Saw this on SIME aswell and thought I'd pass it on.
Britain Does Variety - Nationwide Talent Shows
A nationwide hunt has begun to find Britain’s most entertaining variety acts. All sorts of performers are busy rehearsing to audition for Britain Does Variety. Acts include comedians, magicians, singers, dancers, novelty acts, impressionists, musicians, glee clubs and anyone else that can impress top industry and celebrity judges as well entertaining a live theatre audience.
Acrobats, Animal Acts, Comics, Dancers, Glee Clubs, Gymnasts, Impressionists, Jugglers, Magicians, Mime Artists, Musicians, Show Choirs, Singers, Ventriloquists, Vocal Groups, Buskers, Beatboxers, Contortionists, Footballers, Crazy Acts, Entertaining Acts, Wacky Acts, Modern Variety, Musical Theatre, Theatrical, Impersonators, Lookalikes ... if you're entertaining we'll audition you! We're looking for REAL talent ... we don't plan on putting through those 'car crash' acts you so often see on TV!
Britain Does Variety is all about finding undiscovered REAL talent, across the entire nation. Auditions start in February and continue into April. Acts will audition in front of industry judges to compete for a spot in one of the regional finals, which take place in some of the UK’s best theatres with capacities up to 1,100 people!
The best variety acts from each region, as decided by the professional judging panel and the audience, will make it through to the National Grand Final in June. They’ll then have the chance to compete for various prizes including the opportunity to perform at the O2, share in a prize fund worth thousands of pounds in cash, plus a whole host of other prizes like video showreels and photo shoots.
Perhaps more importantly, representatives from some of the UK’s leading entertainment agencies will be watching for any new talent they think could take 2011 by storm and be Britain’s next big thing!
There is a nominal £4 audition/registration fee - there is NO performance fee.
For more information visit www.britain-does-variety.co.uk
Read more: http://uk.starsinmyeyes.tv/ArticleDetai ... z1DHfT8DGg
New talent show auditions
Moderator: busybusybusy
Re: New talent show auditions
It seems like any of these 'so-called' competitions be it talent or 'simple question' phone-ins on the tv or win a sports car at Heathrow....all the same business formula. The premise is an enormous number of people pay the £4 audition fee and hey presto the entire project is funded which will cover production costs, prizes, production salaries, etc, etc without said production company having to put a cent or penny towards it. Therefore 'no risk' to the business that is organising this and a heap of free publicity. Hmmm .......are they really actually looking for talent, I think not? I would guess they have already been selected and they are just waiting for the fee money to roll in by the truckload to pay for the whole thing!!!
Re: New talent show auditions
Hi Claret - I'm one of the partners running Britain Does Variety and having discovered your post on here felt obliged to respond! This is a large scale competition with productions at a total of eleven theatres around Britain. Do you have any idea how much it costs to hire a theatre? The cost of sound and lighting engineers, production crew, ticket printing, advertising, publicity, celebrity judges that need to be paid ... the list is endless.
Yes, it's a business venture and we hope that we'll make money for all of the hard work that goes into putting something like this together. If it were a simple case of sitting in a room and taking £4 off every person that turned up for an audition with the net result that audition fees funded the thousands of pounds required just to get ' the show on the road' then you could justify what you're saying.
How do you think the "enormous amount of people" get to hear about the competition in the first place? It takes a whole lot of work to get publicity for the shows. Then there's advertising costs to consider.
Yes, there are competitions out there that set out to exploit people, talented or otherwise, but that's not what we're about. You're making scathing comments about something you know nothing about, based on supposition and cynicism. And how can you draw a comparison between an audition fee where someone is assessed on their performance, skill and ability and a raffle ticket for a car at Heathrow Airport?!
If your child is a performer please do feel free to come along to one of the auditions as our guest FREE OF CHARGE where perhaps you'll be able to appreciate that this is not a money making scam but a business venture run by industry professionals with a genuine desire to bring variety back to British theatres. If this interests you contact me via whatever private messaging facility is available on this forum!
Kerry
Britain Does Variety
Yes, it's a business venture and we hope that we'll make money for all of the hard work that goes into putting something like this together. If it were a simple case of sitting in a room and taking £4 off every person that turned up for an audition with the net result that audition fees funded the thousands of pounds required just to get ' the show on the road' then you could justify what you're saying.
How do you think the "enormous amount of people" get to hear about the competition in the first place? It takes a whole lot of work to get publicity for the shows. Then there's advertising costs to consider.
