2009 California High School State Tournament

[lord of dementors!]

Evil Dead and Shadowbox, which both made semis, should have been in finals in my opinion over Alice in Wonderland and over Starting Monday.

Here are my thoughts on the final round, in the order I would have ranked it:

1. Freak the Mighty - Like someone said earlier, the perfect combo of humor and drama. It was so touching. The bigger guy had such good dramatic acting that it sent shivers down my spine. I was sitting next to a judge and she was crying.

2. Wizard of Hip - Absolutely HILARIOUS! They completely command rooms they are in. I felt though, that something was off with their performance in final round. Seemed a bit low energy? They had a lot of cool beats. The whole basketball scene with the father was extremely funny.

3. Jungle Book - Another good combination of humor and drama. The drama was not as solid as the one in Freak the Mighty, but the piece was extremely solid nonetheless. Great tech. The bigger of the partners played all of his characters very well and distinctly. The smaller partner portrayed his only character EXACTLY the way I would picture a Jungle boy to be like. His weak growling was HILARIOUS!!

4. Pete - I believe that they are very good performers. They do great things with the piece, its just I feel that the piece does so well because they are twins. For instance, in the final round, before they even began performing, when they were just walking up, people were saying "awh they are so cute!" I just feel like this greatly contributes to their success. They did, however, own the final round in terms of audience reaction, but I just felt that something substantial was missing from the piece. The drama was forced. The fight was absolutely SHOW-STOPPING!

5. Rinse the Blood Off My Toga - Really funny. I liked the whole chariot tech they used as well as the swivel chair and the fighting. The fight scene at the beginning was phenomenal. A lot of the jokes, however, got repetitive and annoying.

6. Alice - I believe that this was a good piece, just it became a victim of a tired crowd. The room was hot and they were 6th speaker. They got very little reaction. This was a good piece and definitely semis-worthy but I believed there were some duos in semis that could have been better suited for finals.

7. Starting Monday - The piece started very slowly and I couldnt understand some of the things they were saying. The story line was a bit confusing. I thought they were the same character at the beginning. Towards the end though the piece really picked up and I thought their acting was great. It was a good dramatic piece but I felt as though Shadow Box would be a better dramatic for the final round.

I have to disagree with what you said about the Troungs. I thought they should have won. They know how to play to their strengths, and I really believe they have put a lot of hard work and creativity into their speech. Wizard of Hip is really funny, but if you compare the difficulty of the execution of each of the pieces, Pete seems like more of a challenge. Just my thoughts...:)

[insaaneloraiiine]

I'm really curious to see how both "Alice in Wonderland's" were like. Were they narration-based, character-based? I'd really like to know how they set up the plot and the 10 minutes they had with it..? Humorous and/or dramatic? Ending?

Congratulations to anyone here who placed at states! :D

Alice in Wonderland Girl/Girl version were at my Nat Quals and seeing as there were only about 14 duos there, we were in a round multiple times.

Like someone said earlier, their duo is very polished. The plot line goes like this:

The audience meets a very sweet, innocent Alice when suddenly a rabbit pops over her shoulder. What I found cute about this part was that the rabbit was just the hand of the other girl formed into a peace sign! Then Alice turns creepily high pitched and tries to shoot the rabbit by following it into it's hole. And then she's in Wonderland! There she immediately meets the Cheshire Cat who pops up behind her as well and after a few seconds of awkwardly funny dialogue the audience realizes Chessie is a pedo-cat.. "Why hellloooo little girl.. Meowww! ;)" Alice then begins to worry that she will be missed by her parents and the scene slowly transitions to a that of the mother and father on the couch - not caring. This is repeated once more near the end for laughs. A little bit afterwards (or it may have been before) Alice is greeted by Tweedledee and Tweeldledum who perform a welcome to Wonderland song which reminded me of a scene in the latest Charlie and the Chocolate factory movie where the dolls start playing music faster and faster until they explode! Next, Alice meets the Caterpillar who is esentially a doped up version of Charlotte the spider from Charlotte's Web from Nats. Finally, Alice meets the (Russian) Queen of Hearts and is accused of stealing her cherry tarts. With Chessie's help she escapes and is home free. It ends with a short monologue by Alice who reflects on her life about how she is older than she was yesterday.

I thought the character growth was pretty confusing, especially because it honestly seemed to come out of no where. I suppose that they wanted to add a dramatic element to it however, since the rest of the speech is humorous based. The girls perform with such high energy you literally had to lean back in your seat because you would think they'd explode. Both I thought, were masters at molding their face, however, the girl playing Alice was able to show fear and surprise better while the other was able pull off a larger range of emotions.

[DUOmaniac]

Of course. Everyone is entitled to their opinions! :)

It is not always the difficulty of execution that wins tournaments. It's a combination of everything. If it was difficulty of execution that determined the winner, then Rinse the Blood Off My Toga would have gotten 2nd place. The Truongs are definitely good performers and definitely deserve to be in all final rounds. I just believe the fact that they are twins gives the duo a little edge over non-identical partners. LOL. Even if the Truongs were not twins they would be doing extremely well with that performance, but the twin factor gives them a little boost.

