LJ Idol Presents:

When I started the Exhibits, I knew that they were going to be something different from a standard Idol season. In the words of Big Brother, I figured that I would be "expecting the unexpected". That was true in Exhibit A where someone amazing showed up from Idol's past and literally just "did her own thing".

With Exhibit B, knowing the twists and turns that I was throwing at people - I wasn't sure how things were going to go. But I knew that I could count on not being able to predict it! True enough, that certainly was the case.

There are two "Idol firsts" in this finale.

We have a tie... which ISN'T the first time that it's happened. (See: Season 2) But what is a first is that there is no run-off, I declared that I would honor the voters. If THEY decided that they wanted two winners, that is what would happen.

There were moments when I wondered if it was going to occur... or if someone would pull a trigger in the last few minutes and put one of them over the top. It almost happened. But then the counter-balance came and evened everything back up again!

The Exhibits were set up as a fundraiser for my engagement. I can't think of a more perfect ending to something about two people coming together than to have two winners!!

Congratulations to lrig_rorrim and the_lettersea: Winners of LJ IDOL: EXHIBIT B!!

Which, yes, that's the second "first"... a guy has "broken the glass ceiling" of Idol for the very first time!!!

Two amazing writers, and one amazing ending to the mini-season!!

Pop the corks and get out there on the dance floor to celebrate!

Dreslinski out.

Good morning Idol!

I had a terrific birthday, thanks for all of the messages that I received! (and those who took advantage of the "subtle use of links", definitely thank you! :D)

We do have a matter of a finale to handle though: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/699150.html So it's no rest until tomorrow night! There was a question asked, and answered over there though that I think a lot of people might be interested in. I know that I was intrigued by my own answer!


We are going to see how this season is going to end: Will it be Breaking Bad or the Sopranos???


How was YOUR version of my birthday weekend? I know it couldn't have been *as* fun... but hopefully it was still decent.

A few words from clauderainsrm:

I haven’t been shy about my back and forth feelings about Exhibit B. But after reading these two entries, I’ve got to say that it’s ending on one gigantic high note.



If I could make them both the winners, I could. But alas, that power is in the hands of the voters, who will ultimately make that decision!



Since they finished early, I will be putting the poll up early as well! Given the birthday festivities, I wasn’t sure when a good time would be to close the poll, so I mapped out that it would be open longer than usual. After reading these entries, I’m glad for that - that gives people more time to follow the various links that each of them have included in their finale intersection!



This time it’s for real - one person will be eliminated, and one will be named the WINNER OF EXHIBIT B!



The poll will close Tuesday, October 1st at 8pm EDT.



Good luck to both of you!

[Poll #1935988]

If you’re like me, you are probably thinking “Who put that there?” and “is it going to explode?”

The answer to the second question is, “Of course it will”. Which is why it doesn’t matter what the first answer is, that’s a matter for the police.

But if you’re not like me – and I urge you not to be – then you are probably excited that the FINALE of LJ IDOL EXHIBIT B is taking place right now! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/698394.html

You may have even read the goodbye to the 3rd place finisher: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/698199.html

Or maybe like agirlnamedluna, cheshire23 and
oxymoron67

you are busy trying to put together your list of what you would like from the Community Chest. I know I would be! There’s some good stuff in there!

Heck, maybe you are out shopping for my Birthday! In which case, don’t let me keep you…

When you get near the end of things, you start trying to figure out what you are going to say about someone when they leave. Because sooner or later, everyone does. One of them leaves with a title and an icon, but they still end up leaving.

So you think back on their journey to get to (insert place here) and what you know about them or at least have pieced together from your interactions and cobbled together a few words that you hope manage to get at least some general feeling across. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss… and sometimes you just start babbling in hopes that the words will come out.

kathrynrose finished 3rd place in LJ Idol: Exhibit B.

If you had told me during Season 8 that I would be saying that, I would have laughed.

If you had told me that during her very first season in Idol, I would have probably had to call security to get them to escort you to somewhere that you weren’t a danger to yourself and others.

Why? it wasn’t because she was a bad writer. FAR from it. She has always been quite talented.

