LJ Idol Presents:

On behalf of myself and the best friend Cheetos has ever had kithan thank you for a wonderful season!

The doors to the Green Room are now locked, however if you'll just walk this way over to the Banquet Hall. . . it's not much further I promise.

Ah, here we are.

The decorations look nice and the catering company seems to have put out a spread worthy of ewok_626's standards.

You'll no doubt notice the tables, chairs, comfy couches spread across the room as well as the sizeable dance floor. It's because this isn't a normal "Wrap Party".

It's also a FRIENDING FRENZY!!!!!

One of the (many) things that I love about Idol is the relationships that are formed in the trenches as the season progresses. But quite a few of them this time around started at last year's Wrap Party/Friending Frenzy!

I, personally, have made more friends this season than any in the past.

I think that holds true for most of you as well.

That said, enjoy the space - mingle and kick back. Introduce yourself to people, and by all means, TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO STOP BY!!!!! You never know if that newbie you mention it to might be the next LJ Idol!!!!

Obviously, no smoking indoors, soliciting or flash photography and keep your arms and legs inside the Banquet Hall at all times.

It's our last day together in Season Four - let's have some fun!

"Grab something to drink, kick back, and see who else shows up" - I went back and looked. That is what I said in the "pre-show Green Room". back on October 23rd.

Every day (ok, ok - *almost* every day) since then you have done just that. You've taken a few minutes, hours, most of your time in some cases, out of your day and spent it here in the Green Room.

I just want to let you know how much that has meant to me. I've loved having all of you - well, ok, most of you (heh) here!*g*

There have been laughs, jokes, disagreements, resentment, mourning, support, joy, love - and, I hope for most of you, a sense of belonging to this place. A place to go to be interact with people, to get to know them - and where you always knew you would find something of interest going on, or at very least a cyber buffet!

Thank you to all of you for making The Season 4 Green Room so damn special. *applauds you*

This is the last Green Room of Season 4. There will be a couple more posts. Saying goodbye to our second and third place finishers - the official announcement of this season's LJ IDOL - and of course on Friday there will be our WRAP PARTY!!!! We're in the process of setting up the Banquet Hall where we will be holding that event. Hopefully you can all make it to that and make it one hell of a party to remember!

For now though, the food trays out are out.

Yeah, I know it's late, or early, where you are when I'm posting this. But they will be bringing out time appropriate food throughout the day for your enjoyment.

Don't forget to check the fridge for any containers you might have left in there. Anything left after Friday will be discarded as trash.

This is a place for you to interact. Contestants and spectators together - the community that makes LJ IDOL.

Grab something to drink. Kick back. See who shows up - and let's see what happens next!

A few words from clauderainsrmme:

tinhuviel
tru2myart
welfy

and one of these writers, these incredible women who have allowed us to share the last 7 1/2 months with them.

That's what we set out to do what sometimes seems like a lifetime ago, and other times an all too brief period of time - to find one more to join the ranks of earning the title of LJ IDOL

These three have certainly done that, they have fought to get here, they have endured - and they have grown.

154 contestants were with us that first day. One more came along to join us from the Home Game.

Now there are three, and we are about to have our final vote of the season. Now it is time for us, as a community and as LJ as a whole, to do our duty one more time. To support our favorites one more time. . .

People have asked me: "How should I vote? Should I vote on the final entry or the entire season?"

That's entirely up to you. However you want to decide it. Only you would know your reasons anyway. If you want to judge the full season - I link is here: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/169770.html

If you want to judge on this one entry, where they make the case for themselves as well as the others, well that just so happens to be the entry located in the poll.

Want to pull a purple rock to decide? You can do that too.

I've also been asked who *I* want to win. That one was the easy question, because there really is only one answer to that. There's *always* only one answer to that - Idol. Idol wins regardless of the outcome because we get one hell of a winner!!!
We win with every click of the vote, regardless of who you vote for!

So thank you for making this season so great, and on behalf of the Final Three - Thank you for Voting!!!!

The poll opens now and closes on Thursday June 12th at 8pm EDT.
Good luck you three, I'm rooting for you! Let's make this a good one!

[Poll #1202972]

Good morning.

For those who missed the celebration last night - we hit our 50,000th comment!

Not bad for less than 2 years! (The community started on 7/2006.)

Also, the final three have their entries in: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/168777.html

I'll be posting the poll later today, but I wanted people to have the chance to read the entries, and comment before they started making with the clicky.

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So what are you up to today?

Congratulations to our FINAL THREE

chite
porcelain72
and tulip_in_yellow


Three amazing writers. Three amazing women.

One of them is about to become your next LJ IDOL!!!!

I wasn't expecting to have to say a few words about anyone this early in the process. It's one of the reasons why it was set up that way. Because I didn't want to say goodbye to any of them, and knew that this way we'd have just a little bit longer.

Sadly that was not the case.

I don't want to say goodbye to any of them, and I certainly wasn't prepared to say goodbye to kittenboo. She did take a lot of risks with entries this round, but I thought most of them ended up paying off for her in a creative sense. She stretched out her winds, and what beautiful yet powerful wings they were.

I may have said this before - but I'll say it again. In one of the earliest weeks (2 or 3) I had a dream where I saw the finalists. It kind of confused me because I wasn't quite sure *how* they would get there, but there was something that told me that they would. kittenboo was one of those two. Not sure that I had talked to her much up to that point. I did afterward though, and I'm really glad that I did.

