Aha. Sorry, I have to disagree with you a bit... there were only 3 acts performing Dir en Grey, and us three were the only ones who did jrock at all. (I think it'll be a while before anyone runs out of different songs of theirs to sing; they've been around almost 10 years and are still making music.) I know "only three" doesn't sound like a lot when there weren't a lot of people in the contest--I'm used to Sakura Con, where there are usually 3 jrock acts, but 30 contestants in the conest.
Oh, believe me... I know about the question of 3 songs being "a lot" or "not a lot." Whereas you are a Jrock advocate, I started becoming a filk advocate two years ago. We had three filk entries in 2004, and that alone made me quite happy.
3 entries is "a lot of Dir En Grey" because it means that 100% of the Jrock seen in the Hybrid... was Dir En Grey. I'm not a Jrock fan, but I'm quite open to it. I even LIKE some Dir En Grey, as I realized when a carpooler played me one of their albums on the way home from Kumori Con last year. Just not the songs that are entirely bloody screaming (which tend to be the only ones that are ever performed at karaoke... >.>; )
There was a time when jrock wasn't allowed at Sakura Con's contest. I don't think it's fair to say that people shouldn't sing a certain genre or band--certain songs, perhaps, but just because it seems "overdone" doesn't mean it should be axed... because I certainly don't think it's overdone. (Not trying to be agressive here, so pardon if I'm coming across that way. ^^; )
Again, please don't misread. I said I'd enjoy a wider variety of Jrock, and definitely not
less Jrock.
I intentionally made sure Jrock was a valid entry in 2004 after complaints of Sakura Con's rules that year. I think Sakura Con learned from their own mistakes, too. In fact, my rules were so inclusive of music sung in Japanese that somebody entered with a rendition of the official Japanese recording of A Whole New World. o_o; (I sensed Kingdom Hearts undertones...)
I honestly wasn't paying attention to how many male/female participants there were, so you could be right about more or less competition that way.
I only attended Hybrid, and I only saw half of the acts, due to some time conflicts, but my friend Derrick did comment that Idol had only 3 male performers out of 12.
In general, gender-based categories in singing tend to be a disadvantage for the girls. I've been in various choirs for years, and the simple fact is that young males are frequently led to believe that "singing is for girls," and by the time we reach adulthood, we male singers tend to either be less experienced or fewer in numbers.
On the other hand, how many people this year -- including you AND me -- costumed as and chose solos intended for the opposite gender?
Perhaps the significance of gender is becoming less pronounced.
I've been watching Nick perform since Sakura Con 2002, and I knew I'd have no chance competing against him, so I just felt a little hopeful that they'd be awarding the best in each gender, because then I wouldn't be in his bracket. My real issue with the awards system is that they announced the change right before handing out the awards, rather than at the begining of the contest--I did hear them discussing it before the contest started, so they could have at least let us know then. It just seemed improvised that they did it that way.
The blunt truth of the matter is that during a con, a lot of what we do is flying by the seat of our pants. That's why judging takes so long. It's a very subjective matter that the judges want to handle as fairly as possible.
The difficulty for judges and coordinators is to find the most realistic and fair answer to each dilemma at the earliest point possible. In some cases, trial and error and feedback are the only proven method. That's where you come in(...?)
I know it'd probably look tacky for two Diru performers to win, too, if the judges were in fact trying to avoid that (though I seriously doubt if I'd have even won best female, there were several strong competitors)--but let's say that the best male performance and best female performance were actually, hands down, Diru performers--would it be fair to cut one of them just to make other people happy?
Here's the thing:
Dir En Grey songs (and perhaps other Jrock) are very,
very different from any other type of song in the contest. They involve a large amount of screaming, and rely heavily on
extreme theatrical techniques.
...whereas I sang a ballad, and I hardly took ten steps during my song.
Really, it's VERY hard to compare the two. It's like comparing apples and... wombats. That's why most judges prefer to have some sort of genre or style categories.
And good, I didn't know if you guys had gotten any prizes. Either I wasn't paying attention, or I wasn't around when prizes were given out.
Big Chris was distracting you. It's his job.
I'm done now... sorry if any of this has been offensive in any way; I can understand the differences of oppinion here.
Not at all. Venting frustration is what this forum is for. You've been quite considerate.
