COMPETITION DETAIL

I guess Starpower is so big that they had back to back comp weekends in San Diego - the first weekend was in the convention center in the concourse which felt like being inside the Death Star. My daughter's groups received the same, unconstructive feedback across multiple dances ("be more confident") and nothing much else from the judges. The lack of quality feedback is not ok. I don't even care how they did, it's the judges job to give them things to work on.

If I could give 0 stars I would. My daughter has done several Starpower competitions and they have all been horrible! This is the most unorganized competition I’ve ever seen. The only reason we do it is because her studio must have some kind of arrangement with them and they win all the awards. Nothing ever runs smoothly , they are usually running behind at least an hour every time. They are also known for giving the judges a break just a few dances before awards. It’s ridiculous that their competitions run into the night on a Sunday night. People work and kids have to go to school! So glad this is our last year!

Decided to check out all these reviews before posting my own and something caught my attention right off the bat. The post that was just made right before mine by 4000kylie (Studio Owner) was made by an account obviously just created to give generic positive reviews to 2 different Star Dance Alliance Events. This person also made it clear that they love all the SDA events! For anyone not familiar with Star Dance Alliance there are quite a few comps under their umbrella including Starpower, Believe, Nexstar, Revolution, Imagine and Dreammaker. (hopefully I have listed all of them) Interesting after 2 negative reviews that someone would bother to create an account and leave 2 generic reviews to 2 different SDA events to try to offset the negative reviews. Most likely created by someone from the comp itself. I haven't bothered to look any further but I would bet money that there are a great many of these kinds of reviews for all of the Star Dance Alliance events! For any positive review you see at any of these events I would challenge you to look at any positive review and see if it's an actual person who attends other comps and also look at the dates of the reviews to see if they are all posted on the same day like 4000kylie. Now lets get started with my review. Do not come to this event or any other Star Dance Alliance event unless you belong to a studio that attends these comps every year. These comps are simply a money grab. Favortism and politics heavy to the utmost! They don't even try to hide it. As this past weekend unfolded at Starpower, I simply could not believe what I was witnessing. The same two studios won everything! It just became laughable at some point and all I could think of was these poor children actually think they are winning fairly. What a way to set your kid up for life! Maybe the parents are deceived who attend these studios but the studios themselves know it's their connections and relationship with the staff members and the fact that they attend these same events year after year that gets them the wins! Where is the pride or honor in that? I guess the studio owners and these SDA events go hand in hand and don't really care about fair and are both out to steal your money because that's exactly what's going on here if you really think about it. It's truly sad and I think the saddest part is what's being done to the children involved. I also encourage you to look at past year results as one other parent's review previously mentioned and you will find indeed that these same studios attend these events year after year and always win! I don't think I really need to say anything else here except look at the negative reviews on here and take them seriously. Do not waste your money at this comp or any of the Star Dance Alliance Comps. They all operate the same way!

Really enjoy all SDA events! We feel that their judging is pretty spot on and they have a wonderful and professional staff. We love all of the awards and additional opportunities that they are able to offer to our dancers.

I never write reviews but I signed up on here for the sole purpose of writing this review because I have never witnessed anything like what I experienced this past weekend at Starpower. I don't even understand how this place calls itself a competition because it is just operating for the sole purpose of taking your money. Blatant favortism and politics going on here and I don't say that lightly. Select studios collected all the awards handed out over the weekend and it was apparent these kids have been coming to this comp for a very long time as the emcee made jokes about it onstage. I would have never spent my hard earned money if I knew that my child never had a fair shot or chance at placing. Completely disgusting what's going on with this comp and I do hope that more people get on here and share their experiences as I feel it's important to spread the word to smaller studios or new studios unfamiliar with this place so as to not let this comp steal any other parent's money that we all work so hard for. Moving on from this horrible experience with peace knowing that eventually all of the unethical practices of this comp will eventually be brought to light. All of the bad reviews on here are accurate to a T.

If I could give this comp 0 stars I would. Reminds me so much of Kar but slightly different. There were two studios at the comp we were at that were heavily favored and won every single division they were competing in. Then come to find out one of the studio owners works for this comp. The kids were hanging out in the back in the staff area with them. No attempt to hide it at all. I only wish I had read these reviews before attending this comp because I flat out would have refused to spend money at this place. It’s sad when a comp is rigged because you are not helping to teach children what it’s like to lose in life. This is how we create entitlement in our youth. Shame on the comp and all of their judges and staff who take part in this garbage. It’s shameful and appalling! Shame on the studios and parents who are paying and going along with this. You are all a part of the problem. I’m okay with losing but would prefer to at least let our kids have a chance at a fair placement. That’s all any of us parents should want for our kids. No other words except utter disgust for this comp. Please keep scrolling and read all the reviews. There are too many negatives to simply ignore. Also check prior year results to see that the same studios win year after year at these events. The proof is available to see if you bother to look it up!

Our experience with Starpower was awful. They are 100% geared towards large studios who bring tons of money. The blatant dancing down to take every bracket is pathetic. What's more pathetic is that it's allowed! When novice dancers are competing with advanced level skills, there is a problem. Routines with over 50% + acro should be bumped into open or acro, but it's allowed. The judging is awful as well. The large studios we encountered attended multiple Starpower regionals, and Nationals so money talks. Never again.

