Results - Week 17

[clauderainsrm]

The longest week in the history of Idol has come to an end.

I've taken the results of all five polls, and averaged them out.

For those who like trivia, the person with the fewest votes averaged 6.8 votes fewer than the person with the most votes overall.

All 5 people leaving were in the bottom 5 of at least two polls. Which, is to be expected. I don't say that as anything other than to say "it can happen to ANYONE on ANY GIVEN WEEK". Because there were only *3* contestants who were NOT in the bottom 5 of at least one of these polls.

I think that says a lot about how divided this was, and how taking an average of not 1, but 5 polls, on different topics and using different methods, did a decent job of evening out the field.

Another sign of how close these results were was the vote from the Jury for Immunity. 8 individuals received multiple votes. It came down to a single vote in deciding who it would be awarded to - the final vote I received.

The Jury awarded immunity to bleodswean . Congratulations on officially making it to the Top 8!

Unfortunately, there are 5 contestants who will not be joining you there.

Leaving us this week - and moving over to become a part of the Jury who will help shape what remains of this mini season are some absolutely incredible writers.

People who I would have loved to see continue, and I hope we continue to see Home Game.

I'd say they were going out "before their time", but at this point, there can only be one winner. Everyone but one person is going to go out before they "should".

Goodbye to

babydramatic_1950 
d0gs 
flipflop_diva 
yachiru 
zedmanauk 


That's a painful list to write. The Walking Dead episode for tonight is going to feature a scene much like this one, an emotional gut punch.

Thank you so much to all of you for coming out for this mini season, and adding so much with every entry. I hope you got as much out of it as others did (myself included) from reading your work!

Comments

[halfshellvenus]

We had such a strong group of writers going into week 17-- and I was kind of thinking that there would be some mercy and only 3 people would be eliminated, given that two of the original 15 didn't make the deadline. :(

I really enjoyed getting to know babydramatic_1950 via Second Chance Idol-- you are such a talented non-fiction writer! I'm glad you shared your wonderful stories with us.

dogs brought a huge range of creativity, with non-fiction, faked-up Twitter feeds, and (my personal favorite) the creepy homicidal cheerleaders of Week 2. \o/ I enjoyed each and every one of your stories this season. :D

flipflop_diva shared terrific fiction and heartwrenching truth. I'm so glad your infertility struggle ended with such a blessing.

This season, more than any other, showed what zedmanauk is really capable of-- including surviving the pressure of 24-hour write-offs! There was so much tight, terrific satire, and there was the fabulously over-invested security specialist of this last 'week,' and there was an entire Twitterverse where people obsessed the quality of bedsheets. \o/

And yachiru... is probably the most creative writer I've encountered through Idol, and that's really saying something. You never know what she might write--and that includes the details as well as the genre and approach. A teenage corpse bride. Clams with souls and a possibly-human mother and daughter who grow neck pearls. A crabby mermaid who cows her human friend into dragging her everywhere in a bathtub. Jesus and Judas on a modern-day road trip. The girl who eats mice. These are just some of the unlocked ones from this season, or what I remember from past seasons, but damn. What talent!

I'm so glad all of you participated in this round of Idol. Please, never stop writing!

[clauderainsrm]

I considered it. But I had promised that we would lose 5. I'm sure folks would have been fine letting me off that promise. ;) But I'd been showing so much mercy earlier in the mini season that there really wasn't room for that right now.

If it's anything like these five polls, this Top 8 is going to highly competitive.

[halfshellvenus]

Yes-- the dread has already arrived!

Also, I'm poking d0gs since I misspelled her name up there and I can't fix it now.

[d0gs.livejournal.com]

Thank you so so much for your lovely words!
I'm sorry I'm so late replying to this. I've been sick for what feels like forever and sleeping as much as possible and somehow I missed this.

It just made my day to read though 💖. I came to this determined to not end up bye-ing out like last year when I joined had to bye out, got back in the second chance and had to bye again.
The fact that I got this far with all of you amazing writers this time just made me so happy, especially as some weeks with the subjects I chose I took risks(I know dark topics aren't for everyone!) And one of the nicest things anyone could ever say to me is that they saw creativity in what I wrote, so seriously thank you so much!

(my personal favorite) the creepy homicidal cheerleaders of Week 2. \o/ :D I am thrilled that this is your favourite for two reasons.
1- I ended up building (with some changes) an entire book plot around that story!
2- I was so worried it would be too creepy for people that I almost didn't post it but at the last minute decided to go with what I wanted to post and be true to myself. I'm so happy you enjoyed it so much! 💖

[halfshellvenus]

I'm so glad you found that comment after all. :)

Ooh, a book plot! I think those characters had the pizazz to make that work, and I loved the tone of the story.

I'm glad you went with your instincts and posted that story anyway. It was terrific and unexpected, and also clearly memorable. :)