Just my opinion. :P

[GFan]

Wow, what a great description! Was it a really strong girl/girl duo in your opinion (since girl/girl duos seem to be the hardest to really connect with, it seems)

Did the drama really go through? Do you think they could've gone with a stronger dramatic ending, or none at all?

Oh, and did they qualify? Thanks for the feedback, insaaaneloraiiine!

[DUOmaniac]

Wow, what a great description! Was it a really strong girl/girl duo in your opinion (since girl/girl duos seem to be the hardest to really connect with, it seems)

Did the drama really go through? Do you think they could've gone with a stronger dramatic ending, or none at all?

Oh, and did they qualify? Thanks for the feedback, insaaaneloraiiine!

I saw the girl/girl version in a prelim and I watched the guy/girl version in final round.

I personally liked the guy/girl version better. The girl/girl version was borderline annoying. I personally didn't care for the dramatic ending at all. I feel as though if there is a dramatic ending that is successfully pulled off (Wizard of Hip, Freak the Mighty, Jungle Book) then a piece will be extremely successful, but if it is attempted and doesn't hit on (Pete-- but Pete's tech and other stuff is good so it doesn't matter) then it will just look forced.

[insaaneloraiiine]

GFan, I can't compare this Alice and Wonderland to that of the guy/guy version because I haven't seen it, but I think the girls can be considered a really strong team based on the fact that they are the Southern California District champions in Duo. :)

Girl/girl duos I've noticed don't do as well as other mixes because girls are generally more inclined to be more wary of themselves than guys. You really don't see a lot of girl/girl duos at the top very often because girls rarely pull out the outrageous stuff because we're more conscientious about making fools of ourselves. I know I sound really sexist.. to my own ***... but it's very rare to see a girl with little inhibition.
That's the great thing about the girl/girl Alice and Wonderland - they have no inhibition. They kind of reminded me of Madeline Heil. No matter how vulgar the facial expression or how embarrassing the blocking, they stayed in character no matter what, and just went with it. And succeeded. :rolleyes:

Oh and about their dramatic ending. I think they should have just left off. It left the audience with a "meh" attitude, even though the beginning and middle were great. Maybe if they established a clearer connection to the growing up aspect beforehand, the theme would have made more sense.. but, too late now I guess!

[datdude]

Where did the champ come from? He goes to the same school as Jordan Phillips in DI, but had seen nothing from this guy until yesterday. Did anyone see finals of OI? Did he deserve it?

[theaterguyman]

I thought the way duo turned out was fairly accurate other than the fact that Evil Dead should have been in finals.

As for HI, I thought that it was fairly accurate that Vasquez and Bartz ended top 2 respectively.

For DI, Danny Gould receiving 6th was incredibly low, I felt as though he deserved higher.

[ctrig]

I saw the girl/girl version in a prelim and I watched the guy/girl version in final round.

I personally liked the guy/girl version better. The girl/girl version was borderline annoying. I personally didn't care for the dramatic ending at all. I feel as though if there is a dramatic ending that is successfully pulled off (Wizard of Hip, Freak the Mighty, Jungle Book) then a piece will be extremely successful, but if it is attempted and doesn't hit on (Pete-- but Pete's tech and other stuff is good so it doesn't matter) then it will just look forced.

I agree with you on Alice in Wonderland (girl/girl), about it being borderline annoying. I always found it to be a bit forced and unoriginal. I've only seen them a few times, but they definitely improved since the first time.

[duobro]

My recap of duo final round in the order they performed

1. Pough/Williams - Logan - "Wizard of Hip"
-Very good humor. They landed their jokes perfectly and they have a true mastery of the power to control everyone's attention. From the moment they walked on to the moment they ended they had my attention. They went first and sort of got lost in my mind as other pieces went up and out did their energy. They seemed a bit low on energy. I gave them the 3.
2. Harlacher/Williams - ? - "Starting Monday"
- Started off really really slow. I had no idea what was going on until the very end of the piece. Both girls are talented actresses but the piece really restricted them. The piece was extremely confusing and felt a bit out of place in finals. I gave them 7th.
3. Restaino/Weber - Fullerton Joint Union - "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga"
- Definitely had their funny bits here and there such as the whole "don't kill me or i'll have to 'rinse the blood off my toga'" LOL. Piece got very repetitive and in that final round, the guy playing Brutus had a bit more energy and sort of drown out his partner. Also the reoccuring jokes got old really quickly. I will say that all of their fighting was perfectly timed and awesome. In fact, all of their blocking was near clean as can be other than one distinctly out of sync action. I gave them the 6.
4. Gutierrez/Najibi - Logan - "Freak the Mighty"
- Such a breathtaking piece! I loved every minute of it. I cannot believe they did not qual to nats. I could see them on the finals stage for sure! I thought they were the clear winners of that round. They captivated the audience with brilliant acting and very good control. There isn't much negative things I can say about the piece other than at one point the characters got confusing and I got lost at where exactly the characters were and what they were doing. CLEAR NUMBER 1!
5. Shah/Shakir - Leland - "Disney's The Jungle Book"
- Amazing. Its not the funniest piece or the saddest piece, but it combines the two so well. This was another piece that I was interested in from start to finish. They were able to clearly capture the entire story in ten minutes. The characters of the bigger character were impeccable. The little one's only character was flawless and I will agree that his screech noise and his "Ewwwwwwww" line were so funny. Cool dance scene and very cool fight scene (not nearly as cool as the Truongs though). I thought because of the originality, energy, and chemistry in this duo, they deserved 2nd over Wizard of Hip.
6. Howes/Miller - Monte Vista - "Alice"
- A very technically sound piece. Like someone said earlier, this piece was solid. Like Jungle Book, nothing was laugh out loud funny or cry out loud sad. The piece was just consist was good characters. The guy played many characters well while the girl played one very effectively too. They were definitely affected by the fact that the finals room was so DARN hot and the audience was tired and sleepy after a long day and long round. They got by far the fewest laughs in the round but I thought that they were better than what the audience showed. I would have given them the 5 in the round.
7. Truong/Truong- San Marino - "Pete"
-Okay. So alot of people have been discussing whether or not this duo deserved 4th place. I personally think that 4th place was perfect for their piece. They are good. No, they are amazing. I felt though that Freak the Mighty, Jungle Book, and Wizard of Hip were more amazing because they were able to successfully capture both the dramatic and humorous aspects of duo interpretation. The Truong twins successfully capture the humorous aspect, possibly better than any other duo, however their attempt at a dramatic ending falls flat. It really drags the piece on longer than it should. After the EPIC fight scene, the audience is ready for the piece to end on a high note, but the extended dramatic scene really distracts. If they were able to end the piece humorously after the fight scene instead of going into the dramatic scene, I think they could have been ranked higher. I gave them 4th.

