COMPETITION DETAIL

We liked the venue for this competition but not the staff. We have a boy and girl dancer and they did not get enough dressing rooms for the girls and kicked my boy out of his. The staff was very uncaring and didnt want to find him a place to change. They ran over on time and thr judging was inconsistant.

We attended Rising Star for the 2nd year in a row and I'm hoping it was our last. First: venue was mediocre, the stage was so small the rising star backdrop barely fit. Our large group hip hop definitely had trouble squeezing in. This comp was held at a college and we were given just 2 classrooms as dressing rooms, for ALL 9 studios! Hair and costume changes were torture. The sound quality was terrible, music crackled and popped. Judging was odd... This is a talent comp and not a dance comp. Technique is not rewarded here. Highest scores were given to somewhat sloppy routines, albeit entertaining but not technically sound. Usually at dance comps we stress perfect hair, makeup and costumes but the most winning numbers were routines in jeans or basic clothing and basic hair/makeup. In the 12 and under solo division they featured 3 vocalists who then were scored against dancers which makes no sense. Critiques came back and out of 3 judges... 1 judge sang my dancer's song through her critique, her only comments were: I love this song, great job. The other 2 judges didn't speak into a mic so there was no audio of their critiques and nothing written. My dancer scored the same as a previous dancer who ran off the stage mid performance because she messed up. Awards were quick and to the point but very boring for the dancers, nothing fun. The whole comp seems very outdated and old fashioned, from the judging to the awards. No music is played between numbers or at solo awards. Had no communication with any staff all weekend. All in all a terrible weekend, hope we never go back.

We have gone to Rising Star the past 2 years. The 1st year we just did solos. It was ran smoothly so we took all of dances this past year. We loved it. We got back great critiques and had a blast. Also as a parent I loved the deal they do on the videos. Best quality video for the cheapest rate. You can't beat it anywhere. We will be coming back to this competition for sure.

Great competition! It was fun and a very relaxing competition. The staff were so nice and positive. Judging seemed fair and appropriate. This competition caps the amount of entrants so the dancers are not putting in 15 hour days. Rising Star truly puts the dancers first instead of their bank account like some other. competitions do. It was our first time attending and we will definitely be back!!! Videos and pictures are very reasonably priced too. Looking forward to 2017 Rising Star!! Thank you for a very positive and rewarding weekend!! The dancers had a blast!!

I love how they have a separate overalls for those that do more then one solo. Not everyone can afford more then one so it gives those with less experience the chance to get in overalls as well.

Good competition

Not my favorite competition. It was very small here (2 short days with just over 200 entries), and it drew 1 large studio that essentially competed against itself and a handful of smaller studios. Critiques were almost non-existent and quite useless. They had 1 judge with a recorder, and the other 2 did written critiques only, and they seemed to alternate which judge got the recorder with each session. Most of the written critiques consisted of \"nice job\" or \"good dance.\" Not very helpful for dancers trying to improve their craft.

TERRIBLE! DON\'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! Judges are awful and don\'t know good technique at all. We attend a lot of competitions and usually score very well and did not according to these judges. Faced people we have beat all year at other competitions and they somehow beat us. Will never go to another Rising Star competition definitely disgusted over this weekend. If you have good technique and want to be judged fairly this competition is NOT for you! Video critiques are USELESS as well.

so disappointed in this competition! Last year our studio was closed out. We were told it was sold out before we registered. This year we made sure our registration and money was in many months before the competition date. The competition is in two weeks and we were just informed we were closed out AGAIN! Rumor has it that we were bumped out because we are a small studio and Rising Star wanted the money from the larger studios. We will NEVER EVER attempt to attend this competition again!!! Worst costumer service ever!

It was a very small one day competition. Thought it was pricey but the kids were all happy to get a trophy and not a pin. Judges seemed to love props. Will try it again next year as it is a nice dress rehearsal quick and easy.

It was a very small competition. The venue was very good. The backstage manager was a very nice lady that some studios pushed around for more time in between numbers and she let them. Also the judges for overall scoring were very bias toward the fun jazz numbers and didn\'t pay much mind to the comtemporary and lyrical pieces. Overall this competition is a very good competition for first and second year competitors and for a first competition of the season just to \'test the water\'.

The judges seemed very inexperienced. Very poor set up and no lighting.

Not terrible at all, very kind people to deal with. It just seemed really dated.

Our worst nationals experience EVER! Judges did not even watch the dancers. Audio comments are useless. One studio simply won everything. One of my best students was beaten by kids whom she had beaten All year at other comps. Very strange-- went from scores in the 285-290 range to 270\'s?? Definitely not very progressive or modern. Seemed to like old fashioned competition pulled face type routines. What a joke. Won\'t be back- extremely disappointed once again with this one.

