performance too long :(

[Beetlecat]

I'd like to debut my new Red XIII costume by 'lip syncing' to the Lion King song <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xviFBNgRzjs">"Be prepared"</A>.

It's an awesome song and would nicely fit Red. Since he's a fursuit, any skit I could do would really be about body movement (the mouth moves but it would be too hard to project my voice for a talking skit, especially since I *do not* sound like Red XIII), so I'd choreograph moves to the song beforehand.

It's a fursuit, I want to show it off and have people look at it.

My issue is that the song is too long. Individual performances (at the con I'm looking in to) are capped at 1 minute 30 seconds and this song is closer to 3 minutes long.

1) In general, can/will exceptions to performance lengths be made? Of course, I'd ask the con beforehand.

2) If not, any idea of how to take out half the song while still making it a fun ride?

3) Otherwise, my only other options are short, silly songs which I know have been done to death and are not what I want at all since Red is not a particularly comedic character.

[Sarcasm-hime]

You can edit songs using various audio editing programs; some are shareware or freeware. Definitely either cut the song down or use a shorter one; 3 minutes is WAY too long and the audience will get bored.

[KittyCanuck]

You could even just cut off the song after the "And injustice deliciously squared/ Be prepared!" [fade out], since then you wouldn't have to deal with any of the spoken bits, or even after "So prepare for a chance of a lifetime/ Be prepared for sensational news" [then fade out] since then you wouldn't have to worry about the other character's voices.

People will get the point of the performance as soon as they see you and recognize the song. There's no real need to carry it on for very long unless you're doing something besides pretending you are singing and dancing. The audience already got the "joke", and they can see the costume better after the contest is over anyway. ^_~
Cutting it down and fading it out is easier than trying to remix it on your own, unless you're already good at mixing/cutting music it could just end up seeming choppy and weird.

[Beetlecat]

That's about what I figured out after listening to the song over and over today, that makes it a more manageable 1 minute long, though it does skip out most of the faster and more emotional parts of the song.

Or I could attach that first part straight to the end where there's a bit more energy. (starting right after "you won't get a sniff without me).

That takes it to almost 2 minutes long, but that's the limit for a group performance, so maybe I could get away with it.

I took a listen to other TLK songs, but this is the only one that is really centered around a single character.

You could even just cut off the song after the "And injustice deliciously squared/ Be prepared!" [fade out], since then you wouldn't have to deal with any of the spoken bits, or even after "So prepare for a chance of a lifetime/ Be prepared for sensational news" [then fade out] since then you wouldn't have to worry about the other character's voices.