CCKL Code of Conduct, Rules, & Expectations

Table of Contents

Code of Conduct

Charm City Karaoke League (CCKL) is a vibrant, welcoming, inclusive community where people of all backgrounds and skill levels come together to celebrate self-expression, creativity, build friendships, and have fun through the joy of team-based competitive karaoke.

Charm City Karaoke League strives to create a successful and positive experience for everyone in the CCKL Community, which includes team managers, team performers, CCKL staff, CCKL board members, venue employees, and audience members. During a CCKL season, folks deserve to have fun, try new things, make new friends, enjoy the show experience, and feel physically and emotionally supported enough to take artistic risks. Because laws established to protect people from unsafe behavior, harassment, and/or retaliation in the workplace only apply to “employees”, we put forth these standards to define what conduct we expect and accept from our members and audience.

Legal Limitations

The scope and purpose of the Code of Conduct is to create and maintain a safe environment for all members of the Charm City Karaoke League community.  The Code of Conduct is not a replacement for the legal process or an avenue to seek or apply legal action.

 If any member of the Charm City Karaoke League community believes that they have been the victim of a crime, they are encouraged to seek legal counsel from a licensed attorney.

Relatedly, if Charm City Karaoke League is made aware of a legal order (such as a restraining order), we will support those orders and follow them as legally required.

Code of Conduct

We have a firm policy against all types of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse or harassment. Charm City Karaoke League reserves the right to ask anyone who exhibits unacceptable behavior that endangers others to leave until the issue is resolved.

In order to promote an environment of safety, cooperation, and trust, the following behaviors are unacceptable:  

  • Touching others without first getting consent. This includes touching audience members or other league members in the course of a performance, assisting with getting into costumes, etc.

  • Hurtful or insulting remarks, jokes, gestures or other communications, and using technology (e.g., text messaging, social media) for such purposes

  • Discrimination or harassment based on any (or any combination of) an individual’s gender expression, gender identity, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, creed, religion, disability (including visible and invisible physical or mental disabilities), physical appearance, including, but not limited to body size and shape, illness (current or past), vaccination status, neurodiversity, political affiliation, genetic information, sexual orientation, family status, marital or relationship status, education, socioeconomic background or status, military background or status, parental status, caregiver status, record of offenses including the perception of any of the above or a relationship or association to a person identified by any of the above

  • Threatening, intimidating, verbally or physically abusing anyone, or making anyone feel their safety is at risk

  • Persistent requests or demands for romantic involvement or sexual favors, especially those that suggest rewards for complying or negative consequences/threats of harm for refusal

  • Any racist behavior in any part of the CCKL community, by any member of the CCKL community

  • Stealing or damaging public or private property

  • Not abiding by guidelines provided by the host venue. Please refer to Season Format & Rules section of this document for a complete list.

 Any of the behaviors outlined here can create a negative environment for individuals or groups and can damage the collaborative nature of our organization. A person does not have to be a direct target of such behavior to be negatively affected by it. The more we build a practice of establishing consent, and a framework where violations of boundaries can be responded to clearly, the more we can work and create together freely and joyfully.

Concern Resolution Pathway

In the event that you feel harassed, threatened, abused, or unsafe, or if you have a concern regarding a member of Charm City Karaoke League, we encourage you to follow the CCKL Concern Resolution Pathway guidance for reporting this. You may also use this incident report form which is sent confidentially to the Charm City Karaoke League Board of Directors. You may also contact any CCKL Board Member individually, contact information is contained within the Concern Resolution Pathway document.

Anti-Retaliation

Charm City Karaoke League seeks to encourage disclosure and discussion without penalty for the person who raises an issue or alleges misconduct. Accordingly, if someone named in a complaint retaliates or attempts to communicate with the complaint filer in any way after an alleged incident, Charm City Karaoke League reserves the right to levy consequences consistent with the rest of this Code of Conduct (as we consider retaliation to be a form of harassing behavior).

League Expectations

Performers

  • Every league member (performer) must be 21 years of age or older, must have read and agreed to the league rules, and signed this waiver during registration. By signing the CCKL waiver, performers are giving Charm City Karaoke League permission to share their photos on their social media and other marketing materials. If you would like to opt out of having your image shared, notify us at mic@charmcitykaraoke.com

  • Performers must follow all local laws and regulations. 

  • Disrespectful or otherwise problematic league members may be subject to disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, disqualification, suspension, or expulsion from league activities. 

