LJ Idol Presents:

You folks out there in Idol-land sure do know how to keep things interesting don't you?

As we get closer to the Top 10, I imagine that this is only going to get more intense.

The Jury convened this week to decide who to give immunity to... and once again, it was a close vote. 14 of the 15 contestants received votes. (The one who didn't? The person "at the top" of the poll this week. So the absence of votes probably had to do with a feeling that she was safe)

In the end though, they did make a decision.

***

We were eliminating three contestants this week.

yachiru *would* have been one of those eliminated - but she was the one the Jury selected for immunity!

Which means that those leaving this week are:

sobota and i_17bingo

Two amazing writers. One "dark horse" in this competition, who seemingly came out of nowhere to create these wonderful bite-sized pieces week after week, and the other who has grown leaps and bounds over the last couple of seasons, and finally starting to get the attention he has long deserved. (It should be pointed out that he did it all this season having only used *1* bye!)

The third person leaving us?

According to the votes - that would have been jexia, but she was given immunity during this week's Quick Fire competition!

So we go to the next lowest amount of votes - and come across A THREE-WAY TIE! This means that the Redemption Tribe will be making a return this week - and things get a little bit scarier for everyone!

Thank you to those leaving us. You were awesome, and I hope to see you in the Home Game, and casting your votes every week for the remainder of the Jury, to help shape how the rest of this season will play out!

If you love "Extreme Sports" - I hope you are following this week's poll. Because, in watching it over the past couple days and trying to project what is going to happen, I have no idea where this thing to going to end up!

Ditto for the Jury votes! Which, of course, have the potential to play spoiler to the poll and throw things into an even more chaotic state!

So, take the day off from cliff diving or alligator wrestling, or whatever it is that you do - and sit down to read some entries!! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/828189.html

***

Given how close it is - this would also be a good time and place to let people know which entries out there have gotten YOUR attention, and why! Who should make it into the Top 12??

A few words from clauderainsrm:

Here we are, at the Top 15.

Sure, it seems like every week I’m impressed that we’ve gotten to that point, and every time I say “You are going to love the entries this week”. But have I been wrong?

Spoiler Alert: The answer is “NO”. ;)

One of the comments from a Quick Fire Judge was how good all of the remaining contestants are, and all difficult it was to pick between them. A recent comment that I saw to one of the entries was that it made them glad to remember their LJ log-in!

Which is exactly what SHOULD be happening at this point! People who want to see something special, knowing where to come!

If they don’t - then make sure they do!

The topic was “Lost the Plot”, but clearly none of these folks have!

Which is what is going to make it so difficult to be losing 3 of them this week!

The bottom three vote-getters will be leaving us to join that great Home Game in the sky, and into their roles as members of the Jury, helping to steer the direction this season is going to go.

But we are not there yet.

Right now we are at the point where there are some great entries to be read, comments to be made about them - letting the authors know what you think of their work, and, of course, votes to be cast to ensure that your favorites get to stick around another of this crazy ride!


The poll will close Monday, Jan 26th at 9pm EST

Good luck to everyone!

[Poll #1996427]

Where did you get your start?

What was that first impulse (that you can recall) when you realized "This writing thing is FUN"?

Because that's what it's all about isn't it? Having fun.

That's why I started writing - and through a series of paths and projects, and outright needing something to keep myself busy, that's how I ended up starting LJ Idol. Because it's fun.

Where did the fun of writing start for you? How do you manage to replenish it day after day? Year after year?

***

Admittedly, it's kind of weird talking about how much "fun" writing is when we are fast approaching the most tense time of the competition. But really, I think that's when people need the reminders to *not* sabotage themselves with stress, that it's all about having fun.

(and of course winning!! :D)

***

One person who *doesn't* have to stress out this week is jexia, who won the Quick Fire http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/827595.html and has immunity in this coming poll.

Everyone else? Aren't so lucky. But then again, only one person is going to end up winning anyway - so *write what you love* and submit things *that you feel good about*!

Maybe I'm not the best person to give you advice. I put my foot in my mouth plenty of times, completely sabotaging my own goals and I'm often stressed out about things that are mostly out of my control. But that doesn't stop me from continuing to hobble on, or worry. ;)

I just try to remind myself to take a step back now and again, get some air, and hopefully get to a better place, where I can see the *fun* again. That's when I know I'm back heading in the right direction.

Your topic is DUE at 8pm EST: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/826357.html 1/3 of the current contestants already have their entries in! (Which shows how few contestants are left! :D)

Btw - my html was made of fail last night. Allison's editing service can be found at Unkind Editor

There are still some things that I'm thinking about, that I don't quite have a response to quite yet. But since when does "not knowing what to say" stop me from posting? ;)

Instead of concentrating on what I *don't* know what to say - I'll focus on what I *do* know what to say...

First and foremost - thank you to everyone who sent emails: The people who wanted to let me know that they supported me, and those who emailed to let me know that they disagreed/were upset with what I said yesterday. Both groups love Idol. They just have different opinions on some things. Which is bound to happen in a group as diverse as ours. In the big picture - It's a really good thing.

I'm just glad when people come to me with things. Regardless of how loudly they are yelling, or how much they are praising (and everything in between). Because it means that although I'm *am* the scary man coming after you... people still know that my door is open and that I'm willing to listen. That's also a really good thing.

The "center of the storm" and I have talked and everything seems fine between us. Which makes me very happy. But I do still want to say something about the fall-out and what it means for going forward. That's what I haven't quite wrapped my head around yet. It's coming though.

It's not something that I'm taking lightly. Hopefully, regardless of where you stand on the issue, you know that much about me.

