Your backstage pass
A great show starts here.
Prepare on the web. Run the show on Apple TV. Let your guests do the judging.
Use the website for setup, uploads, pairing approval, emails, and exact-tie decisions. After setup, the TV runs playback, voting windows, pause/resume, and the final reveal. Guests vote on their phones.
Start here
1. Prepare on the website
On your phone or computer, open gravygottalent.app and choose I'm hosting. Sign in or create an organizer account. Hosts must be 18+ and approved for the Thanksgiving pilot; creating an account alone does not grant pilot access. Contact support if you need access.
Create your contest and add up to 10 songs. Upload MP3, M4A, WAV, Opus, or Ogg audio, up to 25 MB and five minutes per new upload. The service compresses supported files to AAC. Use recordings you have permission to share.
2. Get the playlist ready
Preview each uploaded song, edit its title and creator, arrange the playing order, and choose a highlight of up to 30 seconds for the finale. Wait until every song is ready. Playlist changes lock when the contest starts.
Contests and uploaded songs expire 24 hours after the host closes final voting, or 30 days after contest creation, whichever comes first. The next daily cleanup permanently deletes them, along with votes and results. Keep your originals and save results you want to keep. Each contest admits up to 25 voters. The free Thanksgiving pilot is limited to 100 total contests. Internet is required on the TV, organizer device, and voting phones.
3. Connect this Apple TV
On the TV welcome screen choose Connect Apple TV. On the website, open your contest and find Connect Apple TV. Enter the ten-character code displayed on this TV and approve it. The pairing code expires after ten minutes; get a new code if needed.
The TV downloads and checks every song before Start is available. Approve only the code on your own TV. To use a different TV, disconnect the current TV from the organizer page first. Pair before starting the show.
4. Bring in your judges
Guests scan the QR code on the TV or open gravygottalent.app/join, enter the contest code, and choose a nickname. Voters must be 13+. No guest account or email address is needed. Each guest should keep the same phone and browser throughout the show.
The TV pairing code connects the host's TV; the contest code joins voters. They are different codes. When everyone has joined and all songs are ready, choose Start contest on the TV and confirm.
TV or website?
Run the show from your TV
Once the contest is prepared and paired, the TV can start the show, play full songs, run each 30-second ballot, advance songs, play finalist highlights, pause or resume, close final voting, and present the winner celebration.
Use the visible Pause show and Resume show buttons, or the remote's Play/Pause button during a live show. The Back/Menu button opens Settings. Help & Privacy is available from the top of the screen and from Settings. Help does not pause an active show; pause first if the room needs time.
Keep the website handy
The website is required for organizer sign-in, creating contests, uploading and arranging songs, choosing highlights, approving or disconnecting a TV, sending invitations and round-one results, and resolving exact round-one ties. These preparation and administration tasks are not available on the TV.
Guests always vote on their phones. If you do not have an Apple TV, choose Prepare browser playback on the organizer page, then Start full-song contest. Keep that browser tab visible and open. Use one playback device for the room.
Voting & finale
Listen first. Then score.
Every complete song plays before voting opens. After playback finishes, guests have 30 seconds to score Originality, Beat, Theme, and Overall from 1 to 5 on their phones. Only complete, successfully saved ratings count. Check the saved confirmation before the timer ends.
When the ballot closes, the next song starts automatically. After the last ballot, the service calculates the top three rated songs. An exact tie affecting the finalists needs the host's decision on the website. If fewer than three songs have complete ratings, fewer finalists appear.
Let the room choose a winner
The finalist highlights play automatically, one at a time. Then guests choose their favorite on their phones. Final voting has no automatic time limit: the host chooses Close voting & start the reveal on the TV or website. At least one final vote is needed. Guests can change their favorite until voting closes.
All finalists appear together. A five-second countdown reveals third place, followed by a short spotlight. A second countdown reveals the winner with confetti, and second place becomes visible. Equal final vote counts use round-one order. With fewer than three finalists, the third-place spotlight is skipped.
Troubleshooting
If the show pauses or loses connection
Keep the TV app in the foreground and check internet on the TV and phones. A connection interruption pauses playback and voting. Once reconnected, wait for every song to be ready and choose Resume show. A short part of a song may replay during recovery.
For a download error, open Settings and choose Retry downloads. With browser playback, return to the host tab; after a reload, prepare audio again, enable sound if asked, and resume. Do not create another contest just to recover a connection.
Pairing, voting, and audio checks
Pairing code expired? Get a new one on the TV. Start disabled? Check that every upload is ready, all TV downloads are checked, and the TV is connected. No sound? Check the TV/receiver volume and selected speakers, then use Try a rehearsal from the welcome screen to test playback.
Votes disabled while a song plays is expected; wait for the 30-second ballot. An expired contest needs a new contest. A full contest cannot admit more than 25 voters. Contact support with the device, steps, and exact error if you remain stuck.
Still need a hand?
Contact support and tell us where you got stuck.