[jjjkkklll]

Who else do you guys think should have been in the final round that didn't make it for HI & DUO? Does someone want to breakdown the final round of HI perhaps?

[miniglinda]

That's the great thing about the girl/girl Alice and Wonderland - they have no inhibition. They kind of reminded me of Madeline Heil. No matter how vulgar the facial expression or how embarrassing the blocking, they stayed in character no matter what, and just went with it. And succeeded. :rolleyes:


i do like me some embarrassing blocking and groooooss facial expressions. hahahahaaa :)

[Sundaysbest]

so i watched the oratory round and i ranked it like this:

1. Tina Nguyen
2. Miles Bridges
3. Sofie Garden
4. Sagar Vijay
5. Ryan Kuo
6. Snehol Ghatere
7. Denis Ruis

Essentially the same in the bottom half. Overall, I felt it was a strong round although the girl who got 7th should not have been in there and could have been replaced with someone like daniel weingarten, leonid liu, vanessa menchaca, or the guy from fullerton (don't know his name)

[BBALL/FORENSICS 4 LIFE!]

In my personal opinion, I don't see jungle book or Evil Dead surpassing Pete at all (both are great pieces), but after seeing Shadow box at Berkeley finals I think that if anyone, it would be Shadowbox that could maybe surpass Pete. But since the 2 duos are so different it would be up to who the judges like better.

LOL irony.

[tk447]

Hey, guys! I was a visitor, supporting Iain Lampert, our Cleveland Impromptu guy for this year. He was new, so we're proud of his ranking.

Now, I'm really biased, but I was watching Impromptu for the whole time (except when I saw a few HIs and a Duo--the Wizards of Hip was awesome, as was the Phantom Tollbooth), and I was really disappointed with the winner. She used the same speech with minor alterations at least twice. I don't understand it--are canned speeches looked upon with favor at States? Is that considered the normal thing to do? Second place and fourth only re-used their intros, not the whole speech. Third and sixth used similar examples, but that was it. Fifth and Seventh were entirely fresh.

I don't quite understand it--the way it seemed to flow, it was more of an Interp round than an Impromptu one.

I understand this entirely. I've seen her compete before, and the speeches have been similar, if not identical. The guy who took 2nd (Wood something??), as well as the 4th place finisher (Zaki) seemed intelligent, intuitive, and relevant. Luckily, the semifinals rounds had more of these types of speakers. I call it true Impromptu speaking, and it's a shame that the winners the past few years have chosen canned speeches and points and emerged on top.

[theaterguyman]

I understand this entirely. I've seen her compete before, and the speeches have been similar, if not identical. The guy who took 2nd (Wood something??), as well as the 4th place finisher (Zaki) seemed intelligent, intuitive, and relevant. Luckily, the semifinals rounds had more of these types of speakers. I call it true Impromptu speaking, and it's a shame that the winners the past few years have chosen canned speeches and points and emerged on top.

That would be Josh Wood from Bellarmine

[tk447]

That would be Josh Wood from Bellarmine

Aah, yes, that's him! Should've checked joyoftournaments.
Anyways, I haven't actually seen him around at other Impromptu tournaments. It just goes to show how you don't have to go to these large tournaments (like Berkeley, Stanford, and Logan) in order to do well.

[SageShadows]

Anyone watch the final round of NX or IX? Thoughts?

[bennyblackbear]

I watched duo finals and all i have to say is WOW that round was AMAZING. I thought that everyone in that round really deserved to be there. I was floored by the level of competition in that final round. Here are my thoughts:

First of all this is how i would've ranked final round:
1)Pete
2) Freak the Mighty
3) Wizard of Hip
4) Junglebook
5) Rinse the blood
6) Starting Monday
7) Alice

Pete- This is my second time seeing them and they have improved since I last saw them. I remember that I didn't quite like they're drama bit because they are just hilarious guys and I thought they should've just stuck with an all humor piece. But this time around I really like their drama. As regards to some people saying that they thought the drama was forced, I didn't think so at all I thought there was a nice segway into it and the emotions were portrayed nicely. But i so agree that people expect that after that fight scene (which was breath taking btw) that the mood should lighten up. I gotta give these guys props they really rocked final rounds without a doubt.

