The group class at a competition powwow in which a singing group, gathered around its drum, is judged as a team rather than as a dancer, so the people who carry the dancing are placed in their own right.
Every dance class at a competition powwow depends on the people at the drum. The Drum Contest turns that around: instead of placing a dancer, it places a singing group, a team of singers seated around a large drum who sing the songs the dancers move to. It is the one item in the powwow template that is entered by a group rather than by an individual.
On the template behind this page the item is assigned once, as a Team item for both genders, and it sits under the Adult (18-39) group because that is the only place the app allows it to hang. That is a filing convenience, not an age rule: a drum group is made of singers of whatever ages the group has, and an organiser running their own event should say plainly which groups may enter. The powwow the template is built from describes the drum contest as entered by a singing group; it does not print the number of singers, the number of songs, a mark scheme or a time limit, and this page does not invent any.
Because the source is silent on how a drum is judged, the template keeps the item deliberately plain: one team, a score out of 100 as a working scale, and no time limit. What an organiser adds on top (how many songs each group sings, whether a group performs in the arena or on a separate stage, how many judges sit) is theirs to decide and to publish with the rules.
The rules the template follows also say that the number of places awarded varies from one powwow to the next, so the template asserts no fixed count of prizes. In practice the organiser decides how many drum groups are placed, and announces it before registration closes.
This page describes how the class is organised for the people who run it. The songs, their meanings and the ceremony around them belong to the communities that carry them, and they are not described here.
Where Drum Contest is run
On eTalenter this item is used in one template, the competition powwow template, as a single Team assignment open to both genders. Competition powwows are held across the United States and Canada, usually over a weekend, and a drum contest is a common companion to the dance contests, but each organiser sets its own entry rules, number of songs and places. Read the organiser’s own notice before assuming the same arrangement at another event.
- United States (the competition powwow the template is built from)
- Canada and other competition powwows in North America, each with its own published rules
Key facts
- A Team item: one singing group, entered as a group rather than by an individual dancer
- Open to both genders in a single class: the template does not split it into a women’s and a men’s list
- Filed under the Adult (18-39) group on the template only because an item must sit in a group; it is not an age limit on the singers
- The source does not print a mark scheme, a time limit, a number of songs or a number of places, so the template uses a 100-mark working scale and no time limit
- The number of places awarded varies from powwow to powwow, so none is fixed on the template
- Entered separately from the dance classes: a dancer’s one category does not use up a drum group’s entry
On eTalenter, Drum Contest is filed under On Stage 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, Drum Contest is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.
What judges look at in Drum Contest
What a Drum Contest panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- The source prints no judging sheet for the drum, so what follows is organiser guidance for agreeing yardsticks with the head judges, not rules from the source
- Singing as one voice: whether the group starts together, holds its pitch through the song and finishes together, rather than one lead voice carrying a weaker chorus
- Strength and steadiness of the drumbeat: a steady, even beat that the dancers can follow, with the group’s drummers keeping time with each other and not drifting
- Handling the song’s changes: whether the group moves cleanly through the points where the singing and the beat shift, so the arena can follow without hesitation
- Repertoire and sound over the programme: when a group sings more than one song, whether each is delivered with the same care and the group sounds confident from the first to the last
- Conduct at the drum: respect for the arena director’s calls, the head judges’ rules and the other groups, and a group that is ready when called so the programme runs on time
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Drum Contest under Scoring Setup, or start from judge scoring and tabulation software.
How to prepare for Drum Contest
How entrants and their teachers usually get Drum Contest right on the day:
- Settle the entry rules before registration opens: how many singers, how many songs, whether a group may enter more than once and how many places will be awarded, then publish them with the rules
- Register each group by name with a named contact, because a drum entry is a team and cannot use an individual dancer’s registration or registrar number
- Rehearse as a group in the room you will sing in, with the drum, so the first time everyone hears the balance of voices and beat is not on the day
- Practise the starts and finishes of every song, since a clean start and a united finish are where a group most often wins or loses marks in front of a panel
- Agree a call order and a rest between groups so the arena stays on schedule and each group has time to settle at the drum
- Keep the drum and sticks in good order: check the head, the tension and the stand before the day and carry a spare set of sticks so nothing has to be fixed in front of the judges
- Plan transport and a seat: a drum is awkward to carry, so agree the load-in time and where the group will warm up before being called
Ready-made event templates that include Drum Contest
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powwow Dance & Drum Competition (Denver March Powwow) | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Drum Contest 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 Drum Contest judged individually or as a team?
As a team. The item is a Team assignment on the template: the singing group is entered, placed and awarded as one unit, not as a collection of individual singers.
Why does the template put it under the Adult (18-39) group?
Every item on the template has to sit in a group, and the powwow it is built from lists the drum contest as a group entry rather than by age. The placement is a filing convenience, not a rule that every singer must be 18 to 39.
How many places are awarded?
There is no fixed number. The source says placement counts vary by powwow, so the template sets none, and an organiser should decide and publish it with their rules.
Do the drum and the dancers compete against each other?
No. The Drum Contest is a separate item from every dance class, with its own entries and its own placings, even though the groups sing for the dancers at the same event.
Is there a time limit or a mark scheme?
The source gives neither. The template uses a working scale of 100 marks and no time limit, and an organiser who wants either should set it in their own event and publish it with the rules.
Want the full judging picture? Read judge scoring and tabulation software, or browse every on stage competition item.
Try Drum Contest in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Drum Contest, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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