Re: Amateur dancer contest
I've never danced at one, but whenever I've been to an "Amateur Night" as a customer, it tends to be anything but. They're just dancers from other clubs or who are about to start working at that club, and I hear the contest is usually rigged. If you don't care too much about winning and just want to do it for the experience though, I say go for it. They look like fun and you still get tipped while you dance (which is a better indicator of how good you are than whether you win the contest).
Re: Amateur dancer contest
TONS of threads already on this topic so feel free to do a search and learn from the past experiences of others.
First step ... GO TO THE CLUB. If you have not been to the club before than go, and even better if you can go during one of their amateur night contests. The setup of an am. night contest varies greatly from club to club so going to see one will let you know how it's run, who the contestants tend to be, etc.
Yes am. night is a good way for beginners to break in. Many clubs use am. night as their form of audition. Also, where you finnish in the contest doesn't really matter in terms of getting hired. I've seen times when the last place dancer get offered a job and the winner not get offered one.
Yes "Amateur Night" is usually a not quite amateur. I know several dancers who uses am. nights at the other clubs in their area as "supplemental income". Heh. So in the contest you may find a fair share of contestants who already work as dancers from other places. Don't let that discourage you though. Usually the crowd can tell if someone is a newbie and they'll tend to get behind her and cheer for her. Some places even rig the contest so the newbie wins, but again that varies from place to place. (This is why going to visit the place is a good idea. Get a feel for the layout and the type of competition.)
Best of luck.