Freak the Mighty- One word...WOW absolutely phenomenal. they have improved by a LANDSLIDE. THe drama was really touching and that puppet scene was really nice. I gave this one a two because I didnt think it wasn't on the same level as Pete as regards to tech, humor, blocking, and execution. But I thought that they pulled off the drama part better than Pete. These guys gave a great performance their final round.

Wizard of Hip- How can you not like these guys. I can't help but laugh everytime they perform. These guys are really as funny as they get. There is no denying this is the funniest piece in the round and that beat/music in the beginning is so catchy! Not to bad mouth these guys but they really need to work on presenting thier intros cause everything is perfect but when it comes to their intro they sound VERY artificial. Maybe they were just nervous. As regards to the drama I thought that it was extremely sudden. Great drama but to me it came out of left field. Nonetheless, great piece.

Jungle Book- wow, they guys really got cracking on thier duo. It is like a million times better than before. great synchronization and I LOVE the new growling jokes. This piece was (again) carried heavily by one performer (in my opinion), not to say that the smaller guy does a bad job it just seemed unbalanced to me. I don't think the smaller guy should sing ( he get off tone) I would leave that to the bigger guy, who has a great voice btw. These guys have great chemistry and it really shows in the piece. One of my main problems with this piece is that its exactly like the movie and there is no so called "interpretation" of the piece itseflf but despite this these guys pull it off extremely well.

Rinse the Blood off my Toga- I thought that the humor was a bit forced and the jokes fell a little short. IT seemed kind of obnoxious to me, but hey maybe it's just me. Very clean blocking and great energy. THey definately cleaned up the humor so that its not as dirty as it was before. I glad they did this because there were too many penis jokes in it.

Starting Monday- I agree witht eh rest of you guys that it's a little slow in the begiing and the teaser was REALLY confusing. I really liked this piece when it got near the end. The combination of one girl singing amazing grace and the other speaking really added a nice effect to the drama and it tied the piece up together well.

Alice- I don't really know what I think about this piece. Not much to say about this piece except that the cutting was a bit confusing. But good job to them for making it all the way to finals.

P.S. THAT FINAL ROUND WAS SOOOOO HOTTTT!!! it couldn't breath in there I can't begin to imagine how hot the competitors were after performing/ wearing suits too. I already was breaking a sweat in my shorts and tee shirt

[Brutus Maximus]

hey there....this is the Alice in Wonderland duo that went to finals....we both definately agree that shadow box should have made it to finals and that the truongs should have definitely won no matter what...the results weren't the greatest for us....but who cares.....
we really liked Rinse the blood of my toga....also surprising, as of semi finals going into finals, we were beating freak the mighty and the starting monday girls were in second place

Hey dude, thanks. We enjoyed you guys too :) That round was tough, but fun nonetheless. But I don't know how you can say the results werent the greatest for you. I think making it to a final round at state no matter what place you get is amazing. Jungle Book was an amazing piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout the performance. Pete I think improved alot and was awesome. The fight scene was incredible. Freak the Mighty made me tear up in round 1, semi's, and in finals. I loved the piece so much. Nit much to say about Wizard of Hip, it's amazing as usual. I'm excited to see how they do at nationals.

I would also like to add, when they finally let people come into the theatre, I was writing my piece and I got scared. I honestly thought someone was gonna get hurt. It was a mob of people rushing towards us. At one point, they knocked over a big trashcan. And it got HOT really...really quick. lol.

[Insolence]

I understand this entirely. I've seen her compete before, and the speeches have been similar, if not identical. The guy who took 2nd (Wood something??), as well as the 4th place finisher (Zaki) seemed intelligent, intuitive, and relevant. Luckily, the semifinals rounds had more of these types of speakers. I call it true Impromptu speaking, and it's a shame that the winners the past few years have chosen canned speeches and points and emerged on top.
I'm glad we think alike, in this case.
Of the Impromptu finalists, Iain (3rd place, and my good friend, which is why I keep mentioning him) and the blond afro-kid will still be in it for sure.
Frankly, I don't want to see 1st place in it again--she would be a mediocre interp speaker, but she belongs in interp over impromptu.
I was also impressed with second and fourth, though second was a little over-dramatic--seemed more robotic than personable, but at least he was original (a little overzealous with statistics, though). Fourth was too witty for the judges, frankly, and was all that you said. Fifth was the only one who seemed to be like an actual professional speaker in terms of presentation, but he didn't have a good topic. Sixth, afro-kid, was sort of strange in his intro and his points. Seventh, the other girl, was...well, just not getting it.

[AlicInWonderland]

Hey dude, thanks. We enjoyed you guys too :) That round was tough, but fun nonetheless. But I don't know how you can say the results werent the greatest for you. I think making it to a final round at state no matter what place you get is amazing. Jungle Book was an amazing piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout the performance. Pete I think improved alot and was awesome. The fight scene was incredible. Freak the Mighty made me tear up in round 1, semi's, and in finals. I loved the piece so much. Nit much to say about Wizard of Hip, it's amazing as usual. I'm excited to see how they do at nationals.