Yes, there are competitions out there that set out to exploit people, talented or otherwise, but that's not what we're about. You're making scathing comments about something you know nothing about, based on supposition and cynicism. And how can you draw a comparison between an audition fee where someone is assessed on their performance, skill and ability and a raffle ticket for a car at Heathrow Airport?!
If your child is a performer please do feel free to come along to one of the auditions as our guest FREE OF CHARGE where perhaps you'll be able to appreciate that this is not a money making scam but a business venture run by industry professionals with a genuine desire to bring variety back to British theatres. If this interests you contact me via whatever private messaging facility is available on this forum!
Kerry
Britain Does Variety
Re: New talent show auditions
Hello Kerry
It is disappointing that you reply so defensively and make an incorrect and insulting assumption and response that I know nothing about the industry - our family have been actively involved in the industry and have done so continuously to this day since the 1920's, does that suffice?
This blog site is for parents of talented children most of whom are already involved in varying degrees of success and experience in the industry. It exists as a support forum and is not a platform to promote an event, show etc for free. You're talking to Parents of kids so as a group we like to know exactly what we're letting our kids in for and pass on good, bad and indifferent experiences and opinions.
As an independent blog site we have a right to air our views and concerns freely - this is the function of this site!
The reason for my original post, which I'm sure you will be able to shed light on, was because there isn't a page i can find on your website including your T&C's that lists:
- where you are located. What is the 'BDV' address or contact number?
- your business structure ... are you a registered Company (if so what are the details) or a Promoter or a consortium of industry colleagues with an entrepreneurial idea following the Britain's Got Talent/Syco business model? You state you're a Partner, who are the others and is this a LLP?
- do you have a sponsor or is the success purely down to registration and ticket sales?
- what happens if one venue is full but others are cancelled due to lack of numbers, how does that affect the whole process, would there be a refund, would the entire event close?
- what TV negotiations have been entered into and has anything been agreed?
- how many Casting Directors have agreed to attend the O2?
- how many artist agents will attend in addition to K Talent?
I look forward to your answers.
Best
Claret
It is disappointing that you reply so defensively and make an incorrect and insulting assumption and response that I know nothing about the industry - our family have been actively involved in the industry and have done so continuously to this day since the 1920's, does that suffice?
This blog site is for parents of talented children most of whom are already involved in varying degrees of success and experience in the industry. It exists as a support forum and is not a platform to promote an event, show etc for free. You're talking to Parents of kids so as a group we like to know exactly what we're letting our kids in for and pass on good, bad and indifferent experiences and opinions.
As an independent blog site we have a right to air our views and concerns freely - this is the function of this site!
The reason for my original post, which I'm sure you will be able to shed light on, was because there isn't a page i can find on your website including your T&C's that lists:
- where you are located. What is the 'BDV' address or contact number?
- your business structure ... are you a registered Company (if so what are the details) or a Promoter or a consortium of industry colleagues with an entrepreneurial idea following the Britain's Got Talent/Syco business model? You state you're a Partner, who are the others and is this a LLP?
- do you have a sponsor or is the success purely down to registration and ticket sales?
- what happens if one venue is full but others are cancelled due to lack of numbers, how does that affect the whole process, would there be a refund, would the entire event close?
- what TV negotiations have been entered into and has anything been agreed?
- how many Casting Directors have agreed to attend the O2?
- how many artist agents will attend in addition to K Talent?
I look forward to your answers.
Best
Claret
Re: New talent show auditions
Hi Claret - I trust you will excuse my 'defensive' response which was made as a result of your sweeping generalisation that presumed Britain Does Variety was a scam. my comment "something you know nothing about" referred not to the industry but to Britain Does Variety itself. However, even if I was inferring you knew nothing about the industry such an assumption would have been no less misguided than the assumption you made about us!
Britain Does Variety didn't use this forum as a platform to promote an event - the original post was made by one of your members. Having looked through the site I can see that there have been numerous occasions where opportunities have been posted that people feel may be of interest/benefit to members!
To respond to your questions:
A link to our T&Cs can be found at the bottom of every page and includes contact & partnership information
There are no sponsors providing funding
Cancellation, refunds etc - refer to T&Cs
No TV negotiations have been entered into and no claim has ever been made to that effect
At least four agents have agreed to be judges
There is now BDV show at the O2, a live performance at the O2 (indigO2) is part of the prize package
Various artist agents have or will be invited but, as I'm sure you'll appreciate, it is impossible to say how many WILL attend
I can appreciate you have your misgivings over this type of show but, as I said before, I feel that your direct criticism of something you have no specific knowledge is unfair.
