The 2010 American Idol #9 HTF TOP TEN CHALLENGE: All details here....

Welcome back to our HTF Top Ten Challenge Series! American Idol started on 01/12/10 and we are going to run another contest (with a DVD/Blu-Ray prize package to the winner!). This edition will follow the format of previous contests in most respects.

Here are the plans: The "Field of 12" will start competing on Tuesday March 16, 2010. Entries are now open and close on that date at 8pm EDT sharp.

As a courtesy to us (and so that we can start to see what type of response there is to this contest) we ask you to submit a PLACEHOLDER in this thread so we can take a rough count. Once you reach the point of actually submitting your entry you may edit your "placeholder" message to list your choices as per the guidelines. There is no obligation to enter even if you submit a placeholder and submitting one doesn't mean you have first pick, etc. All the normal rules will apply.

FYI: Here are the general rules, which are generally consistent with previous HTF TOP TEN CHALLENGES:
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The "Rules":

When the number of contestants is whittled down to 12 entries will officially open. At that time you will be asked to submit a list of your top ten entrants (out of a pool of 12 possibilities.) Entries will close when the "Final 12" start to perform (at 8pm EDT on Tuesday March 16, 2010). Only ONE entry per member.

• List your top ten in numerical order (1-10). Please use the names as listed on the roster below (when posted).
• Your list must be unique. No duplicate lists allowed. For duplicate lists, first submission gets that list.
• Once you submit a list, it is FINAL. No edited lists are allowed (unless your original list is invalid due to a mistake or a duplication.)
• Scoring is as follows: You are assigned 1 point for each position that your prediction is away from the final position of each contestant. For example, if you predict a contestant to come in 3rd and he or she comes in 7th you get 4 points. If that contestant comes in 12th you get 9 points. A 2nd place finish gets you 1 point. And so forth.
• Lowest total points wins (with a score of 0 points being the best possible score.)
• In the event of a tie the contest winner will be the entrant who was the fewest spots away from picking the winner. If it's still a tie, then we'll move down the list and determine who was closest to predicting the second spot, and so on, until the tie is eventually broken.
• Members of the HTF staff and their significant others are eligible to participate, but only for glory and not for the prize package. All other members of the HTF community in good standing may enter and compete for the prize.

Entries close at 8:00p.m. EDT on Tuesday March 16, 2010. No exceptions please.

Here are a couple of words of explanation regarding this particular contest and the rationale behind the setup.

• Since there will be 12 entrants still eligible on American Idol when entries open and close, and you are picking a top ten there will be some contestants that you will not be picking. This will not change the scoring as indicated above. You choose only ten contestants and some might not even make it to the top ten (which adds a bit more of a challenge to the contest.)
• American Idol, as many of these reality shows, is known for its unpredictability so it is quite possible that an ousted "survivor" might return. One season, two contestants were voted off the same night so instead of a "5th" and "6th" position we decided to assign two "5.5" positions for the purposes of scoring. That's why the rules clearly specify the "final" position of ouster for each contestant. It's not over until it's over, and who knows what twists this season will bring? And if there are unforeseen circumstances we will make a determination that will be fair to all entrants as much as possible. (Otherwise we will return your entry fee ).
• We all know that the descriptions provided by web sites are often misleading (sometimes intentionally I often suspect to make the show more intriguing) and that there is no substitute for actually seeing the contestants and listening to what comes out of their mouths. That's why I provide a bit of a preview period and the deadline won't be until we are down to the "final twelve". In other words, you get to see who the contestants are and have to select 10 out of 12 remaining. This also lets us see if there are some special situations that we must take into account before making our final choices.

There are probably other things that I haven't thought of but we can deal with them as the show progresses. The one thing that I ask of all entrants (other than making sure that their list is unique) is that you follow the following format when submitting your entry:

01. Contestant
02. Contestant
03. Contestant
04. Contestant
05. Contestant
06. Contestant
07. Contestant
08. Contestant
09. Contestant
10. Contestant

And please use the names as written from the list of "Final 12" as listed below. This will help me when I set up the spreadsheet to monitor the scoring.