I would also like to add, when they finally let people come into the theatre, I was writing my piece and I got scared. I honestly thought someone was gonna get hurt. It was a mob of people rushing towards us. At one point, they knocked over a big trashcan. And it got HOT really...really quick. lol.

which member of "Toga" are you

[insaaneloraiiine]

Did anyone see the blanket-tent in the central quad place at state?

[tk447]

Did anyone see the blanket-tent in the central quad place at state?

I saw a few tents actually. Each advertising a different restaurant.
On a more unique note, does anyone remember the "robot" going around during the state tournament, threatening road rage to any debater who didn't watch where they were going?
I felt like demolishing that robot...

[tgjdlc]

Did anyone get a chance to see Love Story? It's a duo about... love. lol. They got really good scores, got 2nd in the first round against Pete (I think did better than them in that round), got 2nd in the second round... but for some odd reason got 456 in their third round, which kept them in one spot from Semis... How do you feel they did?

[ctrig]

Did anyone get a chance to see Love Story? It's a duo about... love. lol. They got really good scores, got 2nd in the first round against Pete (I think did better than them in that round), got 2nd in the second round... but for some odd reason got 456 in their third round, which kept them in one spot from Semis... How do you feel they did?
I did see them, and we competed against them in our third round. That round was tough, indeed. Elf Rebellion, Nothing Serious , Love Story, Proof, Elf, An Infinite Ache

"Love Story" was a bit hard to judge, in my opinion. The girl was very genuine while the guy very quirky. I see why the duo did fairly well in prelims, but I must admit that the chemistry between the two wasn't as strong as it could have been. There were three different "couple" duos in that round, and all three of us had different styles. Judge's preference, I suppose. The duo was generally entertaining, but it just felt like it was missing something.

[tgjdlc]

Sweet, thanks for that. I've been wondering what did them in... I mean, beating a couple of the finalists in prelims, but that third round going as wrong as it did for them.

I'm their coach btw.

[m1stuhjma]

which member of "Toga" are you

I'm pretty sure its Brutus Maximus (http://www.forensicsonline.net/forum/member.php?u=22974) in the play, aka the taller guy with the semi-spiked hair, lol hence the name

Brutus if that really is you from toga, all I have to say was that you guys were freakin awesome in our semis (this is jon from mulan)
You guys really set the bar with that one

[insaaneloraiiine]

I was talking about the self made tent, not the food ones..

But I'll go back to speech related matters. I did also get to see Love Story! They were in my third round.. I was in the duo that amouse apparently forgot about. Anyways, I thought Love Story was one of the cutest duos I've seen all year. It wasn't outstanding in tech or popping or anything but it was just so real. It was one of the few duos, I thought, that could get away with it being entirely funny until just that one dramatic scene. I liked it so much I ended up finding the book online and read it the next day. =)

[m1stuhjma]

Oh one more thing
I wanted to get your opinion on something...

How do you guys think Wish Fulfillment would have done if they had gone to state
Considering they are SUPER polished, well acted out, choreographed, etc etc and placed 2nd at SCDL's quals, they would have been a finals shoo-in...right?

[GFan]

so i watched the oratory round and i ranked it like this:

1. Tina Nguyen
2. Miles Bridges
3. Sofie Garden
4. Sagar Vijay
5. Ryan Kuo
6. Snehol Ghatere
7. Denis Ruis

Essentially the same in the bottom half. Overall, I felt it was a strong round although the girl who got 7th should not have been in there and could have been replaced with someone like daniel weingarten, leonid liu, vanessa menchaca, or the guy from fullerton (don't know his name)
What were their oratories on?

[lord of dementors!]

Oh one more thing
I wanted to get your opinion on something...

How do you guys think Wish Fulfillment would have done if they had gone to state
Considering they are SUPER polished, well acted out, choreographed, etc etc and placed 2nd at SCDL's quals, they would have been a finals shoo-in...right?

I wouldn't nessicarily say they were a finals "shoo-in" (after all, Shadow Box and Evil Dead didn't even make the final break), but I've been competing against those guys all year, and yes, they are very talented speakers. Sad to see that they couldn't compete.

[Brutus Maximus]

which member of "Toga" are you

I am the shorter one who played all the characters.

[Brutus Maximus]

Did anyone get a chance to see Love Story? It's a duo about... love. lol. They got really good scores, got 2nd in the first round against Pete (I think did better than them in that round), got 2nd in the second round... but for some odd reason got 456 in their third round, which kept them in one spot from Semis... How do you feel they did?

I hit love story in my 2nd round, they were good. I enjoyed the piece alot, though the guys hair was in his face a lot. But it was funny and touching.

[tgjdlc]

Quote:
Originally Posted by insaaneloraiiine http://www.forensicsonline.net/forum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.forensicsonline.net/forum/showthread.php?p=124355#post124355)
I liked it so much I ended up finding the book online and read it the next day. =)


Haha, you know, that's actually not the first time I've heard someone say that with this piece... I coached back in 2006, where it did very well at State that year (even so much as to beating the [eventual] national champs in two rounds at state) and we had two- or three- competitors tell us that they bought the book, cause they thought it was so good.