I think the IDEA of Starpower is great and gives our kids something to work towards However, after experiencing the Nationals this year 2022, in Orlando FL and Myrtle Beach, SC, I have to say I am extremely disappointed in the judging! I am especially shocked, as was everyone, at the judging for the Male Solo Title! Absolutely the wrong decision! This is a DANCE competition yet they chose someone who ran around in circles on the stage twisting his arms!!! Absolutely No technique, no actual dancing and definitely not entertaining and yet he was chosen l? It absolutely blows my mind! There were 2 other boys, in Myrtle Beach, who were talented dancers! Especially one young man, who was beautiful! They even chose a tapper guy as 2nd place and he wasn’t that good either… no technique again and not entertaining…in Mrytle Beach. Judging at both Nationals, was definitely catering to the LARGER studios and there was a LOT of favoritism going on! There is no doubt about that! They really need to pick judges who judge by TALENT and not for their own personal favorites or preferences. The young man who should have won 1st place was beautiful, Flawless in technique, delivery, told the story of his dance, and was incredible to watch!!!! These judges obviously need a new job because they have NO IDEA how to judge what real talent is!! They crushed the dreams of those boys who worked HARD all year learning and growing! THEY deserved to place and win! It’s not the first time I have seen the judges for Starpower choose winners like this…of their own personal favorite or what? Choosing just because they tried? and not dancers who have worked their whole lives at their technique and performance! That is what a DANCE competition is about! I especially noticed, when it comes to male performances, They practically beg any guy dances to sign up to win title whether they have the talent or not! It’s Unbelievably disappointing! Someone needs to look into this…

Always love attending Starpower - great people and fun atmosphere for myself and my dancer!

We have went the last 5 years and will continue to go. Danny is amazing!

I have been going to the competition since I first started competition 8 years ago. The people are nice and judging is fair.

We attended Starpower regionals and nationals last season and it was such a great experience! The competition ran early, was very well organized and even the awards were fun! We found the judging was very fair at our events and the critiques were helpful. It was our favorite competition last year

Attended Starpower Seattle. Staff was very friendly, judging seemed fair, and event ran smoothly. Love the special awards and invites they give. It is so nice for the dancers to be recognized in this way. Thank You!

Good competition with pretty fair judging! They need to fix their marley though, it was not good.

The studio I dance at went to the Sparta Regionals, and Ocean City Nationals this year. The competition was really fun, and the experience was spectacular. The backstage crew are really cool and nice, and the rest of the staff are nice as well. The award sessions were fun. All in all it was a decent dance comp. Nationals was very fun, the venue was outstanding and in such a convenient area (being only a few blocks from the host hotel-Princess Bayside Hotel). The atmosphere at the competition was intense, but epic. There was a lot of talent and it was my first Nationals so it was extra special. A complaint I have for Starpower is that judging is inconsistent. At Regionals there was a quite tough set of judges where most dances from our studio received a 4 3/4 Star rating in all age groups/performance division, and only 2 or 3 5 star ratings, but at Nationals he judges were very generous. A very large chunk of our dances received a 5 star rating, with very few 4 3/4 star ratings (in all age groups/performance division). I wish there was a happy-medium between scoring. Another complaint I have is that at Nationals communication was poor..during one of my dances which was a production, two judges were missing for the beginning of our dance. I/we were told 3-5 minutes after we performed that we had to perform our production again..people were already getting out of costume, we performed the production again smoothly..but we didn't even receive any recognition of any sorts..the competition said it was a "Technical error" and didn't admit that it was the competition's fault for lack of communication. But anyways, I had a good experience at the dance comp and it was a fun experience. I hope my studio will come back to starpower next year! :-)

Overall, my dancer enjoyed it but he is new to competing, so he doesn't have a lot to compare it to. Nationals was definitely a MUCH better experience than the Regionals that we attended. The venue for the Nationals that we attended was beautiful. I just wish that we had known about some of the events going on that week, in more detail. Their Regionals tend to always run late. The critiques are usually not very insightful, so hopefully that can improve? I would love to see the award pins be conscious of the male dancers who are earning them, and be gender-neutral.

We attended the Chicago/Aurora regional and really enjoyed it. We loved the new venue, and having students from the high school available to help load & unload props was fantastic! Dressing rooms were plentiful & not overly crowded, and it was nice to have space in the cafeteria for parents to wait & relax. The competition did seem to be running behind all weekend, but it was a really large event with a lot of large studios & a lot of props. The staff did their best to keep things moving, which we all appreciated. The judging seemed fair & consistent with what we saw at other regional events this season. Awards were generous & fun for the kids (they all love the frisbees! :) ). We enjoyed this one & would definitely return if it fits into our schedule next year.

This was our 1st time attending this competition. We were in Seattle this weekend. We are a very small studio and only took a few of our dances. This event was mainly made up of 3 BIG studios. Even with that, I was proud that my daughter still placed with her solo and trio. There was definitely studio favoritism and opinions based on their preferences. Tap made up the top 4. 1st place was a boy, which I'm A ok with when they earn it, but this was definitely one of those moves to encourage boys to stay in dance. Not ok with that. There was also so much cheating going on. So many solos/dances in the novice category from a studio that we know for a fact those kids are taking 10-15 hrs a week of dance. Others in intermediate when i know they should be advanced. The midfke category is now becoming flooded. I see studios placing throughout all 3 categories to ensure more wins. We are honest and compete at middle level, eventhough it seems like we could get away wirh beginner seeing what other studios place in beginner. I know judges can't know how many hours they take, but when you see dancers doing aerials, back handsprings, scorpions,multiple pirouettes, fouettes, leg turns, toe raises, etc, they are not novice and should be marked down, or made to bump up. 2 of these big studios were very obnoxious too. Constantly yelling and being loud while their dancers were on stage. I find that rude. Makes it hard to even hear the music. Just thought a representative of starpower should've made an announcement to be quiet during dancing. I also don't quite get the star system and wish I knew a breakdown of what it means. A few 5s were given and a few 4 1/2, but most everyone got 4 3/4. Those are the cons. We have a few comps we attend and love because they are fair and don't cater to bigger studios. This one definitely caters. All that being said, there are some good points. Staff is very friendly. It ran fairly smoothly. Merchandise pricing is decent. Like I said, while there is catering, my daughter still pulled off a placing meaning they did actually notice her. They make awards fun and do lots of special awards. I would consider this one again as an optional for solos, I just wish it would be fair judging. Judge based on talent and performance, not because of your personal style preference, gender, or # of entries a studio brings. Please encourage all to stay in dance.

