Services > Contest & Judging > Contest Evaluations

Every barbershopper that has gone to a convention has either been a part of or has wondered about the Contestant Evaluation process. This is the period shortly after the contestant has completed his competition and is invited to hear comments from the judges about the things that the contestant did well and the things that would offer improvement for their next contest. Here are some frequently asked questions about the Evaluations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I provide an assessment of the evaluation I received to higher authority?

At the bottom of the Contestant Scoring Analysis, provided to each contestant after the contest, are instructions for providing feedback. 
Your comments will be sent via email to you and to each category specialist for each judge that you provided comments. Each report will be treated confidentially and you will not be identified to the specific judge you commented about.

Why do the evaluations go so late into the evening?

This a very complex question. Every Contest Administrator (CA) comes with a prepared Preliminary Evaluation Schedule that he has coordinated with the district C&J person based on what kind of evaluation process will be used at each session. Contestants are also asked to specify on the contestant entry form whether they want an evaluation or not and all of this information is considered as well as the time to get to the location of the evaluations, number of contestants to be evaluated, the anticipated completion time of each session, and the events that are planned after the last contestant is off the stage leading up to the announcement of the results. Any delays in meeting the planned stage times of the contestants or intermissions will extend the start time for the evaluations and could even reduce the amount of planned time for each judge evaluation. During this time that the last contestant has left the stage and entering final scores and determining results, the CA’s often have to make adjustments to their plan and be ready to announce where and when each contestant will be evaluated.  Seldom do the evaluations start earlier than planned.

Why are evaluations often done in the judge’s hotel rooms?

The district is paying for the hotel room already and would have to incur additional charges if they had to rent additional rooms for the evaluations.

Why don’t choruses get coaching evaluations?

When the choruses have dedicated dressing / warmup rooms, coaching evaluations can take place. Many venues do not have that capability so the chorus evaluations are relegated to the auditorium where 6-9 choruses are placed so that the judges can rotate to each chorus and provide verbal evaluations. The majority of the judges would really like to do the coaching type evaluations as it is much easier to demonstrate what they are saying in their comments.