Anyways, y'all, thanks for the feedback.

[Party Animal]

I saw a few tents actually. Each advertising a different restaurant.
On a more unique note, does anyone remember the "robot" going around during the state tournament, threatening road rage to any debater who didn't watch where they were going?
I felt like demolishing that robot...

...Wait, robot, what? Did I happen to black-out every second in-between rounds or something, or did I just not see this? XD

[lord of dementors!]

...Wait, robot, what? Did I happen to black-out every second in-between rounds or something, or did I just not see this? XD

Oh, yeah... the robot... What the heck was that about? It was running around for, like, hours...

[startingmon]

Oh one more thing
I wanted to get your opinion on something...

How do you guys think Wish Fulfillment would have done if they had gone to state
Considering they are SUPER polished, well acted out, choreographed, etc etc and placed 2nd at SCDL's quals, they would have been a finals shoo-in...right?

hey it's starting monday :) and we saw wish fulfillment a couple times at berkeley and they were REALLY good. awesome balance of drama and humour with great blocking for the serious parts but who knows if they would have made it to finals but they were DEFINITELY good enough!

[oomyprabvarmyrebel]

t-man is amazing

[BBALL/FORENSICS 4 LIFE!]

t-man is amazing

What is a "t-man" ?

[oomyprabvarmyrebel]

...Seriously? Because he appears pompous...?? Funny, one would have thought those involved in speech & debate would have gotten 'not to judge a book by its cover' by now...

pwnt, he/she is right

[BBALL/FORENSICS 4 LIFE!]

Still don't get it. I'm a bit slow...

[Safeena]

Regarding impromptu, there's a definite difference between using the same examples and using a canned or prepared speech. I definitely find that impromptu-ers will use the same books or historical examples time and again, but it's the analysis that counts and that's generally different per round.

Regarding that final speech, it definitely wasn't canned. But the fact that you think it was? Definitely a compliment, haha, so thanks for that.

Unfortunately though, this year I watched two cases of people using concise versions of their OO's in impromptus. I mean, come on!

[ctrig]

I was talking about the self made tent, not the food ones..

But I'll go back to speech related matters. I did also get to see Love Story! They were in my third round.. I was in the duo that amouse apparently forgot about. Anyways, I thought Love Story was one of the cutest duos I've seen all year. It wasn't outstanding in tech or popping or anything but it was just so real. It was one of the few duos, I thought, that could get away with it being entirely funny until just that one dramatic scene. I liked it so much I ended up finding the book online and read it the next day. =)

"The Unfair GENDER" (it censors it, heh) - Sorry about that!! :D I took down the titles but I just didn't look at them when I was listing. Haha, of course I didn't forget about you guys... err girls.


Oh one more thing
I wanted to get your opinion on something...

How do you guys think Wish Fulfillment would have done if they had gone to state
Considering they are SUPER polished, well acted out, choreographed, etc etc and placed 2nd at SCDL's quals, they would have been a finals shoo-in...right?

They're from our league and I'm sure everybody has heard the story by now. But yes, I would have expected them to get into finals, and probably even place top 3 or 4 if they had a good round. I personally find their duo extremely entertaining and well-polished.

[Insolence]

Regarding impromptu, there's a definite difference between using the same examples and using a canned or prepared speech. I definitely find that impromptu-ers will use the same books or historical examples time and again, but it's the analysis that counts and that's generally different per round.

Regarding that final speech, it definitely wasn't canned. But the fact that you think it was? Definitely a compliment, haha, so thanks for that.

Unfortunately though, this year I watched two cases of people using concise versions of their OO's in impromptus. I mean, come on!

Well, I guess that it's a matter of value.
I like watching Impromptus when it's clear that a lot of spontaneous things are being used--from the very beginning/intro to the examples to the end. If anything is re-used, it's pretty obvious--there's a certain clumsiness involved with bringing in an example with a tenuous universal connection to fit a certain topic. I like the idea of watching someone growing out from their prompt, not bringing in things from an "example bank" to gussy it up.
But that's just a personal thing. If I remember your name correctly, congrats.

[born2question]

so i watched the oratory round and i ranked it like this:

1. Tina Nguyen
2. Miles Bridges
3. Sofie Garden
4. Sagar Vijay
5. Ryan Kuo
6. Snehol Ghatere
7. Denis Ruis

Essentially the same in the bottom half. Overall, I felt it was a strong round although the girl who got 7th should not have been in there and could have been replaced with someone like daniel weingarten, leonid liu, vanessa menchaca, or the guy from fullerton (don't know his name)

Someone asked about topics?

I haven't seen all the speeches... but I know Tina Nguyen (Gabrielino) discusses the problems surrounding judging others and accepting others' judgements.

Snehal Ghatare (St. Francis) does "We're a Disaster" I think... I remember that her intro presents really tragic stories, and then she says a really powerful line along the lines of, "But who really cares?." Her speech addresses how we, as a people, are pretty much a disaster. I remember she talks about the importance of actually going to other countries and truly witnessing the problems instead of simply donating to charity to make ourselves feel better, and she provides a powerful personal example of her trip to India, where young, starving children grabbed desperately at her back. I think hers is the most powerful speech I have seen all year.