We love this competition because it is so much fun for our dancers and parents. We couldn\'t go last year, !$5 it is on for 2017! Highly recommended!

We have only had one experience with this competition last year but were unprepared for it. Literally our studio\'s moms had the mouth hanging open shocked face and truned to laughing/snickering. We will not be going again next year, thankfully. The specific event we had attended may have been part of the problem, the audience. The parents/guests of MULTIPLE studios were very unprofessional during the entire weekend. The cat calling every name, screaming, cheering and general yelling out was basically embarrassing! Based on this experience, we will not risk it again. It is one thing to support your dance family, another to bring more attention to yourselves and away from the dancing. Get it together people!!

We have had a great experience both times we have competed at starpower regionals. A very well run competition and very fair with the judging.

A joke, spend your money on better things.

This was our first nationals. We very much enjoyed our time both at regionals and nationals. I do hope to have my daughter compete there again but I do feel that some changes need to be made. I like that they have levels, however they are useless and do not serve their purpose if there are 8 yr olds throwing aerials and doing needle turns, fouettés, and endless pirouettes in the novice category. Their rules say they will bump dancers but that did not happen. It is also not special or any indication of my daughters ability if ever single routine receives 5 stars. I also think for $135 a solo I should know more than just the top 10. I feel that every child should get to know where they fell in the competition and also just how close they were to the top 10. For that amount of money there should be a lot more transparency. I also think that if you are going to tout yourselves as the industry leader then take a stand. Stop giving out trophies to inappropriate booty shaking numbers, no matter how many tricks they have. The judges comments about my daughter did not match up with their scores, which was also very confusing. I also think that for next year at this particular venue you should be able to work out a better parking rate. $21 to park per day is absolutely ridiculous, and the discount was that you could lay $31 and come and go for the day. That is honestly absurd. Disney should be ashamed of themselves for that. I suggest looking at other cities in Florida that can provide just as nice a venue and much more reasonable pricing. Tampa for example has a lovely convention center with many hotels nearby and several nice theme parks/zoos and pretty beaches nearby to still give people a nice Florida vacation with their dance competition. The last thing that needs revamping is the power pak. That should happen prior to the competition and not during ... It is way too difficult and frankly quite irritating having dancers bouncing back and forth.

My daughters have been competing for 8 years and we have experienced 8 regional Starpower Competions and many others on a regional and National level. We accept that ALL are expensive and wish that costs were less knowing how much profit owners make. Here are my contributions: Pros- In general, always a fun family weekend with the KILLER (Frisbee) when my daughters were younger (now they are teens). The Host (Gary) is phenomenal. Professional, genuine, articulate and keeps the program moving. Great sense of humor and I wish other MC\'s would emulate his professionalism. The competition generally attracts mid-level schools, were technique may not be priority. Every kid gets a trophy regardless so if this is important to your child\'s ego, then great. Don\'t get me wrong, there are very entertaining and well trained dancers participating. You will find a lesser degree of elite dancers competiting. The outsourced video photographer is excellent. Our pics are available realtime or sent within two weeks after the comp ends. Our girls were invited to their World Cup later in the Summer in 2015. We paid our comp fee and our studio doubled it (\"practice time\"). It was held in Secaucus NJ and the set-up was spectacular... cameras suspended on booms and their were huge video screens that I would liken to an Olympic event. But I admit, I was totally \"done\" with this last opportunity to open my wallet once again. Cons-The previous reports at Lancaster,PA Starpower (held 5.27.2016) are accurate. Our family made a vacation of it every year. While Starpower is not responsible for no hotel liquor license, empty pool and broken HVAC, a broken water main causing collapsed ceilings, flooding and ultimation condemnation of the facility (Read Lancaster Online). After 29 years of hosting this site, it should have known it was inadequate and dangerous. Many lives were at risk the night of 5.28.2016 when the City officially condemned this space after the ceiling collapse!