Each league participant must be a performer in at least one round one or round two performance during the regular season. Team managers must work to ensure an equitable rotation of performers throughout the season. Exceptions may be made if they are communicated to League staff in advance (e.g., if a performer drops out, is unresponsive, or an emergency occurs).  

Team Managers 

  • One member from each team shall serve as the team manager. They are responsible for: 

    • Prompting team members to decide on songs & group performances 

    • Submitting song choices for each round by midnight the Sunday before competition

    • Making sure team members are receiving CCKL communications/participating in surveys & awards 

  • Each team manager will get a board liaison. They will answer any questions you may have about team dynamics, rule interpretation, concept testing, and anything your team may need.

  • If a team manager is unable to perform their duties on any given week, they may appoint another team member or their board liaison to act as manager for that week.

Voters

  • Anyone physically present at the venue during league play is eligible to vote in the competition. 

    • Any attempt to cast a vote from outside the venue will not be counted and may result in team disqualification. 

    • Any attempt to vote twice or otherwise unfairly influence the vote will result in those votes being disqualified and may result in penalties for the voter or team. 

    • At no time is it appropriate to vote for teams in any manner that does not reflect a face value opinion of the performance. If it is determined that a team or its affiliates are purposely voting against a team or teams without regard to their performance, the League reserves the right to take necessary actions to remedy such activities

Season Format & Rules

Season Structure 

  • Team leagues consist of an 8-week regular season, followed by two additional weeks for the Semifinal and Final rounds. 

  • Each week of league play, teams compete over three consecutive rounds. 

    • In the first round, there can be up to two performers.

    • In the second round, there can be up to four performers.

    • In the group round, all members can perform. 

  • Team order is determined during Week 1. Each team will draw a number that will determine their order for the first week. Each following week, the order will shift down so the first team in Week 1 will be the second team for Week 2, the last team in Week 1 will be the first team in Week 2, etc. 

  • The first week of the season is anything goes, there will be no costumes, props or themes. The rest of the weeks will have a theme. Themes might be genre-based (e.g., Country Week), centered around a specific time period or artist (e.g., One Name Artists, 1980s Week), and/or less literal themes (e.g., Memento Mori—Songs Commemorating the Dead, Twilight—Songs About Vampires, Nightfall, or Transitions).

  • Each season, four or six teams of no less than six (6) performers and no more than ten (10) performers each may compete, unless otherwise permitted by league staff. CCKL staff will do their best to honor the wishes of team managers and members; however, performers may be reassigned to ensure equity across the teams. 

Song Selection 

  • A team manager is responsible for submitting songs and requesting substitutions. Team managers must submit songs by midnight on the Sunday before that week’s competition. 

  • Song selection is on a first-come, first-served basis and can only be sung once during each week of play. If for whatever reason, a chosen song is not available, CCKL staff will let Team Managers know within 48 hours. 

  • Emergencies can happen; teams should communicate with league staff if a song needs to be replaced within 48 hours of the performance.  

Rules for Performance 

  • All performers must abide by guidelines provided by the host venue. These are subject to change as determined by the venue. Specifically: 

    • No outside alcoholic beverages 

    • No standing on the bar or tables

    • No open flames, fireworks or sparklers 

    • No dry ice or hazardous chemicals

    • Keep performances scent-free and try to steer clear of anything that might cause an allergic reaction including lighting incense and candles or spraying perfumes. 

    • No untethered helium balloons or anything else that might get stuck on the ceiling 

    • No nudity: All costumes must provide full coverage of the chest and buttocks. Coverage should be opaque and remain in place at all times (e.g., pasties alone are not permitted, and thong-style garments must include visible fabric coverage).

  • Audience members, CCKL team, and/or venue staff may not be used as props or participants in the performance. Performers, however, are free to interact respectfully with audience members if they indicate their consent.   

  • All team members may assist with setting up before a performance (in any round) and cleaning up after a performance. Each team is limited to 90 seconds of set up and take down for their performance. They will receive no support or materials from CCKL staff for their performance. Any performance props that cannot be thoroughly cleaned within one minute are strictly prohibited (e.g., silly string sprayed onto a tarp vs. silly string sprayed all over the venue’s light fixtures). All competition materials and detritus must be thoroughly cleaned by the responsible team(s) before leaving the venue for the night. 

Regular Season Play

  • Voting for each round will open at the start of the first performance of the round and remain open for 5 minutes after the last performance of the round.