***

So anyway, some things that I *can* talk about:

How its not very surprising to find people at odds over a spreadsheet. I said this at the tail end of the last Green Room and I'll repeat it for those who missed it: Controversy over spreadsheets and what collected data actually means and *doesn't mean* isn't new. It's been happening since Season 3 when the first spreadsheets started being assembled and distributed among friends.

There are some people who swear by data collection and think that it is solid and other people who think there's a lot more to it, and that the data will never survive contact with humanity in action. The same is true for those who track voting patterns in general. Knowing that so-and-so had 23 votes doesn't mean much unless you know where the votes came from and how many of them are repeat voters. Heck, there's a lot of information on motivations that even *I* don't have, so I can't even answer things fully about "why did such and such happen" other than to look at what I had and be able to verify that it did! :)

Arguments over spreadsheets and data collection is always good for a few dust-ups and yesterday proved that was still a viable way of getting people talking!

Perhaps there is a SECRET ALLIANCE who is attempting to control the vote, selectively using the information they collect in spreadsheets!!!

(*sits back and watches the comments roll in* Secret alliances are another favorite topic toward the end of a season!)

Some of them may be aliens.

***

I'm incredibly proud to say that this week's Quick Fire managed to attract 10 out of the remaining 15 contestants! Last week it was 8 out of 17. We're definitely headed in the right direction! I haven't read them yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I know our Judges are as well. They will be giving me their decision tomorrow.

***

Our Topic though is looking a little lonely: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/826357.html

Hopefully it gets some friends soon!

If you are having any trouble with it - check out the Work Room http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/826776.html for help!

Welcome back to another week and a another Quick Fire!

It's the same drill as it was last week:

You have 24 hours to write and link an entry to this thread.

It's completely optional - but those contestants who compete in it will be able to win immunity!

It's an OPEN TOPIC

Which, at this stage in the game, can change everything for you!

The deadline to link your entries back to this thread is Tuesday, Jan 20th at 10 pm EST

Have fun!

When you gear up to write this week's Idol topic, I hope that you are able to take the time to look it over, and carefully consider your options on what to do with it.

Unless, of course, by this point in the competition, you've just completely

Lost the Plot


The deadline to link your entries to this thread is Thursday, Jan 22nd at 8pm EST

Have fun!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County Arizona, has decided to that instead of investigating his own office and scandals – and instead of getting the criminals off the street – that he is going to spend his time, and that of a special commission he has created, to vote in the LJ IDOL poll! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/587399.html

They have also tried submitting votes for the Spirit Award, but I had to tell them they were not eligible. After which they declared that I was probably a Kenyan.

Fortunately, as the ONLY Real and True ‘Merican – I built a fence to keep them out, a really tall one, and had my monkey army deport them back to wherever in F-Up’d Land they came from.

Maybe now they can help keep the Mexicans from coming into this country to have ”anchor babies” in Michigan!! You never know where “those people” will end up, and what they will retroactively declare that they did, or did not do.

It’s a good thing that Sherriff Joe will now have the time to investigate that!

And you. Because, quite frankly *someone* should probably be investigating you. I’ve seen the things that you have been up to, and quite frankly, it’s pretty scary that you are walking the streets free! ;)

A few words from clauderainsrm:

There are some weeks that ease you into things, wrapping you up warmly in the blanket of their embrace. There are other weeks that go through you like a hot poker through, well, you.
Guess what kind of week this will be?

I gave contestants 4 topics, and asked them to choose 3 of them. So, they did.

Which means that I divided up the polls by topic.

There was also a run-off scheduled for this week, those two have had their entries combined into one link. So, when reading them, please consider the overall collection.

While reading everything else, it should be all about the individual entry.

Some of the polls are open to everyone. Some of them are friends only. I selected this< on a rotating basis of “open”, “friends”, “open”..., before the first entry was linked.

It should make things a little more interesting!

Also in the “interesting” category is that the Jury will be awarding the much-sought-after immunity again this week. Considering that we will be losing a total of five contestants (one from each poll) that means that immunity will guarantee someone a spot in the Top 10!

You know what else will?

Surviving this week!

The poll closes Thursday, July 19th at 9pm EDT

Good luck to everyone!

(and yes, I just saw that I didn't change the week! ;) )

[Poll #1854310]


[Poll #1854311]

[Poll #1854312]

[Poll #1854313]


[Poll #1854314]

Like Daniel Tosh insulting a heckler, another Week of LJ IDOL is here and isn’t going anywhere any time soon!

I actually have a lot to say about that – none of it coherent though, so I’ll wait a little longer and see if I still feel like saying it. ;)

What I DO feel like saying though is that the results went up last night: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/586484.html

With the “non-elimination”, there was some concern that people might misunderstand that and assume that a contestant was cheating or doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.

They were not.

I need to make that much clear, just so no one walks away with the wrong idea.

There was an account – and there is a good chance that it was a friend who signed up for Livejournal to show support – and no one thought “let’s give Gary a heads up on this one”. It voted. The votes affected the results, so I flagged it and officially made it a tie instead of getting rid of someone.

Because no one should be going for someone else’s mistake – and yes, now two people are on the block BUT it was a matter of a single vote. Had it been two votes, with only one of them in question, we wouldn’t be having the conversation. It’s a small price to be sure that everyone gets a fair shake.

I’d say that I think everyone here is on the up-and-up and seriously talented – but that would imply that I liked any of you and that I read a single word. I wouldn’t want to ruin my reputation like that! ;)

So instead I’ll post a link to the Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/586211.html
And the new topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/585760.html
And tell you to get off your lazy butts and get to work! ;)