to borrow an idea from the user showcase, it would add a new angle if the audience could critique each performance... either in discussion format (but that would steal time from the performances) or in written form.

If you went the written route, you could have a table set up with a note book and pencils, and a manila envelope bearing the name of each performer who wants audience feedback.

Written feedback would probably tend to be harsher than verbal... because it could be anonymous. People are more inclined to speak their mind when nobody knows whose opinion is being expressed.

Verbal feedback would probably be kinder since most of the audience is probably performers who realize that what goes around comes around, and they have little incentive to set a negative vibe.

Peer evaluation would probably have the effect of culling the really bad performers and raising the overall quality for the people who may come just to listen.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0