Vocal Modern Solo Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A single singer performing a contemporary popular song, scored out of 100 and placed in a skill-level band rather than a first, second and third order.

Vocal Modern Solo is the section for a singer who wants to perform a song from the current popular repertoire: a chart pop number, a rhythm-led song, a recent soundtrack hit or anything else that sounds like today’s radio rather than a classic ballad or a stage show. Where a ballad is built on a long, slow lyric, a modern song usually has a steadier beat, shorter phrases and a hook that the audience can follow at once, so the singer is judged on how cleanly and confidently they carry that rhythm.

On the Time to Shine Dance Competitions template, which this page is written from, it is one of four vocal styles alongside Vocal Ballad, Vocal Musical Theatre and Vocal Any Style, inside an event that is mainly about dance. Entrants join a division chosen by years of performing training and then by age: less than two years, two to five years, or five years and over. Each level has its own run of single-year ages, starting at 4 and under for the youngest, with Adult and Mature Age at the top of the two higher levels, and a separate Masters division is open to teachers. Age is counted as at 1 January of the competition year. The template does not define what counts as modern, so an organiser should state the era or the kind of song they accept in their own conditions.

A round is one song on stage. The singer is announced, the backing track starts and the adjudicator listens to the whole performance while writing a critique. The mark is out of 100 across five lines: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5. The total places the entry in a skill-level band, not in an order: Platinum Plus from 97, Platinum 93-96, Double Diamond 87-92, Diamond 80-86, Emerald 70-79 and Ruby 60-69. Any number of singers in a division can earn the same band.

The printed vocal time limit is three minutes. The table is unclear for singers with under two years of experience, so the template sets no limit for that level. Boys and girls sing together and no language requirement is printed. Because every item uses the same five lines, Choreography is best read here as the movement and staging that fit an upbeat song, and it carries only 10 marks. In eTalenter the item is run like any other solo: register the singer in the right experience level and age division, record the adjudicator’s mark out of 100, and the band follows from the score.

Where Vocal Modern Solo is run

In eTalenter data Vocal Modern Solo appears on one template, Time to Shine Dance Competitions, an Australian multi-location dance competition series, where it carries 40 age and experience divisions. Contemporary or pop singing classes are common in talent shows and festival programmes in many countries, but this page describes only what that template prints.

• Australia

Key facts

• Individual entry; boys and girls sing together; no language requirement is printed.
• Divisions on this template: three experience levels (under 2 years, 2 to 5 years, 5 years or more), each with single-year ages, plus Adult, Mature Age and a Masters division for teachers.
• Time limit: three minutes where one is set; none is set for singers with under two years of experience because the printed table is unclear.
• Scored out of 100: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10, Overall Appearance 5.
• Result is a skill-level band by score (Ruby 60-69 up to Platinum Plus 97 and above) with a written critique, not a first, second and third placing.
• Song ideas, not rules: an upbeat chart song with a strong chorus, a song from a recent animated film, a rhythm-led number with clear verses, a stripped-back version of a current hit, a song the singer can move to without losing breath.

On eTalenter, Vocal Modern Solo 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, Vocal Modern Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Vocal Modern Solo

What a Vocal Modern Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Technique (40): the biggest share, so pitch, tone, breath support and clean rhythm decide most of the mark; a fast modern lyric exposes rushed words and late entries.
• Stage Presence (25): energy and connection with the audience, eye line, a confident start and a face that matches the mood of the song from the first note.
• Execution of Performance (20): starting on the right beat, staying with the backing, handling the instrumental breaks and finishing with the track without stopping or restarting.
• Choreography (10): simple movement and staging that fit the beat, such as a few planned steps, a move between two spots and a clear closing pose; movement that wrecks the breath line loses more than it earns.
• Overall Appearance (5): a neat outfit that suits the song and lets the singer move and breathe comfortably.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Vocal Modern Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Vocal Modern Solo

How entrants and their teachers usually get Vocal Modern Solo right on the day:

• Enter the experience level by total years of training, not by age, because it decides who the singer is marked against.
• Pick a modern song that sits in the singer’s own range and keep the key where it is comfortable on a tired day, rather than copying the original recording’s top notes.
• Learn the words so well that they can be spoken over the beat, then sing slowly with a metronome before bringing the song up to speed.
• Mark breath points in the lyric, especially before quick phrases, so that the chorus does not run out of air.
• Use a clean backing track without the lead vocal, test it on a second speaker before the day and keep a spare copy on a different device.
• Rehearse the planned movement while singing, in the real outfit and shoes, and cut any step that makes the tone wobble.
• Time the song against a stopwatch and trim an instrumental break or a verse if it runs past three minutes.
• After a lower band, read the written critique and choose one technique point and one presentation point to change before the next event.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vocal Modern Solo judged individually or as a team?

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

What counts as a modern song?

The template does not define it, so check the organiser’s own conditions. In general it means a contemporary popular song with a steady beat, as opposed to a slow ballad or a stage-show number.

How long can a vocal modern solo be?

On the Time to Shine template the printed vocal limit is three minutes; no limit is set for singers with under two years of experience because the printed table is unclear. Other organisers set their own.

Is a singer expected to dance?

The event is dance-led and uses the same five lines for every item, including Choreography for 10 marks, but Technique at 40 and Stage Presence at 25 carry most of the score, so singing well matters most.

Is it the same as Vocal Any Style?

No. Vocal Any Style is a separate section for a song that fits none of the named styles; Vocal Modern is for a contemporary popular song. Check which one the organiser expects before entering.

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