DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A team singing class in a children’s talent fest where a team of seven sings an anti-drug song live, with no karaoke, entered once per branch and judged separately in the lower primary, upper primary and high school divisions.

The DCL Anti-Drug Group Song is a team singing class whose theme is fixed: the song carries a message against drug use. In a children’s talent fest it sits next to a set anthem class, and the two are the only group items in the programme; everything else is an individual speech, song or writing contest. The theme is what separates it from an ordinary group song class, because the team is not only judged on how well it sings but is also expected to put a clear, serious message across to an audience of children and parents.

In the festival data behind our template the item is a team class open to boys and girls together, with no language restriction. The festival’s notices describe the team as seven singers and say the song is sung live, with no karaoke or recorded track. It is run in three divisions, lower primary, upper primary and high school, so a lower primary team is never marked against a high school team. Each branch of the organising body may send one team to the item. The notices we used do not print the song itself, so a team should ask the organiser whether a text is supplied or whether teams bring their own anti-drug song.

A round is simple. Teams are called in programme order, take their places and sing once. With no backing track allowed, everything the judges hear comes from seven voices: whether they start together, stay in tune, keep a steady pace and make the words clear enough that the message about avoiding drugs is understood. The notices give no costume, movement or prop requirement for the item, so the stage picture is the team standing neatly and singing with conviction.

Organisers run a class like this because it gives children something to do with a topic that schools and families take seriously. Singing about the harm of drugs is a gentler way into a hard subject than a lecture, and a group song lets quieter children take part without having to perform alone. For entrants it is a good first group item: a team that has never been on a stage can learn one song well with a patient teacher and a few weeks of short rehearsals.

Where DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) is run

In eTalenter’s data this item appears in one template only: a children’s talent fest in Kerala, India, run in three rounds (zone, province and state) for lower primary, upper primary and high school pupils. It is one of seven items there, alongside speech, light song, a set anthem and three writing contests. The item is specific to that festival, so you will not find it under this name elsewhere. Anti-drug songs, skits and speeches are, though, a familiar part of school and community programmes in many places, usually around awareness days or campaigns, so the idea travels even though this exact class does not.

• India (Kerala)

Key facts

• Team item, boys and girls together, no language restriction in the template
• Team of seven, sung live; the notices say no karaoke or recorded track is allowed
• Three divisions kept separate: lower primary (the template maps this to ages 6 to 9), upper primary (10 to 12) and high school (13 to 15)
• One team per branch; a child may enter at most two categories including group songs, and a child entered in a writing contest cannot join the group songs
• Scored out of 100 in the template; the notices print no criteria, time limit or points for places, so none are asserted here
• Idea starters, not rules: a song that names one clear message in its refrain, a short spoken-word opening agreed by the whole team, a closing line the team holds together before stepping back

On eTalenter, DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം)

What a DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Singing together: all seven voices starting on the same beat and finishing on the same beat; a ragged start is the first thing a panel notices, and with no backing track nothing hides it
• Pitch and blend: staying on the tune with voices balanced so that no one singer sticks out; in a team of seven, two or three drifting voices can pull the whole sound off key
• Words and message: every singer saying the same words clearly so the anti-drug message is understood from the back of the hall; a mumbled refrain wastes the point of the item
• Tempo and rhythm: holding a steady pace through every verse and refrain, and breathing at the same places as a team
• Expression and conviction: faces and posture that fit a serious message, neither cheerful as if it were a party song nor flat as if reciting; steady, sincere delivery earns trust from a panel
• Note: the notices print no judging sheet for this item, so the five points above are general advice for a themed group song; ask the organiser which criteria the panel will use before the contest day

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) under Scoring Setup, or start from the full singing competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം)

How entrants and their teachers usually get DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) right on the day:

• Settle the song early: ask the organiser whether a text is supplied or whether teams choose their own, and make sure the words are age-appropriate and carry a clear message against drug use
• Pick seven singers who can hold a line without leaning on the loudest voice, give each a fixed place in the row, and keep it the same from the first rehearsal to the day
• Rehearse in short sessions, three or four a week, starting with the whole song at a slow speed and speeding up only when the team is together
• Spend one rehearsal on meaning only: have the team say each verse aloud as a sentence and explain it, so they sing what they understand and the delivery sounds sincere
• Practise breathing together at the ends of lines so the team takes its breaths at the same place and the sound does not break up
• Do the final rehearsals without any backing track, since the notices say none is allowed, and agree beforehand how the team will find its starting note on the day
• Run the song three times in a row in a space the size of a stage and record one run on a phone; listening back shows blend and diction problems that singers do not hear while singing
• After a loss at zone, ask for any comments the panel gave, rework the weakest verse first, and use the weeks before province for a full run every session

Frequently asked questions

Is DCL Anti-Drug Group Song (ലഹരിവിരുദ്ധ സംഘഗാനം) judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is the DCL Anti-Drug Group Song the same as the DCL Anthem?

No. They are two separate group items in the same talent fest. The anthem is the organiser’s own set song; the anti-drug song carries a message against drug use. Each is entered and judged as its own class, and each branch can send one team to each.

How many singers are in an anti-drug group song team?

The festival notices describe a team of seven, sung live with no karaoke. Our template does not model a minimum or maximum team size, so confirm the number with the organiser’s notice for your round.

Can we choose our own song or is one set?

The notices we used name the item and its theme but do not print a song, so we cannot say. Ask the organiser whether a text is supplied for your round before you start rehearsing.

Can a child who enters a writing contest sing in the team?

The notices say no: a child who enters one of the writing contests cannot enter the group songs. A child may also enter at most two categories in total, including group items, so plan the team before registration.

Is there a time limit or a fixed marking sheet?

Not in the notices we used. The template scores the item out of 100 but prints no time limit, criteria or points for places. Ask the organiser how long the song should run and what the panel will mark before the day.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full singing competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.