Typically, this has been one our very favorite competitions. there is always so much talent at this particular venue. While this is still true, I can\'t believe that alternative arrangements weren\'t made after seeing the condition this place was in. While I understand that a water main break is not something that could have been foreseen, surely the unsafe and highly unsanitary conditions were something that could have been looked at. The fact that there was absolutely NO air conditioning and that children were potentially put in harms way should have prompted Starpower to try and relocate. While we understand that people would have been upset about a venue change, I assure you, we, as parents would have completely been onboard with the decision. Because of this weekend, we won\'t be back to Starpower any time soon.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! I seriously question the decision made to use this venue again after the complaints and warnings reported by unhappy parents over the past year. FORTUNATELY for us, we did not stay there. Unhappy parents have voiced their complaints to Starpower about this venue as early as Memoral Day last year. At that time, a different venue should have been considered. As soon as we showed up at the comp, there was NO AC (room temperature was reported at 90 degrees, probably hotter on stage). Two dancers from different studios passed out from the heat. A stray cat ran across the stage while dancers were performing. The unlucky families who booked rooms at this venue, again had a long list of complaints about the conditions of their rooms. The condition of this venue were not new issues. Prior to booking this event, an ultimatum should have been made with the venue to fix these issues before scheduling another event with them. IF they were not aware of these awful conditions, demands should\'ve been communicated to the hotel to at least fix the AC within 24 hours or the event would be moved to another location. There were plenty of local venues available to host this event, I know because unhappy parents checked into this. Just when a Saturday afternoon awards session was about to start, we were instructed to evacuate the hotel. We learned a part of the top ceiling collapsed, dumping water into lower floors which collapsed three lower ceilings too. To make this situation worse, the alarm failed to work. It took an hour to evacuate the venue because people had to be informed by word of mouth going room to room. There were 2-3 thousand people that had to be evacuated. Thank God it wasn\'t something worse that required immediate evacuation. This disaster could\'ve been avoided if due diligence was done before choosing this venue. The signs were there.

Horrible judging and not by technique, talent or stage presence. It was based on how much money was spent by the biggest studio contributor. Sad but true. Waste of time and money.

This competition was hands down the most disappointing of the many I have observed. My daughter is a highly accomplished dancer who has finished this year with top finishes and numerous awards from 4 other dance competitions and conventions. The judging of this competition deviated from all previous competitions despite the fact that my daughter danced very well. I believe this discrepancy can be attributed to two things: the judges criteria are outdated...not cutting edge and contemporary, and the judges are favoring the bigger studios to ensure more money in the future when they return. It is inexcusable to over look a great dancer for a lesser one because of money. Dancers should be judged on their skill level period! In my opinion, if your dancer does not belong to a big school, DO NOT bring her/him to this competition. Negative stars would be very useful for me to rank this talent competition fairly. For the amount of money I imagine they take in, the awards are very slim. There are so many good competitions out there: I would definitely choose many others instead of this one.

Ran very smooth, on time all weekend and very pleasant staff. Purchasing photos a little awkward, like haggling over a car sticker price, lol. Judging consistent and fair. Gives out very nice awards. Will certainly return again.

Great comp

We LOVE this competition. We go back every year they give the kids all kind of special awards. The awards ceremonies are so much fun. They do go out of order but I\'ve never been to a competition where it actually did stay in order. And they do their best to get it back on order. Their so nice! We couldn\'t hear too well two of the judges critiques but the judge we did hear from had a lot to say. Some stuff we agreed others not so much. But it\'s their opinion.

Love this competition! Well run! Have been several times! Both Henry and Shaun are awesome directors! Love love Starpower!!!!!

Large competition Ran ahead of schedule Loved the emcee as he kept things moving along quite quickly Fair competition with great judge\'s video feedback

One of my favorite competitions to bring my students to! Well run, professional, exciting. The staff is laid back and goes out of their way to make everyone feel comfortable. Judging is spot on, critiques are information and supportive. They provide tons of opportunities for dancers to grow, from power Pak to scholarships. STARPOWER is the best in the business of competitions! I will continue to bring my students for years to come!

This show was the most boring show I\'ve ever been too. The sound was horrible and half the time, you couldn\'t understand what the DJ was even saying. The awards show was no fun and the DJ did not engage with the kids or audience at all. The scoring system is very dumb and hard to follow and the order of awards didn\'t follow the flow of the actual show at all...again, very dumb. I asked the staff a few questions and never got a straight answer on anything, it seemed as if no one there knew what was going on. The judges scored way to high on all the boys and I don\'t think it was fairly judged.

Ehhh. Probably one of my least favorite competitions. Biggest complaint was it started late on Saturday morning. Behind schedule. If a studio was not ready to go on they sat and waited for them. Never skipped ahead. Was told it was because no one was lined up. They had to keep announcing they needed the next 5-7 numbers lined up. Not sure who they were announcing this too since all studios were in dressing rooms. Very, very, very unorganized in the back!! I get fast changes but I don\'t think that was the case. Studios were just not ready. If they made a bigger deal and skipped them, maybe they would have been ready. Many times we would be waiting 5-10 min between songs! Unacceptable! My husband is a prop dad and back stage at every competition & he said it was poorly run backstage. Felt the scoring & judges were fair.

My least favorite competition so far. Was very upset with pretty much everything that went on. Wanted to enter photogenic and went to turn in picture five hours before awards were given and was told it was too late to enter. My daughter performs in intermediate always and there were several in intermediate that were clearly elite but didn\'t seem to matter because they won first through fifth places in intermediate anyways. Ran hours behind and ran several numbers twice and awards were at 10 pm on a Sunday when we had a four hour drive and school the next day. Unacceptable! My daughters pictures never did come up to purchase even though we said something several times that they weren\'t coming up. Not one good thing to say about this competition. Was upset that we drove so far to attend

our first number was supposed to be at 4:30, didn\'t go on till after 6:30. this is wayyyy too long after designated time. I can understand a half hour either side of designated time, but over 2 hours, not acceptable. vry poorly run. too much time between numbers also

Attended Starpower recently. The competition ran on time and hardly any numbers went out of order which was great. The venue was good and the staff seemed professional. Dressing rooms were sufficient and photos were good. There were some great studios in attendance and the dancing was good. It was a fine competition- I would be fine going back, but would also be fine choosing a different competition. There were several reasons that I do not feel this competition is a must do in the future. First of all, the awards were BORING. They gave out very few \"special\" awards and the types were boring. Almost all of the performances earned a 5 star making it not as special as it should be to earn the highest possible score. The other options were 4 3/4 or 4 1/2 stars- the scoring is just weird. It seems that there should be about 4 levels of awards with the middle 2 being the bulk of the awards. This was not the case, however, almost everyone got a 5! I also dislike having all of the levels mixed together for competition- it is confusing. Overall it was a fine weekend.

only been there once at Lakeland FL 2013. over crowed and not well organized. Competition ended on midnight of Sunday which was crazy.

