A wedding is not only marriage registration and feasting, but also an entertainment program. What else, besides music, fits so organically into the cheerful and noisy atmosphere of the festival? Music competitions at weddings are the most popular. They do not require specific skills or abilities, because popular musical compositions are heard everywhere.
Regardless of whether the bride and groom choose a traditional celebration or prefer a more informal setting, there are many music competitions to suit each style of celebration.
Musical competitions for guests
There are many games that are played to music; you can choose from competitions that have already been tested over the years, or come up with your own.
The main thing is that they coincide with the theme of the celebration, the worldview of the guests and newlyweds. Therefore, it is worth choosing modern songs or those that were so popular before that older relatives constantly sing them. Otherwise, the contestants may not recognize the melody or the meaning of the words.
The simplest and at the same time famous music competition is “Guess the Melody”. To do this, you need to stock up on music from which the words have been removed.
If there are many older guests at the wedding, then preference is given to Russian-language songs that were popular 10-20 years ago.
But if the holiday is created for young people, then you should choose modern songs, foreign or domestic.
National compositions that are well known enough to be able to guess their motive are also good. It is better not to use melodies from rap, most often they are very similar to each other. In such songs, the emphasis is on words, so the arrangement is rather sparse and can mislead guests.
The second competition that both guests and newlyweds will enjoy is “Remember the Song.”
To do this, several teams are created that must take turns singing the words of a composition on a given topic. Those who remember the most songs will win.
Topics for the competition:
- wedding songs;
- where they sing about love;
- those that mention the names of the newlyweds;
- telling about the profession of the newlyweds (if it is popular).
This competition has a more difficult version in which guests are divided into two teams and must remember opposing concepts.
The first group remembers words about everything “very, very big”, the other – small.
HOW TO CHOOSE A SONG GENRE FOR THE COMPETITION?
The genre depends both on your character and on the specific competition.
First, look at which genre is closer to your spirit, in which genre you look organically and naturally. You should not choose a song in a genre that is not close to you.
Read the Competition Regulations carefully. Sometimes it contains requirements for the genre. If possible, look at records from previous years. What do the participants usually sing? Which songs get the highest scores? If you sing rap, but at this competition they like “pop”, then you shouldn’t re-educate the jury - just choose another competition.
We choose the genre according to its character and taking into account the customs of a particular competition!
Song competitions - the funniest options
In addition to competitions related to music, there are also games that are based on the lyrics of songs. And it doesn’t matter who wins, the main thing is that all the guests laugh during the process.
For such competitions, it is advisable to invite a qualified presenter - it is almost impossible to conduct them independently.
Without special training and developed skills, even the most fun situation will look boring. In order to involve all the guests, only a few sheets of paper with selected words are needed in the competition to congratulate the newlyweds.
According to the rules, the invitees must create a song in which they congratulate the newlyweds on this significant day, but to do this, use only the given words or phrases.
There can be 2 teams, but 3 is best to maintain excitement, but not provoke rivalry between guests.
Depending on the complexity and number of words, 5-10 minutes are given for writing. After this, each team chooses one representative who will sing it to the newlyweds.
It is best to warn guests that they will evaluate not only the text itself, but also how artistically it was presented. The main judges in this competition are the bride and groom, who will decide who to give the prize to.
You will not need any special props to run this competition.
To begin with, the host forms several teams, each of which should have 3-5 guests.
After that, he explains the rules and says a phrase from any song, the first team must answer it with a line from another song. The next group does the same, but for the words of the previous one. This creates a unique and funny song. According to the rules, you must answer very quickly. Those who do not answer within 5 seconds receive a penalty; if half a minute is reached, the team is eliminated.
This happens until the last group remains, or if two teams cannot continue the battle.
This is a very fun competition, it is important that the operator captures it as a memory.
Therefore, it is necessary to warn him in advance about long-term filming. To play the “Broadcasting Crown” you will need a paper hat or crown and a piece of music. The host first asks what the bride is thinking about, pretending to put a crown on her head. The first excerpt plays in the background. The toastmaster does the same with the groom and guests. There are no winners or losers in this competition, it is aimed at entertaining everyone present.