  • For rounds one and two, voters will choose between several matchups. If a team wins a matchup, they are awarded two points. If there is a tie in a matchup, the team with the most overall votes will win that matchup.

    • If there are six teams: Teams will be divided into two clusters and voters will choose between 3 matchups in each cluster.

    • If there are four teams: Teams will all compete against all other teams and there will be six overall matchups each round. 

  • Voters will separately rank their top 3 performances in round 1 and 2. The performance ranked the highest will be declared “Top Performer” and win a prize. 

  • The group round order will be determined by the points in Round 1 & 2. If a team wins their matchups they will be be awarded 6 points. 

    • If there are six teams: The team with the most points in the first cluster will go up against the team with the most points in the second cluster. The 2nd place and 3rd place teams in each cluster will also be matched.

    • If there are four teams: The order will be determined solely by number of points with first place going against second place and third place going against fourth place. 

    • In the case of ties between matchup points from rounds 1 and 2, round 3 placement will be determined by number of votes.

  • The team with the highest combined score from all three rounds will be declared the “Top Group” and will receive a prize.

End of Season Play

  • At the end of regular season play, all acts that won “Top Performer” during the regular season will be eligible to compete for the “League MVP” award. This award will be presented at the end of the night during semi-finals. 

    • This award will be determined by voting which will open at the close of regular season play and run until the start of semi-finals. Voters will rank all of the performances of the season and the top ranked performance will win the prize. Any person is eligible to cast one vote for the League MVP. All those who vote must have a valid email and any attempt at duplicate or bad faith voting may result in a performance being disqualified from end of season awards. 

  • At the end of the season we will also give “Mic Drop Awards.” Each team will give one award to someone on their team and one award to someone on another team. These are fun awards that honor players who did something extraordinary or went above and beyond during the season and nominators can choose the award being given (e.g Becca for the Best Use of Silly String Award or Tom for the Best Dad Dancing). Team managers will need to submit their nominations by the Monday before semi-finals and they will be given out during semi-finals. 

  • During semi-finals and finals there will be no theme and the teams are able to choose any song from the CCKL’s songbook for their performances.

  • At the conclusion of the regular season, team standings (total points accrued by teams and their members) will be used to determine each team's postseason rank. If, at the end of the regular season, two or more teams finish with identical point values, a random drawing of tied teams will determine postseason seeding.  

  • If there are six teams: 

    • For semi-finals: 

      • The two teams with the highest number of points from the regular season will not compete in semi-finals. They will each perform one number (solo, small group, or whole group) as an exhibition only. Their advance to the finals is guaranteed.  

      • The remaining teams will compete in a solo, duet, and group round, similar to a regular competition. They will compete in the order of their ranking, with the team with the third-highest overall points going first and the team with the fewest points overall going last. 

      • The two teams that receive the most points during semifinals will advance to the finals. 

    • For finals: 

      • The two teams that did not advance in semi-finals will not compete, but will each perform an exhibition number (solo, small group, or whole group).

      • The remaining teams will compete in a solo, duet, and group round, similar to a regular competition. The first team in the overall standings will go first, the second team in the overall standings will go second, the team that won semi-finals will go third, and the team that got second in semi-finals will go fourth. 

  • If there are four teams: 

    • For semi-finals and finals, all team will compete. 

    • The performance order for both semi-finals and finals will be determined by regular season rank. The first placed team will get to choose what order they go in first, the second placed team will choose next, and then the third placed team will choose last. 

    • The standings for semi-finals will give bonus points that will get added to the teams final score during finals: 

      • 1st place gets 10 points 

      • 2nd place gets 6 points

      • 3rd place gets 3 points 

  • During the semifinals and finals, points are awarded from both judges and voting: 

    • A panel of judges will award up to 15 points based on a rubric similar to the voting system used during the regular season. 

    • The public will also cast a ranked-choice vote. The top group based on audience voting will get 15 additional points. The second-highest ranked will get 10 additional points and third highest-ranked will get 5 additional points. 

  • The team with the top number of points given during the finals round will be named CCKL League Champion and be given medals and a free private karaoke party of their choosing. The team with the second-highest number of points will receive runner-up medals 

Changes to Rules

  • Any changes to these rules will happen after the season has concluded based on staff and participant feedback. 

  • If there is a need to change the rules mid-season, these changes will be decided on by the CCKL Board of Directors and be put to a vote by team managers. The rules will only be changed if a majority of team managers have approved the change. The only exception to this policy is for rule changes requested by the venue or any change needed to ensure the safety of staff and participants.