Click here to see the full list of 2020 contestants

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED THRU

Monday, August 3rd, 2020

CONTEST LAUNCH DATE

Monday, August 17, 2020

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Beginning Monday, August 17, 2020, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights will be launching the fifth season of the EVIL IDOL voice acting competition, in which you – a member of our audience – will have the opportunity to show off your talent to the world and the CTFDN audience, as well as take home your share of cash prizes, including a $500 grand prize for this year’s champion!

For years we’ve taken auditions via our website and have been blessed to have discovered – and been discovered by – talented individuals such as Jeff Clement, Steve Taylor, Alicia Pavlis, Jesse Cornett, Otis Jiry and Heather Ordover.

The first season of EVIL IDOL, in 2016, brought us the talent of finalists such as Ashley Tolfo, Jordan Lester, Kristin Holland, and Brindolyn McNair, and many more, as well as Olivia Steele, the current host of the Simply Scary Podcast, G.M. Danielson, and host of the Horror Hill podcast, Jason Hill.

The second season of EVIL IDOL, in 2017, brought us the talent of finalists such as Jonathan West, Ryan Borses, Heather Thomas, Nikolai Porter, and Andrew Berrios, as well as Erica Garraffa, Joe Walz, Adam Koot-Bascomb, and many more.

The third  season of EVIL IDOL, in 2018, brought us the talent of finalists such as grand prize winner Jesse “The Voice of Insanityz” Brown, Justine Anastasia, Lady MCreepsta, Myles Catania, and Dayjan Lesmond, as well as Deanna Cagle, Natenator77, Adam Woolley, Theo Murray, Zorayda, and many more.

The fourth season of EVIL IDOL, in 2019, brought us the talent of finalists such as grand prize winner Luis Bermudez, Erik Peabody, Danielle Hewitt, Adam Dergiman, and Kristyn Mass, along with dozens of other extremely talented performers!

ROUND 1 ✦ ROUND 2 ✦ ROUND 3 ✦ ROUND 4 

ROUND 1 FINAL RESULTS ― OVERALL STANDINGS

ROUND 1 JUDGES PICKS

ROUND 1 FAN FAVORITES

LISTEN TO THE ROUND 1 ENTRIES

REQUIREMENTS

✦ Applicants can be any age, gender, or sex, and can be of any nationality.

✦ Prior voice acting experience is NOT required!

✦ Those who competed (or auditioned) previously but who have not become members of our roster are welcome to compete this year.

✦ Applicants must have the ability to record clean, clear audio, unsupported by sound effects or music, to be sent to us in .WAV format (16 or 24-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono preferred) via a dependable service such as DropBox or Google Drive.

✦ Applicants are welcome to use any recording device of your choice. However, please note: although contestants are being judged on their performance, enthusiasm and interest in becoming a part of our team, and not on the quality of your recording device itself, those lacking the ability to record, at minimum, clean, clear audio will be at a serious disadvantage in the contest itself.

✦ All applicants must provide: a sample reading, between 4-5 minutes in duration, of a narrative of their choice, as an example of their audio quality and acting abilities. We will not select your sample piece for you, and it needn’t be horror-related at this stage.  NOTE: The 4-5 minute sample reading is for demonstration purposes only, and will not be published publicly in any way.

HOW TO ENTER

✦ Record your 4-5 minute audition and save it in .WAV format, and upload to Google Drive or DropBox, and copy the sharing link

✦ Compose an email to director Craig Groshek at craig [at] chillingtalesfordarknights.com with the subject line: EVIL IDOL 2020 Application. To be considered, send your email no later than the end of the day (CT) on August 3, 2020.

✦ In the email, include 1) a link to your audio submission, 2) your legal name, 3) your stage name (if different than your legal name), 4) a high-quality profile photo of yourself, 5) a brief bio, 6) a list of any social media and/or website links you’d like to share with listeners, 7) your PayPal email address for payment of prize money, and 8) your preferred contact email, if different from your PayPal email address. NOTE: Your legal name will not be used or released publicly without your consent in the event you prefer to be identified by a stage name, so please communicate your preferences to the director upon submission. 