My original offer stands - please feel free to attend an audition with your child at no charge.
Regards
Kerry
Britain Does Variety didn't use this forum as a platform to promote an event - the original post was made by one of your members. Having looked through the site I can see that there have been numerous occasions where opportunities have been posted that people feel may be of interest/benefit to members!
To respond to your questions:
A link to our T&Cs can be found at the bottom of every page and includes contact & partnership information
There are no sponsors providing funding
Cancellation, refunds etc - refer to T&Cs
No TV negotiations have been entered into and no claim has ever been made to that effect
At least four agents have agreed to be judges
There is now BDV show at the O2, a live performance at the O2 (indigO2) is part of the prize package
Various artist agents have or will be invited but, as I'm sure you'll appreciate, it is impossible to say how many WILL attend
I can appreciate you have your misgivings over this type of show but, as I said before, I feel that your direct criticism of something you have no specific knowledge is unfair.
My original offer stands - please feel free to attend an audition with your child at no charge.
Regards
Kerry
Re: New talent show auditions
Kerry
When information is not clearly displayed and/or missing from a website promoting a fee paying project then the reaction is to be immediately cautious ... 'buyer beware'
Have just found your details at the bottom of the Terms & Conditions that you and David Payne are trading as 'Britains Does Variety' - this needs to be made more visible and accessed via the main website and not solely as a pdf.
Maybe what you need to add is an 'About Us' page listing who you are so that BDV is openly explained so that everything is transparent and therefore the reader is provided with all salient information - it's all about accountability.
On your 'auditions' page you state that 'agents, West End stars, DJ's and Celebrities' will be on the various panel of judges. Who are they? Surely if a Celeb or West End Star is involved then advertising who they are can only help promote your event and therefore draw a larger crowd??
There are minimum rules that websites must adhere to and you MUST comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
- if you're collecting information from prospective clients (Contact Us form) then you must disclose certain information on your website in the form of a Privacy Policy.
- users must be able to opt out
- users must be advised who will be using the info and who it may be disclosed to
- users must be advised of Cookie usage
Websites, whether involved in e-commerce or not, should provide the following minimum information, which must be easily, directly and permanently accessible i.e. it needs to be prominently displayed. Your T&C's are not on the main menu panel but bottom left in a small font and your details are located on the last page of this document - hardly prominent or easily accessible.
1.The name of the service provider must be given somewhere easily accessible on the site. This might differ from the trading name and any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises etc etc." (About us)
2. The email address of the service provider must be given. It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address - (Contact Us page is a perfect location)
3. The geographic address of the service provider must be given - (Contact Us page is a perfect location)
4. If a company, the company's registration number should also be given (About Us)
5. If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
6. If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
The missing information gave rise to my initial concern. I sincerely hope that you're venture is a success but not clearly providing all the information only raises questions that otherwise would not have existed.
When information is not clearly displayed and/or missing from a website promoting a fee paying project then the reaction is to be immediately cautious ... 'buyer beware'
Have just found your details at the bottom of the Terms & Conditions that you and David Payne are trading as 'Britains Does Variety' - this needs to be made more visible and accessed via the main website and not solely as a pdf.
Maybe what you need to add is an 'About Us' page listing who you are so that BDV is openly explained so that everything is transparent and therefore the reader is provided with all salient information - it's all about accountability.
On your 'auditions' page you state that 'agents, West End stars, DJ's and Celebrities' will be on the various panel of judges. Who are they? Surely if a Celeb or West End Star is involved then advertising who they are can only help promote your event and therefore draw a larger crowd??
There are minimum rules that websites must adhere to and you MUST comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
- if you're collecting information from prospective clients (Contact Us form) then you must disclose certain information on your website in the form of a Privacy Policy.
- users must be able to opt out
- users must be advised who will be using the info and who it may be disclosed to
- users must be advised of Cookie usage
Websites, whether involved in e-commerce or not, should provide the following minimum information, which must be easily, directly and permanently accessible i.e. it needs to be prominently displayed. Your T&C's are not on the main menu panel but bottom left in a small font and your details are located on the last page of this document - hardly prominent or easily accessible.
