The Inlet Spring Regatta oar guitar contest will follow the standard rules and criteria of most air guitar competitions:

• Each performance is played to 1 minute (60 sec.) of a song
• You must provide your 60-second clip on a USB stick
• The 60 seconds can start anywhere in the song
• The instrument must be a dragon boat paddle and only a paddle
• A performance need only be one member of your registered team, but any or all of the same team may also perform

Judging Criteria:

The jury is a panel of judges. The results of the jury cannot be protested. All performances are scored on a scale from 1 to 10. A score is given to each oar guitarist/s based on their overall performance.

The score reflects the quality of the performance based on three key criteria:

1. Technical merit
You don’t have to know what notes you’re playing, but the more your oar fretwork corresponds to the music that’s playing, the better the performance.

2. Stage presence
Anyone can do it in the privacy of their bedroom. Few have what it takes to rock a crowd of hundreds – with just a paddle. Costumes and stationary props are allowed but not necessary.

3. “Oarness”
The last criterion is the most difficult to define yet often the most decisive of all. Oarness is defined as the extent to which a performance transcends the imitation of a real guitar and becomes an art form in and of itself.