But with that talent has always come this edge. Maybe it was insecurity, or a “chip on her shoulder”, maybe it was just a snark that couldn’t be repressed by mortal means - I would sit and watch, season after season, her gain ground and then at some point prove to be her own worst enemy. There was always this point when the ‘screw ‘em” switch would be thrown and the clock would start ticking on what round she would be leaving.

If I were to cast a “Heroes vs Villains” season of Idol, I wouldn’t have even hesitated to put her on the “Villains” tribe! Of course this is Idol, so it probably would have to be “Villains vs Bigger Villains”. :D

If I had done that, there’s a good chance that she would have taken that as a compliment.

Every season is filled with ‘stories” and one that I have been following with a great deal of interest is her emergence into the spotlight. Which is somewhere that she’s never truly been before. She came in as the helpful veteran, and I saw something that I had never witnessed before, and never thought that I would ever witness: I saw people LOVE her. Not “yeah, I like kathrynrose” but actually come out in public and everything to express how much they adored her. She seemed to gain confidence, not only as person but also in her writing… her writing has always been good, but she really hit her stride this time around.

Through ⅔ of the season I would say that her “social game” is one of the best that Idol has ever seen. (Although t think the stress was letting through a lot more snark there at the end!) More important than that though - I also think that she ranks up there with the “most improved writing” from season to season that Idol has seen as well. The support bred confidence and confidence allowed her to finally have some faith in her own writing “voice”.

Which was awesome to witness. Thank you for sharing that journey with all of us. I can’t wait to see what you do next!!

Time is running short, and I can already hear the vans arriving to get into this place to scrub it down during the off season.

I hope they brought a lot of cleaning solution. Some of these stains aren’t going to come out easily.

There is still a poll though -
http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/697433.html

and then one more that will determine who the winner will be!!

So, let’s start the final countdown celebration right now: What was your favorite parts of the Exhibits (A and B)?

Everyone on Livejournal is good. It’s doesn’t matter if you joined back when you had to get an invite from someone to sign up or signed up on a whim last week to post your stuff on that fandom community your friend was telling you about.

You are good people.

If you come over from Dreamwidth – well, chances are you used to be on Livejournal and are over there for legitimate personal reasons. So you are still pretty good.

A blogger using Open Access – you’re decent. But really, shouldn’t you have a Livejournal?

Are you coming in from Facebook or Twitter??? Why? You can’t be up to any good, why would someone from those sites actually come over to see anything on Livejournal, unless it was for nefarious purposes?

I’ll admit, I’ve had moments like that (above). Most people have. I think it comes from the inferiority complex LJ (as a culture and community) has developed toward other social media. Or perhaps the walls that people put up in their own life, keeping their LJ apart from all other social media. Walls that the rest of the world seems determined to eliminate regardless of what people think about it.

It’s been a blip in the past. But as time goes on, the presence is getting larger. Of the top 5, only ONE contestant didn’t end up benefiting from voters coming in from facebook. (and yes, they are still in the competition)

Other sites are still a blip. (There were 2 votes that came from Twitter and 1 Open Access vote as opposed to the 35 from facebook for our largest influx of any week in the history of Idol)

There are some ways to look at this – Oh, no, this is the end! Let’s hand the winner icon to the one person who didn’t use those/have people use them on their behalf! Or, these are people coming to Livejournal who might never have known about the site before, or who used to be here and are being seduced back! They are coming to support good writing – and isn’t that awesome! We should welcome these people with open arms.

If we are going to the latter though, there is a rule. It’s not a request. It’s a rule. It’s always been a rule, and it always will be a rule. Why? Because it makes sense. If you aren’t following this, you need to be…

Tell People to Read.

If you are just encouraging people to vote blindly, you aren’t doing anyone any favors. I’d like to assume that people know that they should be reading what they are actually voting for, and based on the names I’m seeing, I’m sure that they are. But there is always the chance of that not happening… after all, Idol has the prettiest clicky boxes on the Internet. Nowhere else really compares to how compelling they are, and how fun it is to watch them for hours on end. Let’s face it – isn’t “meta” just clicky box porn?