Sofie Garden's speech is on Impatience. Her content ranges from slightly humorous examples like Commercial "Blinks" and Online Speed Dating to really poignant examples, including a sad story about a woman who worked at a nursery who became so impatient with a crying baby that she threw it on the ground.

Im pretty sure 7th place was actually Johannah Huynh from Monroe HS, not Denisse Ruiz.
Johannah Huynh's was "Born to be Wired" the last time I saw it... talking about how we are wired to technology.

They could have completely changed their speeches for all I know, but these are the speeches they gave when I had them in rounds throughout the year...

[Insolence]

Someone asked about topics?

I haven't seen all the speeches... but I know Tina Nguyen (Gabrielino) discusses the problems surrounding judging others and accepting others' judgements.

Snehal Ghatare (St. Francis) does "We're a Disaster" I think... I remember that her intro presents really tragic stories, and then she says a really powerful line along the lines of, "But who really cares?." Her speech addresses how we, as a people, are pretty much a disaster. I remember she talks about the importance of actually going to other countries and truly witnessing the problems instead of simply donating to charity to make ourselves feel better, and she provides a powerful personal example of her trip to India, where young, starving children grabbed desperately at her back. I think hers is the most powerful speech I have seen all year.

Sofie Garden's speech is on Impatience. Her content ranges from slightly humorous examples like Commercial "Blinks" and Online Speed Dating to really poignant examples, including a sad story about a woman who worked at a nursery who became so impatient with a crying baby that she threw it on the ground.

Im pretty sure 7th place was actually Johannah Huynh from Monroe HS, not Denisse Ruiz.
Johannah Huynh's was "Born to be Wired" the last time I saw it... talking about how we are wired to technology.

They could have completely changed their speeches for all I know, but these are the speeches they gave when I had them in rounds throughout the year...

Yeah, JoJo was 7th. She's from our league.

[Party Animal]

Someone asked about topics?

I haven't seen all the speeches... but I know Tina Nguyen (Gabrielino) discusses the problems surrounding judging others and accepting others' judgements.

Snehal Ghatare (St. Francis) does "We're a Disaster" I think... I remember that her intro presents really tragic stories, and then she says a really powerful line along the lines of, "But who really cares?." Her speech addresses how we, as a people, are pretty much a disaster. I remember she talks about the importance of actually going to other countries and truly witnessing the problems instead of simply donating to charity to make ourselves feel better, and she provides a powerful personal example of her trip to India, where young, starving children grabbed desperately at her back. I think hers is the most powerful speech I have seen all year.

Sofie Garden's speech is on Impatience. Her content ranges from slightly humorous examples like Commercial "Blinks" and Online Speed Dating to really poignant examples, including a sad story about a woman who worked at a nursery who became so impatient with a crying baby that she threw it on the ground.

Im pretty sure 7th place was actually Johannah Huynh from Monroe HS, not Denisse Ruiz.
Johannah Huynh's was "Born to be Wired" the last time I saw it... talking about how we are wired to technology.

They could have completely changed their speeches for all I know, but these are the speeches they gave when I had them in rounds throughout the year...

To add on to that: Sagar Vijay's is about responsibility, and Ryan Kuo's is about expressing what you genuinely feel.

[HInit]

First I just Have to say Here's how HI should have ranked (This includes people who didn't make it) :

1st Madeline Heil "The Phantom Tollbooth" (Presentation????)
2nd Coleton Schmitto "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (Logan)
3rd Jordan Moshe "Hamlet II" (MIRAMONTE) disqualified :mad:
4th Neelam Kumar "Charlie in the Chocolate Factory" (Logan)
5th James Schecet "**** to Pay" (Gabrielino ?????)
6th Zach Rice "Coming Attractions" (Monte Vista????)
7th Ryan Vasquez "Animal Farm" (Bellarmine)

sorry I'm bad with schools

For Duo I would Have done it

1st truong/truong "Pete" (san marino)
2nd engberg/orgain "Chicago" (miramonte) robbbed :mad:
3rd pough/williams "Wizrd of Hip" (logan)
4th miller/howes "Alice in Wonderland" (monte vista)
5th shah/shakir "The Jungle Book" (leland) ;)
6th ?????? "Freak the Mighty" (logan)
7th ?????? "Rinse the Blood of My Toga" ????

[insaaneloraiiine]

"The Unfair GENDER" (it censors it, heh) ... Haha, of course I didn't forget about you guys... err girls.

Heyy, just wondering. What did you think of it?

[GFan]

Someone asked about topics?

I haven't seen all the speeches... but I know Tina Nguyen (Gabrielino) discusses the problems surrounding judging others and accepting others' judgements.

Snehal Ghatare (St. Francis) does "We're a Disaster" I think... I remember that her intro presents really tragic stories, and then she says a really powerful line along the lines of, "But who really cares?." Her speech addresses how we, as a people, are pretty much a disaster. I remember she talks about the importance of actually going to other countries and truly witnessing the problems instead of simply donating to charity to make ourselves feel better, and she provides a powerful personal example of her trip to India, where young, starving children grabbed desperately at her back. I think hers is the most powerful speech I have seen all year.