✦ All entrants will be notified by the director by the end of the day on Sunday, August 9, 2020 regarding whether or not they will be accepted into this year’s competition.

✦ NOTE: Competition is on a first-come, first-served basis, and entries will be reviewed for suitability as they come in. For the best chances of being accepted, turned your application in as soon as possible.

INFORMATION ABOUT CASH PRIZES

In order to foster cooperation and good sportsmanship among contestants, as well as to provide incentives to promote and share one’s own entries and the competition as a whole (with friends and family, on social media, and elsewhere), all participants in the 2020 competition will be required to adhere to several guidelines in order to become (and remain) eligible for cash prizes.

All active participants, at minimum, are expected to share their own individual entries across social media and/or forums, including the hash-tag #EvilIdol2020 in all postings, as well as to respond to comments, critiques, and criticisms of their performance on their respective entry on YouTube, using a dedicated account with their same name as used in the contest associated with it.

Participants are also encouraged to share the entire competition, as a whole, on a weekly basis, via linking to the official contest playlist, and reminding friends, family and followers of their participation, and encouraging everyone to vote.

Should all requirements be met, applicants who are granted entry into the competition will be eligible for cash prizes in the following amounts, which will be disbursed after suitable audio for their upcoming round has been recorded and turned in. Prizes will be paid via PayPal to an account of the competitor’s choice.

• $10 awarded upon acceptance into the competition (50 competitors)
• $25 upon advancement to the 2nd round (25 competitors)
• $50 upon advancement to the 3rd round (10 competitors)
• $100 upon advancement to the 4th and final round (5 competitors)
• $500 upon winning of the competition (1 competitor)

The grand prize winner of the contest, following completion of all 4 rounds, will win a one-time cash prize of $500 USD, which will be sent to them via PayPal to an account of their choice.  Runners-up will not receive any final placement prize other than the $100 for making it to the final round.

HOW THE CONTEST WILL WORK IN 2020

Once accepted into the contest, competitors will be asked to record a story in the horror genre of their choice for the first round, which must be, at a minimum, 10 minutes in duration when spoken aloud (1,500 words or more). The story must be a modern tale for which they have acquired written permission to utilize (contestants who require assistance with this may reach out to CTFDN director Craig Groshek for help) – no public domain or “classic horror” stories will be accepted this year.  All authors will be asked to sign releases granting adaptation rights to Chilling Entertainment LLC, before the tale can be published.

The initial recordings will be utilized for Round 1 of the Evil Idol 2020 competition, and will be posted in full to our YouTube channel, where the public will be allowed to voice their opinion of the entry with either an up or down vote. Voting will be allowed for one week per entry. At the close of voting, the up-to-down-vote ratio (not the total number of up-votes) will be calculated as a percentage score, and will comprise 30% of each contestant’s final weighted score.

In addition to public voting, a judging panel comprising current CTFDN voice talent (including several veterans and former Evil Idol contestants now part of the team) will critique and score each contestant.  Their collective average score will comprise 70% of each contestant’s final weighted score.

Following the scoring of contestants by both the public and the panel of judges, each contestant will be provided written feedback on their entry (by the members of the judging panel) and their final score, and will be ranked relative to one another according to that score. The top 25 contestants as based on these rankings from Round 1 will advance to Round 2.

The same process will be repeated in the 3rd round, with 10 contestants advancing from the 2nd round.

The same process will be repeated in the 4th and final round, with 5 contestants advancing from the 3rd round. A single winner will emerge at the conclusion of the contest.

Each eligible contestant will be awarded any prize money owed to them within 60 days of the conclusion of the Evil Idol 2020 competition (see the section regarding cash prizes for more information on the amounts).