British Young Juggler of the Year

Who can enter?
Anyone can enter! That is, as long as they are;
- British
(slightly British is close enough, but living-in-britain-at-the-moment is not)
- young (under 21)
- a juggler

What do they have to do?
Entertain an audience of jugglers for between a minimum of 2 and a maximum
of 5 minutes.

More specifically, what is suitable for the competition?
Any kind of act with any prop. If they want they can perform their skills choreographed to music… or do a themed act… or a comedy routine… or a presentation of pure technical ability. Any props too: balls, clubs, rings, diabolo, devilsticks, flowersticks, cigar boxes, hats, ball spinning, staff, poi, shaker cups, plate spinning, etc, etc... Not
unicycles or yoyos though, they already have their own seperate competitions.

What awards can be won?
There are loads of awards that can be won! Check these out:

1. The main title ‚British Young Juggler of the Year' is voted for by the audience. It is left up to the audience as to what they think that title should mean… so if a juggler wants to win this prize they need to be either the best juggler of the night, or the most entertaining, or (better yet) the best, most entertaining juggler. Last year this was won by Jon Udry who performed with 3 to 5 clubs. He dropped a lot, but was more entertaining picking up his clubs than some others were with their juggling.

2. Gold and Silver Awards are decided on by a panel of three experts. The judges look at each act on its own merits, based on how well the juggler does what they do. Eg: If a juggler presents (with few or no drops) a choreographed routine of high professional standards in terms of technique, choreography, costume and music, and the judges feel they would book that act for a professional show, they could receive a Gold Award…
or, if presented with a streetshow style routine, the judges think they would put 10 quid in the hat at the end, that juggler would get a Gold Award too… or, if shown a purely technical juggling routine, the judges think it could rank at the WJF, that juggler may get a Gold Award. In other words, if a juggler does what they do really well, they get a Gold. If they are not so high standard they may get a Silver Award. For comparison, a BYJOTY Gold Award Routine should be of the same standard, or higher, than an IJA Juniors Gold Medal. Last year no juggler won a Gold Award at the BYJOTY show.

3. Judges Choice Award. The judges get together and decide the which young juggler was the most professional, stylish and skilled. Last year Norbi Whitney won the Judges Choice Award with a slick ring juggling number.

4. Convention Awards. Organisers from other conventions and festivals can award a place in their own public or gala shows to their favourite performer. Last year Jon Udry won a place in the Nottingham Juggling Convention show and Zyllan Spillsbury won a place in the Durham Juggling Convention show. This year, along with some regional conventions, on offer is a place in the BJC 2007 Public Show… to perform alongside some of the biggest names in the juggling world such as Jason Garfield .

Ok, so they are the awards… but what do they win?
Last year the BYJOTY gave about 500 pounds worth of vouchers for the winners to spend on anything from the convention's equipment traders or the Butterfingers catalogue, plus other prizes such as sets of glowballs, Kaskade magazine for a year, etc. This year should be about the same, with hopefully 200 pounds going to the overall winner.

I want to bribe the judges, who are they?
So far Matt Hall and Mike Armstrong are confirmed as panel judges. Matt has judged (and won) many IJA competitions and championships. Mike Armstrong was asked to judge the IJA championships, but turned them down, but agreed to be a convention award judge last year. Peachi and Martin are judging the BJC 2007 award. Other judges will be announced soon.

I'm a young juggler, and I think I'm pretty good… but I don't have an act…
can I still enter?
This year there is a new event as part of the BYJOTY show…. Best Trick! While the judges are out deliberating and the audience votes are being counted, any young juggler is allowed to take to the stage and show off their most impressive, skillful, creative, stupid or interesting trick. The competitors themselves, with help from the competition host, vote on the winner. .