Sofie Garden's speech is on Impatience. Her content ranges from slightly humorous examples like Commercial "Blinks" and Online Speed Dating to really poignant examples, including a sad story about a woman who worked at a nursery who became so impatient with a crying baby that she threw it on the ground.

Im pretty sure 7th place was actually Johannah Huynh from Monroe HS, not Denisse Ruiz.
Johannah Huynh's was "Born to be Wired" the last time I saw it... talking about how we are wired to technology.

They could have completely changed their speeches for all I know, but these are the speeches they gave when I had them in rounds throughout the year...
I asked.. and thank you!

Did any of the state finalists qualify to nationals aside from Tina?

[SageShadows]

**** to Pay's from...San Marino, I think.
Oh, and GFan, Sofie Garden qualled out of East LA. Vivian Lam, who won Expos, qualled too.

Anyone have any opinions on how the final round of NX/FX went? I know NX wasn't exactly the most final round (I was there xd), but I'm wondering how you'd rank it if you saw it/based on reputation.

[oneloveboss]

I asked.. and thank you!

Did any of the state finalists qualify to nationals aside from Tina?

Sagar Vijay - Bellarmine
Ryan Kuo - Leland

are also going to nats

[ctrig]

Heyy, just wondering. What did you think of it?

Hm, I can't remember too much from it because you guys went right before we did and I was just nervous, heh. From what I remember, I thought it was a pretty decent act to follow up- esp. from two girls (don't mean to sound sexist). The script definitely fit you two, haha. I don't think that round had any bad duos, to be honest. We did poorly in that round, we received a 5, making our score overall 3 1 5, barely scraping semis break.

[Safeena]

Well, I guess that it's a matter of value.
I like watching Impromptus when it's clear that a lot of spontaneous things are being used--from the very beginning/intro to the examples to the end. If anything is re-used, it's pretty obvious--there's a certain clumsiness involved with bringing in an example with a tenuous universal connection to fit a certain topic. I like the idea of watching someone growing out from their prompt, not bringing in things from an "example bank" to gussy it up.
But that's just a personal thing. If I remember your name correctly, congrats.

I know what you mean, I do. There really are just examples that pop into your head though that fit into multiple themes- for example, I had seen 3 of the jokes you heard in that final round before, lol. But I agree that the best speeches are those in which the speaker grows into their passion and their topic, and I try to do that, even if maybe it appears otherwise :)

And thank you : ) Great memory, since my name is definitely not the easiest to remember ;)

[lord of dementors!]

I just remembered this... at state, was anyone in the cafeteria ( I think on Saturday night), when this one dude broke out into song and dance, and was singing at, like, the top of his lungs and like running around doing this big performance thing? I think he was singing "Everything's Coming up Roses" from "Gypsy"... I have no idea who he was, but it was absolutely hilarious (and awesome). One of the highlights of my weekend... :D

[Insolence]

I just remembered this... at state, was anyone in the cafeteria ( I think on Saturday night), when this one dude broke out into song and dance, and was singing at, like, the top of his lungs and like running around doing this big performance thing? I think he was singing "Everything's Coming up Roses" from "Gypsy"... I have no idea who he was, but it was absolutely hilarious (and awesome). One of the highlights of my weekend... :D

Oh my god, yes. He's in my league. And he does that at EVERY SINGLE AWARDS CEREMONY.

[lord of dementors!]

Oh my god, yes. He's in my league. And he does that at EVERY SINGLE AWARDS CEREMONY.
Seriously? That's hilarious! He wasn't embarrassed or anything... I commend him for that.:D

[Brutus Maximus]

http://www.forensicsonline.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7561

Would just like to inform people about next years Individual Events TOC. :)

[brandonbatham]

Seriously? That's hilarious! He wasn't embarrassed or anything... I commend him for that.:D
Oh god....Garrett...I only saw him do that at IE State Quals this year...

[Party Animal]

HI finals were certainly entertaining...interestingly enough, the results came out almost exactly how I/everyone-I-talked-with predicted! The top two, Ryan Vasquez and Evan Bartz definitely deserved their spots at the top too, they were simply a clear level above the rest...

[theaterguyman]

HI finals were certainly entertaining...interestingly enough, the results came out almost exactly how I/everyone-I-talked-with predicted! The top two, Ryan Vasquez and Evan Bartz definitely deserved their spots at the top too, they were simply a clear level above the rest...

Couldn't agree with you more.

[Hollywood12]

Couldn't agree with you more.

sez the guy from Bellarmine.......

[IainGabriel]

Sorry to bother you all, but is there any footage of the final round of HI?

[Party Animal]

Sorry to bother you all, but is there any footage of the final round of HI?

Nope. Not unless someone snuck in a video while it was going on, but that's doubtful.

[IainGabriel]

That's a shame. :(

Are you one of those two finalists/a good friend of either one? I've heard very good things about their pieces, in particular Vasquez's Ant Farm, so I hope they make Nat Finals and so are taped.

[mr. barbell]

I'm good friends with both Vasquez and Bartz.
I am willing to bet that Vasquez will make it to the final round. I'm positive you will see the nat finals tape of his piece. Bartz, who placed 2nd, is very talented two and we might very well see both of them on the nationals stage.

[sexymofo69]

i thought that zach rice was amazing..."coming attractions" has never been done better