Amateur Night at The Apollo Returns August 21, 2024
In-person auditions on September 14
The Apollo’s Licensing Partnership Amateur Night Japan! Returns
On Wednesday, August 21, Amateur Night at The Apollo will return with a dynamic new slate of artists who will battle it out over the course of 38 shows in front of The Apollo’s notoriously tough “Be Good or Be Gone!” audience. The longest-running talent competition that has launched the careers of legendary stars like Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, and H.E.R., Amateur Night at The Apollo vocalists, rappers, dancers, instrumentalists, comedians, spoken-word artists, and other performers from around the globe.
Adult contestants will compete for the Amateur Night Grand Prize of $20,000 and the chance to join the ranks of legendary past performers like Fat Joe, Machine Gun Kelly, and Jazmine Sullivan, while contestants between the ages of 5 and 17 will compete for the title of “Child Star of Tomorrow” and a $5,000 prize.
This season, in a showcase of The Apollo brand’s global reach, The Apollo will relaunch its licensing partnership with Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd., the largest entertainment company in Japan, for the return of Amateur Night Japan!. Reinforcing the competition’s mission to find and amplify international talent, Amateur Night Japan! will showcase contestants from around Japan selected from online video submissions. The winner will receive a $10,000 prize and the opportunity to perform at the Amateur Night at The Apollo Grande Finale in New York City. Additionally, one contestant will win the chance to make their debut under Yoshimoto Kogyo and Universal Music’s joint label Yoshimoto Universal Tunes.
Since its inception in 1934, The Apollo’s signature talent competition Amateur Night at The Apollo has attracted audiences and contestants from around the globe and launched the careers of thousands of performers who are now some of the biggest names in entertainment. Amateur Night has long been revered by artists as a transformative experience where up-and-coming talent can feel the power of the legendary performers who have come before them, and where audience response can make or break a career.
Cruz Angel, winner of the 90th season of Amateur Night at The Apollo, exemplifies exactly how the competition has the power to shape a rising artist’s career – prior to competing on Amateur Night, the Puerto Rican-born singer struggled with homelessness while pursuing his dream of performing, sleeping in the New York city subway after hours of busking. Angel’s stellar performances throughout the competition charmed audiences and secured him the Amateur Night Grand Prize, the very same accolade that jump-started the careers of notable artists like Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5.
The Apollo will host in-person auditions for Amateur Night at The Apollo hopefuls to join this season on Saturday, September 14, on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 9 a.m. EST, seeing the first 200 performers who will vie for a coveted spot in the Amateur Night season.
Online audition submissions are accepted year-round at apollotheater.org/amateur-night.
Tickets for Amateur Night at The Apollo are on sale now at www.ApolloTheater.org.
The Apollo’s original, large-scale talent competition is produced by Marion J. Caffey, and is hosted by comedian Capone (NY Kings of Comedy, Def Comedy Jam) with perennial favorites including C.P. Lacey in the role of the “Executioner” (in charge of ushering off eliminated contestants); Greginald Spencer, the “Set It Off Man”; and Amateur Night’s longstanding famous house band led by music director, Michael Mitchell (MJ The Musical), featuring DaiQuan Davis on drums, Reggie Young on bass, and Matt Oestreicher on guitar and keyboard.
SUPPORT
The Apollo's season is made possible by leadership support from Coca-Cola, Citi, Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and The Mellon Foundation.
Amateur Night at The Apollo is sponsored by Coca-Cola.
Apollo Education Programs are made possible by generous support from BNY Mellon, Apollo EmpowHER, Steve and Connie Ballmer, ConEdison, The Walt Disney Company, William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, the Moore Charitable Foundation, The Neuberger Berman Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, Sony Global Justice Fund, and the Verizon Foundation.
Public support for The Apollo is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with special support from New York City Council Members Julie Menin, Kristin Richardson Johnson, and Shaun Abreu.
About The Apollo
The Apollo is an American cultural treasure. It is a vibrant non-profit organization rooted in the Harlem community that engages people from around New York, the nation, and the world. Since 1934, The Apollo has celebrated, created, and presented work that centers Black artists and voices from across the African Diaspora. It has also been a catalyst for social and civic advocacy. Today, The Apollo is the largest performing arts institution committed to Black culture and creativity.
The Apollo is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the African American narrative and its role in the development of American and global culture.
The Apollo envisions a new American canon centered on contributions to the performing arts by artists of the African diaspora, in America and beyond.