1.The name of the service provider must be given somewhere easily accessible on the site. This might differ from the trading name and any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises etc etc." (About us)
2. The email address of the service provider must be given. It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address - (Contact Us page is a perfect location)
3. The geographic address of the service provider must be given - (Contact Us page is a perfect location)
4. If a company, the company's registration number should also be given (About Us)
5. If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
6. If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
The missing information gave rise to my initial concern. I sincerely hope that you're venture is a success but not clearly providing all the information only raises questions that otherwise would not have existed.
Re: New talent show auditions
I agree with Claret that anyone who charges for an audition must be prepared for people to be suspicious and should probably be prepared for them to be cynical. It is a common scam after all - even if your organisation is not operating a scam. Perhaps "scam" is the wrong word. It is usually regarded as "dodgy", let's put it that way.
If you are using a business model which is often used by those who want to rip people off then you might need to anticipate and pre-empt any potential criticism by addressing people's likely concerns on your website. Claret and I won't be the only ones suspicious of an organisation that makes a charge for a two minute audition.
Professional companies don't charge for auditions - they still manage to hire theatres, pay for marketing, hire crew, pay for lights etc. Heck, they even pay their performers!
If you are using a business model which is often used by those who want to rip people off then you might need to anticipate and pre-empt any potential criticism by addressing people's likely concerns on your website. Claret and I won't be the only ones suspicious of an organisation that makes a charge for a two minute audition.
Professional companies don't charge for auditions - they still manage to hire theatres, pay for marketing, hire crew, pay for lights etc. Heck, they even pay their performers!
Re: New talent show auditions
I think it's time to draw a line under this discussion. Nobody is perfect and the 'hoops' that have to be navigated in any business venture are varied, open to interpretation and misinterpretation, and easily misconstrued. All information about the competition is, in my opinion, clear and easily understood. It's made perfectly clear that there is a £4 registration fee, and that there is NO performance fee. I'm sorry that you appear to have such deeply rooted mistrust in this sort of venture, and also sorry that we have to defend ourselves against the misgivings that are generated by companies that DO attempt to scam people - and I agree they are numerous. Suffice to say that is NOT what we're about. Reverting back to my previous offer of a free audition, perhaps the best way for you to assess our credibility is to register for an audition (you'll be anonymous as we have no idea who you are from the name 'Claret'), turn up, see how we operate and update this thread accordingly.
Re: New talent show auditions
Happy to draw a line with this, but feel it is my right to air my concerns. The whole point is that you are running a business and therefore need to make sure all i's are dotted and t's crossed - part of being in business. If all aspects are covered and everything is transparent then all/any doubts vapourise.
It appears you are also a director of K2C Enterprises Ltd which trades as Stars in My Eyes.tv and therefore you'll be fully aware of privacy regulations and data protection as it is listed on http://uk.starsinmyeyes.tv/about.aspx. Whatever the association, you still need to update your BDV site so that it complies with current web regulations.
SIME is listed with a web link on the BDV site as supporting the BDV talent quest but appears as an autonomous entry. No mention is made that you are involved with both ventures or David Payne appears on its Home page promoting another talent show 'open mic' This would have provided a detailed background to the business. As SIME generates revenue from subscriptions will everyone attending an audition be offered a chance to register?
It appears you are also a director of K2C Enterprises Ltd which trades as Stars in My Eyes.tv and therefore you'll be fully aware of privacy regulations and data protection as it is listed on http://uk.starsinmyeyes.tv/about.aspx. Whatever the association, you still need to update your BDV site so that it complies with current web regulations.
SIME is listed with a web link on the BDV site as supporting the BDV talent quest but appears as an autonomous entry. No mention is made that you are involved with both ventures or David Payne appears on its Home page promoting another talent show 'open mic' This would have provided a detailed background to the business. As SIME generates revenue from subscriptions will everyone attending an audition be offered a chance to register?
Re: New talent show auditions
Claret, of course it's your right to air your concerns - just as it's my right to defend my/our integrity! As I said before, nobody is perfect and the vast amount of work involved in setting up BDV (far more than we ever envisaged!) means that things can get overlooked, perceptions may not be anticipated and catered for, etc. We all learn as we go along don't we?
