A team singing competition judged on harmony, blending and coordination between singers, distinct from a solo song entry.
Group Song is eTalenter’s open, on-stage Team singing item: a group of candidates performs one song together, chosen freely by the team rather than fixed to a theme or genre. It is the platform’s general-purpose group singing slot, distinct from the theme-restricted Group Song (Patriotic), the fixed-piece National Anthem, and the genre-specific Group Song (Indian)/Group Song (Western) items some real-world templates run instead.
A round is run with the whole team on stage together, singing the chosen song from memory or from a lead sheet the team has rehearsed with, typically accompanied by instruments the team brings or arranges themselves. Because the song itself is a free choice, the panel judges song selection and arrangement alongside how well the group performs it – harmony between voices, how well parts blend, and whether the group stays together in timing and pitch matter more than any single voice standing out.
An entry is the team itself: the coordinator sets team size and any grouping rules when the item is configured, and every real-world source in the platform’s data records it as a Team competition with no Individual variant anywhere. Most sources let the whole team share the stage and the clock together; a couple of real-world sources instead measure the item per performer even though it is scored as one team entry, which changes how a rehearsal should be timed.
Organisers include an item like this to give a group a genuinely open singing slot with no restriction on theme, genre or language beyond what the organiser sets – a contrast with the platform’s other group singing items, which each narrow the choice in a different way. It is a common fixture across school, church and diaspora talent-test/kalolsavam-style events specifically because a team can bring whatever song best shows off its own singers.
Where Group Song is run
Group Song is one of the platform’s most widely-used group singing items, appearing in 15 templates. It is always run as a Team competition. In real-world sources it is fixed to Malayalam in several Kerala-based and Malayalee-diaspora events (a Bahrain-based Gulf club’s kalotsavam, an Orthodox Syrian Sunday School association’s own diocese-wide competition circular, a Sharjah church Sunday school’s annual circular, a Perth parish’s Bible kalolsavam, a UK national diaspora kalamela, and a UAE-wide diaspora Kalotsavam), while it is left open (Any/NA) in others (a Pentecostal youth wing’s church talent test, a Sunday School competition circular, an India Pentecostal Church youth talent test, a Switzerland-based diaspora kalamela, a Delhi-based diaspora talent test) and in the real, publicly nameable University of Kerala’s own inter-collegiate youth festival. Every real-world source but one runs it mixed-gender; one church youth-wing talent test instead runs separate Boys’ and Girls’ team entries. eTalenter’s own generic youth-festival template lists the item but currently leaves its age-group, gender and time-limit assignment to the installing coordinator.
- India (Kerala) – church/diocese Sunday School competition circuits and the University of Kerala’s own inter-collegiate youth festival
- India (Delhi) – a diaspora church youth wing’s own talent test
- Bahrain – a Gulf Malayalee club’s kalotsavam
- United Arab Emirates – a Sharjah church Sunday school’s own circular and a UAE-wide diaspora Kalotsavam held across all seven Emirates
- Switzerland – a diaspora community’s own youth kalamela
- United Kingdom – a diaspora community’s national kalamela
- Australia (Perth) – a parish’s own Bible kalolsavam
Key facts
- Always a Team competition in every real-world source – no template in the dataset runs it as an Individual item
- On-stage: the whole team performs live together in front of the panel
- Mixed-gender in almost every real-world source; only one church youth-wing talent test splits it into separate Boys’/Girls’ team entries
- Language is fixed to Malayalam in several Kerala/diaspora sources, but left open in others – check what the installing template or organiser sets
- Real time limits recorded across sources range from about 3 to 10 minutes, most commonly with a one-minute warning bell before the cut-off
- Scored mostly as marks out of 100, though a few sources use a compact rating scale instead
On eTalenter, Group Song is filed under Music, On Stage, Oral and typically scored with Marks, Rating out of 10. It appears in 15 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Group Song is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 3–10 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Group Song
What a Group Song panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Harmony and blend between voices – how well the group’s parts fit together, not just whether each singer is individually in tune
- Timing and coordination – the group starting, pausing and finishing together as one unit
- Song selection and arrangement – since the song is the team’s own choice, judges also weigh whether it suits the group and the occasion
- Overall vocal quality across the team, including pitch accuracy and diction where the language is fixed
- Stage presence and coordination as a group, including how the team is arranged on stage
- Any accompaniment the team brings or arranges, where the round allows instruments
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Group Song under Scoring Setup, or start from the full singing competition judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Group Song
How entrants and their teachers usually get Group Song right on the day:
- Choose a song the whole team can sing comfortably in the same key and range, rather than one written for a single lead voice
- Rehearse the group as a unit, not just individual parts, so entrances, pauses and endings land together
- Check the assigned age band’s language rule before choosing a song, since several real-world events fix the language while others leave it open
- Confirm the real time limit and warning-bell convention set for the assigned group before the day, since these vary by template
- Work out on-stage positioning in advance so every voice can be heard and the group looks organised, not just sounds it
- If the round allows accompaniment, rehearse with it exactly as it will be used on the day rather than adding it at the last minute
Ready-made event templates that include Group Song
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASSUFFA Students Fest (Arabic Colleges) | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
| BKS GCC Kalotsavam | Music | Marks | 2 |
| COG Talent Test | Oral | Rating out of 10 | 1 |
| CSI Youth Kalamela | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
| IPC SS Talent Test | Oral | Marks | 2 |
| KELI International Kalamela (Switzerland) | Music | Marks | 1 |
| Kerala University Youth Festival | Music | Marks | 1 |
| Malappuram Sahodaya Kalotsav | On Stage | Marks | 4 |
| OSSAE Sahapadya Malsaram | On Stage | Marks | 2 |
| PYPA Delhi State Talent Test | Music | Rating out of 10 | 5 |
| St. Gregorios Sharjah Sunday School Competitions | On Stage | Marks | 4 |
| St Joseph Perth Bible Kalolsavam | Music | Marks | 1 |
| UUKMA National Kalamela | Music | Marks | 1 |
| Youth Festival | On Stage | Marks | 0 |
| Yuvakalasahithy UAE Kalotsavam | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Group Song 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 Group Song the same as Group Song (Patriotic)?
No. Group Song is fully open – any song, any theme, subject only to what the organiser sets. Group Song (Patriotic) fixes the theme to patriotic songs (the song choice within that theme is still the team’s own), and National Anthem fixes the exact song as well.
Can Group Song be sung in any language?
It depends on the template. Several real-world Kerala and diaspora events fix it to Malayalam, while others leave the language open. Check what the installing template or the organiser has set before choosing a song.
Is there a minimum team size for Group Song?
The platform’s own data does not fix one uniformly – team size is generally left to the coordinator to configure when the item is set up for an event.
Does Group Song allow musical instruments?
It depends on the event. Some real-world templates allow the team to bring or arrange accompaniment; others make no mention of it either way, so check with the organiser running the specific event.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full singing competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.
Try Group Song in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Group Song, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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