Very fun competition! Looking forward to attending again soon!

We went twice. We found the scheduling was moved all over the place and we had the same kids scheduled in two rooms at the same time, due to last minute schedule changes. I did not find judging consistent, both times. The staff allowed rude behavior of some attendees and schools, and when we complained they did nothing about it. For example, we were told not to block the aisles, yet some schools did and when asked to have them moved, they did nothing. Backstage crew, some were nice, some were not. Up so late, to the point of falling asleep and then having to be up at the wee hours, with tired competitors, teachers and parents. Awards drag on. As far as saying that dances that are inappropriate will not be allowed, I was shocked at some really, sleazy numbers that won top awards. The top awards and schools were very large, too, but I saw, both times, some amazing, smaller schools, not score as well, and they should have.

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One of the BEST competitions out there. They draw incredible talents to their venues... Really thrilling! Be prepared to be impressed with the levels of intensity this competition brings--- you won\'t be disappointed!

This was mine and my daughter\'s favorite competition of the season. It ran on schedule all weekend and the awards were entertaining.

Had alot of fun at this competition! Fair judging .high energy

NOT TOO HAPPY W/ PATH TO DRESSING ROOMS WHILE IN A HURRY BUT GREAT COMP!

The judging is pretty consistent, they tend to like high energy over actual technique, The awards are long winded but the kids have a great time. We have been going for years and look forward to it.

Overall my studio gals love this competition. The only difficult part is having to run back and forth to the different rooms for different dances. Especially when we and our dancers want to watch and support all our the dances. But, however you seem to do a pretty good job of keeping us from missing most so thank you.

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Overall we had a great time.

This was a good competition. They played fun music and awards went smoothly (although a bit long). The photographer took amazing photos and printed them on site so we got our photos within an hour. There was a large number of studios there so there was great competition! We felt the judging was pretty fair as well. The competition was scheduled pretty late at night but ran early so we got out of there at least an hour earlier than intended, yay!

Had high hopes for this one, but it was a huge disappointment! Scheduling is terrible, staff is rude and unaccommodating. Awards ceremony boring, girls given cheap plastic trophies. Also agree with review below regarding inappropriate routine. Really hope our studio doesn\'t return to this one!

Our experience was so poor something had to be wrong. Event was unorganized, awards were rushed and not exciting for the kids. Stage manager was overworked, backstage staff was unprofessional, scheduling was a mess, the list goes on. Scoring & Judging was fair but the video critiques were such poor quality most of them were unwatchable and could not hear judges over music. We will not be returning which is a shame as we intended to do nationals w/ them.

This was our first time at Starpower, and I really did enjoy it. Our regional drew some fierce talent, and even though there were enough studios to run 2 rooms, Starpower chose to do something a little different. Rather than actually run 2 rooms for 1 huge regional with everyone running back and forth between the rooms, they ran 2 simultaneous smaller regionals (1 in each room). It was actually a really great way to handle the number of entries and made for a far less stressful weekend. The only downside was that our studio was in a room with studios we have competed against numerous times over the last several years while the other room had the studios we had never really been up against before. Not that Starpower knew that, but it would have been nice to compete against some of the other studios as well! The only thing I did not really care for was the fact that the lowest adjudication I heard all weekend was 4 3/4 stars. And when you consider that in order to get 4 3/4 stars at the Power level, you need a 285, scores were extremely overinflated across the board.

This was our second year attending Starpower. It is a well organized competition that generally runs on time or early. Awards are generous, and pictures/videos (while not cheap!) are excellent quality. There are lots of special awards & the emcee makes the kids feel like rockstars. However, both years we\'ve attended, it\'s seemed like this competition rewards dances with difficulty/\"tricks\", even if they aren\'t executed as cleanly as simpler dances. That\'s not necessarily a bad thing -- it\'s great that judges give credit for trying more difficult things -- just something to know before going into this one. Also, the venue used every year simply is not large enough to accommodate the number of dancers who attend. A security person told one of our parents that they almost had to shut down the competition at one point in the day this year because of overcrowding in the dressing rooms. The Paramount is a gorgeous venue, but it is not meant for dance competitions -- please consider other locations like the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin or one of the many area high schools that have lovely stages & plenty of classrooms that could be used as dressing room.

starpower USED to be my absolute favorite competition, but after attending a regional this past weekend, not so much. I felt i did the greatest I\'ve ever done at this competition but ended up not placing. Now, i am nowhere near a sore loser, BUT i do believe i got robbed.The soloist who placed ALL but 2 did hip hop and were from the same studio. I watched my critiques eager to find out why i didnt place and all the judges gave me where positive comments. very confused.

Favored a large studio that happens to attend every year and their nationals. Some numbers were inappropriate and they scored better. They did stay on time.

