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Established in 2003, the Karaoke World Championships is an annual singing competition involving an incredibly diverse field of countries spanning 6 continents, and holds the distinction of being the world’s largest international singing competition.

At its core, KWC is a competition, but if you speak with contestants who come back year after year, they’ll tell you that KWC is all about community. The competition attracts an incredibly diverse group of contestants, administrators and volunteers, united by our shared passion for music, and dedicated to providing a supportive environment within which to help each other grow, both personally and artistically.

But we merely provide the framework. It’s entirely up to you to grab your KWC experience by the horns and make the most of your journey; it can run as shallow or as deep as you like.

Medals and accolades sure are nice, but success is fleeting, which is why we value family vibes above all else. It’s the friendships that persist, long after the spotlights have faded.

COMPETITION STRUCTURE

INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURE

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Every year, KWC Country Partners run national competitions in their respective countries to determine who will move on to represent their nations at the World Championships.

While Country Partners have a degree of autonomy regarding the structuring of their national competitions, which may vary significantly from country to country, KWC International defines the general parameters within which they must operate, and enforces adherence to KWC rules of conduct in an effort to ensure fairness and inclusiveness competition-wide.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The World Finals generally take place in November of each year, and the typical structure consists of three rounds. All contestants perform in the first two rounds, which are scored cumulatively, and the top 20 singers at the end of the second round progress to the third and final round. Scores are reset for the final round, meaning everyone is back on equal footing, and the winner of the third round will be crowned World Champion.

One of the really exciting aspects of this competition is that the World Finals are held in a different location each year. KWC Champions have been crowned in 11 countries spread over three continents, including Canada, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Panama, Russia, Singapore, Sweden & Thailand.

KWC CANADA STRUCTURE

KWC CANADA strives to mirror KWC International in terms of how we structure our competition at the provincial and national levels. All told, there are three tiers of competition in the Canadian National Championships: regional, provincial and national.

REGIONAL COMPETITIONS

KWC Canada’s regional qualifiers typically begin in March or April at local pubs and karaoke bars in select cities across the country. The structure may vary significantly from venue to venue, with some venues opting to run one-off events, while others prefer to host multiple venue qualifiers spanning several weeks, followed by a venue final. In any event, the top contestants from each regional contest will go on to represent their region/local venue at their respective provincial championships.

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Provincial championships are typically a one or two day event, usually held in July. This is where we crown our provincial champions and determine the composition of our provincial teams which will move on to compete at the National Championships. Provincial teams are generally comprised of the top ten singers from each provincial contest, the provincial director(s), coaches and supporters.

As a part of their prize, KWC Canada provides provincial champions with airfare and accommodations for the National Finals in Calgary.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The KWC Canadian National Championships usually take place at the end of August at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary, AB. Here the provincial teams converge to compete for all the (Canadian) marbles, including the national title and the opportunity to represent their country on the world stage as a part of Team Canada!

As a part of their prize, KWC Canada provides national champions with airfare and accommodations for the World Finals.

Prior to 2018, KWC ran three separate competitions for males, females and duets, and each country was permitted to send their national champion(s) from each category. Beginning in 2018, KWC International did away with this gender-specific structure, replacing it with the more streamlined and inclusive two-pronged approach of solos and duets, and compensated for the reduction in categories by permitting Country Partners to send their top two soloists and their duets champions.