Now through April 3rd, 2012, contestants can upload their Japanese karaoke videos. These videos will be available for viewing once they are submitted. Viewers and judges will watch the videos as they are uploaded. Viewers are encouraged to sign up for email updates on our Home page and through Facebook Connect. We'll send you updates about once every two weeks. Contestants and are also encouraged to share the contest website with their friends and fellow students.

Judges will be selecting finalist in both solo and group categories based on the contestants’ singing ability, the quality and creativity of the videos , the contestants’ Japanese pronunciation and—of course—their SuperStar quality! The judges’ picks for the finalist will be announced on April 17, 2012.

Then, April 18, 2012 through April 24, 2012 the public can vote for their favorite video in each the solo and group category. You only get one vote per video so be sure to view as many videos as you can to select the best! The winner in each category will be announced on this site on April 25, 2012!

Start by watching the videos as they are submitted on this site. The contest works best when you view as many videos as you can and vote for the one that is the best in singing, the quality and creativity of the video and the performer’s pronunciation.

Public voting begins on April 18, 2012 and runs through April 24, 2012 and you’ll be able to vote right here on this site on the Video page. Be sure to sign up for updates and info on our Home page and through Facebook Connect.

You can vote for multiple videos, but you can only submit one vote per video. Be sure to watch as many videos as you can to find the best ones to vote on!

Our team of distinguished judges is carefully selected Japanese language experts with an ear for talent. They will be evaluating all of your submissions and choose the top twelve finalists in both the solo and group categories.

You can read more about the judges here.

The judges will be looking for your singing ability, the quality and creativity of your video and most importantly your Japanese pronunciation. Of course your SuperStar quality will be important as well!

This year, we decided to shake things up a little. Instead of just choosing who makes the semifinalist cut, the judges will also get to show a little support for their favorite videos. During the judging period, the judges will each get to choose their top three videos for each category.

Partway through the public voting (April 20th to be exact), we'll reveal those choices to you. All of the semifinalists will have had a chance to garner some votes by this point. At noon, we'll take a snapshot of the contest as it stands. The TOTAL number of votes (all videos combined) will be multiplied by either 5%, 10%, or 15%, based on the judge's ranking, and added as a "supervote" bonus to those videos chosen.

For example, if the contest had a total of 100 votes (we hope for a better turnout though!) and your video was chosen as 2nd favorite by a judge, you would get an extra 10 votes added to your vote count from that judge.

Similarly, if a judge deemed your video her favorite, you would receive 15 votes in this scenario.

We hope this new twist adds excitement to the contest. It gives up to 18 videos the chance to receive a boost based on their merit. The more people participate in the voting before the supervote, the bigger the bonuses—so make the best video you can and then try your hardest to promote the contest during the voting period!

You must submit your video by 11:59 p.m. EST, April 3rd, 2011 in order to be considered.

1. The performance should primarily be in Japanese.
2. The vocals on the video should be your own. You can edit your video, or pre-record the vocals, but make no substitutions or other digital manipulation.
3. As you'll be submitting your videos on YouTube, you're subject to their terms of use.
4. Use a karaoke track for your song, rather than signing over the original. The judges want to hear you!
5. You must include the song lyrics (in Japanese) either through subtitles on your video and/or in the lyrics field when you post your video.
6. Avoid a "Parental Advisory" rating. If your video contains offensive language, or any other inappropriate material you might be disqualified.
7. IMPORTANT: Be respectful of copyrights. YouTube may remove your video if the track you choose is copyrighted, so find a song with an open license or use original music.
8. You must submit a new video that has not been submitted in previous SuperStar competitions.

Click here for the official rules for the contest.