2009 Format

To All Benson State Annual Singing Convention Participants: 

The Board of Directors welcomes you to participate in the 89^th State Annual Singing Convention beginning on Friday night, June 26, and continuing through Sunday afternoon June 28, 2009.  We are making some enhancements in the format that will be implement this year and will continue with the upcoming State Annual Singing Convention.

In an effort to keep the Benson State Singing Convention the same great event it has been through its history the board of directors has agreed to make the following changes in the format for the 89^th annual Sing.  We are excited that groups new to the sing and ones that have made it a part of their year are making plans to attend this years Sing.

Important changes that have been implemented as part of the 2009 Sing are as follows.  First, the Sing will be reformatted to include competition on both Saturday and Sunday with the competition starting at 2PM on both days with groups being asked to offer different songs on both days.  The length of the songs may not be longer the 4 ½ minutes from the time the music begins.  If it is found that it is longer than the allowed time a total of 3 points will be deducted from the overall score.  Also, the use of stacked or background vocal will incur a 5 point penalty deducted from the total score.  This is to ensure that the only sound heard is from those offering the song from the stage.  The score from both days will be totaled together to determine the winners of the Loving Cups and the total point score from both days will be used to determine the winner of the Grand Prize and Consolation Trophy.  Therefore, there will not be any awards given after Saturday’s competition. It will be necessary to compete both days to attain enough points to win any cups or trophies.  Another format enhancement this year is the reversal of the groups from Saturday to Sunday.  We will have the categories sing in the same order both days but the groups within the categories will sing in a different order from Saturday to Sunday.

The board has listened to many comments and suggestions from past participants and has implemented these enhancements to continue the great heritage of the Benson State Annual Singing Convention.

Everyone is invited to join us in Benson for the 89^th State Annual Singing Convention.  For more information call 919-894-4389 or Fax 919-894-7394 or email bensonsing@gospelsingingconvention.org or dlhawk@embarqmail.com .  We invite you to register online on this website. 

Sincerely,

Board of Directors                                                                                                                   State Annual Singing Convention