First time attending this competition. Great, very competitive studios attended. Very long days for little kids, with our group starting at 8am and not finishing until 10pm. Their Star adjudication system was funny because almost everyone got either 4 3/4 or 5 Stars. Our groups placed lower here than they have at any other comp; not sure if this is because of the judging or the level of the other studios attending. This has been said many times on this board but I have to emphasize that awards were TOO LONG. Really ridiculous. My 7 year old almost took a nap right on stage. We wish that we would have skipped them. The host seemed super nice and loved his job, but he was faced with the challenge of giving dozens of special awards, judges\' awards, top 10 within every level and age group, etc. I think having two levels of competition would have been better than the three they had. With the three levels, often there were no more than one per category (and guess what? they scored 1st!). Venue was great and dressing room space was good. Staff seemed friendly. Awards just really left us with an unfortunate lasting impression.

Love this competition. It is well-run with assigned dressing rooms. Regional directors are awesome. Great judging and communicative critiques. Always love this one!

Awards production is a little dated. Music, announcers, etc. Have experienced much better awards ceremonies. Judging is questionable. Staff was a bit rude. Vendors weren\'t very friendly and I had a 6 year old wait on me when I went to purchase some items. He didn\'t know the prices of any items. Cute but unprofessional. No fitting room organization. A.C. 2015

Little long for me. Very disappointed when they allowed a last minute entry who ended up taking a scholarship away from other kids. Just a little sneaky and I think a little planned. I was so excited about the scholarship and it just got taken away I hope that the student takes advantage of it!!! Will not return

The talent at the competition was truely amazing, but the judging was unusual. It seemed as though the bigger studios won most of the awards even if the dances were not better than those who received no awards. Dancer category placement seemed a little off as well. Very talented dancers in the beginners category. Overall it was ok.

Although I thought this was a fairly well run competition, I am reviewing this because I feel there is a point that REALLY needs to be made here. During the competition, there was a dance to a song called, \"Selfie\" in which the girls were quite scantily dressed-- bra tops, booty shorts & thigh highs. The lyrics referenced smoking, choosing cigarette filters, \"booty calls\" & various catty chatter of girls tearing down other girls. If that weren\'t enough, the girls gyrated like exotic dancers throughout the routine. Beyond inappropriateness, why should this matter? This routine received a PLATINUM from the judges. The point I want to make here is this: why would judges ever REWARD a routine like this? It shouldn\'t even be allowed in the first place. If this is something that is seen as acceptable, what\'s to become of the girls who compete when the message everyone\'s getting is that this kind of routine is not only acceptable, but that it gets REWARDED with higher marks than others. As a parent, I was appalled by this, as were the other parents I watched viewing it. I want to ask the judges who don\'t have children yet, \"Regardless of how \"good\" something is, if you were a parent, would you want your little girl dancing to a negative & tasteless song, doing moves that are highly unfit for teenagers?\" If the answer is no, PLEASE DO NOT REWARD THESE KINDS OF ROUTINES! It\'s a slippery slope where these things are concerned & I\'d like to see Starpower draw the line in NOT rewarding dances that are suggestive to discourage routines like this from happening again, lest they become more frequent. Please help us to keep dance a classy & respectable sport for everyone by raising the bar on what you reward.

I hate having to take my child out of school! Schedule was S P R E A D out over Friday, Sat & Sunday. I would appreciate the schedule coming out earlier. No dressing room organization.

Disorganized and slow to get the schedule but the event itself was great! I enjoyed immensely!

Best competition by far!! Ample amount of time for quick changes! Good stage!! Great backstage area for props!! Judging was extremely fair!! Gives out sooo many awards!!!

Best in the biz! Friendly hard working supportive staff and a regional director who rememberd our names year after year. This is a top notched well organized company, this year they followed the schedule! It ran very smoothly and on time! They go out of their way to make each dancer feel special. Now the judges are above and beyond! The critiques are spot on and they eaaare always followed with a was to fix the issues, also several compliments to build the dancers confidence while pointing out ways to make it even better! And the occasional complement to the teacher helps use to see what is working. Very professional comments I can share them with students and parents love love love this comp can\'t wait to come back

Overall the competition ran very smoothly. They stayed on time and the awards mostly seemed fair. However, some dances that did not seem appropriate for the age of the dancers and with inappropriate costumes for the age seemed to do better then some dances that I thought had better dancing. The awards additionally ran a little longer than some competitions with extra commentary from the emcee. The emcee was entertaining, but could have sped up some sections of the awards.

We had a wonderful time at Starpower each time we have gone. We took less than 15 dances and brought home titles, costume, photogenic awards, lots of 4 3/4 & 5 star awards and many top 5 and top 10 overall awards and a couple 1st overalls. Great Staff and atmosphere. Loved the director! The judges seemed to be very fair.

Wish I could give zero stars. This competition favors the larger studios, it\'s ridiculous. Only high scores are awarded to the children from those large studios. Clearly the owner doesn\'t have a passion for dance or else they wouldn\'t tell the judges to score higher to his money makers. He\'s only in it for the money. Also with the amount you pay you only get a corny little pin. I mean come on, spend a little money and give the kids something nice. But then again that would cut into your profit margin and we don\'t want that right?! I would suggest never doing this comp unless you are bringing a studio of 75+ numbers because that\'s the only way you will enjoy it!

Great comp! Fun awards! Pictures were not great at all.

