Re: Yamaha Freestyle Performance Contest

I'm not publicly endorsing any one contestant as each is uniquely talented , but I've been following the results of the voting each day and notice that the 'percentage totals' change, sometimes greatly, each day, and by the hour as well, so I'm curious just how they're tabulated. I'm also aware that everybody qualified to vote (USA residents who register on Yamaha Easy Pass) can vote up to 5 times daily.

Are the percentages displayed 'up to the minute' totals of each 24 hour period (12am-11:59pm), or the up to the minute cumulative total of the entire 7 day round (currently semi final)?

Because the percentages are swinging so wildly between all contestants with one contestant substantially ahead in the lead one minute and then trailing behind all the others a few hours later, it appears the winner may be more determined on how many friends and people contestants can garner to vote for them, than the merits of the actual performance.

I also notice that semi final contestant (finalist 9), Steven Gail, never competed in the 'quarter-final round' along with the other 7 quarter final contestants, but only appeared later to compete & beat out one contestant only, of who didn't make it to this semi-final round.

Can someone help clear up my confusion. Thanks.

Maybe only 9 people entered the contest or only 9 finalists were chosen by Yamaha.

The swinging percentages isn't that surprising when anyone can vote 5 times. It seems like whoever has more family and friends can win.

I think the idea of the contest is excellent, and I commend Yamaha. I was planning on entering, and I was very excited about it - until life threw me some unexpected boomerangs.

The implementation might need some improvement if they have it again in the future which I hope they do.

hard to believe only 9pp entered the contest...Hmmmmm?

Whether only 9 people or 100 people entered is insignificant here. The fact is that the contest rules state that 8 quarter finalists would be initially picked by Yamaha's judges and that the 'four best' from these 8 people would be voted on by the public and the 4 top vote getter's would then proceed to the semi-finalist round. What makes NO SENSE is that only after the quarter final voting was over, Yamaha then added a 'brand new' contestant (Steven Gail) to compete in the current semi-final round, yet he never had to compete with the original 8 quarter finalists. I have no personal stake or interest in who wins as I didn't even enter the contest, but what's the explanation for that?

After the quarter final round, one of the contestants was removed due to a technicality. They replaced #2 with #9 (the next guy in line) and did another quarter round runoff with #7 vs #9. #9 won that week and moved on to compete in the current round vs #1. The whole contest was moved back by a week.

It is just a popularity contest at this point... and how connected are you on the internet. Friends on facebook... articles written in music blogs... links posted on different sites to get as many votes as you can. It's a great way for Yamaha to get more e-mails for marketing.

Johnathan, I couldn't help but notice that you have the VP-770 in your KB collection. I've been trying for a while now to extol it's virtues but without much success . I upgraded from it's predecessor, the VP-550, which I also loved. I didn't see an arranger listed among your instruments but was curious as to how you utilize the VP-770 in your act (or in the studio). Love the way it is able to split up and perfectly sync up parts of a .WAV or MP3 file. A very useful feature if you use audio files in your performances. Thanks.

chas

Which one was contestant # 2? What song did he play, and what exactly was the 'technicality' that brought on his removal, and only "after" the 8 contestant Quarter Final Round voting was completed?

I had hoped the contest would be a lot more than simply a popularity contest, and that the winner would be based on the actual merit of their performance. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't enter the contest now. Congratulations in advance to the contestant who has the most internet connected friends. Jonathan, almost forgot, welcome to Synthzone.

This contest seems a bit fishy?.....I could be wrong ....
Just Sayin'

yup ... sounds just as fishy as that "other" so called talent show on TV. Just sayin' ...

Yea your just mad that your too old to be on AI..!!!
Just sayin' ...

Breakfast soon