The better the song excerpts are chosen, the more laughter they will generate.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TOPIC OF A SONG FOR A VOCAL COMPETITION
Try to choose a song that matches your character and age. Especially if the song is in Russian. If the song is in a foreign language, then the risk of making the wrong choice is slightly less. But nevertheless, many members of the jury of vocal competitions speak foreign languages or at least know the meaning of many foreign songs.
If you are 14 years old, then you shouldn’t take a naive children’s song. At the same time, it will look inorganic if you take into the competition the song of an adult who has seen life. Everything should be natural.
Be careful with songs containing questionable morals: mentions of alcohol, smoking, sex, drugs, etc. If you sing a foreign song, carefully read the translation. Avoid touching on controversial political topics.
It’s probably not worth reminding that the lyrics of the song should correspond to your gender.
Of course, if only in this song you can reveal your brilliant mastery of vocal tricks, then you can try to take a risk. It is not known what will outweigh the jury's attitude - admiration for the brilliant vocals or embarrassment at the inadequacy of the song for the performer. But remember that often, even with a brilliant performance, but the song does not match the performer, the score is reduced, since the jury understands that, apparently, the choice of songs that you can cope with is not very large, since you did not find something suitable for your age.
We make sure that the lyrics of the song correspond to the gender and age of the performer!
Funny competition for young people - “funny interview”
This competition is an incredible success both at corporate events and at home ones. To conduct it, you need to prepare sheets of paper with questions and answers in advance. Of course, the questions should not coincide with the answers, but in general express a thought of a certain nature or have subtext. Sample questions you can use:
- Do you often leave work early?
- Do you like to eat well?
- Do you snore at night?
- How often do you shower?
- Do you like cognac?
- Sample answers might sound like this:
- This is my favorite activity.
- I will never give this up.
- My finances don't allow me to do this.
- At any opportunity.
We put cards with questions and answers in different hats, one person takes out the question, the second takes out the answer. The number of questions and answers must be the same. You can continue these funny interviews until your stomach hurts from laughing or until you get tired of it.
If the contingent of your event is young people, you should also stock up on spicy competitions . Please note that such entertainment should not be carried out at the very beginning of the party; young people should drink a little and relax. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACKING SACK OF A SONG FOR A VOCAL COMPETITION
At all vocal competitions, the song is performed live by the vocalist.
At all pop competitions, performances to a “minus” soundtrack are offered.
Performance with live instruments is already a rarity. If you are thinking of singing with a guitar, piano, accordion or with your own orchestra, then remember that the competition organizers are not always ready to provide the opportunity for such a performance. Even if they don’t mind, it’s far from a fact that the instrumental microphones will be configured in a balanced manner. Not all competitions provide the opportunity to customize before the audition begins. And even after your preliminary setup, the sound engineer can accidentally mess everything up. Trying to adjust the microphones before performing during an audition will cause a hitch that will irritate the jury. You will start walking around the hall, and you will not get the attention you need. Therefore, it is better not to take risks! Perform with the instrument only when you are sure that everything is set up in advance and there will be no failures.
At some competitions, performing to a soundtrack that has “backing vocals” is prohibited. That is, as a rule, there should not be any vocals on the soundtrack. Even if this is not written in the Competition Regulations, be sure to check with the organizers so as not to get into trouble.
However, if there is no such prohibition, then you can significantly improve the impression of your performance by adding backing vocals in the right places, adding power to the song. This should only be done with professional studios. Don't overdo it!
And, of course, the quality of the backing track must correspond to the level of the competition. You should not go to serious competitions with “crush” (backing tracks obtained from the original track by “crush” the frequencies at which the voice sounds). Also, you should not use backing tracks with altered keys if the changes were made by auto-tuning by more than 1 tone. In such cases, the instruments sound unnatural. Even if you don’t hear this, jury members and professional musicians will hear “falseness” and “dirtiness,” which will definitely reduce your points.
We use only professional backing tracks!
On the site you can download official high-quality backing tracks for songs for children and teenagers for free.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE STRUCTURE (FORM) OF A SONG FOR A VOCAL COMPETITION
In a vocal competition, your vocals are assessed first. Therefore, try to avoid choosing songs with long instrumental intros, long bridges and instrumental fills, or a long instrumental ending.
