37th Annual KRCC Telethon will include lip sync battle

SIKESTON -- The Kenny Rogers Children's Center is changing up the entertainment portion of this year's annual telethon.

Auditions for KRCC's first-ever "Lip Sync Battle" are being accepted via online video submissions now through Feb. 14.

The event format mirrors Spike TV's popular "Lip Sync Battle," where celebrities compete against one another in a lip sync challenge in front of a live audience.

"Impersonate your favorite singing sensation. Props, costumes, back-up dancers, etc. are all encouraged," said Christy O'Neal, marketing and development director for Kenny Rogers Children's Center.

After more than 10 years of the "Telethon Idol" -- which was modeled after the reality TV singing competition -- telethon organizers opted to switch the format in 2016. They presented "Telethon's Got Talent" with a premise similar to the reality TV show.

This year organizers chose to go with the lip sync format.

"A lot of people really like that show, and we decided that would be fun to do as our entertainment portion of the telethon," O'Neal said.

Tatum encouraged entrants to view "Lip Sync Battle" for inspiration if they haven't seen the show. She recalled co-workers discussing an episode where actor Channing Tatum, who was dressed as Frozen's Elsa, lip-synced "Let It Go" from the animated film.

"We're hoping that people come out and want to have fun with it and get into the spirit of it. We hope they bring out props and costumes and back-up dancers," O'Neal said. "The more, the merrier."

There are two ways to submit entries: uploading a video to YouTube and sharing the link via email at talent@kennyrogerscenter.org or emailing the video directly to talent@kennyrogerscenter.org.

Then, KRCC officials will share the video on its Facebook page and tag them with #KRCCLipSyncBattle.

Individuals and groups of all ages are welcome to submit an audition, but they must not contain any inappropriate content. Entrants must include contact information.

"We will go through those videos and pick who we want to send through the finals and those will compete on the Saturday night of the telethon," O'Neal said.

O'Neal said she hopes the Center receives "tons" of submissions for the lip sync competition.

"We had quite a few entries with last year's talent competition," O'Neal said.

Finalists will be notified Feb. 15 and will be required to attend a meeting at KRCC on the evening of Feb. 16. Finalists will compete live at the Telethon on the evening of March 18 to win a grand prize of $1,000.

"The night of telethon, I'm hoping we have a lot of people who come out and have a good show," O'Neal said. "It should be be really entertaining."

This year's theme for the 37th annual telethon, which is March 18-19, is "Under the Big Top."

"We do have some fun things we're doing, like the lip sync battle," O'Neal said. "We've actually decided to try to do some different things at the telethon. We're still working out the details and will share with the public as the telethon gets closer."

For more information, contact O'Neal at coneal@kennyropgerscenter.org or at 471-0397, ext. 207, or visit www.kennyrogerscenter.org.