[EVENT] Blind Duet 2015 [CLOSED]

Hello everyone!

Welcome to YTChorus's second annual Blind Duets! Blind Duets is an event where members of the forum sign up and are paired randomly with a partner! The pair must then pick a song(s) based on their supposed relationship, write a story about how their relationship is connected to the song, cover the song(s), and submit it to the event thread. Note that the relationship does not have to be your actual relationship; you are free to interpret how your two "characters" get along or don't get along. What sets this event apart from other events is our heavy emphasis on story and what the two of you as a pair are able to create together! So join us for the fun!

The event will run from February 14, 2015 to March 14, 2015. Entries will be accepted until 10:59PM on March 14, PST time.

Please keep this thread restricted to sign-ups. There will be another thread for questions. All other posts will be deleted to make it easier to keep track of sign-ups.

If you have any questions, we have a #YTCBlindDuet hashtag for twitter, which Taifuu and Shana will be taking care of. You can also post any questions in the question thread or get in touch with me (Aerlith) on FB. c:

Timer for the event can be found here


Information:

• You must be a member of YTChorus. If you are a recent registeree and can't fill out links, that is fine. You can fill out as much of the form as you can. Please note however that you need to have at least five posts before you can send or reply to PMs.
  
• Please do not sign up for anyone other than yourself. Each individual must sign up for the event on their own.
  
• You will be randomly paired with someone. Together, you must sing a duet together about your characters' "relationship". If you want, you can use the Japanese Valentine's Day and White Day as inspiration. Sample songs can be Melt, Magnet, Just Be Friends, Ugly Guy Documentary, or Dare demo ii kara tsukitai yo. So yes! It can be a break-up song if you so wish. It can also be a song about two friends~ Or two enemies!
  
• Song mash-ups are okay! They are even encouraged! Last year, we had a song mash-up that won third place!
  
• Once your song is chosen, you will then write a story about your characters' relationship as the second part of your entry. How is your characters' story related to the song? You can use the song, the lyrics, the music video, as inspiration. The important thing is how you make the song and story yours. Summary for the story is okay, a full-fledged story is even better!
  
• Song should be at least 2:30 long.
  
• Apologies, but we cannot guarantee that you will be paired with someone from your preferred gender (ex. male with female). We will do our best, but if we run out of one gender, we will have to pair same-gender together. However, we will work to make sure the voices do not sound similar (ex. someone who can sing lower, someone who can sing higher).
  
• This is meant to be for fun! >w< So please don't take it seriously! There will also be no bashing, or you will automatically be disqualified.
  
• You will not be judged on animation or art. Mix will be a small portion of the points. You can have someone mix and animate for you. However, they cannot be part of the brainstorming/song choice/idea. All brainstorming and picking the song must be done by you and your partner. You will be judged on your voices (including pitch and blend), by how well your song fits the theme, your creativity (see in Judging Information), and the fun factor. So yes, feel free to adlib!
  
• Song does not have to be in Japanese or English. Please link to the English translation in your entry though. The song also does not need to be Vocaloid.
  
• If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form below.
  
• We reserve the right to add to this list if needed.
  

Prizes:

Spoiler:

If anyone else wants to donate prizes, please let me know!

All participants will receive a badge featuring Honoka from Love Live! ().

SIGN-UP FORM:

Code:

[b]Username/Alias:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Youtube/Soundcloud:[/b]
[b]Contact Info:[/b] (So your partner knows how to contact you).
[b]Can you genderbend if needed?:[/b]
[b]Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?:[/b] (If yes, we will do our best to pair you with someone from that gender).
[b]Tell us a bit about yourself!:[/b]

Optional: Either at the beginning or end, do a quick conversation or scenario of how you and your "partner" got together or became friends. ^-^ You won't get extra points for this, but it will definitely add to your story! Unfortunately, it will not count for your score though, since there may be some people who may not be comfortable with this. Please note that this is different from any adlibs that may go on during the actual song!

The second post contains all of the judging information. It will also contain the pairs when they are decided!

^__^ We hope you enjoy this event and that you are able to make a new friend!

Participants:
YTChorus Username - Alias+Link to Sign-up form.

Spoiler:

Last year's event thread can be found here!

Judging Information
We will be grading you on creativity (60), pitch/timing (20), emotion (15), and blend (5).

Creativity - When you are writing your story, consider these questions:
- How does your song relate to the theme and how you are answering the theme?
- Are the two of you rivals? Lovers? Enemies? Does your song reflect this?
- What is the story behind your relationship and how is it related to the song?
- How do your adlibs/execution of the plot match with the theme of the song?
- How do you incorporate lyrics into your story or dialogue?
- Is there a beginning, middle, and an end for your story?

Blend - How do you use your voice blend to illustrate the story? If the two of your voices blend well together, are the two of you best friends or lovers? If your voices clash, are you two enemies?

Pitch/Timing - On key? In time with the song?

Emotion: Are the places you are putting emotion (or not putting emotion in) fit with the song? Does it fit what you are trying to achieve?

Entry Submission Form
Duet participants: (Please include aliases and YT/SC if applicable).