There is some great writing happening here in Idol – and being able to reach people out there in the Great Social Media Beyond and bringing them back to the fold, and exposing them to what our writers are offering, that’s amazing stuff! Thank you to anyone who is doing it. But make sure to include a line or three about checking out the entries. Not just the one, but all of them – especially since there are three people left, that’s really not going to be difficult! Lead them to the water, and we get our next generation of Idol writers for Season 9! People who experience what is going on here *want* to be a part of it. People who just see it as a clicky box… many of them don’t.

As I said, based on *who* is coming to vote, I don’t think the “not reading” is a real problem. But there is a perception problem involved and that has a habit of festering. So, let’s be proactive about that – OK?

We have three contestants, who are adding their entries as we speak: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/696365.html Let’s make these last few moments together awesome!!!

How do you want Exhibit B to be remembered?

That is the power that is in your hands, right now.

It’s the power that has been in your hands the entire time. But not everyone stops to think about that on a regular basis.

Will it be looked on as welcoming? As divisive? Will the positivity win out or the negativity?

You are the best, and the worst ambassadors LJ Idol has. You go out into the world and either make it look good, or look bad by what you do and what you say.

In the end, more people should be walking away with that feeling you get when you have just walked off a rollercoaster and are just so overwhelmed with emotions… hopefully more people feel the rush of “I want to do that again!!” than are vomiting into the bushes.

One comforting thing is that, regardless of the atmosphere at the end, that I don’t have to worry about who is going to win. I’ve fortunate that the writers have all been of such quality that I knew that no one mattered who ended up in the winner’s circle, that it was going to be someone extremely talented.

The results are up from last night: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/696245.html
As if the new topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/696365.html

My hope is that Exhibit B will finish out with the same sort of energy that Exhibit A did… with a rush of “I can’t wait until we can do that again!”

It came down to the wire. Heck, it almost came down to an email! But in the end, it was the wire that did them in…

We lose the only previous Finalist still in the competition - agirlnamedluna, who finished 3rd in her very first attempt at Idol, back in Season 3, after giving birth to the very first Idol Baby She finishes 4th today, with a daughter technically old enough to be an Idol contestant!! She still manages to push getting her entries in to the very last minute though. So, she's definitely consistent! ;)

We are also losing porn_this_way, who showed up in Season 8 to be a thorn in the side of everyone and cause chaos, and ended up becoming a beloved and respected contestant who is just as addicted as everyone else!

Two very different people, who are both awesome at what they do.

Thank you to both of you for coming out this mini-season and for your love of Idol. Believe me, that’s always appreciated.

Please remember to go over to the Community Chest and send me your list of the 5 things you want! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/676576.html

Before I get to anything else, I just want to take a moment to thank the people “out there” who took advantage of the Tip Jar and Amazon link posting yesterday http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/695422.html. I’m always a little uneasy about posting that kind of thing – even though I’ve been told time and time again that I *shouldn’t be* - and once again I’m humbled by the show of support. You are awesome! Thank you.

I’m also appreciative of the support the Top 5 have been receiving! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/695255.html If you haven’t had the chance to read the entries yet, and vote for your favorites, you really should do that. Some great stuff out there.

While you are busy supporting people/things, you should definitely check out our own Destiny’s reviews for Children’s and YA books. If you like what you see, share it around! http://destinydawnlong.wordpress.com/ Idolers helping Idolers realize their dreams and unlock their potential. There’s definitely something to that.

***
Since the last couple of days have been successful with AMAs (well, it turned into more of just a “ask anyone anything” AAA) I’ll go ahead and post some starter questions to get this party started:

1. What is your favorite childhood memory?
2. Who do you know who *hasn’t* played Idol before, but SHOULD? What lengths are you going to go to get them in Season 9?
3. If the contestants from Exhibit B were trapped in a room with no way out, and people were getting hungry, who would turn to cannibalism first? Who would be eaten first?
4. Who is the most influential person in your life?
5. Are you watching the premiere episode of Survivor: Blood vs Water tonight? Are you watching the finale of Big Brother?