The Power Rangers vid was funnier but yours was absolutely more annoying. The song itself is pretty monotonous and repetitive by midway through (it's in my mp3 library somewhere, and I'll be damned if it isn't stuck on a loop in my head now). Personally, I think this "Torture" category should remain with up to five entries and be distributed as was during the contest: in between categories. I wasn't convinced that the category would work but it was executed right, and now I believe (aaaaaaaaa-men!
). Please for to consider keeping it?
Aside from the special categories and awards, I saw plenty of evidence to support our decision at NekoCon's AMV contest to take general category voting out of the viewers' hands. They'll decide Best in Show but we're making sure nothing is miscategorized and that the playing field is leveled by having a panel of unbiased judges decide the winners.
The results? Oh, a trailer that was semi-amusing won for Comedy because that's the category it was in. A dramatic video which largely lacked action won the Action category. My initial choice for Drama didn't win but it took a second look at the winner to understand why it won. And for once I actually enjoyed the Romance entries (wonderful piece, Jaddzie, and congrats!). While I would have rather seen the "Russian dance" video win for Upbeat, the winning entry had all the special effects and extras one expects within this category.
But the thing that nailed it for me about "one viewer, one vote" was how the Best in Show award was explained. First of all, Vlad totally delivered with his entry. I voted for the "Killer Tomatoes" video to win Comedy but, as it was told, Vlad would have won that category by popular vote but was only awarded the Best in Show, making the actual 2nd place vote-getter the category winner (the trailer). The runner-up (actual 3rd place) was "Lollipop"...poor Alucard.
Had judges been in charge of voting, I'd have to say the trailer would have been looked at as just that, Alucard might have won, and "Killer Tomatoes" would have made runner-up.
But the bottom line is this: the decision to not allow Vlad to win both category and Best in Show not only nullifies democratic vote but goes against past years when the awards were given to who won them, regardless if they won multiple awards. If a video is that good and everyone agrees, the decision shouldn't be negated because the fans thought it deserved those honors. For this reason, if the fans happen to agree that their choice for Best in Show was also our choice to win a category, so be it. The video was that good.
Never mind the fact this system will take the rabid fangirls out of the equation. It's been made evident that any video with overt yaoi references, no matter who is being shipped, will do well because of them. This way, a more stable curve is maintained. Also, since there's a substantial amount of dissension among the viewers on who "should have" won and why based on their personal criteria, a panel of judges will balance the scales for them. The yaoi fangirls won't have to hate the critics and the AMV editors won't feel like they'd been snubbed because they didn't choose the popular anime or song for the time.
*sigh*
Just sayin'. I don't mean to sound harsh but some things just struck me as "off" this year.
Anyway, congrats to the winners. And Vlad...excellent PSA! Has it been posted anywhere?
