Eligibility: Only musicians who advance to the final round of the 2025 Summer Music Competition are eligible for our most prestigious distinction of Top 15 Exceptional Performer, recognizing our most exceptionally impressive finalists. Each participating member of Our Judges will submit nominations and numeric ratings to determine the Top 15 Exceptional Performers.
Special Certificates & Instagram Feature: The Top 15 Exceptional Performers will receive special personalized certificates via email and be invited to submit their portrait photos, along with an optional short video speaking about their musical journey, by July 25th. These photos will be posted on the Competition’s official Instagram page in the order in which they were received, with captions explaining how to watch their performance videos on YouTube.
Audience Voting: Once all photos are published by July 30th, our Instagram audience will vote for their favorite YouTube performance by liking the corresponding Top 15 Exceptional Performer’s Instagram post. To ensure votes come from the Competition’s genuine audience, voters must follow the @charlestonmusiccompetition Instagram page. This helps us ensure that only engaged community members, not random accounts, are part of the voting process. Audience members are allowed to like multiple posts if they have more than one favorite performance. Voting will close at 11:59 PM EST on August 15th.
Winner Selection and Award: The Top 15 Exceptional Performer with the most likes from our audience members (followers of the @charlestonmusiccompetition Instagram page) at 11:59 PM EST on August 15th will receive $500 USD via PayPal by August 20th.
Disclaimer: By participating in this promotion, participants agree to release Instagram from any liability. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
Privacy Notice: The Competition will collect and use personal data, such as email addresses, for the purpose of administering the contest. The data will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy and will not be shared with any third party, except as necessary for the administration of the contest (e.g., sending the award payment via PayPal).
Transparency and Fairness: The $500 Exceptional Performer award is designed as an additional bonus to the extensive services that the Competition already provides to its finalists. The distribution of other prizes, such as First, Second, and Third Prize, are entirely merit-based and determined through the expertise of Our Judges.
This dual approach combines expert judges’ evaluations with audience voting to ensure a well-rounded selection process, recognizing both technical excellence and audience appeal.
Audience voting is only applicable to the determination of cash prize winners and does not influence the awarding of other prizes.
View our past Exceptional Performer cash prize winners here: https://charlestoncompetition.com/most-exceptional-performers-2025/