Oh...then I am really sorry...HUGE MISTAKE ON MY PART...but it does make my theory correct...a lot of girls win oratory...maybe because they are better writters or more physically attractive to judges. I don't know but in the past 3 years its been a girl who won OO. I personally don't mind, its just interesting...BUT yeah, me mixing up a gender for a person...oops. My fault.
I personally loved the H.I. from Harrisburg!
OK, so maybe no one really cares about Info, but I'm just going to put it out there: Info at state was super squirrely! I mean, Joy Dhar and Renata Wettermann not breaking?!? I've seen their pieces multiple times, including their rounds at state, and they performed with the personality and poise that they always do. Plus, you can look at their speechwire stats and see: both of them are amazing! I'm shocked that neither of them broke, since honestly I was expecting Joy to win. I guess it just goes to show how subjective speech is. But it's still sad....oh well. I guess Joy's got another year, and Renata has 2, so there's still a strong shot at a win.
Info rant done.
Overall, every single champion was awesome! How could they not be? I am happy with every champion. I feel the need to state (pun) that before I go into this rant...
Basically, I am greatly disappointed in the state series judging this year. I follow DI a lot (more than any other event) and, truthfully, that event was completely destroyed in sectionals this year. There were so many amazing, unique, and powerful performances this year. DI's that pushed the envelope and went against the norm of the event being "Here, listen to a sad story". I will always applaud a performer who goes out of there comfort zone and plays characters that are not themselves. The Geneseo sectional; this sectional is not greatly valued because of the very few state finalists they produce. They had one in DI. They could have had an upwards of three. The only two finalists (Lauren Hartog and Joel Collins) who did not qualify for state were two of the most awe inspiring performances I have ever seen. It pains me to see that sometimes judges can not see past what a DI "is supposed to be" and see the beauty in performances that stand out. THIS is the problem that hired judging can cause. Somtimes coaches are the best judges out there. There are plenty of other examples of thisEmma Gotter, Liz Salim) . I have no doubt though that Colleen would have been in state finals no matter what. However, the fight to make it that far should have been much harder.
...Rant over....
Well, its sad really...how can judges see a 1st place winner then another person in the room give them a 6...It just doesn't make sense. Even then, we have IHSA approved judges, but still judge it on subjective counts.
In the other forum, IHSA sectional shocks, people went 1 6 6 1 in prelims...
previous state finalist went 2 4 7 at finals...its just doesn't make sense. Hopefully, judging won't be as bad next year. The sad thing is though...if you got eliminated at sectionals for those subjective ideas...your going to see those next year, because its a sectionals with the same mentality...
I just find it to be intersesting really...during the season, judges look for something else...during regionals, sectionals, judges look for something 'different' so they rank down the best people who do a topic they disagree with...and at state, its those who can present the best...why...
It's no different than the regular season when someone goes 116. That six saw stuff that didn't work for them. As for a previous state finalist- it makes no difference if they were a previous state champion. They still have to perform and be judged on that performance rather than reputation.
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