Green Room - Week 24 - Day 4

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

One of the things that I love so much about Idol is the bigger issues that get played out within it.

WRITING (all caps) as this great untouchable art form or writing (lower case) as a form of communicating things to other people and finding that balance in journal writing.

The difference between promotion and pimping. When is getting your name out there going too far?

The various aspects of demographics and how they interact with each other.

Deciding how much or little you will share in a public forum.

What you would or would not do for the sake of "winning", and how those standards are so very different for different people.

Everytime I see someone say "it's not about this" or "it's about that" it makes me chuckle a bit. Because by even stepping up and saying that, they are saying more about themselves than they are the game itself and proving one of the strengths of the format. People are given the ability to choose what message they like.

They make their own decisions. Like every aspect of life.
People react to those decisions. Sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. Like every aspect of life.

This is the stage. What you see on it is what you put here.

***

Another random thought I had this morning was that the breakdown of the Top 14 is pretty much in line with the breakdown of the 155 we started with.
2 males. 12 females.
Those under 25 and those over 40. Even "the middle" seems to be about the same as is was at the start.

Just thought that was interesting.

***

Hope you guys have a wonderful day.

Comments

[eqfe.livejournal.com]

morning.

first. I think that's three this month.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Not bad at all.

[desert-rose.livejournal.com]

Well done, sir!!

I think you should have a nice hot mug of tea and a lie down after that effort. *g*

[eqfe.livejournal.com]

"Everytime I see someone say "it's not about this" or "it's about that" it makes me chuckle a bit. Because by even stepping up and saying that, they are saying more about themselves than they are the game itself and proving one of the strengths of the format. People are given the ability to choose what message they like"

Among the truest things ever written.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Because by even stepping up and saying that, they are saying more about themselves than they are the game itself...

Truer words have never been said. Thank you.

[heykatie.livejournal.com]

I like cheese.

And dr Pepper.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

I like pepper-cheese.

[libra-dragon.livejournal.com]

Morning arrived way to quick this morning....
Well off to the bus.
Have a good day all!

[worldofcharlie.livejournal.com]

*da pimp*..

umm..no..that DID not sound right...

*scratches head*

[desert-rose.livejournal.com]

Lol! I've missed you, Charlie!

[desert-rose.livejournal.com]

What you would or would not do for the sake of "winning", and how those standards are so very different for different people.

I've had ongoing, slightly heated, discussions over this very issue with a friend, and former Idol contestant.

In the first month or so of the contest, I didn't ask for votes for myself or anyone else. I wanted to see how I would go purely based on people liking my writing. I did ok, but then felt that maybe I wouldn't last much longer if I kept this up. So I started asking my friends list to vote for me, and other participants as well.

This didn't go over well, as my friend felt that it was wrong to ask people to vote for me. She also didn't like that I had changed my views on how to play the game.

I think we've agreed to disagree on this, but it still comes up from time to time.

The way I see it there's nothing wrong with changing the standards by which someone plays the game. It is a contest after all, and as I was competing with 155 people, who likely were all asking for votes, I decided that I was an idiot for seeing how I would go without doing that. :-)

There's a ton more we discussed about Idol, but now's not the time or place to go into that!

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Is it too late to start asking for votes?

*giggle*

[I think somebody [memememe] needs a nap]

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Hey! I resemble that...

Wait.

Never mind.

Hope you have a wonderful day too *falls over asleep*

[worldofcharlie.livejournal.com]

*hands you a pillow*

[tulip-in-yellow.livejournal.com]

I must say, this contest has been an interesting look at how people play a game, how fairly/unfairly they compete, how much heart they put into their writing, and just how much bullshit I can put up with.

2 males. 12 females. It's like the odds of dating!

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

I said in the beginning I was trying to observe without poking too much.

I wonder if I will still feel like writing that paper.

[porcelain72.livejournal.com]

Not to sound like a broken record, but I didn't enter this contest expecting to win. I had been (and still am) dealing with an enormously stressful period in my life, so stressful that I wasn't even able to write, which up to that point was one of the few healthy outlets I had to release tension. So I figured, okay, this will motivate me to write and, why not, I'll challenge myself to see how far I can get. I've gotten pretty far, further than I expected. But I still won't win.

I've had no problem asking my f-list to vote for me, simply because I'm pretty sure the reason most people have me on their f-list is that they think I'm a good writer. These aren't people just blindly clicking a box with my name next to it. It's not against the rules, and considering that, while I've done pretty well consistently, I've only actually won one round on my own, I hardly think it's giving me an unfair advantage over the other contestants.

Once we got past the judging round, I simply don't understand why there's still, still grumbling about people "not deserving" to still be in the contest. To be blunt, having four relatively unbiased judges making fully merit-based decisions over who should have continued moving forward and who shouldn't have seemed pretty cut and dry to me.

[tulip-in-yellow.livejournal.com]

I thought the judging round was a pretty fair way to go as well. Friends list size was unimportant. Contestants plotting to take people out was not an option. This childish complaint of popularity was silenced as well. It was the entries and four judges, simple as that. Were the judges totally unbiased? No. But none of the contestants that have voted every week are unbiased either.

[elva-undine.livejournal.com]

Interrupting serious philosophical conversation for the announcement:

Today is my four-year wedding anniversary!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Happy anniversary!!

[minikin.livejournal.com]

It is a gorgeous day here. I've been folding laundry and washing dishes. I took a break to make pizza cups for Tigger's advisory, and deliver them, and now I'm up for more dishes.

