GENERAL RULES & REGULATIONS
- A contestant in the Miss Spokane Scholarship Organization (MSSO) program shall conduct herself with a professional attitude at all times.
- If a contestant's conduct is deemed unsatisfactory by the MSSO, the following procedure will be followed: A member of the MSSO will issue a warning to the contestant. If the condition causing this warning is corrected, no further action will be taken. If the condition is not corrected, the MSSO will review particulars regarding the infraction. The determination of MSSO as to the appropriate action shall be final and binding.
- Social media: A contestant will make sure posts, comments, and photos of her are appropriate.
- Communication: When submitting forms, etc. to the MSSO email, if a contestant does not receive an email back within 24 hours, the MSSO did not receive your email. All contestants must respond timely to communications with the MSSO. Timely communication is considered within 24 hours of a phone call, text message, or email.
- Contestants are not to contact or approach local sponsors and donors without MSSO approval. A list of sponsors and donors is located on the Miss Spokane website.
- A contestant is not authorized to obligate the MSSO to any expense or obligation in any form.
- A contestant is responsible for any damage she may cause during an event, rehearsal, competition, etc. If there are costs associated with any damage or clean up, the MSSO is not liable/responsible - the contestant will be required to cover any costs.
- A contestant must meet all MSSO deadlines.
- Sickness Policy: The MSSO will follow all health policies required by the venue/event or Miss Washington/America Organizations.
APPEARANCES & PUBLIC EVENTS
- All appearances and events where a contestant is labeled or announced as a MSSO contestant must have prior approval from the MSSO.
- A contestant may not participate in an interview, photo session, or any other type of publicity as a MSSO contestant unless a member of the MSSO is present. Exceptions will be determined solely by the MSSO.
- Contestants shall arrive 10-15 minutes early for all events (unless otherwise specified) and be properly groomed at the time of arrival.
- Contestants shall turn off cell phones during events. Cell phones shall only be used for emergency purposes or photo opportunities.
- Contestants shall be engaging with guests at all times during events and shall refrain from solely mingling with other contestants/titleholders/chaperones.
- The MSSO is not responsible for transportation to and from events.
COMPETITION
- A contestant may not contact a judge after the competition for feedback or inquire about any portion of the competition. The MSSO will collect feedback and will provide this to a candidate that requests it.
- Visitors (including parents, family members, friends, hairstylists, makeup artists, etc.) are not permitted to visit candidates during rehearsal(s), interview(s), or the competition itself. Contestants may use a hairstylist or makeup artist; however, this must be done prior to the arrival time on competition day.
- Contestants are not permitted to leave the venue for any reason on competition day after arrival, until the conclusion of the competition.
- Contestants must attend all required rehearsals and events.
TALENT
- Requirements
- Contestant talent presentations cannot be longer than 90 seconds from start to finish.
- The MSSO will time a live performance if a contestant chooses to perform without a background track. If a candidate goes over the 90 seconds, the judges will be informed.
- Contestants may not contact the competition or rehearsal venue(s) for any reason – all questions must go through the MSSO.
- Background Music
- Contestants may perform without a background track.
- Contestants must submit a MP3 file to the MSSO by the specified deadline. If no track is received by the deadline, the contestant will perform without background music.
- Track editing may not take place after the specified deadline.
- The track submitted cannot be longer than 90 seconds (this includes any silent sections).
- Tracks that exceed the time limit will be returned to the contestant for editing. The submission deadline for a talent track still applies to turn in an acceptable track. If an acceptable track is not submitted to the MSSO before the submission deadline, the contestant will perform without background music.
- In the case of a vocalist: An accompaniment may contain background vocal parts. While those voices should blend with the contestant's voice, they must not overpower her. A contestant may provide her own background vocals, using her own voice. This will not be announced that she has done so to the judges. A contestant may only be judged on what she performs live.
- In the case of an instrumentalist: An accompaniment may include the instrument a contestant is playing on stage. However, the instrument must not overpower the contestant (i.e., the accompaniment for a pianist may contain piano, but there should be no question in the judges’ minds what notes are coming from the candidate live onstage.)
- In the case of a tap dancer: Music may not include any tap sounds.
- A contestant may participate in the recording of her track by playing an instrument during her pre-record, but such will not be announced to the judges. She will only be judged on what is performed live.
- The MSSO will determine whether or not a contestant's background track is acceptable.
- Props
- If a contestant is using props, they must be approved by the MSSO prior to competition day.
- Props must be brought to the theater when the contestant arrives on competition day and must be taken home immediately following the competition. No exceptions.
- Props must be easy for 1-2 people to set up and remove from stage with minimal strength in no more than 30-45 seconds.
- NO large gymnastic mats will be allowed.
- NO props requiring “clean up” or that make the floor hazardous for contestants to walk/perform on afterwards will be allowed.
- NO hazardous science experiments are allowed.
- NO fire is allowed.
- If the contestant has a special microphone, sound, lighting, or prop request, these must be discussed with the MSSO in advance.
- Lighting will remain the same for each phase of the competition – unless the talent requires it for visual purposes (determined by the MSSO).
- Technical Difficulty
- In the event that a technical difficulty occurs while a contestant is performing her talent presentation on stage during the competition, the following procedure will go into effect:
- If the technical difficulty involves obvious problems with the audio (i.e. microphone/music soundtrack) which clearly inhibits the contestant's performance, the producer will either:
- Notify the sound and light engineer to immediately stop the performance and fade lights to black. The contestant will then be directed to exit and restart her talent presentation once the problem is corrected.
- Let the contestant finish her performance. Then the judges will decide if they need the candidate to perform her talent again, in order to fairly judge her performance.
- The technical difficulty must be observed by the production staff, MSSO representatives, and/or the judges in order to warrant a repeat performance.
- The contestant is to continue her performance, unless the lights fade to black and sound is turned off.
SCHOLARSHIP & AWARDS
*Also noted in the Miss America Local Contestant Contract.
- Scholarship amounts and awards will be published in the official MSSO competition program magazine and website.
- If for any reason, a titleholder can no longer hold the position, a runner up might take her place. The runner up might not receive any additional scholarship or awards.
- If a titleholder wins the state competition, it is up to the MSSO to determine whether or not a runner up will take over the local title.
- Any contestant who participates in another competition in or similar to the Miss America program automatically releases any eligibility as a runner up in the MSSO.
- Announced decision of the judges will be final. Documents pertaining to those decisions are confidential and will not be released.
- For any in-kind third-party awards, the MSSO holds no responsibility for the quality of the award. It is the contestant's/titleholder’s responsibility to comply with any third-party rules and regulations. The MSSO holds no responsibility for the rules and regulations regarding the in-kind third-party awards.
- Scholarship requests and deferments:
- Contestants have one calendar year from the competition date to request scholarship on the official scholarship request form. This form is available on the MSSO website.
- A scholarship deferment form may be submitted to defer scholarship award for one more calendar year. This form must be submitted within one year from the competition date. A deferment is subject to approval by the MSSO.
- All scholarship request forms and deferment forms must be submitted online.
AGREEMENT
I have read and understand, and hereby agree to comply with all the terms and conditions of this agreement as it pertains to rules, regulations, and requirements of the MSSO. Failure to abide by the rules, regulations, and requirements of the MSSO could result in the dismissal of the contestant from the competition and possible forfeiture of awards.