Country Singing Showdown 2025

COUNTRY SINGING SHOWDOWN RULES AND REGULATIONS

  1. Open to ALL - contestants performing as a SOLO (You may play an instrument on stage).

  2. All songs, including originals, performed by the contest must be country. No stage props, sheet music, special effects or lighting may be used by performers.

  3. Competitors must provide their own backup music - it is preferred to send the track to the convenors’ email to avoid using phones or electronics that may cut out mid audition. Please send a good-quality track. NOTE: The Buckle has a license for KaraFun – if you can find your song choice/ tones on this system, the sound crew can use this format as well.

  4. Entrants shall not have released a recording that has received commercial airplay for the purpose of selling records or have earned combined revenues of more than $1,000 (Cdn.) from personal music performances and/or Internet downloads (e.g. YouTube, iTunes, etc.), as of the date set for the current Kingston Fall Fair.

  5. Preregistration will open June 30, 2025, for all Divisions on www.kingstonfair.com

  6. Age as of September 30th, 2025

    • Youth Division: 5 – 12 years of age

    • Teen (formerly Juniors) Division 13 – 17 years of age

    • Open Division 18+

      **All contestants must preregister for the Qualifying Event Dates**

  7. Audition Dates are open to ALL ages – starting at 6 pm and hosted at the Buckle Kingston

    1. Wednesday, August 13th, 2025

    2. Wednesday, August 20th, 2025

    3. Wednesday, August 27th 2025

  8. Youth, Teen and Adult DIVISIONS: Up to 7 contestants from each Division will be accepted to perform at the finals. Finals will be hosted at the Kingston Fall Fair on September 12th and 13th.

  9. Please note that Judges may choose to give out - 1 GOLD PERFORMANCE per Division at the Audition nights – these contestants will automatically advance to Kingston Fall Fair Finals.

  10. Qualifying contestants will be contacted by September 1st to advance directly to the Finals at the Kingston Fall Fair in September.

  11. Teen contestants may need to provide I.D. clearly showing they are 17 years of age or younger as of September 30th, 2025.

  12. Previous first-place winners of the Youth and Junior (Teens) category may compete for the next level up in the divisions. Previous first-place winners in the Adult/Open divisions are not eligible to compete.

  13. Contestants will perform 1 song at the audition nights hosted at The Buckle.

  14. All Finalists will be requested to perform two songs at the Finals hosted at the Kingston Fall Fair

FINALS: Finalists from each division will perform at the Kingston Fall Fair Open Division – Friday, September 12th in the evening, and Youth & Teens on Saturday, September 13th in the afternoon. Judges will select the three winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) from EACH Division, and these winners will be awarded cash prizes accordingly.

SHOWDOWN ORGANIZERS, AT THEIR DISCRETION, MAY ADD UP TO TWO WILD CARD ENTRIES IN EACH DIVISION FROM CONTESTANTS WHO HAVE COMPETED DURING QUALIFYING NIGHTS OF THE CURRENT YEAR’S COMPETITION. SHOULD A WILD CARD ENTRY BE CHOSEN, THEY WOULD JOIN THE OTHER SEVEN CONTESTANTS AT THE FALL FAIR FINALS COMMITTEE

ORGANIZERS ALSO RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REPLACE NO-SHOWS AT THE FINALS WITH ANOTHER CONTESTANT WHO HAS COMPETED IN THE CURRENT YEAR.

JUDGING CRITERIA: 1 – 10 in each category – Max score 40

  • VOCAL – Quality of Voice, Mastery of Voice, Range, Dynamics

  • TECHNIQUE – Timing, Breathing, Pitch, Skill, Pronunciation

  • ARTISTRY – Expressiveness, Musicality, Lyrical Ability, Individuality, Song Choice

  • OVERALL ENTERTAINMENT – Charisma, Confidence, Movement, Stage Presence