Final 12 (in alphabetical order)
Aaron
Andrew
Casey
Crystal
Didi
Katie
Lacey
Lee
Michael
Paige
Siobhan
Tim

Final 24 List   (date eliminated indicated in red)

 

Remember that you are free to start submitting your unique list anytime you want. However, realize that once submitted, it's final (unless someone else submitted the same list chronologically before you.) And it just makes sense to wait until after we reach the Final 12 show since you will know who the final 12 are. If you jump the gun and submit a list with someone who's voted off earlier then you are stuck with that choice. It is to your advantage to wait until the final 12 are chosen.

Finally (to repeat), in order to get some idea of how many people are interested in participating in this contest I am asking you to insert a "place holder" in this thread for now as a courtesy. This is for tabulation purposes only and doesn't mean that you get to choose first. It's still "first list submitted" in the case of duplicate lists. Later on your "Placeholder Message" will be edited by you to list your selections in order.

Thank you, and let the games begin!

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That's it for now.
If interested, please add your "Placeholder" to indicate participation and to start the process. Please check back from time to time for additional details. You've got to be in it to win it!

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INFORMATION AS OF 05/26/10

HTF Participants and their FINAL scores
(Participants in Brown are not eligible for prizes due to their HTF affiliation)
WINNER in RED.

31.5 Aaron Silverman
30.0 RAF
27.5 NYSANDY
22.0 Carl Miller
22.0 Bryan X
32.5 SuzanneB
18.5 Dheiner

33.0 Joseph Bolus
23.5 Elizabeth S
31.5 John Swarce
18.0 Patrick Sun
17.0 Josh Dial
22.5 Adam_S
31.5 Yee-Ming
32.0 Larry*P
28.0 TonyD
12.5 Lucy Silverman (THE WINNER!!!)
22.0 Phil Taylor
29.0 DaveB

Spreadsheet (Excel) of all picks available HERE. 

Contestants Eliminated and in What Position
Aaron (Position 5)
Andrew (Position 8.5)
Casey (Position 3)
Crystal (Position 2)
Didi (Position 10)
Katie (Position 8.5)
Lacey (Position 12)
Lee THE WINNER!!!
Michael (Position 4)
Paige (Position 11)
Siobhan (Position 6)
Tim  (Position 7)




 

01. Siobhan
02. Crystal
03. Michael
04. Andrew
05. Didi
06. Casey
07. Lacey
08. Aaron
09. Katie
10. Tim

**SUBMITTED**
 

Welcome Aaron & Lucy!

Welcome back, all!  Adam G. is working on getting us a nice DVD prize bundle for this year's champ.  As always, it will be announced as we approach the final shows.  Does anyone have the estimated date for the finale?

Thanks.

Welcome back John and Greg!  Less than a month before you submit your lists and the contest gets under way.

Shortly after the "final 24" are determined tonight (2/17) I'll post an alphabetical list in the first message of this thread for reference purposes.  And, like last year, I'll update that list as we approach the "Final 12" on March 11,2010 at which point submissions will begin.

Stay tuned....

I've added the "tentative" top 24 list to the first message in this thread.  There seems to be a bit of a question whether there were any last minute changes and some sites have a slightly different listing.  As soon as the top 24 are officially sorted out I'll make any updates as needed FYI. To prevent any spoilers don't look at the list until you've watched the "Top 24" show(s).

I've updated the Top 24 list to reflect eliminations.

Welcome, all. (Very bold move Ron.  Of course, there are no DVDs involved for HTF staff so no biggie. ) 

About 12 days to go before entries "officially" open).

We're down to 16 contestants.  Remember to submit your lists after the show on 03/11/10.

Entries are now open.  Please submit them before the deadline - which is Tuesday March 16, 2010 at 8:00pm EDT.

Please adhere to the rules.

Thank you.