The Muraya d-Zemra judges must abide by the below Code of Conduct (CoC) and meet the below Terms of Reference (ToR).

 

 

• Have extensive experience in the Assyrian music industry: either as a singer with established fame, lyricist who wrote a number of hit songs, a musician with recording experience; or an Assyrian music critic or discographer.

• Must be articulate and convey his/her opinion assertively yet politely.

• Must be able to work in a team environment and believe in and practice the multilateral process of decision making.

• Must appear presentable during the show: well-groomed, well dressed in terms, and appear in a presentable and well-lit setting.

• Must never use foul language during the show nor offend the candidates participating in the Muraya d-Zebra competition.

• Must be aware of the Assyrian cultural sensitivity and refrain from offending any Assyrian denomination, tribe, political and/or religious group, and dialects

• Must believe in the indivisible unity of the Assyrian people with all of their diversity.

• Must not have any reservations concerning the diverse nomenclatures of our our people (Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramaic, etc.), despite his/her resolve and utter believe in our unifying Assyrian identity.

• Must maintain utter neutrality and not be biassed towards any of the candidates participating in the Muraya d-Zemra competition.

• Must attend regular meetings and he/she are unable to do so, they must provide prior notice.

• Must represent Muraya d-Zemra positively in public.

• Must believe in the principle of volunteering and must not receive any remuneration for any of the services he/she provide for the Muraya d-Zemra competition because acting as a judge on the competition is purely a voluntary service.

• Must never share any information concerning internal discussions with anyone outside of the Muraya d-Zemra competition team.

 

 

Guiding Criteria: Rules and Policies

 

• The Objective of the Competition:

• To encourage young musical talents, of both genders, to sing in the Assyrian language.

• To identify these young talents and support them to pursue their endeavours in the Assyrian music industry.

• To offer an entertaining series of TV shows for the general public enjoyment.

 

• Structure of the Judging Committee:

• The Judging Committee (JC) cannot exceed more than five (5) judges.

• The JC must be inclusive and representative, in terms of gender and Assyrian sub-identities i.e. Western and Eastern Assyrians.

• These Terms of Reference (ToR) and CoC apply to all the judges and all judges must read the ToR document and sign a copy to confirm their acceptance and abidance by the document.

 

• Prerequisites for Participating Candidates:

• Potential candidates are required to submit a short unedited video recording of their vocal performance. The performance must be acapella i.e. pure vocals without any musical accompaniments.

• This short unedited video recording must be a single raw recording without any additional vocal effects, edits, and musical instruments.

• The length of this short unedited video recording should not be less than 30 seconds of vocal performance and can not exceed 90 seconds.

• The audiovisuals of this short unedited video recording should not be treated by the means of  any audio and video enhancing software.

• This short unedited video recording should not be an edit of a number of different takes, it should be one single straight recording.

• The video recording of this short unedited video clip must be on par with the broadcasting quality i.e the performer must need well-groomed and in a presentable setting.

• All videos must be submitted no later than the 30th of April of every year.

 

• Selection Methods and Criteria:

The judges select the successful candidates and vote them into the consequent stages of the competition based on the following criteria and guidelines:

• Vocals.

• Modulation.

• Melody.

• Pronunciation and accentuation of the lyrics; and the articulation of the words.

• Confidence in performing in front of a camera.

• A presentable appearance is imperative, yet good lighting and filming are not imperative although it is highly recommended.

• The successful candidates are selected and voted into the consequent stages of the competition through a majority vote of the judges.

An internal note for the judges, which does not need to be made public:

• ANB TV must upload the short unedited video recordings of the candidates at least two days prior to the airing of the show.

• ANB TV must create a mechanism for the judges to cast their anonymous votes.

• The judges must cast their vote at least a day prior to the airing of the show.

• The judges cannot cast their vote verbally, but through the anonymous casting mechanism provided by ANB TV.