I used to be a fan of this competition in fact we have been to their nationals before,but this year put an extremely bad taste in my mouth. Number one problem the blatantly obvious favoring of the larger studios! I noticed several amazing soloists that I was blown away by that made not one mistake and performed beautifully and they did not even place, and then there were kids up in the top 10 that literally ran around the stage and really did very little if any real technical dancing, who clearly were chosen and given 5 stars simply because they belonged to the biggest studios. I heard children and teachers/parents from the big studio saying \"they always score us high because we go every year\". Not sure if that\'s exactly true but I saw that same studio getting awards after awards- they had some great numbers, I just felt that there were some others with just as much to offer and did not get noticed because they were with smaller studios or independent. The other major complaint was the \"solo photogenic award\" yes I actually paid to enter this for once, and there were some amazing pictures so I figured it was a toss up but the girl who won was not a soloist at all? she walked up from the audience and clearly had not just participated in a solo since she was wearing sweat pants, no hair or makeup, she was a cute girl and I am sure had a great photo, but the rules clearly stated it is a \"solo photo award\' to the most photogenic soloist? And guess what the little girl who won - she was from the biggest studio. I will not be going back, judges didn\'t even seem engaged in their job, and I just think there are too many good competitions to waste time on biased ones.

Awards were waaaaay too long. We thought the judging was fair though.

GREAT COMP!

Biased!! 99.9% of the winners happened to be from the same studio, and yes the studio was VERY talented but when it came to scholarships and special awards I think it would have been nice if they could have given a few to other studios! the awards were confusing and for the price of the entry fees (more then some national fees) you would think you should give everyone more then a little pin. (Yes some people did only walk away with a pin) However, The competition itself ran smoothly and i did enjoy the overall experience! Not sure i will be returning though...

competition was running over an hour late when we arrived - waited for the previous session awards to start/finish - took forever. The MC does a lot of visiting/talking during awards. Also seemed to have technical problems with one of the screens to the side of the stage so the tech people were working on that. The check in lady was crabby - maybe she was having a bad day? Judging has changed over the years - used to be extremely difficult to get 5 stars. In the session we attended, the lowest score given was 4 3/4\'s. Way too many 5 stars were given!

Just attended Starpower. It didn\'t disappoint. The awards lasted a long time for some of the groupings- the MCs did seem to talk a lot which increased the awards time. But, the MC\'s enthusiasm was high and it made the winners feel that much more special. The critiques were helpful. I couldn\'t believe how much they observed and how constantly during the dances. Overall a good experience. The venue was great- large dressing dressing rooms and a wonderful stage for the dancers.

Enjoyed the competition the only downfall was the pictures were less than desirable and no video. I love to have pictures and video to document these events for my daughter.

Fun!!!

Very good

We attended Star Power a little over a year ago. It was not organized very well with younger dancers having to compete first at 6am and then all the way at 9pm at night on the same day. But most importantly, they didn\'t insure the lobbies of the building of the theater and as result refused to let dancers practice (even turns or walk-throughs) in any lobbies or hallways. Even some stretching was stopped. That made it very hard for the dancers to go on stage ready. We have not returned since.

I attended Starpower nationals.Starpower is one of the most bias competitions in the business. I agree with so many other people that have commented about Starpower favoring the bigger studios. There were many performances from dancers from smaller studios that seemed to be judged unfairly. I witnessed several of the big studio owners having meals with a variety of Starpower directors. It seems to be a very unfairly judged competition.

The judging was fair, although this was a really small competition so it\'s hard to tell just how fair things are when it\'s as small as this one was. My biggest beef with this competition was the fact that they were so behind because they kept taking such long breaks between the numbers. It wasn\'t even that studios were taking too much time for props, everyone except the judges seemed ready to go. The worst was the awards ceremony. The kids sat on the stage waiting for the announcer to get his act together for 10 minutes before awards started! Then he kept talking and talking and talking. Awards took Waaaaayyyyyyy too long.

Beautiful Venue! The critiques were extremely helpful and the atmosphere was so professional and friendly, bravo Starpower one of my favorites!

Great competition to attend!

great competition. My daughter had a blast and loved the entire experience. They did a great job with organization.

Overall a great competition. I did think it was strange that for solo\'s, a trophy was only awarded if you placed 1st in the category, otherwise a \"pin\" was the award. I thought this was odd and off balance because for group awards, trophies were given. How do you split a trophy between 15 kids? Think it should be the other way around..Starpower perhaps you need to rethink this.

This was a good competition. They were professional and did a good job of staying on time, but there was nothing that really stood out for me to rate the competition excellent.

Great competition! Though it was large, they ran so smoothly, on time, and always a friendly staff member to help. Lots of awards for the dancers to feel special at any level. I like that the judges took time to recognize even novice dancers who clearly love dance and work hard. What I didn\'t like is that some of the judges didn\'t have much to say...their critiques are so important it\'s disappointing when they have nothing to say, good or bad. One of them felt that eating and chewing into the mic for our critique was even remotely appropriate...Starpower gives more breaks for judges than any other competition I have seen. He didn\'t HAVE to eat during our dance. And during our group awards they forgot Top choreography Awards and some other special awards...But we did win the Top Entertainment and they sent the plaque in the mail but it would have been nice for it to be announced at the actual competition for my dancers\' sake. It would have been special for them and for the choreographer to get that recognition the day of...

This was our first year competing here regionals and Nationals and it was a good competition. It is held in Orlando which is always fun but it ran LATE all the days of group competitions! The solos ran on time but for groups we finished late every night. The day of grand championships we were told it ended at 6 and awards were at 10pm! Thank goodness my husband and I had decided to rent an extra night! That was kind of irresponsible since so many other families ended up driving home at 10 something! Also, the venue chosen had no ramp backstage and the competition didn\'t provide one so heavy props had to be carried and built on stage! Also awards took forever and were a mess. They need to be clearer and perhaps divide the 3 levels better. We were Power so we had to wait until the end for our awards.