Pizza Cups

8 rolls of Pillsbury Garlic Butter crescent rolls
6-12 oz spaghetti sauce
4-8 cups shredded cheese
toppings

The tricky part is lining the cupcake pans with the crescent rolls. The spoon spaghetti sauce into each cup. For cheese cups, just fill the rest of the way with cheese. For pepperoni, layer slices and cheese - I generally start and end with pepperoni, since I make some cheese and some pepperoni.

Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes, or until the cups are golden and the cheese is bubbly.

One cannot make too many pizza cups for teenagers. Tigger's advisory has 8 or 9 kids, and they eat 24 cups in about 3 minutes.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Those sound yummy! 3 cups per kid actually sounds pretty tame, considering how many slices of pizza each would likely eat! I'd imagine that (although thicker) three pizza cups would probably only equal one slice of pizza, if that. =)

[ewok-626.livejournal.com]

It's Thursday already?!

So instead of going live, I have given into the horrible habit of Diablo II. ;)

To Do Today:
~Straighten up living room
~Straighten up kitchen/wash dishes
~Send out more resumes
~Pay bills
~Take puppy for walk
~Possibly buy flowers and plant them in the backyard.
~Wash windows

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Well it is a wonderful day here. Peter took the girls to the local park.

I am cleaning the kitchen.

the cats are all sitting in various windows smelling the air and watching the birds.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I have leftover country fried steak for lunch today, yum!

I need to stop at the store after work to buy fixings for a pot of homemade vegetable beef soup, per hubby's request. My boss just went out for lunch and is bringing me back a sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce latte from Starbucks (my favorite).

I've gotten behind in my TV watching (haven't yet seen Tues or Weds American Idols, nor Weds Big Brother) but we finally watched the two final episodes of Eli Stone, which rocked, and which thankfully has been picked up for another season, yay!

[kithan.livejournal.com]

HOOORAYYY!!!

I love love love Eli Stone.

Important Notice

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

LOST returns tonight!

Re: Important Notice

[sircaliban.livejournal.com]

Do you mean someone 'Found' it? If so where was it?

I don't know, I'm 'lost'.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

overheard in the break room:

People were talking about our inferior television cousin:

"it's all a popularity contest. The best singers keep getting voted off..."

heh, sorry... for some reason this really amused me.

[sircaliban.livejournal.com]

lol..

I had this conversation 6 months ago. In the history of Idol.. the best singers generally don't 'win' American Idol. History repeats itself, one could argue.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Pssst - your tag says "Weel 24" instead of "Week 24".

*giggle*

Weel done!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

weel 24 is an um... special designation that, uh, has something to do with the surprise tomorrow!!!!

[desert-rose.livejournal.com]

It's the start of a holiday weekend here for ANZAC Day. So I wish I could sleep in, but I can't seem to sleep past 6.30am anymore.

So while memorial services are underway, I will go and toast all those who fought at Gallipoli in WWI, with my first mug of tea for the day.

Happy rest of Thursday to everyone else!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Whoo hoo! Anzac day!!! Stay away from the Turks!!!

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Anyone live (http://live.yahoo.com/spydielives) before LOST comes on?

I need to stay awake a few more hours, and watching files upload isn't doing it.

[eqfe.livejournal.com]

get some sleep, whatever this lost thing is, its a tv show, you're probably drained from the travel and will just get yourself sick.

[superhappytime.livejournal.com]

This is probably too late in the day to get any notice, but my personal take on this subject is the people who bitch the most are the ones who are usually the guiltiest of anything "unfair."

What would be fair? Just posting your entry and letting it stick on it's own merit...other than that, your trying to manipulate the game in some way.

In my opinion, each of the following should be treated equally:

-Added friends from the community after the competition started
-Exchanged lively banter in the green room to make new friends
-Asked people to vote for you every week
-Openly bitched about another contestant, therefore trying to dissuade people to vote for them
-Asked for your friend list to vote for someone else in the competition without reading their entry
-Used a power to prevent someone from being voted out in one round, thus forcing someone else to go home early
-Made recommendation lists
-Joined secret communities
-Traded votes
-Tried to take someone else out
-Voted on any entry in any given week without having read all the entries and evaluated them fairly

If you consider one of those unfair, then so are the rest. But I have a feeling that nobody who is left could survive another week if they didn't ask their friend list to vote for them this week.

Maybe there is somebody left in the competition who has done none of the above...I have no idea. If so, congratulations to them, because I'm sure as hell not that person. There were several weeks early on when I didn't ask my friend list for votes, but that's just cause I didn't get around to it and I didn't need them to get through.

Since then, I have openly asked for votes. I have chatted in the green room. I've added people to my friend list (but only if I genuinely like them--nobody I plan on dropping when I'm out). I've traded sexual favors for votes, and one time I helped someone throw his mother off a train for a vote. I'm sure someone sees that stuff as wrong, but they should probably finishing sweeping their own back porch or their own glass house before making it their business to be concerned with others....

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

It is never too late in the day...

I am not sure I consider all of those to be the same, but I think I came into the competition with a different goal (not to win, and not to help pick the winner either) than perhaps other contestants.

I love that you have openly traded the favors... isn't it nice to know you have really worked your butt off to get where you are?

*teasing*

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I have a lot to say about this, but no time to say it. I did manage to read all the comments finally, but I should be gone already, as I really need to be there early today. (Damn need for income and benefits.) Just consider me the Charlie Brown's teacher's voice off in the distance. Voicing my opinion wouldn't change anything either, so really, what's the point?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't change the opinions of anyone who has already made up their mind. Sure. You can never actually do that, it's slamming your head into a wall.

But that doesn't mean that everyone has their mind actually made up.