WANTED: Deaf talent to showcase during ASL Live!

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is looking for deaf talent for a competition to determine the most theatrically presented material in American Sign Language (ASL) during ASL Live! on Tuesday, July 8, 2008, during the 49th Biennial NAD Conference in New Orleans! Loosely based on the popular TV program, American Idol, this evening of great talent and fun will be hosted by former Miss Deaf America, Lauren Teruel Ridloff.

The evening will feature ten talented semi-finalists who will exhibit their creativity in the use of the American Sign Language in front of a large audience and three judges. It will be the audience and the judges who will ultimately decide the winner.

Performers will be judged on ASL translations, ASL delivery, performance and originality. Performances can include ASL poetry, ASL storytelling, ASL monologues or an ASL interpreted "songs".

The ten (10) semi-finalists will be selected from submitted audition videos by a panel of judges.

Guidelines for interested performers (contestants).

About the NAD Conference

Rotated annually among the four regions of the United States, Biennial NAD Conferences, held in the even numbered years, traditionally bring together more than 2,000 deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, deaf-blind and hearing consumers, parents, youth, professionals, educators, organizational and corporate representatives for five days of professional development, enrichment, training, networking, governance meetings, receptions and related evening events.

NAD Biennial Conferences are open to everyone: Parents and family members; retirees; federal employees; youth; administrators, educators, support providers and product/service providers. For complete conference information, please visit: www.nad.org/2008conf.

About the NAD

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was established in 1880 by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language as a core value. As a nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to preserve, protect, and promote the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf Americans. The advocacy scope of the NAD is broad, covering the breadth of a lifetime and impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, employment, health care, technology, telecommunications, youth leadership, and more. For more information, please visit www.nad.org.