Upcoming Fall Contest

Hi All, I hate to say it but fall's just around the corner (we all know how fast MN summers go by) and Neisen's/KRDS FM is looking to do this with us again. We've been told that we will have bigger prizes. The South Metro Contest was something that Terry & I put together to "kick the tires" and see how things went. To say the least, you guys made it a wonderful success and all the participating bars commented positively. So with all that said, I need to get suggestions and ideas for making an even better contest for everyone. I'm thinking things like having quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. I also want to increase the difficulty by forcing finalists to perform songs from at least 3 genres. Also, with a larger cash prize involved we would probably have to put male against female for the "Grand Prize". I need suggestions on how you would like to see the finals play out. I would like to separate the categories so the night of finals we would have more time, however if you are finalist in multiple categories it may require you to attend 2 nights in a row......Does that seem unreasonable? Terry and I are trying to get a summer location locked in for a regular show so we can have an opportunity to work with everyone on a more individual basis. That way we can get proper song versions and get to know your singing style so I can be sure to provide the best sound for you when you're on stage. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.