Great competition! Lots of fun. Ran smoothly.

Not a bad experience, small competition, a fellow dance mom said it\'s the mom and pop of competition.

Have been attending Rising Star for over 8 years and we have never had a bad experience with them.

Took our registration then a week later told us they had too many entries and we couldn\'t attend. Really? Why did you take our entries in the first. Place

This competition is truly a joke! I was reading the comments/reviews and was astonished! First if I want a \"dance team\" member to judge my daughter I\'ll go down the street and get my friends daughter! Second I listened to the critiques with my daughters studio director and needless to say we laughed at the things we heard. What kind of judge refers to tap wings as \"those toe things when you go out with your legs\"? Lol a huge joke! And the other review from Ky that gave 4 stars was clearly the studio in question of favoritism at the competition! Of course you\'ll return lol! But in reality we want what\'s best for our children, we want them to learn and grow and get corrections so they can improve. When judges so not even know the correct terminology for dance it\'s clear they aren\'t getting what they are paying for! If your children win because of favoritism then they are really not winning and therefore being held back. Also, handwritten scoring is a no no! I saw several changed scores myself and there\'s no way to know who or when they were erased! Fairness and consistency in QUALIFIED judges is what makes a good competition and Rising star had none of these qualities!

This competition is well organized and ran smoothly.

We have attended this comp for some time now and took some routines to their nationals in Sevierville in the summer of 2013- it is a smaller regional comp where we attend but the judging is fair, staff is very friendly and helpful, always runs on time or slightly ahead, scoring system is simple and easy to understand, 2 levels of competition to accommodate less experienced dancers. The critiques we have received have always been very useful and specific to areas in which we could make improvements. We have always been pleased with the competition- at regionals this year however, I was somewhat disappointed in the level of experience of the judges. They were all very young- some still young students on regional university dance teams- and although I am sure they are talented dancers- that made them not much more experienced than the graduating seniors from our team. There were some complaints from another studio that our studio owner was affiliated with the university dance team of which one of the judges was a member- which wasn\'t true- our studio owner had not been affiliated with the university for several years and never knew or coached this girl at all- the competition handled the concerns appropriately, professionally, and respectfully in my opinion. In summing up our years of experience with this comp- it is one we have liked and plan to attend again.

The fact that this competition is a bit dated doesn\'t bother nearly as much as the fact that they have a tendency to get unqualified judges. The comp we attended had 3 judges, ages 19, 20, and 21. One of the judges had been looking for babysitting work on her fb page the week before. They seem to show preference to the studios in Ohio who have been with them for years. If they want to grow, they need to start getting some qualified judges and quit showing preferences.

Outdated competition. They need to step up the production quality in order for it to improve.

Will never return to this competition. Obvious favoritism to certain studios they know. Outdated scoring, for first 15 seconds most not even watching the performance. 2 levels of competition needs to be changed.

Ok...but not great

Meh... Never big.

Of the competitions we attended this season I would say this one was just average. It didn\'t stand out for being excellent or for being horrid. We enjoyed it and didn\'t have any bad experiences, but nothing exceptional either.

After all of the years of traveling to dance competitions, this is by far the worst competition I have ever been to. The experience for everyone at my studio was AWFUL. I will never be returning to Rising Star. ALL of the staff is extremely rude. The lady who announces the awards messes up, forgets numbers adjudications,announces overalls in the wrong order and then doesn\'t live up to her mistakes. The scoring system is outdated (just like everything else about the competition.) The critiques were pointless. Not to mention we still haven\'t received the ribbons they were supposed to send us via mail because they ran out. This was months ago!! I don\'t understand why you move dancers that are in level one to level two because the scored platinum by one point when they could have won level one but didn\'t do that to the studio they favor when their level one dancers were consistently winning platinum. One of my dances scored 1st Gold and they came off stage with a 2nd Gold trophy and the director refused us the correct trophy. I wish I could give negative stars.

I have been going to this competition since I have been a child. I must say after 25 years nothing has changed. It is exactly the way it was years ago. I was extremely disappointed in the judges. They were miserable and very discouraging. I choose not to have the dancers listen to their critiques because of how very rude they were. Wish they would update with their scoring and most definitely their judges. Will not be attending next year.

It is 2013 folks..time to update your process. From entries to scoring to awards to judges FINALLY got a new backdrop..... we come cause its cheap and usually at a good time. PLEASE UPDATE

I am so over this company. Wish SO would stop going. The PA system is terrible, the operator of the music is very slow, and the judges act like it is the most painful thing they ever had to do. The location every year is terrible. The judging and rules make ZERO sense. They only have two levels and claim to bump levels when the judges feel necessary. Ribbons are out dated....Time to update to pins or medals. I could keep going but I just want to tell SO to stop going.

No complaints. Like the size, judging seemed fair.