Dramatic Reading Competition

To celebrate the increasing interest in audio books, the joy of reading to a toddler, and the fun of retelling a story to friends, a performance-style reading competition was added to the DemiCon activities in 2013.  The response was strong and the competition returns for DemiCon 26.

This competition is called "Say What???".  

Say What?! is the name of this contest and it returns for its third year. The idea behind the contest is the popularity of audio books and the joy of reading to a toddler or sharing a favored book passage with a friend.

Participation is limited to 8 people, on a first-come-first-entered basis. Pre-registration is allowed by sending an email to contests@demicon.org. Due to demand, if you pre-register and are not in the room by 5 minutes after the start of the contest, your place may not be held. Registration is also allowed at the contest.

The contest starts at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 1^st. Check the program grid for the location. This year 90 minutes has been allotted to the contest, to allow time for final judging, prize awarding, and feedback from judges, while allowing plenty of spare time for people to make it to Opening Ceremonies. The reading selections will take between 5-6 minutes each to read. If there are no more than 4 participants, each participant will give 2 readings.

This year's selections include objects that could be pulled from books, if one happened to be a libriomancer. Want to be lighter than air? What about having armor that repeals weapons? Or maybe a ball that moves crazily and has a game built around it?

Judging will be based on how well audience attention is captured, characters' lines are delivered, and descriptions are conveyed. Pacing of the story will also be taken into consideration.

Here are links this year's selections:

A. The Big Bounce by Walter S. Tevis

B. The Floating Island of Madness by Jason Kirby

C. The Great Dome on Mercury by Arthur Leo Zagat

D. The Leech by Phillips Barbee

E. Lighter Than You Think by Nelson Bond

F. The Master Key by L. Frank Baum

G. No Moving Parts by Murray F. Yaco

H. Stand By for Mars by Carey Rockwell

Questions may be directed to contests@demicon.org.

Enjoy!  And good luck to all.