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We are excited to announce the rules for the 6th Annual Branson Critic Awards.  Please read the rules below on how and where to vote in 2009.  The voting period begins March 1, 2009 and ends at midnight on September 30, 2009. 

We try to make it as simple as possible for the public and the editors but remember this is sophisticated voting and not simply a poll vote.  It requires a thoughtful write-up on the part of the reviewer.  If we wanted a push button awards system, we would have installed it, but that minimizes our ability to know if the voter truly has seen the show, understands why they should vote, and can give a logical argument for the show/person they want to win.  If everyone interested in voting would read these instructions carefully, they would see clearly how to make the biggest impact with their review.

For this award process the terms, “review, nomination, and vote” are synonymous and must be submitted via the new review submission page.  “Comments” about shows and entertainers are for discussion in the chat forum and will not be counted as a review even if they contain all the ingredients of a review.

1) Reviews in 2009 will be submitted via a new review submission page only.  It is up to the reviewer whether they wish their review to be visible to the public and up to them to check the appropriate box in order to upload it to the public viewing area. 

2) No review under 100 words will be accepted.  All reviews must be at least 100 words or more.  If you wish to just make a comment about a show, please do so in the chat forum (it will not count as a review, however).

3) You may vote as many times as you have actually seen a show during the 2009 season.  Other members of your family have that same privilege as long as they give their point of view in accordance with the rules. We will only accept 4 User Names from one IP address.

4) Write each review stating specifically why you are voting for each show/performer. 

5) Remember to write an individual review for a specific performer (i.e. someone who caught your eye who may not be in the spotlight all the time).  You can write a review for a show and then write a review for a specific person in that show.  Why?  Very few singers, comedians, or band members have their own show, so point them out to us, individually, so we can recognize those you think do an outstanding job and may not be a headliner.

6) A picture is a great addition to any review and you may submit one (1) picture per review taken during or after the show (since there are shows that do not allow picture taking during the show).  All pictures should be approximately 400 x 400 pixels. 

7) Each show can only win one (1) award. 

8) Any review that is one giant, run-on sentence will be rejected.  Do NOT write your review in all caps or all lower-case letters.  Start all sentences with a capital letter.  Do NOT use the smiley faces or other “characters” in your reviews as it makes for harder reading for some.  Remember to use the spell-check and grammar-check options!  Use periods and commas! 

• Strong suggestion - formatting reviews: Use normal formatting in a word processor document, preferably MS Word, or use www.writely.com (now google docs) or another online word processor.  Copy and paste them into the review submission page.

• All reviews have to be readable.  We can tell when effort has been made.  Make sure your review is FAIR.  Concentrate the review on the positive and make sure any criticism is constructive or helpful. 

9) Once a review is submitted, the judging of that review for content is solely the discretion of Branson Critic, and we have the right to accept and reject any and all reviews.  The effect of any single review should be to try and convince - or make a case - to an impartial judge to choose your opinion over another in the final outcome.

10) There will not be an online accounting of accepted or rejected reviews.  An impartial judge will be rating all submitted reviews and making a final award category decisions.  All award decisions by the judge are final.   Award decisions will be posted as soon as possible after the voting period has closed. 

11) Possible CATEGORIES for the 2009 fan awards (listed alphabetically): 

• Best Comedian

• Best Group Performers (two or more, back-up singers, specialty acts)

• Best/Favorite Headliner

• Best Instrumentalist(s) (not a headliner – must be a backup musician(s) - may include duos, ensembles or bands)

• Best Morning Show

• Best Show

• Best Show Family

• Best Singer/Performer (Female) – (not a headliner)

• Best Singer/Performer (Male) – (not a headliner)

• Best Specialty Show (comedy, magic, acrobat, etc.)

All other award categories for 2009 will be determined by the Owner/Administrator, Editors, and Judges at Branson Critic Online Magazine.

Content is and always has been, the most important criterion when writing a review for submission to Branson Critic.  As best you can, try to cover all aspects of a show such as:

• Seating:  Adequate, comfortable, etc.

• Who was your favorite in the show?

• Music:  Tell us the name of some of the songs?  What was your favorite(s) selections?

• Comedy:  What was funny?

• Acting:  Fantastic, good, so-so?

• Will the show hold a child’s interest?

• Would you return?  Why?

Please tell readers of your review what to expect when they see the show.  Give them some of the "goodies."  You know, the stuff you would want to know before you see a show.  Have fun!

There is a definite responsibility on your part to give Branson Critic your best, true and honest reviews.  This same responsibility applies when submitting reviews from your immediate family or possibly a friend who does not have access to a computer.  Preventing attempts to abuse this privilege using your computer, is solely your responsibility.

You need to be aware we are able to track computer IP/addresses and User Names.  Detection of abuse regarding either of these will cause suspicion in the legitimacy of all reviews from your computer.

There will be some reviews that are rejected during the judging process because of previously stated warnings against:  too few words, duplications, plagiarism, repetition of content or pictures, lack of content, or if we feel someone is intentionally trying to circumvent the award process by flooding the board.  These practices will not be tolerated - and you will be taking the risk that all of your reviews will be rejected. 

All fans can feel confident in knowing an impartial judge will be making all final decisions in which awards will be presented in 2009.   Again, all decisions by that judge will be final.

If you, the fans, do your very best when writing reviews for your candidates, you should feel confident you have done what is required to make the judging process go smoothly.

We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for having an interest in the Branson Critic Online Magazine and submitting reviews for your favorite Branson shows and performers.  We ask that everyone help us make this an awards program that all performers will take pride in when chosen as an award recipient.

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