therealljidol | FIRST TOPIC

Welcome to LJ IDOL and thank you for making this the biggest, and we hope, best season yet!!

Considering the down to the wire match-ups of last season, including the victory of

tru2myart by ONE vote, it's going to be tough to top that, but from this group I can already tell that there are going to be some serious memories made this season as well!

It's a nice mix of fan favorites returning for another shot and new friends you just haven't met yet!!!

Some basic reminders before we get started:

- Every week I will post a topic. Sometimes it will be specific, sometimes general, and sometimes I will even just tell you to write about whatever you feel like writing about! Some of these will be mind-numbingly simplistic and some will make you rack your brain trying to figure out how to handle the subject matter. The key though is to make the topic your own. This is LJ Idol for a reason. It's partly about the writing, and it's partly about the people behind the writing and how they present themselves. That seems like a no brainer, but you would be surprised how many people never get that.

- When I post a topic I will then tell you when the deadline is - you will then rush to your private cave, satellite hideout, secret lair or wherever it is that you happen to do your journal entries. You will then write the entry in your own journal, posting it as a public entry. You don't HAVE to make it public, but if you don't, then no one outside your friends list will ever read it, and won't know if they should be voting to keep you around!!

- You will then post a link to your entry back to the TOPIC post. In this case, this post!! You will do it before the deadline.

Again, really simple - really straight-forward, and you would be amazed at the confusion it can cause.*G*

- All deadlines will be listed as US Eastern Standard Time. Why? Because *I* am in US Eastern Standard Time and it's easier to watch the clock tick down and know who did and did not make deadline that way.

- Early rounds are going to take longer to get the voting polls up, just because there are so many contestants and so many entries. Give

onyxblue1 a break, she'll get them up as quickly as she can.

- There ARE going to be automatic eliminations when people miss the deadline, if there are more people missing than are scheduled to be eliminated, we will have a run off to see who will be eliminated.

- This is a marathon, not a sprint. It will be long, it will be frustrating at times, hopefully it will also be fun!!

Anyone still wishing to join this season needs to go sign up:

and then post their entry back here before the deadline. Anyone missing that - sorry, you have to wait and see if there will be a Season 4!

Hmmm, I think that's everything, so here we go...

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THIS IS LJ IDOL!!!!! - and I am Gary, your host!

Sit down, grab a seat and then prepare to have it blown out from underneath you, because we have got a GREAT season ahead!!!

It is time to kick off the season with our FIRST TOPIC

Much like previous seasons, this topic is...

Whatever you want to write about/Introduction

There's a good reason for this. For MANY OF YOU, this is going to be the first time people are going to be seeing your journal, you writing, and most importantly, meeting YOU!

With such a huge crowd in this competition this season, standing out from the crowd is going to be more important than ever!!

The Deadline to link your entry back here is: Friday Jan 26th at noon EST

Good luck to all you!!!

LJ IDOL SEASON 3 STARTS NOW!!!!