The 21st National Eisteddfod Young Performer Awards Competition provides a next level of participation for all diploma award recipients in last year’s eisteddfod events. It is the most prestigious event of its kind in South Africa for young performers in music, dance and drama. and is annually presented over 3 – 4 elimination rounds. In recent years more than R500,000 in prizes were awarded to top achievers in music, dance and drama.
The Semi-final and Final Rounds will be presented from 8 – 11 May 2024 at the Roodepoort Theatre where Gold, Silver, Bronze medals will be awarded to the best performers in music, dance and drama.
What is the format of this competition in 2024?
• This competition is presented annually over THREE / FOUR rounds (Large groups participate in three rounds).
• The first round comprises of adjudicated events in each genre, where a Panel of Adjudicators nominate participants to proceed to the quarter final round.
• The quarter finals take on a similar format: the Panel of Adjudicators for each genre will select 15 – 20 participants / groups that will then compete in one of the four semi-final rounds.
• To provide for the challenges of creating a fair approach when adjudicating and ranking live and video performances in the Quarter Final round, live and video performances will be ranked separately. The final Quarter Final ranking order will then comprise of the top achievers from both lists.
• The 4 semi-final rounds of Young Performer Awards competition are presented in concert format at a theatre. Each concert is dedicated to a genre (classical and contemporary music, dance and drama. The best participants in the different categories, as decided by the Panel of Adjudicators, are then invited to compete in the final round.
• In the final round, a panel of experts, representative of the different genres, finally decides on the winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
Who may enter and how does one qualify to enter into this competition in 2024?
This competition is open for all recipients of diploma awards in the National Eisteddfod 2023, as well as top achievers who participated in other local eisteddfods / festivals during 2023: (excluding ALL reading and improvised categories).
