It’s that time of year again, and with wildcard season fast approaching, we need to discuss a very important topic – the wildcard judging criteria!
You can now submit your wildcard. Make sure you read all the rules and fill out the form. Good luck!
Since the last GBB, we have spent a considerable amount of time discussing a wide range of topics with prominent figures in the community, including artists, judges, organisers, and beatbox pioneers. One of the main topics that we have been discussing at length is that of the judging criteria.
As you may know, we have been developing a system of judging that allows for a fair and measurable outcome when it comes to video contests, including online battles and wildcard contests. The system was an expanded version based off of the original system of “Originality, Musicality, Technicality, and Showmanship,” first implemented by Beatbox Battle TV at the Beatbox World Championships.
This evolution began with the first Kickback battles, and continued on to GBB21, during which time we continually kept evolving and modifying the system. We have since continued to do this by having these long discussions with the community leaders, and have implemented a few more changes and updates as per feedback given to us by these professionals.
These criteria are a baseline to be used to judge the wildcard competition only! Due to the fast paced nature of the live battles, it’s impossible to implement this system in a live battle at this time. We will still have ongoing discussions with community leaders, and will continue to work on a way to implement a more thorough system for the live battles.
A major point of feedback we received from judges was the fact that those judges that have many years (sometimes decades) of experience judging don’t want to be forced into a new method that might not work as well for them as their own proven one. As such, we have made our judging criteria an optional set of guidelines that the judges should use as a reference point, but are not forced to fill out to the fullest extent if they feel that their own proven system works for them. The main goal for each judge will be to provide a final rank for each category. Then, each rank in that category will be assigned a point, and then the final points from each judge are tallied up, giving us the final ranked and qualified artists (for example rank 1 is given 30 points, rank two 29, all the way down to rank thirty given 1 point).
Additionally, due to a large amount of negative backlash that has happened in the past (aimed primarily at specific judges), we will no longer be posting individual judge results with their names attached. The goal of showing judge results, besides providing a level of transparency, was to give a system of feedback to the artists. Instead, it developed into a toxic trait of fans blaming specific judges for their favourite artists not getting into the competition. We are trying to develop a system that promotes both transparency and a solution for providing feedback, while protecting the judges who work so hard to make these events possible.
As such, we will only be posting the judges’ individual ranks, without naming each judges’ list. Instead, each ranked list will be posted with a “Judge 1, Judge 2” etc title. The list will also only be posted as a ranked list without the specific points from each category.
In the end we are dealing with a musical art-form that is being treated like a sport, and any system or criteria of judging in any kind of art will always be subjective. This is an ongoing endeavour, and we are trying to find the best middle ground that works for both the contestants and the judges, without compromising the uniqueness of this incredible vocal profession.
One thing to keep in mind – we do not want to influence the evolution of beatbox through this system!
Over the years, we have noticed (and been informed by the beatboxers themselves) that beatboxers will forcibly change their routines or even their style of beatboxing to adapt to a perceived system of judging in the hopes that they will get further in a battle. We (including many other community leaders) feel that this is counterproductive to the evolution of the artform, which should encourage freedom of expression and variety. We are posting this judging criteria in an effort to be transparent, and to help evolve the sport of beatboxing itself. This will allow other professionals to utilise this system in their own battles, give the contestants an insight into the judging system, or just allow people to give us feedback on how we can improve the ongoing evolution of this judging system.
The best thing we can do to uphold the integrity of any judge system is first and foremost by hiring qualified and experienced judges, which is our main priority.
However, there are always newer and younger talents arriving on the scene that will end up judging these events, and these ever growing judging criteria are designed to be used as a guideline to help the next generation in developing their judging skills to give fair and accurate results during these competitions.
Below is a link to each category’s judging criteria, along with the proposed points associated with each category. On top of this is an explanation of what each category means, and a method for applying points in each of them. As mentioned above, judges will not be forced to use this method to create their final ranks, however, this is designed as a reference guide for them to use, and will be closely monitored to make sure that judges are giving fair and accurate analysis when judging the wildcards. In other words, only judges that have proven track records of fair and accurate judging will be allowed to use their own systems, newer/younger judges will be advised and guided to use this system.
If you are an experienced beatbox professional, and have some feedback about how we can improve these systems of judging, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by emailing [email protected]. If you are a beatbox battle organiser and wish to implement this system at your own event, or just have more questions about the system itself, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on the above email address.
NB: Please note, all the discussions made above refer to the standard categories of Solo, Loop, TagTeam, and Crew. All these categories have the same 4 judge criteria (plus a “bonus points” criteria), with each criteria customised to suit that category, EXCEPT for the new category – Producer Battle. This has a 5th criteria unique just for this category. This criteria will be judged using the judge system posted below as a stricter guideline. For those that wish to enter this new category, please pay close attention to this criteria, as it is very important!
NB: As there will be two rounds of wildcards for Solo and Loop, it is important to mention that these judge systems will be applied to both rounds. After the second round is complete, the ranked points from both rounds will be averaged together to create a final score.
NB: All Judges will receive in depth training on how to use this judge system (if required) to be applied during the wildcard judging. The links below outline the general needs as a guideline, to understand them fully, a training session is required!
NB: We are still having discussions with the community to improve these criteria, and they may still be modified. Any changes that will be made will be implemented BEFORE the wildcard season begins. Please make sure you come back and reference them before recording your final wildcard. Thank you for your understanding, and good luck to you all!
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