Entry Submission Form wrote:Link: (Youtube OR Soundcloud. We will be compiling a playlist of all the entries).
Singers:
-Alias - Link 1
-Alias - Link 2
Original singer(s):
Producer:
Original video:
Lyrics: (Include the translation!).
Mix:
Art: (Please credit properly if you are using premade art! Zerochan is not a proper source!)
Video: (If applicable)
Why did you pick this song?: How is this song related to your theme?
Story behind the relationship the two characters in the song have:

The following sample is only a summary. You can definitely expand it into a full-fledged story.

Spoiler:

Total points will add up to 100. We will be splitting the entries so two judges cover each of the entries. We will then select the top three from each judge and then judge them again.

Please post your entry IN THIS THREAD. We will not accept entries that are NOT posted on this thread.

Because we will not be judging on mix, animation, or art, there will be no grace period. Entries will be accepted until March 14, 2015, 10:59PM PST.

Thank you for participating, we look forward to your entries!

Partners
Please note that you cannot change your partners! If your partner does drop out however, we can try to pair you up with someone else, but it is not guaranteed. If you decide to drop out, you cannot be paired with someone again. You will be officially disqualified from entering. If you haven't not heard from your partner by the end of Feb 16, please let us know so we can put you on the sub list.


The judges will be:
Aerlith
Onion
Shana
Spoon

To be filled!

Username/Alias: 247th
Gender: Male
Youtube/Soundcloud: www.youtube.com/247th
Contact Info: @pan247th (twitter) vixen40sw (skype)
Can you genderbend if needed?: Yeah! But, why would you want to genderbend me?! D;
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?: No preference! But pair me off to a lady? Sure!
Tell us a bit about yourself!: Takes a deep breath,

     When I was a young sapling, I was nurtured from the melting ice and snow above me. I gathered nutrients from a dying crow, and blossomed into a beautiful baby human. I was raised among the winter animals, bunnies, wolves, foxes, reindeer -- until I grew old enough to hunt my brethren and devoured them. I used their fur for clothing and wandered to human society where I quickly learned the shittiest but most useful language -- BBCode. 
     In this "human society" I typed away until I discovered how to use my "human voice". It was a microphone that allowed me to sing my enemies away when they wished to do me harm. I started my avatar training through various YT videos and tutorials online. I never quite finished mastering all the elements. Singing, Mixing, Illustrating, and whatever the *** animating is. I wound up at the YT-Forums for this very Blind Duet Battle for this reason. 
     I was born for this, molded for this. You merely adopted it after I had already hibernated for it! FIGHT ME. ARGHHHH. *TABLE FLIPS*

Username/Alias: Airin
Gender: Female 
Youtube/Soundcloud: SoundCloud
Contact Info: Skype (FlueFaker); Twitter (@FlueFaker).
Can you genderbend if needed?: Yes.
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?: Not really...
Tell us a bit about yourself!: I'm a full time procrastinator who uses the time she should be using to be productive in order to not be productive... and I write songs.

Username/Alias: Nixe
Gender:Female
Youtube/Soundcloud: Link
Contact Info: Skype: nixe_05 Twitter: @nixetan
Can you genderbend if needed?: Hm.. nope o.o
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?: Meh, doesn't matter
Tell us a bit about yourself!: Pocky is life and so are chips.

Username/Alias: Latto
Gender: Male
Youtube/Soundcloud: xLattox @ both
Contact/Info: Youtube/Raidcall/Twitter is fine (Onion/Aer should have all of these)
Can you genderbend if needed?: IT DEPENDS ON HOW HIGH THE SONG IS
Do you have a rpeference for the gender of your partner?: I'd prefer male for the hot yaois
Tell us a bit about yourself: steaming hot cup of coffee please slurp me up ;3c

REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS

Username/Alias: MiNT
Gender: Female
Youtube/Soundcloud: https://www.youtube.com/user/MintTaro 
Contact Info: mintnerine@gmail.com, my YT, this forum acc, or skype (mintyroad)
Can you genderbend if needed?: lol nope i am so sorry 
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?: Male?? But tbh no preference, I just have never done a duet with a male before. Don't stress :'D 
Tell us a bit about yourself!: I WANT THAT LOVE LIVE BADGE YOO. itll be a great first badge!!!! do you think you guys can make one for a diff character instead of honoka? :')

Username/Alias: onion
Gender: male-
oh wait I'm a judge

Username/Alias: Rage.
Gender: Male.
Youtube/Soundcloud: https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackRageInfinity
Contact Info: Skype, YouTube, Raidcall, here.
Can you genderbend if needed?: Not even if I tried.
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner: Nope.
Tell us a bit about yourself!: I have a fairly wide range, but I'm a tenor through and through and I cannot scream to save my life.

Username/Alias: jun / じゅん✽
Gender: Female
Youtube/Soundcloud: Youtube
Contact Info: Twitter / Skype (junfy25)
Can you genderbend if needed?: No...
Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?: Nope, but it'll be nice to try doing a duet with a guy xD
Tell us a bit about yourself!: I'm pretty new to the whole youtaite commu thing, but I've been singing in choir for quite long :3  
I think my voice best suits ballads/less upbeat songs, though my favourite is the upbeat ballad xD
also I'm a soprano so i love high songs _(:3」∠)_
would prefer to sing Japanese! can't sing screamo, my voice is totally the gentle/sawayaka kind =u=