SIME sponsored Live & Unsigned two years ago, Dave Payne did indeed get an audition as a presenter for the shows through SIME and that is where we met - we both had a long-standing desire to give true variety acts a proper platform to showcase their talents (as opposed to certain TV programmes that like to exploit both talented and untalented people), and thus BDV was born. There's certainly no intention to hide any relationship between SIME and BDV - in fact the Press Release that's been going out to local newspapers and radio stations around the country says:
The team behind Britain Does Variety is Kerry Kenton-Clarke (creator of starsinmyeyes.tv) and TV Presenter Dave Payne (milkshake, Channel Five).
and includes quotes from both of us:
Dave says:
”Britain Does Variety wants entertaining acts across the whole of Britain to get up and show the judges what they can do! The shows are about showcasing REAL talent which is why people will probably be relieved to know there won’t be any of those ‘car crash’ acts they’ve become used to seeing on TV just to boost ratings! It’s so hard to get a break as a variety act these days and there are such limited opportunities to showcase an act in front of a real live audience ... and Britain Does Variety aims to put that right!
Kerry says:
“We KNOW there’s a wealth of talent out there desperate for the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience, hone their skills and get some positive exposure. We’re offering them the opportunity to do this in a live, professional environment whilst also competing to become the BEST of British Variety!”
StarsInMyEyes are supporting/sponsoring BDV by donating a complimentary 12 month platinum membership for ALL grand finalists. SIME is making no financial contribution toward BDV and in return for donating memberships will be displaying promotional material at the auditions and shows. Anyone is available to register with SIME at any time.
And finally ...! You're quite right to exercise caution as we all know there are a lot of con artists out there. At SIME we do have to be cautious about some of the listings that are submitted and, where necessary, add our own cautionary warnings to them, refuse to publish them or even block the individuals submitting them from our system. We also have the ongoing battle of overcoming negativity created by the regular emergence of scam operators publishing bogus listings just to extract money from people! And, having previewed this message, I see that some bright spark has posted some spam about teenagers purchasing drugs - something we regularly have to deal with on the SIME blog and no doubt something one of the NAPM moderators will remove promptly ... yet another illustration of the ongoing battle we all have to face!!
SIME sponsored Live & Unsigned two years ago, Dave Payne did indeed get an audition as a presenter for the shows through SIME and that is where we met - we both had a long-standing desire to give true variety acts a proper platform to showcase their talents (as opposed to certain TV programmes that like to exploit both talented and untalented people), and thus BDV was born. There's certainly no intention to hide any relationship between SIME and BDV - in fact the Press Release that's been going out to local newspapers and radio stations around the country says:
The team behind Britain Does Variety is Kerry Kenton-Clarke (creator of starsinmyeyes.tv) and TV Presenter Dave Payne (milkshake, Channel Five).
and includes quotes from both of us:
Dave says:
”Britain Does Variety wants entertaining acts across the whole of Britain to get up and show the judges what they can do! The shows are about showcasing REAL talent which is why people will probably be relieved to know there won’t be any of those ‘car crash’ acts they’ve become used to seeing on TV just to boost ratings! It’s so hard to get a break as a variety act these days and there are such limited opportunities to showcase an act in front of a real live audience ... and Britain Does Variety aims to put that right!
Kerry says:
“We KNOW there’s a wealth of talent out there desperate for the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience, hone their skills and get some positive exposure. We’re offering them the opportunity to do this in a live, professional environment whilst also competing to become the BEST of British Variety!”
StarsInMyEyes are supporting/sponsoring BDV by donating a complimentary 12 month platinum membership for ALL grand finalists. SIME is making no financial contribution toward BDV and in return for donating memberships will be displaying promotional material at the auditions and shows. Anyone is available to register with SIME at any time.
And finally ...! You're quite right to exercise caution as we all know there are a lot of con artists out there. At SIME we do have to be cautious about some of the listings that are submitted and, where necessary, add our own cautionary warnings to them, refuse to publish them or even block the individuals submitting them from our system. We also have the ongoing battle of overcoming negativity created by the regular emergence of scam operators publishing bogus listings just to extract money from people! And, having previewed this message, I see that some bright spark has posted some spam about teenagers purchasing drugs - something we regularly have to deal with on the SIME blog and no doubt something one of the NAPM moderators will remove promptly ... yet another illustration of the ongoing battle we all have to face!!
Re: New talent show auditions
I am locking this thread. BDV as a commercial organisation has been given a say which we dont normally allow on this site, and the doubts have also been aired. Each parent can make up their own mind. I know which way I would go based on the information from our members. I also think this has cropped up before with SIME being involved in a search make of this what you will!