A single singer performing one song in any genre, scored out of 100 and placed in a skill-level band rather than a first, second and third order.
Vocal Any Style Solo is the open vocal section: one singer, one song, and no rule about genre. Pop, soul, jazz standards, country, folk, rock, a film theme or a song in another language can all be entered here, which makes it the natural home for any piece that does not fit the Ballad, Modern or Musical Theatre sections beside it.
On the Time to Shine Dance Competitions template, which this page is written from, it is the fourth of four vocal items inside an event that is mainly about dance. Entrants join a division chosen first by years of performing training (under two years, two to five years, five years or more) and then by single-year age, with Adult and Mature Age at the top of the two higher levels and a separate Masters division for teachers. Age is counted as at 1 January of the competition year. The template prints no list of allowed styles, no rule on live versus recorded accompaniment and no language requirement, so an organiser should state those conditions themselves.
A round is one song. The singer is announced, the track begins and the adjudicator writes a critique while listening to the whole performance. The mark is out of 100 across five lines shared by every item: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5. The total places the entry in a skill-level band: Platinum Plus from 97, Platinum 93-96, Double Diamond 87-92, Diamond 80-86, Emerald 70-79 and Ruby 60-69. Any number of singers in a division can reach the same band.
Because the style is the singer's own choice, this section rewards a good match between song and voice more than any other vocal item. The printed time limit is three minutes where one is set; the table is unclear for singers with under two years of experience, so the template sets none for that level. In eTalenter the item is run like any other solo: register the singer in the correct experience level and age division, record the adjudicator's mark out of 100 and the band follows from the score.
Where Vocal Any Style Solo is run
In eTalenter data Vocal Any Style Solo appears on one template, Time to Shine Dance Competitions, an Australian multi-location dance competition series, where it carries 40 age and experience divisions. Open-genre singing classes are a common feature of performing arts festivals and talent shows in many countries, but this page describes only what that template prints.
- Australia
Key facts
- Individual entry; boys and girls sing together; no language requirement is printed.
- Divisions on this template: three experience levels, each with single-year ages, plus Adult, Mature Age and a Masters division for teachers.
- Time limit: three minutes where one is set; none for singers with under two years of experience because the printed table is unclear.
- Scored out of 100: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10, Overall Appearance 5.
- Result is a skill-level band (Ruby 60-69 up to Platinum Plus 97 and above) with a written critique, not a first, second and third placing.
- Song ideas, not rules: a jazz standard that shows control, an upbeat pop number with a clear hook, a folk song sung simply, a film theme the audience knows, a song in a second language the singer speaks well.
On eTalenter, Vocal Any Style Solo is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Vocal Any Style Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Vocal Any Style Solo
What a Vocal Any Style Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique (40): pitch, tone, breath support, range and diction decide most of the mark, and a song chosen to flatter the voice scores better than one that stretches it.
- Stage Presence (25): connection with the audience, a settled stance, believable emotion and a confident start and finish.
- Execution of Performance (20): entering on the right beat, staying with the track, handling instrumental sections and ending cleanly.
- Choreography (10): simple, purposeful movement that suits the genre, such as a relaxed sway for a jazz number or still hands for a folk song; movement that disturbs the breath line loses marks.
- Overall Appearance (5): an outfit and grooming that suit the style of the song and let the singer breathe and move freely.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Vocal Any Style Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Vocal Any Style Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Vocal Any Style Solo right on the day:
- Enter the experience level by total years of training, not by age, because it decides who the singer is marked against.
- Pick the genre where the voice is strongest rather than the most impressive song; an open section lets the singer play to their best.
- Check that the key suits the voice and ask for the track in a different key if the top notes strain.
- Use a clean backing track without the lead vocal, test it on a second speaker before the day and keep a spare copy on another device.
- Prepare the opening line and the last note separately, since a confident start and a clean finish colour the whole critique.
- Keep movement to what the genre naturally asks for and rehearse it while singing in the real outfit.
- Time the song with a stopwatch and trim a verse or repeat if it runs past three minutes.
- After a lower band, read the written critique and choose one technique point and one presentation point to work on before the next event.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vocal Any Style Solo judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What styles can I sing in Vocal Any Style?
The template prints no list, so any genre is the natural reading. Check the organiser's own conditions for limits on content, language or accompaniment.
How long can a vocal any style solo be?
On the Time to Shine template the printed vocal limit is three minutes; no limit is set for singers with under two years of experience because the printed table is unclear. Other organisers set their own.
Is it the same as Vocal Modern?
No. Vocal Modern is a separate section for contemporary songs; Vocal Any Style is the open section for any genre. Check which one the organiser expects before entering.
Do I get a placing or a band?
A band. The 100-mark total places the entry from Ruby up to Platinum Plus, with a written critique, and several singers can share a band.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.
Try Vocal Any Style Solo in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Vocal Any Style Solo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
