The Joseph Choir Search - Frequently Asked Questions

Schools have reported problems - when the competition was set up what were the expectations in terms of volume of entrants/votes?

The response to the competition was overwhelming, and while every effort to cope with that demand was made, we felt that the only way to make this competition totally fair to all those involved was to put all the choirs before the panel. This was our first experience of running a website competition of this kind which has attracted such an unprecedented response, lessons have been learned and this will not be allowed to happen in the future.

Why did the problems arise?

The online vote was compromised by technical difficulties and evidence of block voting, which meant that trust in the integrity of the results may have been damaged.

In view of the unique value of the prize and the passionate interest in the competition from schools and so many enthusiastic young children, we decided on this occasion to set aside the online rating results and rely instead on a panel, in the interests of fairness.

What was done to solve those problems?

All entrants were viewed by some of the expert panel who selected the Josephs in the regional audition process.

The panel selected twenty-one finalists, rather than twenty, from the 843 entries because the standard of entries was so high. The winner was chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Howard Goodall to perform on the Any Dream Will Do final on Saturday 9th June, as originally planned.

When will the runners up be announced?

Following the changes to the way in which we selected the winning choir, the runners up will be published on the website on Monday 11th June.

Who were the 'expert panel'?

Some of the panel who selected the actual Josephs at regional auditions, the panel included two independent casting directors, James Orange and Caroline Skidmore who have both had previous experience in casting choirs for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, along with judge and vocal coach Zoe Tyler.

Can I be sure my entrant was viewed by the panel?

Yes, the panel were locked in a room until they had viewed every single entry.

What were the selection criteria?

The panel used their combined experience to select the best top 21 choirs to put forward to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber who then decided the winner alongside Howard Goodall. They were looking for choirs which stood out as an overall package in terms of the quality of voices and a bright, strong performance.

Why did it take so long for BBC to resolve this?

This was the first website competition of this kind combining video uploading, video viewing, live ratings and rankings to which the response really was overwhelming. Having invited everyone to participate in rating the choirs we were equally disappointed to have to take a different route to finding the winners at such a late stage but this was done with the best interest of all involved and fair competition in mind. When we realised problems were occurring with the website we did all we could to keep the competition running as we had originally intended and responded as quickly as possible to those problems. After verification it was felt that following those problems, the only way to be 100% fair to all entrants was to put them to the panel. Lessons have been learned from this process and we will certainly ensure this doesn't occur again in future.

Were security measures not in place?

Yes there were we had a number of measures in place to pick up duplicate votes, block voting and other attempts to manipulate the system. But we believe that on this occasion, partly due to the sheer volume of response to the competition and the technical problems with the site, the process itself was compromised and trust in the integrity of the results may have been damaged.

Is the BBC allowed to change the rules like this at the last minute?

Yes, as stated in terms and conditions we are able to do so, the results were always subject to verification, following which we decided that due to evidence of block voting and technical errors the only way to make the competition fair at this point was to put all entrants on an equal footing with the panel viewing all 843 entrants.

At what stage did you decide that online rankings were not the best way to continue and why did you not inform schools earlier via the website, instead of waiting till the day of announcement (31 May)?

The announcement of finalists was always subject to verification as with any competition, we always knew there were problems which we'd hoped we'd overcome. The verification process was completed on the 31st May and it was following verification that this decision was taken in order to ensure the competition had been absolutely 100% fair we then announced our plans on the website as soon as possible.

Why were only the top twenty schools who got through via the rating selection process contacted?

We spoke to most of the schools who were rated Top 20 when ratings closed as soon as we made this decision as we felt it important to speak to them personally to explain what had happened and why. We couldn't speak directly to all 843 entrants but those in the Top 20 were obviously under the impression they had a greater chance of winning than others so it was important to speak to them in particular.