I always say this wrong, and I hope people will FINALLY get what I'm saying when I point out that she *could* have rested on her FL. She could have rested on the fact that her husband has done quite well for himself. Had she done this, she still would have done quite well.

She didn't though. She took the hard road and did it herself. She did it FOR herself I can't begin to tell you the amount of respect she has from me from that one little decision. (not sure that actually *means* anything, having respect from me... but there it is anyway!*g*)

I can easily say that she's one of the most improved writers from start to finish who have been in this season, and has one of the best heads for the various aspects of the game that I have ever come across.

Her writing still very much has it's raw edges. Which is what gives it so much power when it connects.

Anyone who has the courage to enter Idol *at all* is a winner in my book. The ones who can make it far into the process are absolutely amazing.

To make it to the Final Four out of *155* contestants. I don't think you can call anyone who does that anything short of remarkable.

Thank you kittenboo, Heather, for a fantastic run and letting us share in a part of your continuing journey. Thank you.

Good morning.

I realized this morning that this season has lasted longer than the Democratic Primary!! Which, normally wouldn't be an accomplishment. This year though. . . *G*

I'm looking forward to the McCain/Obama debates. They've already agreed to a town hall style (one of my favorite) and there are talks of a modified Lincoln/Douglas style!! I'd definitely watch that. It's going to be interesting to see if the two can *actually* change the tone and substance of the modern campaigning (as they have said they want to do)or if the system modern campaigning will eat both of them alive?

Going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

***

Speaking of interesting to see how it plays out - the entries keep coming in and *any* doubt people had that people were going to be able to make the deadlines while maintaining quality should be out the window by now.

Tomorrow evening- the poll!!! Make sure to keep up with the entries so you don't have to play catch-up when the time comes.

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So what's going on in your neck of the woods?

No lovely words from tru2myart today, but I do want to thank everyone who is coming out to support Idol and the Final Four by posting their own entries (as well as going out and commenting like crazy to their entries!). I appreciate it, and I know she's been overwhelmed by the outpouring of warmth toward Idol as a result.

So, as the deadline for stage 3 looms, and the one for stage 4 is about to launch, feel free to post a link to your entries here!

Good morning.

Doing well or feeling like Dick Cheney stuck in a back road in West Virginia?*g*

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As the deadline for stage 3 gets closer, I can't say it enough times - make sure you are reading to keep up!!! Because when the poll hits you're not going to have forever to make it through them all, and there will be a lot of entries to read. So not only does it show your support by reading and commenting, it just plain makes sense!

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Speaking of showing support - there will be a new Home Game thread posted soon. Meanwhile you can keep posting them in the old one, or in the Green Room. I'll be sure to link the old ones together in the new post. Thank you to everyone who is showing your Idol love by participating!

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Happy Last Primary Day!!

I've been listening to "the people" and there were two distinct messages I have received. Well ok, other than "you're a *&))) Gary!", because let's face it, I get that message all the time!*g* One of them is that it was silly to have a Green Room countdown - but still have "non Green Room threads" to supplement. So, as of now, the Countdown is done. Over. We're still shutting the doors to it at the end of the season, but the countdown itself is gone. Which means back to daily Green Rooms. After all, one of the things it gives is a sense of stability. Considering how "odd" this round is to a lot of people, having that sense of stability is good.

The second message was even more interesting - which is that I concentrate too much effort into trying to be "fair" end up spending too much time attempting to satisfy people who weren't going to be happy regardless. I can see that. There *are* several times during the course of the season that had I just went with a "stfu" instead of trying to explain the process and adjust it for people's concerns that I think they would have had a smoother process. That said - I like to try to bring different viewpoints in - it's one of the disadvantages of having been involved with presenting other people's work, in one fashion or another, for over 20 years now, is that I know that I have my own ideas of what does and doesn't work, so when someone can make me rethink the process it's a good thing. It also means of course that I've been thinking through the process *a lot* longer than most people. So while I do take some of them and adjust them to the structure of Idol, most of them aren't going to be used. Most people are cool with that. Some aren't. That's pretty much an universal truth no matter where you go - if some people don't get their way, it's never going to be "fair" to them - and even if they *do* end up getting what they want, it's not that the system worked after all, it's that they found a way to get around it. . .

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For the serial-inclined: Last season's second place finisher and all around (insert description here)bettybaker has an intriguing project going on over at
http://junemcgee.livejournal.com/ that I think a lot of you might be interested in. norda is also continuing her "Dracula" series.
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But the reason we are all here today is for THOSE FOLKS, if you missed it, here's what I had to say about our FINAL FOUR:

chite: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/163588.html
kittenboo: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/164204.html
porcelain72: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/165087.html
tulip_in_yellow: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/165623.html

and more important that than, here's where they linked their entries so you can read them BEFORE THE POLL. After all, it's a lot of entries. You should make sure to read ahead of time, and LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK:

Stage 1: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/162336.html
Stage Two : http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/164727.html
and check Stage 3 as the entries start coming in to make sure you stay ahead of the curve and comment: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/165927.html

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Things are really getting down to the wire, and people have been asking me, "How are we going to handle voting on 16 SWEET entries from our FINAL FOUR?" [I know - but do you?*g*]

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Hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend!