LJ Idol Presents:

What is your favorite genre to write?

To read?

Are those different, and if so, any insight into why?

***

Throwing stuff out here people... hoping someone bites on *something*...

Um...

Trump

Lady Gaga's belly
*looks at trending topics*

Iron Fist trailer

Walking Dead is coming back...

***

The new topic is up: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/977744.html
and there's a Work Room http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/978031.html

The dust is settled and the results are in, and people are being “encouraged” to leave the Green Room by the gas that is seeping in through the grates.

As the final one is carried out on a stretcher, desperately hanging on to the piece of chair they broke off in their last stand, even as it tumbles from their raptly going limp hands - the doors to the Green Room are slammed shut, locking from the inside. So that no one can open them, until the resortation is complete and we meet again next season!

For now, it’s off to the Banquet Hall, and from there - maybe, just maybe, there will be a door back to “your real lives”. I know you don’t remember them, and some of you will prefer to stay here, where it’s safe. But I’m sure there are folks who probably miss you out there.

I can’t imagine why! ;)

Welcome to the Banquet Hall! There is a buffet and an open bar. There is also a good old fashioned “Friending Frenzy”.

So, if you have been waiting to friend someone, or just want to put yourself out there... or tell a friend or 15 to stop on by, it’s a great way to cap off a great season, and a way for newbies to stick their head out and get to know people!

So step up and say “Hello!” and tell your friends to come on in and do the same!

Like a car on fire crashing into a dynamite factory – LJ IDOL Season 8 is coming to an end!

Tonight!

Which means you have one last chance to decide who you want to win this thing - http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/603806.html

The last time I looked, it looked like we could very well be coming down to the wire again! Which is appropriate, given the talent level of our final two!

It also means that this is the final Green Room of the season. You also have one last chance to enjoy this space. Because the staff is getting anxious to get in here and start cleaning! Or at least attempting to… I’m really not sure about some of those spots. Especially in the corners.

The DJ has started the music down in the Banquet Hall and it’s about time to move out of here… so get your group pictures of “Us in the Green Room, in happier times” out of the way, before it’s too late!

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to miss this place.

So, thank you Green Room, for another season of, well, everything it is that you do! Whatever that happens to be! ;)

And (if you are so inclined) remember to tip your wait staff!

***
Most of all though, we have one last chance to enjoy this moment.

They don’t come around all that often, and you should definitely take a moment to let it all sink in when you get the opportunity. Where you were when we started. Where you are now. Where you see yourself going now, and where all of this craziness fits into all of it!


“A punk rock song won’t ever change the world, but I can think of a couple that changed me” – Wingnut Dishwashers Union

I’ll see you later tonight with the results and the Afterparty!

A few words from clauderainsrm:

It’s been a record-breaking season. Everywhere you look over the course of the last year. (Well, almost one at least!) you find a series of firsts! Sometimes frists!

You find victories and blowups. Meltdowns and people being lifted back up again.

You find Life.

LJ IDOL isn’t an ordinary writing competition. It has twists and turns, bumps and bruises, and it has Life. Hopefully, having gone through Season 8, you know that.

Those of you who have been on the fence, waiting for Season 9 to come - that’s something you will learn firsthand!

But before that can happen, we’ve come to the point that this has all been leading up to - finding out who is going to be crowned THE NEXT LJ IDOL and WINNER of SEASON 8!

Among the things you win: an icon, a banner, your user name on the sidebar, and course, the inability to play next season! :) Oh yes, but most importantly ETERNAL GLORY! That’s right, Eternal Glory for all time, or at least as it takes for someone to post a cat macro or someone to say something ignorant that catches the attention of one of LJ’s many fine drama groups! :)

Which leaves us with just what the experience itself has ended up meaning. I can’t tell you that. I can hope various things, maybe point you in a direction, but in the end, you have to decide that for yourselves.

That’s Idol, and that’s Life. You find your own meanings! :)

The most immediate thing in front of us though, the decision of “How do I want this season to end?” that is right in front of you.

Two very different entries. Two very different competitors.

They are vying one last time, for all the marbles.

(Note: the winner does NOT receive marbles!)

So come on - let’s join them! Gather around, and let’s all jump into that void one last time, while we still can!

