Competitions - What annoys teams the most?

[Ashwin]

Hey fellas,

How do competition organizational boards annoy you and your team the most? Is 8 AM run throughs that they INSIST you be on time for but they can't manage to keep on schedule themselves? Is it judging related? Is it bad afterparties? Lame socials?

To me the thing that gets me is competitions that don't refund registration fees. I don't understand why teams who travel and spend a ton of cash just to make a show should be forced to take on the additional financial burden of the event. Also, back when I started competing in 2003, some competitions actually used to make teams pay for afterparty tickets. Organizers have finally wised up in this respect, but the thought of having to pay $20 for a boring Bhangra Bash party still bothers me till today.

What are everyone else's thoughts?

 

[meryum]

hi bhangra babies-
i would have to say the most annoying thing about bhangra comps is when the people "running" the show have no idea what's going on (i.e. NYC addiction and/or QC dhamaal). it's so irritating when a team is trying to get a simple question answered (ex: when is our run-through? where is the hotel? is anyone going to pick us up from the airport?), and NOBODY KNOWS. each person you talk to tells you to get in touch with someone else. it's the lamest.


also, check out this photo. make sure you notice the lion

love,
mzk

 

[Temurzai]

LOL oh meryum u n ur randomness

i would have to say anything and everything that happened at NYC addiction would qualify as most annoying by organizers.

everything.
-practice stage time being cut down for jay sean (are u serious??)
-"you guys might have to perform with shoes on cuz we didnt clean the stage" = HAHAHA


also registration should be returned for whack horrendous competitions and for those teams who dont get into competitions, they should be refunded as well.

oh and dont try to tell us we cant record our own performances. we WILL kill you, and we WILL get our videos recorded anyway. and that leads me to another point. comps always say they are spreading the culture and not in it for money...this whole 'u cant record withur own cameras' thing is just another way of them saying we want all rights to video so we can sell it and make money off of it. they act like we dont know whats going on.

in related news, mzk is my favorite hoe.

 

[sulmoney]

i hate iran

i think the worst thing is when you receive no communications about the show until right before (gotham), or they change rules/practices on you without telling anyone (qc dhamaal), the venue is not properly setup to hold on event (royale), the organizers dont give you back money you were supposed to get back (manhattan), or the organizers care more for watching juggy d/jay sean then taking care of the teams (addiction)...or, when competitions are rigged, and/or have unqualified judges (all mentioned above)

 

[kinnell]

While Midwest Masala is a fusion competition, my team competed there 2 weekends ago and in the spirit of annoying competitions, I must pick one very annoying aspect - The After Party. Everything else ran smoothly at Midwest Masala, but the after party is one of those annoying things.

The MM afterparty was hyped up in all the emails that the organizers (affiliated with Xavier University's SASA) sent to us, team captains. They said that each participant's name would be added to a VIP list at the club and that there would be no charge, but additional benefits.

Well anyways, my team and I get to the club, wait-in-line, get my band and I get asked to pay $10. "Check your VIP list. I'm on there." Once again, I'm told $10. They had a list of performers, but everyone had to pay the same price. $10. What's worse than having your high expectations floored? The following:

1. No Size - Imagine the size of 2 hotel rooms combined into 1. That's this club.
2. No Appeal - HUGE Guy-to-Girl Ratio
3. No Safety - Random guys walking around with knives and other weapons visibly in the open.
4. Atrocious DJ - No transition between music, horrid taste in bhangra, horrid taste in american music (played techno and house) and did the annoying "stop-in-music-so-everyone-can-sing-along" thing every 30 seconds. No joke.
5. Bar runs out of good drinks
6. No VIP - Performers got no benefits.

Personally, if a competition afterparty caters to the needs of a team and treats them well, they're good in my books. Even this weekend's Desi Hungama's afterparty charged performers and had a horrid (and annoying) DJ. Meh.

 

[B-Walk]

10 minute tech times. This doesn't give teams enough time to do a tech run through, AND a full run through to try out the routine after the tech run through. This would especially suck for half live or all live teams as well who have to spend a lot of time working with sound levels.

you'd think the people in charge would want to give you more time thus putting out a good show. I think 20 minutes would be the perfect amount.

 

[Manjot]

Competition opposite of AVAP lol
AVAP was the 1 of the competitions that was the most organized and was run nicely.

 

[KaraN]

i think organizers of the afterparty should get good djz to play at the afterparties because it really suckz goin to an afterparty and the dj plays das ja 10 timez....i HATE that

 

[Waleed]

You know how you know a DJ is really bad?
When he plays 'beware of the boys'

 

[bhangrafreak01]

teams got getting the attention that they should get and the dressing rooms are always way too small
and also when the right mix is not played or there is a problem like the timing and stuff it should ruins the routine
and after the comp. the judges should announce the winners or atleat stay thr for atleat 20 min and answer any teams who have any question or suggestions for the teams


*bhangrafreak01*

 

[Andrew]

One thing I always couldn't stand was long winded Emcees that put tons of time between routines. A good comp has to flow well from one team to another

 

[kamdeol]

I gotta add on the afterparty deal, numerous times this past year my team and other teams have had to wait and eventually give up even trying to get into the afterparty for several competitions, i.e. blowout waited atleast.. what.. an hour? avap, gave up trying to get in, most of the teams went somewhere else across the street, qc dhamaal apparently the party got shut down? wack. ummm miami was on point though, no line and no problems with getting in great success.

run thrus are also a problem, i dont think we ever got a real run thru for most of the competitions we went to, there has almost always been weird lighting for other teams going on instead of what was supposed to happen for our performance.

theres also a problem with the stages, some of our dancers at more then one competition this year had pins get stuck in their feet during rehearsal, and once during a performance. if the curtains are gonna close, im sure there are stagehands available to do a sweep of the stage between each team as the MC is on.

 

[HMalhi]

I agree with everything Kamal stated
One other thing....the day of the competition, most teams are running around, starching paggs, going to stage runthrough, and getting ready...There are often people who go basically the whole day without eating a proper meal...so its always nice when competitions hook teams up with food...

 

[HMalhi]

One of the most annoying things at a competition is a team Liaison who is has no idea what he or she is doing...this leads to a lot of added stress for teams

 

[faizan]

also, the team liaison who has a stick up their ass.

 

[Waleed]

Financial assistance!
Organizers! Help the teams out with hotel, transportation, food, after party, misc costs. Instead of having a $5000 first place, make that $3000 and divide the remaining $2000 on teams by making their experience at your competition more comfortable and memorable. Hospitality goes a long way. Props to Pao Bhangra on their 'team friendly' atmosphere.

Gatorade & snacks at run-throughs are always a plus.

Also, echoing Kamal's post - quick access at after parties is so helpful. The team members are already tired after their performance, then they have to change out of our vardiyaan & pack up, rush back to the hotel, change yet again and go to the after party (which is usually at the other end of town). By the time we get there, the line has hit DMV status.

 

[Temurzai]

when the stage is not cleaned and or swept and you end up gettin needles or pins stuck in you and end up dancing with a grimace for 7 mins.

 

[panic! at the bhangra]

when you go to a competition and you have your liaison tape your tech time for you and he breaks your camera [giant]

 

[Temurzai]

when you go to a competition and you have your liaison tape your tech time for you and he breaks your camera [giant]

damn that sucksss, whatd you end up doin about it?

 

[panic! at the bhangra]

damn that sucksss, whatd you end up doin about it?

i have to call casio and check my warranty