If your song is exactly like this, it is advisable to mercilessly cut out everything unnecessary from the backing track in the studio. There should be so many pauses that you have time to catch your breath, and no more. Remember that the jury members want to hear your voice, not the beauty of the orchestra. They are tired and want to go home, but they still have several dozen performers to listen to. The presence of long pauses in vocals irritates them, which means it reduces your chance of success.
If an instrumental insertion cannot be avoided, then think about whether you can somehow entice the jury at this point. For example, beautiful vocalization. As a last resort (if allowed by the competition format) an incendiary dance. It is important to keep the jury's attention throughout the entire song. And it’s better if it’s your vocals.
No long instrumental parts!
SONG LENGTH REQUIREMENTS FOR A VOCAL COMPETITION
Most often, competition organizers prefer songs that are not too long. The gold standard is 3 minutes. Even if the competition documentation does not specify duration requirements, try to adhere to the choice of exactly such songs.
In a song that is too short, you most likely will not have time to reveal all the facets of your talent.
A song that is too long will make you want to stop you. After all, during the competition the jury is forced to listen to dozens and sometimes hundreds of speakers. Abuse of time can play a cruel joke in the jury members’ perception of you. Brevity is the sister of talent (sorry for the long article).
Remember also that in many competitions the jury has the right to stop the performer. If you take a long song, then difficulties arise with the distribution of “chips” (see below). If you give out all the tricks at the beginning of the song, you will not be able to add further development, and at the end you will have nothing to surprise the jury. If you leave some tricks for the end, you risk not showing them at all if the jury stops your performance earlier.
Of course, if your backpack with songs is not yet large, and there is no song suitable in terms of “timing” (duration), then you need to consult with the organizers in advance about the possibility of performing a song of a different length.
Preference for short songs - no more than 3 minutes!
There are many songs on the site with backing tracks that are specifically written in the gold standard length of 3 minutes.
WHAT IS BETTER FOR A VOCAL COMPETITION, A FAMOUS OR NEW SONG?
The answer to this question seriously depends on your capabilities and the specific competition. Here's what you need to pay attention to.
Famous songs are often best perceived by ear. The jury sings the song “to themselves” together with you. This is a plus.
The jury members have heard this song more than once. Perhaps even within the framework of this particular competition, several participants have already sung it. Many people are already tired of it. This is a minus.
The jury members know what the song “should” sound like—they have a deeply ingrained template in their heads. Deviations from this pattern can give both a big plus and a huge minus. Some advanced vocalists try to do completely new versions of famous songs in order to surprise the jury with their inventiveness. But unfortunately, often even the most conservative jury does not correctly evaluate such a step. We are all slaves to our habits. An unusual interpretation is sometimes perceived with hostility.
The jury members heard and remember how this song was sung by a professional artist. Most likely, you will sing “no better” than an adult professional. Someone will be able to make a discount for age. But overall, this is a minus.
On the other hand, a new song may simply not work the first time. Even hits often become hits only after the 3rd... 10th listen. This is a risk.
But if the new song is of high quality, then on the contrary it becomes a pleasant surprise for the jury members. That's a plus.
If you have a professional vocal teacher and you have filled the new song with interesting features, then this looks advantageous. And most importantly, the jury members do not know how an experienced star would sing it - in any case, your performance is the best of all available! This is a plus.
In general, the strategy for choosing new or famous songs should be:
- If there is an opportunity to present a new hit song, and you (together with your teacher) are ready to make an amazing vocal arrangement, do not hesitate to make a new song.
- If you have a unique talent, but don’t have your own song, take a song that was written for the same teenagers and try to sing it better than the original. The chances of out-singing a peer are greater than the chances of out-singing a star master. You can find modern songs for teenagers and download backing tracks for them for free on the website olhanskiy.ru
- Don't choose the "tired" songs that everyone sings. If you take a well-known song, then take something more or less new, modern.
- Be careful when choosing famous songs that are sung much better than your version.
- If you have chosen a song previously sung by professional artists, try to take all the features from the original and add your own, in accordance with your unique vocal capabilities. But do not overdo it with alterations - this is a risk.
A high-quality new song with a high-quality vocal arrangement is better than a well-worn one!