We attended our first Starpower Nationals very recently. We really had a good time and a very positive experience. I was impressed with the smoothness with which the actual competition was run. However, I need to give this competition three stars because the person who answers the phone has pretty much zero clue about what is going on. Our studio was told THREE times that all star level does not compete in \"Battle of the Stars\" yet, mid-week, we found out that they DO (this is new this year). Families had to change their hotel reservations, etc. We were promised a schedule two weeks ahead (and a skeleton should be put out long before that, IMO) and it was more like 9 days - with rude communication coming from the SP people to our SO\'s. They national director at our comp did make apologies to our SO\'s. We appreciated that. As a rule, I think all competitions need to be more parent friendly. We are the ones that pay them. This competition is no exception. But, overall, it was a good experience.

We went for the first time this year & found this to be a very good competition. It was well-organized & ran on-time. Awards were generous (always nice when your team has a lot of younger dancers, as ours does!) and well done. The only downside was that the competition was WAY oversold, so the days with groups were a bit overcrowded. Otherwise, though, it was great!

Used to like it, but this year judges were not watching and the awards took FOREVER!

This was our second year attending starpower It was a very large competition with 54 junior solos i think they should have been split into smaller age groups for overalls but it was fairly judged and tapper friendly. We will return!

My kid has been to this competition a few times and each time it\'s been GREAT! Good critiques from judges. Not the most organized but they did the best they could. My girls have loved this competition and we always look forward to it. The talent is amazing at StarPower. Photos were awesome. Nice venues. Although it is a tough competition the experience it great!! We love it!

Great competition. High energy, runs usually on time. Quality judges. Would recommend.

I really love that they give out \"stars\" for their awards instead of the typical platiniums etc. I don\'t like how long they drag on their wards though. too much talking and goofing around. Get to the point and get on with the next session. I am not happy with how small the 2nd stage is especially for seniors and teens to dance on, too small and not wide enough, dancers had to dance in the wings. Also only had steps to enter the stage from one side. that\'s just crazy, dancers had to hike it up to get on stage. I did like how they run pretty much in order and give plenty of time for changes. didn\'t like how they gave a power pak invite to a dancer who wasn\'t in power level, but probably should have been. I think judges should bump dancers up if they feel they are in the wrong level.

Great competition. We have been doing this competion for a few years the judges are wonderful, tram is great..they make,all the kids feel,happy and thrilled to be there they always,run,on time and even ahead of time. Orgainseed well recommended.

Runs smooth but awards take forever

Fun comp - was an hour ahead so that was stressful!

Didn\'t attend this year but have always felt the judging was fair, they run on time or even a little early and keep the kids as the focus.

We attended the Kansas City event. There were two stages but in separate buildings. Girls in the solo area were expected to be at both stages on the same time to perform solo and group numbers. Both stage managers told studio director the other stages schedule could wait. Whole thing was crazy and was very hectic for teachers, parents and dancers.

You can guarantee that Starpower will always be top notch! They are ever changing and always improving! Great staff and well ran comps.

Love the message here, their is a true family friendly atmosphere. It\'s not all about the trophy here. Favorite competition of the year, judges are very fair.

They always make it fun for the kids! love Starpower

A good comp to attend. They don\'t normally run on time. Good judges.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this competition!! Usually the judges are highly qualified and really get into the dances with the dancers on stage. This competition is always full of energy when in my area for the weekend!! Never miss going to Star Power!!

Starpower was a good competition to go to for our studio. The staff was friendly, awards were quick and smooth, and the girls had a fun time. The down side is that it appeared that several studios were placing numbers in the wrong categories just so that they\'d be a \"step above\" the others. Judges did nothing to reassign them at all. I don\'t care who you are,there\'s no way that some of those girls didn\'t belong in a higher level and it was VERY disappointing to see that judges didn\'t use their discretion to fix this problem. Our studio did wonderful and brought home several high placing trophies despite this, but it\'s still not fair to the other dancers.

I attended Starpower in Chicago this past weekend with my daughter and two of her friends. They were independent and competed a self-choreographed trio. I love this competition because it does not favor the larger studios! The girls took first in their division and second overall. It was a lovely experience - very smoothly run with managers who were able to take care of everything. When we arrived late, the MC was happy to take our music and a sweet young girl (probably just out of college) helped us check in and get ready to perform since it was the girls\' first competition and they were performing right after awards. One of the girls comes in about twenty seconds after the first two have started dancing, and we were able to speak to the backstage manager about this so we did not have any issues. Our props were placed for us, and the girls were given the opportunity to turn on the stage before their performance. Awards were an hour ahead of schedule, and ran quickly while giving proper recognition to all the dancers who placed. Overall, we had a great weekend at Starpower and will definitely be returning for nationals and their 2014-2015 season!

After leaving large studio, opened my eyes to see how they cater to certain studios! Bias and unfair judging! As a new studio owner- I will not enter my studio after this years experience! They allow studios to place students in divisions they do not belong in and judges don\'t use their power to move those students into the correct division. In the end they hurt children in order to favor large studio owners !!!!! Not impressed!!!!

So professional. Picked a gorgeous venue, huge stage and great sound system. Started on time and ended early every award ceremony every day. A few times due to costume changes they had to run out of order, but after about 5-8 dances they got right back in order. Backstage managers are great, judges critiques were very helpful, and scores were right on point. They always attract some of the strongest competition in the area. If a dance deserved to win, it did, regardless of how big or small the studio was.