Read their entries, comment and vote for your favorite(s)!

The poll closes Thursday, August 30th at 9pm EDT and the results follow shortly thereafter, closing out this season!

Good luck to both of you!

2

[Poll #1863034]

And then there were two.

We’ve gone a long way, now officially the longest duration that any Idol contestant has ever faced. We’ve overcome a lot. Laughed. Cried. Grown. And most importantly, people wrote their ass off!

Now there is just one more hurdle.

Oddly enough, both of these women were chosen by several Gatekeepers (during the first round, months ago) as someone they expected to see in the finals.

Now, it’s here.

And anyone who follows Idol knows what that means. It’s the easiest, and the trickest topic of them all. Because you are not only making the case for yourself, more importantly, you are making the case for your opponent!

Why I Should Win LJ Idol/Why My Opponent Should Win

One entry. One last shot to plead your case, and make the case for someone that you have made this incredible trip with... make it good!

You have until Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 28th at 9pm EDT to link your entry back to this spot.

Congratulations to you both. Now get to writing!

Have fun!


4

It’s funny to think about the fact that if it wasn’t for the RNC being here, Tropical Storm Isaac probably wouldn’t have worried a lot of people. After all, its still not organized into an actual hurricane. So people would have been watching it, but not with anything near the intensity as they are now.

I was listening to a nationally based radio show this morning where they were talking about the effects of the storm on the convention, and the reporter in Tampa was talking about the “downpour outside”.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in a parking lot at the bus depot *in downtown Tampa only a couple blocks from the place where most of the convention is taking place* and it was barely sprinkling. Maybe closer to “misting”.

There’s still time for it to have an impact. It hasn’t gone by yet, and even if it does go by instead of turning, it could very well gain strength, becoming an actual hurricane (even if it’s just a 1 or a 2) and cause someone some problems. But it’s always amazing when the rest of the country starts paying attention to what we call “Late Summer/Early Fall” and how we react to it!

***

Today is the last day to decide who will be in the final, and who wins the Idol Bronze! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/601673.html

Like a gender/ableist issue exploding in on online convention/fan community, LJ Idol is the gift the keeps on giving!

6

It's our last weekend together.

Kind of weird when you think about it that way, isn't it?

It's that in-between time when you are watching the semi-finals http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/601673.html
and reading the Home Game http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/600987.html

and realizing "This will be over soon", running around getting your yearbooks signed before the final bell rings.

Which is followed by (at least for me) "Next season will start, and end, and then it will be over" Kind of a weird feeling. OK, there's no "kind of" in there.

What are you doing today?

9

A few words from clauderainsrm:

Coming into this week, and knowing these three writers, I knew that we were going to be in for a very diverse and exciting group of entries. What I didn’t realize was that it would be a diverse, exciting, with a twist of meta, group of entries! ;)

***

We had a stat breakdown before of where these contestants fit into the big picture of “Idol winners”, but when you take a look at this shockingly tiny poll, one thing jumps out at you about the nature of Season 8 - the beginning of the alphabet got slaughtered! :)

***

With all the talk about pimping going on, people have been asking me what I think about it, and how I think it should be handled. My suggestion is what it has been all along, strongly encourage people to read all the entries. There are only three of them. If someone honestly can’t read them and pick their favorite, you don’t want their vote anyway.

This isn’t 300 entries. Or 100. Or even 10. It’s 3 of them.

I know, you can’t stand over them watching their every movement. But you can send a strong message to them about it. If they care enough to come out and vote for you, if they believe enough in your work, they should care enough to listen to what you have to say.

These three entries are definitely worth reading. And hey, maybe the meta aspects will encourage people to check out what this crazy ride is all about!

***

After a comment I saw today I went and checked the dates - and sure enough, tomorrow Season 8 will enter into a tie with Season 6 for being the longest season in Idol history. On Saturday, it will pass it! It’s no wonder people are falling down! :)

All good things though, they come to an end. Season 8 is no exception.

But there’s still a little life in this party! So go check out our Top 3, and help decide who is going to the FINALE!!

The contestant with the entry receiving the fewest votes will be eliminated. The other two will be going to the big show!

The poll closes Monday, August 27th at 9pm EDT

Good luck to everyone!

