Contestants will be judged on a combination of game play, and showmanship. This isn’t as much about being the best video game player in the world as it is about rocking the party!

BAND
- Each band is comprised of four (4) members who have purchased tickets to Cthulhupalooza. There is no additional fee to enter.
- Band members can swap instruments at any time.
- Up to two band members can be swapped in day-of event, but prior to the preliminary rounds, at which point they’re locked into the band for the day.
- Individuals can’t be in more than one band. That’s just showing off.
- Each band must have a band name – but let’s be honest… if you’re reading this, you’ve already started to think of one.

ROUNDS
- The contest is comprised of the preliminary round, semi-finals, and finals.
- The top bands from a round, based on total points, move to the next round, and so on.
- Bands will be informed of their performance time slots and stations the day of the event, and must present the entire group to the judge for a station 15 minutes prior.
- Bands may get an alternate slot due to extenuating circumstances, as ruled by the organizers. Otherwise they are disqualified.

SONGS
- The preliminary round will be scored on a three (3) song performance, the semi-finals on a two (2) song performance, and the finals on a single (1) performance.
- Preliminary and semi-final tracks must be chosen from the base Rock Band 1 and Rock Band 2 track lists (no DLC tracks.)
- Final round tracks can be from the entire Rock Band track catalog to date.
- Bands must submit their track list a week prior to the event date (November 30th.)
- In the preliminary and semi-final rounds, song performances duplicated by bands is not unlikely, but not an issue. For the final performances, it’d be nice if they were all unique, so maybe have an extra back up song or two in mind.
- Songs cannot be performed more than once by the same band.
- If you win, your singer gets to lead the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets in their performance of their exclusive Rock Band track, Shhh…. (so, practice that one too – think positive!)

HERE IS A COMPLETE LIST OF ROCK BAND TRACKS;
http://www.rockband.com/music/songs

SCORING
- Each instrument position is worth a certain amount of points based on the difficulty level it is played at;

Easy – 20
Medium – 30
Hard – 40
Expert – 50

- Each instrument has a difficulty rating per track, according to the Official Rock Band website. Each difficulty rating is worth more points;

– 0
– 5
– 10
– 15
– 20
– 25
- 30

- Points can be awarded for good things (pulling off a unison bonus, achieving five stars) and deducted for bad things (instrument drops into flashing red or bottoms out – the game will be set to No Fail, but bottoming out will still cost a band, even if it doesn’t end their performance.)
- Additional points can be awarded by judges based on showmanship, costumes, vocal talent, etc.

RULES

1 - Bad sportsmanship will not be tolerated – don’t be a spaz.

2 – No open flame or other combustibles in a bands performance. Props are encouraged, however event organizers reserve the right to nix anything they feel is problematic. Bands are encouraged to talk to event organizers if they feel something they have planned might be an issue. If the event organizers say no, see rule one.

3 – Willful destruction of contest gear or Rio Theatre property equals disqualification.

4 – This is a fun and loose contest, so entrants are encouraged to get into the spirit of the event rather than becoming rules lawyers. Which is two say, judges rulings are final, and this scoring system may be further refined as we approach event day – all entrants will be informed, should this happen.

5 - Contest is not open to… good question. Let’s say Cthulhupalooza organizers, Harmonix employees, and sponsors. We’ve changed out mind - this is a friendly competition, so as long as they are not judged by co-worker/volunteers, the contest is open to everyone except The Thickets! Take that, rockers!

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