Contact Rosemary Gast
Local Bill Riley Talent Show Coordinator
102 Main Street
Steamboat Rock, IA  50672
641-868-2244
rosemarygast@yahoo.com

BILL RILEY’S IOWA STATE FAIR TALENT SEARCH
RULES FOR SHOW CONTESTANTS

1. Show is open to legal residents of the state of Iowa only. Acts must appear in a locally sponsored show somewhere in the state of Iowa and win to be eligible to compete at the Iowa State Fair. Judges decisions are final.

2. Sprouts: 2 through 5 years
Juniors: 6 through 14 years
Seniors: 15 through 21 years
A person’s age for the Iowa State Fair competition is determined at the time they win a local show. A 14 year old (or 21 year old) could turn 15 (or 22) by State Fair and still be eligible in the Junior (or Senior) division, as they met age requirements at the time of qualification.

3. Acts with multiple performers, shall compete in the appropriate category by adding all of the ages in the act and dividing by the total members in the act.

4. Acts must attempt to keep the performance as close to three minutes as possible. Acts running longer than three minutes are subject to possible disqualification or point deduction. This will be at the judge’s discretion, but why take the chance? Keep the act at three minutes please. Set-up time is not included. Please try to limit set-up time to one minute.

5. No more than five persons are allowed in an act. Piano accompanist is NOT included in an act and may be any age. No more than three accompanists permitted per act. Drums, amps, etc. are discouraged due to the one-minute set-up time. No combos, rock bands or similar musical group permitted.

6. Acts are asked to not dance onto or off the stage. After introductions, you may take any position you wish to begin your performance.

7. Vocalists are strongly encouraged to practice and perform with the assistance of a vocal coach and/or a live accompanist. We understand that live accompanists are expensive, and sometimes very difficult to obtain for some performers. We will allow prerecorded accompaniment as long as it is a single instrument. Any prerecorded tape with backing vocals, multiple instrumentation or orchestration is not allowed, and the act will be disqualified.

8. Contestants may only appear once in any given show. They may not perform “solo” and then return in the same show in a duet or trio. Contestants are allowed to perform in different acts in different shows, but they may only qualify for the State Fair Show with one act.

9. Professionals are NOT permitted to compete. This includes Union musicians and anyone whose principle source of income is from their talent. Compensation for performing at weddings, etc. does not constitute principle source of income.