Greetings potential Stars! ALA’s Next Top Star ™ returns for another year, even better and brighter. Once again, we’re on a search for the best and the brightest! From dancing to singing, comedy, voice acting – anything and everything in between – we want you! The winner will be the opening act of the Masquerade and will win some amazing prizes! There will even be special half time performances by some very special guests!
Your Judges this year are:
Lemar Harris, Ally Vega, and Ariem Cosplay
ALA’s Next Top Star! ™ Sign Ups will be available online this year. As a friendly reminder- spots are limited, and submissions will close on December 15th.
Copies of the rules and entry forms will be available online and onsite.
In order to minimize in person contact with the judges, all contestants must submit a video audition with their online application.
Judges will convene on Friday, January 6th to review and judge video auditions. From there, the top 5 performances will be selected to perform at the Top Star Finals, on Saturday, January 7th, in 104 A/B
The 5 finalists will be notified by 6pm, Friday, January 6th, and will have a mandatory meeting at 7pm in the Programming Operations Office ( 201 B)
Finalist check in will be at 10am, Saturday January 7th, in 104 A/B
*Please note that all contestants must check in. Failure to do so may result in disqualification from the competition.
– The Winning performer(s) will check in with the masquerade department head in Main Events (room TBA) for tech rehearsal following the conclusion of the event at 2pm, so make sure that you don’t run off right away!
1st and 2nd runner ups will receive some awesome prizes, front row seats to the masquerade, and an honorable mention during the masquerade introduction!
ALA’s Next Top Star ™
Disclaimer: If you violate any of these rules, you will be disqualified and dropped from the competition.
The Rules:
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All contestants must have a valid badge for Anime Los Angeles 18.
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All entries must turn in their paperwork, music, and documentation to the ALA’s Next Top Star Department at the mandatory finalist meeting (Friday, January 7th, 6pm in the Programming Operations Office, Room 201B)
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Groups may have up to 8 members, including both presenters and ninjas. Larger groups may be allowed on a case-by-case basis at the Department Head’s discretion, but this number has been chosen to reduce crowding backstage.
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Skits and presentations focused on cosplay are prohibited – this is a talent show, not a masquerade.
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The following acts are permitted:
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Musical acts (solo, duets, group acts, Idol groups, instrumentalists)
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Dance acts (solo and group acts)
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Voice Over
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Comedy Acts
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Stunt/Martial arts (solo, groups/teams)
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Variety- (this can be anything from juggling to acrobatics)
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Closed video auditions will be held on Friday, January 6th, from 3:00pm-5:00pm. Contestants will not be present at this time
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Video auditions must be submitted at the time your online application is completed. Video auditions cannot exceed 60 seconds in length, and must be emailed to- topstar@animelosangeles.org
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Audition results will be posted outside of the Programming Ops Office (Room 201B) by 6pm,on Friday, January 6th. Contestants will also be notified (via email, phone call or text)
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Entries will be allowed up to 4 minutes on stage for the main competition.
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The standard PG rule applies for both costume and content, as this is a family-friendly competition. No costume is “no costume.” The director reserves the right to screen entries for content, and inappropriate material will be grounds for rejection or disqualification. *This applies to both your audition video and performance
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Each presenter may only appear on stage in a single entry. One body, one presentation.
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No live animals are allowed on stage or in the backstage area with an exception for:
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service animals.
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No materials or effects that will leave a mess on stage are allowed (this includes glitter, confetti, streamers, silly string, etc.)
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No pyrotechnics or any other sorts of open flame are allowed.
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Check in is required for the top 15 contestants. Check in will take place at 10:00am, Saturday, January 8th backstage (LP 1 Main Programming, Room 104 A&B). Contestants not present at check in will be dropped from the competition.
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For audio tracks, we accept CDs and audio files (audio files are preferred). If you are providing an audio file, please include the name of your contact person and entry name in the filename. This works best if the file is provided via a USB storage device (thumb drive). For CDs, the “5-copy” rule is a good guideline. Terrible things can happen to discs; make a master and 4 copies. Pack them in separate bags. We’ve seen too many people lose their only copy of their audio. We are not able to play or rip music off portable MP3 players, such as iPods. All music must be turned in Friday by 1pm, when registration closes.
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If you’re going to have large props or plan to pre-set or leave things on stage, you should bring your own ninjas to get them on and off stage. We will have a limited number of ninjas available to pick up things that are accidentally dropped, as well as to assist contestants up and down the stage stairs.
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There will be no access to power on stage. Extension cords all over the stage aren’t safe!
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The default lighting cue is: lights go up, The Host will introduce you and you come on at stage left, you perform – upon the conclusion of your performance, the judges will have some comments for you, then you leave stage right. While we can make variations on this setup, we are not able to provide complex lighting schemes. If you desire anything other than default lighting or music cues, discuss it when you check in and we’ll do our best to accommodate your requests
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During the contestant check in, there will be an opportunity to do a quick tech run through- we ask the contestants make sure they have their cues, – we will not allow anyone to ‘hold up’ the stage, as there is a limited amount of time before the audition round to set everything up.
