of District 121, Elzbieta Antoszewska. The idea was approved by all the delegates of the Europa Forum, which took place in Brussels in September2012, and the Special National Convention District 121 Poland, which took place in October 2012 inZakopane.
How many stages does the Festival consist of?
The festival has three stages.
♪ Stage I - the elimination and initial qualification of singers, on the basis of the submittedrecordings, taking place in Krakow.
♪ Stage II - hearing of the accepted singers and qualification of the best of them to the final contest, two days live in Krakow.
♪ Stage III - selection of the winners in the final contest in Krakow.
Who can participate in the Festival?
In the Festival can participate amateur singers, regardles of age, who are blind or visually impaired, nominated by one or a group of Lions Clubs.
How does a Lion Club reports the participant to the contest?
A Lion Club identifies a talented blind singer in their environment, provides them with an original song, specially written and composed for the singer, helps to record a track on CD/DVD, fills in the registration form and sends the recorded song to the organizers of the Festival in Krakow.
How many participants can one Lions Club report?
One Lions Club can report only one participant.
What is the deadline for reporting the participants to the contest?
Applications will be accepted until 31st May 2013.
Who will evaluate the performers and choose the best ones?
At the stage of evaluation a group of outstanding Krakow musicians will hear the songs, but at the time of auditions for competition it will be an international jury whose names will be available onhttp://www.lionsfestival.jordan.pl
What is the prize?
The first prize winning singer will be promoted by a recognized international phonographiccompany and will receive a gold statuette. The winners of the second and third place will receive a silver and a bronze statuette respectively.
Who bears the costs of the singer participation in the competition?
All costs associated with the singer's participation in the contest, that is: the cost of the song creation and recording, the participant's arrival and stay in Krakow, bears the Lion Club who reported the singer to the competition.
Where can I find the detailed regulations of the participation in the contest?
The contest rules are available on the festival site http://www.lionsfestival.jordan.pl
Is there a specific, desired style of the songs that are to be performed by the participants for the contest?
All submitted songs, regardless of their genre, will be judged by a jury. The expected length of thesongs is 4-5 minutes.
Do both the music and the words have to be specifically prepared for the contest orcan the participants use the existing lyrics and compose original music only?
A singer can be accepted to the competition on the condition that the song to be performed - its text and music - were specially written for this artist to take part in the Festival.
Will there be prizes for the composer and the author of the text?
Awards will be for the performers only.
What musical arrangement should be the song composed in?
The soundtrack of the recording can be arranged with the string quintet or the rhythmic section: percussion instruments, piano, guitar, bass guitar, including wind instruments.
Who can perform the song during the Festival?
The song specially composed for the contest, can be performed during the Festival exclusively by a blind or visually impaired soloist reported by the Lions Club.
