Been wishing you could write for CrackBerry.com? Here's your chance!

Everybody's favorite tv show is now done for the season (and with Simon leaving you know it'll never be quite the same again), so we decided it was time to put a BlackBerry slant on idol spirit with our own CrackBerry Idol 2010 competition!

You can think of CrackBerry Idol as a very fun and very public application process to become a regular-contributing member of the CrackBerry editorial team. If you've ever thought to yourself, "I wish I could write for CrackBerry.com" or "man, I could do a way better job than Kevin or Adam on that review" or "CrackBerry needs a female writer on the site" then this is the chance you have been waiting for. The winner of CrackBerry Idol 2010 will have the opportunity to join the CrackBerry team on a paid freelance basis (1-2 articles per week - nothing too crazy so you can still keep your job, go to school, etc.). There are lots of wicked goodies along the road to being crowned the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, including free BlackBerry apps, accessories and phones (not to mention you'll be CrackBerry famous once your face hits the blogs) so it's definitely worth putting in your creativity, time and effort. The CrackBerry Idol winner will even get to attend the BlackBerry Developer Conference this September with the Crack team in San Francisco! The great news here is we're looking for more than one new individual to join the CrackBerry editorial team, so even if you don't win the final community vote but impress the heck out of the judges you may just find your name here on the blogs one day.

The first step on the road to becoming the CrackBerry Idol is making it through the audition round, which is now open! Get on it!! For full contest details keep reading below or jump over to the contest site at crackberryidol.com. I have a feeling we're in for a fun summer here on the blogs with this event going on. Spread the word, and good luck! 

CrackBerry Idol 2010 - Your Chance to Freelance for CrackBerry.com!

Event Overview:

CrackBerry Idol is open to BlackBerry enthusiasts around the world who'd love become CrackBerry famous and help contribute to the CB blogs on a regular basis (1-2+ posts per week - nothing crazy, so you can keep your normal job, go to school, etc.). While there ultimately can be only one individual crowned as the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, by the end of the event we'd like to welcome at least two new members to the team who will help out on BlackBerry App, Accessory and Device reviews.

To make the cut, you're going to have to show us what you got! You'll need to have a passion for BlackBerry and be able to express your thoughts clearly both in writing and on video. It's a digital world that we live in and CrackBerry.com is a website, so you'll need to have the skills and equipment required to take photos and whip together your own youtube videos. If you visit CrackBerry regularly, you'll have a feeling for the minimum standards we require - and if you can raise the bar with your mad skills, then show us! The good news is you don't need to be an "expert" for this role. The BlackBerry is a consumer product - we want consumers. If you love a product, express your love. If you hate a product, voice your concern. Being informative and entertaining is what it's all about.

Awesome Prizes for Competing and Winning: If your audition video is accepted and you make it into the competition rounds of CrackBerry Idol, in addition to the fame and glory you'll rack up sweet prizes as you progress through the rounds of the competition including BlackBerry apps, accessories and even a new BlackBerry if you make the final round. And for the CrackBerry Idol winner, we have an extra special prize - you'll get to attend the BlackBerry Developer Conference this September in San Francisco with the Crack team!

How to Enter

Preliminary Round: The audition - Put together a 30 second to 2 minute video clip letting us know why you love BlackBerry, why you want to join the CrackBerry team and why you think you have what it takes to be the CrackBerry Idol. Toss it on youtube for everybody to see. If you want to be part of the CrackBerry team, you can't be shy!

• Video Submission: Once your video is uploaded to youtube, email us the web address link for your the video to crackberryidol@crackberry.com.
• Audition Deadline: All videos must be uploaded to youtube and we must receive your submission email by midnight PST on Tuesday, June 15th.
• Making the cut: Depending on the total number of entries, the CrackBerry Idol judging panel will choose how many individuals and which individuals will move onto first heat of the competition rounds. All individuals submitting audition videos will be contacted by the end of day, Friday June 18th on whether or not they have been selected to advance to the next round.

Competition Rounds

For those who advance past the auditions and into the competition rounds, the contestants will be put to the test in the form of real-life reviews. Contestants will have access to existing CrackBerry editors (aka coaches) to provide guidance and tips on putting together their entries. While we won't set strict deadlines in advance for the competition rounds, the aim will be for reviewers to have a full week to put together their review in each round of the competition. The following week will see the reviews published to the CrackBerry blogs with feedback provided by judges and the CrackBerry readership. Once all entries have been posted in a given round, the community will be able to vote for who moves on to the next round and who gets cut. The CrackBerry Idol will progress through the rounds per the summary below until an ultimate CrackBerry Idol 2010 champion is crowned!

CrackBerry Idol Round 1: The app review - Round 1 of the competition is the all-important BlackBerry app review. If the app to be reviewed is not free, CrackBerry will provide it to the contestant free of charge.

CrackBerry Idol Round 2: The case review - Round 2 of the competition is the BlackBerry case review. Cases are always the #1 category of BlackBerry accessory, so it's important that any CrackBerry reviewer be able to express their feelings about BlackBerry protection.

CrackBerry Idol Round 3: The "other" accessory review - With cases out of the way, the next round of the competition will involve reviewing another, more-complicated type of accessory for the BlackBerry such as a Bluetooth headset or accessory like the BlackBerry Presenter, BlackBerry Music Gateway, etc.

CrackBerry Idol Final Round: The device review - Contestants still remaining in the competition at this point will be challenged with the task of putting together the mother of all reviews, the new BlackBerry Smartphone review. The finalists will be able to choose which commercially-available BlackBerry they would like to review.

The Final Vote: Once the final device reviews have all been posted, the crowning of the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner will all come down to the final community vote. In the end, one ultimate CrackBerry Idol winner will be crowned. In addition to the devices and accessories received during the competition that contestants will get to keep, we'll have some other awesome prizes for the winner and finalists.

The Fine Print and Other Questions you may have:
- How many contestants are competing in each round? As this is the first ever CrackBerry Idol, we're not sure how many auditions we will receive. We feel a good goal would be to have 20 contestants move forward from auditions into Round 1 (app reviews), 10 contestants move into Round 2 (case reviews), five contestants move into Round 3 (other accessory reviews) and 2-3 finalists duking it out in the final round with their device reviews. Depending on if we receive a lot more or less auditions, these numbers may change.
- What does a review consist of? In general, CrackBerry reviews always involve a written component as well as images (software screen captures, accessory/device photos, etc.) and/or a video. For the CrackBerry Idol reviews, we'll want to see each review feature all of these components in every review.
- What will I be reviewing? Throughout the competition, contestants will work with CrackBerry editors to decide what to review. Ideally we'd like to see contestants reviewing different items, so in the case where two or more contestants want to review the same thing we'll all work together to decide what makes the most sense. All paid apps, accessories and devices will be provided to contestants free of charge by CrackBerry.com
- What happens after I win? If you're asking this question already, we love the way you think! Though there will be only one individual crowned the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, we're looking for at least two good (we could be swayed into more!) individuals to join the CrackBerry editorial team on a freelance basis (~1-2 articles per week). We value consistency and commitment, so this type of regular work is paid for on a per article basis.
- No current paid employees or freelance members of the Smartphone Experts family of sites are allowed to enter.
- I have other questions... where do I send them? If you have other questions, you can email them in to crackberryidol @ crackberry.com.