 

• The different stages of the competition:

• There is not a set number of shows to the competition’s first stage, the shows will be held according to the number of candidates that meet the prerequisites stated in this document.

• The show commences on the 1st of April in i.e the Assyrian New Year. Submissions of short unedited videos will be accepted through out the month of April, commencing from the 1st of April and the last day to receive submissions is April the 30th.  Starting the first week of May, all the submitted short unedited videos will be aired, and, depending on the number of submissions and candidates, the first stage of the competition may consist of a number of show before the successful candidates move to the second stage of the competition.

• The candidates voted by the judges to pass to the second stage of the competition have to perform a totally new song, this can be a cover or an original song. The criteria to this performance are stated in article 2 of this document of Rules and policy. The only difference for this second stage the candidates must perform the entire song and not merely a short part of it. It is imperative that this live performance is accompanied by an instrument or instruments, but it must be a live performance and not a studio recording.

• The candidates voted by the judges during the aforementioned second stage pass to the quarter final stage of the competition. For the quarter final:

• the candidates will be coached and mentored by one of the judges whom the candidates choose among the JC.

• The candidates would have to select three songs, which they deem suitable and discuss these three songs with their opted judge in order to reach a mutual agreement in choosing one of the three proposed songs that would be performed by the candidates.

• An arranger chosen by the judge and/or the candidates would provide the candidates with a minus one arrangements of the song selected through the criteria of article 4.C.2 for the candidates to add their vocals to it.

• The candidates can record their vocals to this minus one arrangement in a studio or a recording device of their choosing. Although a studio recording is highly recommended.

• This recording should accompany a video recording f the candidates performing the song in the studio; however, no video clip will be allowed.

• The candidate would then submit the minus one arrangement mixed with their vocals in a video format to the judges, not a video clip but a video recording of them miming the song..

• The judges will discuss the performance of the candidates and select 5 successful candidates in accordance to article three of this document of Rules and policy.

• These 5 successful candidates would then pass to the semi-final stage of the competition.

• For the semi-final stage:

• the 5 successful candidates will be given to a public vote.

• The public votes will be casted via Qeenatha.com’s ‘Qeenatha App’.

• Each member of the public has a single ballot to cast their vote for a single candidate.

• No multiple votes are accepted.

• The candidates that received top three public votes pass to the final stage of the competition.

• For the final stage of the competition:

• The three finalists will coordinate with the judge whom they were supported and mentored by in accordance to article 4.C.1 in order to select a suitable song to perform for the final stage of the show.

• The three finalists would then have to submit this song in accordance with article 4.C.3 and 4.C.4 of this document of Rules and policy.

• The judges choose the winner of the competition.

• The judges have the right to a veto, a wild card per se, and can vote for a second winner of the competition if they see it necessary; however, the judges must take gender balance in to consideration when using their wildcard.

• The winner/s of the competition will be awarded by the production of a new single, according to the below:

• • The Rekhne Group for the Development of the Assyrian Music (RGDAM) represented by the Muraya d-Zemra judges will work with the Assyrian lyricist and musicians and liaise with the winner/s to source quality lyrics and melody which the judges and the winner/s are equally satisfied with.

  • RGDAM in liaison with the Muraya d-Zemra judges will seek an appropriate arranger to arrange the song for the winner/s.

  • The winning song/s will be co-produced by Qeenatha.com and RGDAM with full recognition of ANB TV and other sponsors.

  • The copy rights of the winning song/s is/are solely owned by Qeenatha.com and the RGDAM.

  • The winner/s cannot upload the song on their personal online platforms and/or online music stores. This is done by Qeenatha.com. The winner/s can; however, share the song from the platforms which Qeenatha.com has used to upload and make the winning song/s available on. Yet, the winner/s can upload it on their personal YouTube account once they are advised to do so by Qeenatha.com.

 

 

Rekhne Group for the Development of the Assyrian Music

 

April 1st 6771