LJ Idol Presents:

A few words from clauderainsrmme:

The Final Four.

People thought the task impossible. They proved them wrong.

They not only got in all the entries - got in some incredible entries, they blew the time frame I gave them out of the water. Not for one or two rounds, BUT ALL 4 ROUNDS!!!!

Anyone who thought they weren't up for this challenge clearly wasn't paying attention this season - and they have no idea what they are in for - fortunately for those people, they get a second chance to meet them... because here we have 16 entries a piece from 4 contestants.

*64 entries* for you to read! Which is why I kept stressing for you to keep up with your reading!!!

I was thinking about this on my way home from the dentist and running errands - about how people tend to get out what experiences what they put in. I'm not just talking about Idol, I'm talking about everything... but at this moment in Idol I'm really hoping the Final Four were able to get something out of this last round - not only accomplishing "the impossible" but shattering the idea of deadlines that the outside world might put on them to accomplish it... (ok, getting a little misty eyed about them here...sorry...)

I gave the Final Four a challenge, and now that challenge is coming home to the rest of you.

Each topic has it's own poll. So it's *16 polls of 4 entries each*.

Before anyone asks, yes, you can (AND SHOULD) vote in all 16 polls.

I strongly urge you to sit down and read these entries and vote for your favorites. Because they all have written their hearts out for you, and deserve to be read.

16 polls? What is going to happen????? (*sits and waits for the giggling to die down* *looks over at Charlie, waits some more*)

Well, Final Four - Sixteen SWEET entries (as I've called them), and I asked if [anyone knew how we would handle this]. Yes, that's right - we're doing brackets!!!

Week 29's voting is going to be handled like this:

Vote for your favorites for each topic. Each Topic is marked on the top line.

The top TWO vote getters for each topic will advance to the next round.
(The top two finishers of Topic A.1. will face the top two finishers of Topic A.2...and so on...)
And so it goes until one contestant has been eliminated *COMPLETELY* from the polls.
This could, in theory, last one round of voting. It could last *5*.

The person eliminated will, of course, be the one eliminated this week.

None of these contestants are anything less than kick ass. So I don't envy this decision at all.
The person who leaves us will be going out as *4th out of 155* and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever... (sorry, they really do rock don't they???)

So it's really important to get your vote in for the entries you want to see go forward.

The deadline for this Round of Voting is Sunday June 8th at 8am EDT. So you best get reading (if you haven't all ready - NOW!)

( This Way to <strike>Your Doom</strike>The Polls! )

Once again, the Final Four manage to absolutely destroy the deadline by getting in their entries ahead of time while continuing to raise the bar as far as quality!

Absolutely remarkable work.

That said, it's time for stage 3. You know the drill. Pick 4 entries you haven't done yet in the comments below and then link the entries back here by Wednesday June 4th at 3 PM EDT

***

The topics are:

Section A:
Home - kittenboo/porcelain72/tulip_in_yellow
My Greatest Accomplishment - chite/kittenboo/porcelain72
Fire - porcelain72/tulip_in_yellow/chite
Memorial - tulip_in_yellow/chite/kittenboo

Section B:
Never Have I Ever - kittenboo/chite/tulip_in_yellow
Organization - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/kittenboo
The Thing of It is - porcelain72/kittenboo/chite
My Perfect Day - chite/tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72

Section C:
One Lump Or Two - chite/tulip_in_yellow/kittenboo
Running Out - porcelain72/kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow
Favorite Book and Why - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/chite
Comfort -kittenboo/chite/porcelain72

Section D:
"Do over" (previous topic redux other than "open topic" which you can not do, if you need a list I can send it to you) - porcelain72/chite/kittenboo
Current Events - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/chite
The Biggest Crisis Facing the World Today - chite/kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow
What I Wish Someone Would Ask Me- kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72

Awhile ago I asked the current contestants if they would mind if I posted a few fairly off the top of my head comments about each of them. They said that would be ok. I almost did it at 7, then 5, but I didn't want to space any of them out around a vote. . . so now seemed like as good of a time as any.

I reserve the right to edit once I start hearing people yell.*g* But it's the things that crossed my mind at the time when I sat down to think about each of them. They all are around the same length and cover the same categories.

We will be having four of these - one a day for the next four days, in alphabetical order according to user name. This is the second of four.

Consider each entry to be your chance for a mini fan club gathering to talk about what YOU LIKE about each contestant and their writing.
***

kittenboo

Odds of Winning: 1/4

Full Disclosure: She has been on my FL the second longest of the four.

First Impression: I'll be honest, I had a gut feeling she was going to do really well. I wasn't sure how it was going to happen, but there was a raw potential in her writing that I thought was going to be take her a long, long way. Obviously I was right.

Writing: The quote that I like the most was about one of her more "sexual entries", that it was "hot and surprisingly touching". I think that says a lot right there.

There's a raw emotional energy to her work, regardless of what she is writing about that I think shows through and captures her audience. I was actually struggling to figure out who she reminded me of, until a friend of mine pointed to dissolvedgurl who long time Idol followers will no doubt know is one of my personal favorite writers, and people, in general.

Social: She's gotten out into the Green Room, and formed bonds with a lot of people who didn't really feel like they were part of a "group", thus forming one of their own. But she's also managed to keep a fair amount of respect across the board. Which isn't easy to do.

"Game": She's one of the cases of someone who, for whatever reason, wasn't getting the attention she deserved early on. In fact I *thought* there was a chance she could have been eliminated at a couple points. She and some others bonded together in sheepstations and she really came out of it a stronger writer and competitor in general. She became a bigger fish in a smaller pond and has benefited from more one on one face time with some of her fellow players as a result.

She is also someone who had the potential to have "deep pockets" from the get-go, but didn't use them.

I think that gained her a lot of respect. It certainly gained mine.

She probably has the best head for the game that I've seen, BUT manages to keep it in check and concentrate on her writing. Which is a fine line to walk, and she's been doing it.

Current Impression: Serious threat to take it all. She has a solid voice and isn't afraid to take risks with her entries to stand out in the crowd. She has strong community connections as well as a network of friends and supporters who love her work, and that can make all the difference.