11

[Poll #1861997]

You folks certainly do know how to keep life interesting, don’t you?

I was preparing for a battle to the death, fight to the finish, no-holds barred/no bars held 24 run-off. Instead, we get a drop: http://n3m3sis42.livejournal.com/1120057.html

n3m3sis42 - It was a truly brilliant run! You have a hell of a lot to be proud of, and having talked to you, I know you are well aware of it!

Going from not even being sure that you could write, to the Top 4, and getting noticed by someone from the Tesla Science Center? Yeah, I’d say that was a journey. (Even if, like Mirror Girl, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to make the connection with your name! :D)

Thank you for sharing that journey with us!

With posting her entry: http://pixie117.livejournal.com/688662.html

that means pixie117 joins notodette and whipchick in the last hurrah before the finale!!
http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/600343.html

Congratulations to the three of you. Now go kick some butt!

***

Before I let you go, a pet peeve of mine and something that shouldn’t be ignored It’s seems silly to be saying it now, but I’m saying it as much to Season 9 as I am to people who are currently assembled to see how this season ends!

I keep hearing “Idol is this” and “Idol isn’t that” to somehow justify why certain people make it further and others don’t. I understand, ego is involved. People like to assume that if only it wasn’t for this one little thing - that they would be sitting at the end. Maybe on any other day, they would be. You play out any given season 10 times and I’m sure there would be quite a few different combinations. It doesn’t take anything away from the people who won in our particular time line. Nor should it.

They are amazing and whoever walks away with this thing this season is going to be a worthy addition to them.

You know how much dumb luck comes into play in the writing industry? Ask any professional writer about their big break - I guarantee that it involved persistence and dumb luck, and a hell of lot of writing their fingers to the bone.

Idol is very much about the writing. It’s about the love, the passion, the times you want to pull your hair out and times you would just rather punch someone, it’s what you don’t get in a workshop and the stuff that if you are smart enough to apply it, can and will get you wherever it is you want to go.

Hearing people say that it’s not, it riles me up. I don’t say that Idol is “not just a writing competition” because it’s LESS. I say it because it’s MORE.

I think that’s something people frequently misunderstand, or misinterpret deliberately.

I like a variety of writers who come through this doors for a number of reasons. Some I think are technically awesome. Others move me on a primal level. Some, I don’t know - I just like ‘em. I think everyone who shows up is offering something worth hearing, and is bringing something vital to the mix, and to the experience.

The key is to figure out what that is, and allow your own ego to take a back seat for long enough to learn something.

This is something special here. It’s worth celebrating.

How do I know? Because of things like this: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/600657.html?view=62859601#t62859601

You don’t have to win to gain from this experience. You have to show up. You have to commit, and you have to turn around and do something with what you learned.

My winners are awesome. My contestants, in general, are awesome. Remember that, and treat each other - and Idol, like you remember that.

I less than three passionate people.

4SRS.

I want to wrap them up in plastic sheeting and keep them in a sealed compartment under my floor boards so that they, and their passion, will be safe for ever…. Was that a little too specific? ;)

Anyway - This probably explains why I’m surrounded by crazy people, because crazy people often have the loudest and most passionate opinions. But at least they have a point of view, and that’s never a bad thing.

As long as they are also able to recognize that what they are saying is their personal opinion, and not the “one great truth”.

By now, everyone should know that the “One Great Truth” is whatever I happen to be saying at any given moment, and respond accordingly.

If more people stopped to realize that, they wouldn’t end up butting heads so often, regardless of their opinions. Because ultimately, they would know that they were completely wrong!!! Unless of course I happened to agree with them, and even then, it would just be a coincidence that they were right!

Knowing that “Gary is always right” will help bring about a new age of prosperity (but not “peace”, I don’t go for that hippie garbage!) into the world – and it starts right here!


One of the many things that I am right about is that we have a new topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/600343.html
We also have a run-off to deal with: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/600316.html

So, by all means, get passionate about your favorites. Just keep it about your favorites. Not about the ones you don’t like as much. Why? Because there is nothing constructive with that, nothing that builds up the people you like, and in fact, probably ends up hurting them by association. And no one wants that.
Except me. I, of course, want to hurt them – and I’ll find new and interesting ways to do it!! :D