Judgement, in the entertainment sense
I'm mostly creating this post as a possible script to go off of for a future video blog.
I have judged several dance competitions now. I'd like to explain and also provide experience of what its like to judge.
I spoke with a fellow dancerfur about my excitement to compete in the Eurofurence dance competition and to my surprise they replied that they weren't signing up. He was so unhappy with the judge decisions in previous years that he didn't want to compete in it anymore. I was shocked. Not that judges were making poor decisions, but that as dancer would bow out just due to the ranking calls.
Judging is tough but someones got to do it. everyone wont agree the judge's calls and in my observations and opinion I definitely don't personally agree with the judge's calls. But we can't announce a winner without this panel of JUDGEMENT. What everyone, not just dancers, need to realize is that dance is not often a simple point system kind of sport. Especially furry dancing where all styles are allowed. Judging is usually based more on the entertainment aspect of our performance art.
This isn't the olympics, judges aren't looking for the foot to make a perfect arching motion or for your hits to meet a golden ratio angle. Like most talent shows on tv the judges make calls up to a certain point. But for the finals they usually push that aside and only offer commentary and hand over the decision making to an audience vote. This takes all the pressure off the judges. As a huge fan of Rupaul's drag race, I see the contrast oh so strongly. Rupaul (and with influence of the other producers) are solely responsible for making the calls for who leaves and stays. And the fans pick apart and debate every decision Ru makes till its picked apart and shredded to its core more than a hot pulled brisket sandwich served on a warm grilled ciabbata bun...
Oh sorry... I wrote this while hungry.
So to summarize that, we as judges have to make a decisive, AND QUICK, call on who we rank. Like real quick, the competition is a limited time slot and we want to squeeze in as many dancers as possible.
What influences the judges and what have I noticed? I'm going to go into this bit as a cautionary and advisory bit to any of you who may become a future judge. When I have a score sheet in front of me I usually try to write a quick note of if a little factor like this comes across.
Music: We don't like the same things. unfortunately/or fortunately what you dance to can affect how much the judge will be into your entire performance. If you go out there and the audio comes up with [PLAY SOME GAY SHIT] I'm getting up and cheering you from the start just cause I wanna dance too. But if you were to play Drake I'd stay still and frown and wait till its over. Honestly. But knowing that, I personally would not score lower for picking tracks not to my taste. I score based on how you made that song come to life. But pick something fun, a judge will certainly +1 just by pleasing their ears. CHOICES. [tatianna clip]
Fursuit: Theres different ways your actual costume plays into the judge's critiques. I've seen winners who I believe ranked solely because the judges liked their fursuit so much. I've seen competitors who even managed to get past prelims because their suit is so adorable. I completely disagree with this influence. As your fursuit would be an instrument that is created by someone else, it's quality and appearance should have no weight to the dancer's talent. What I do believe a judge should take into account is the suit's restrictions and how the dancer worked with that. Heavily padded suiters can't do all the same movements a partial suiter can. Long tails, big paws, these things can get in the way of footwork. Even large pointy ears would prevent a style such as whaacking.
Popularity/relationship: this one is hard to confirm but we know its a possible factor that affects a judge's decision. Many if not most judges that are picked are Dancerfurs since we know what its like to dance on stage in fursuit. We all talk with each other and hang outside of the events. Most of us are friends and that could play into how fairly we might judge each other depending on how close we are. There was even a bit of controversy when Dash judged me at FWA once. But he actually gave me the lowest score between the other judges because he knows I can do better. WHICH ALSO ISN'T FAIR DASH! How well known a dancer is can also ultimately go both ways. If they've done it for a long time they honestly are more likely to be held to a higher standard just because what they come up with may not surprise the judges as much as a newer face.
Turn number: This one I have confirmed to be a highly significant aspect of judgement. Especially because the judges don't realize it. As the event carries on the crowd and the judges get more hyped. Excited at Dance competitions tends to grow the further along things are. This means dancers who go last are far more likely to be ranked high. And as we get to the end we are making comparisons based only on our memory of who went before. With so much going on we can very easily forget just how well and early on act actually did compared to the 18th dance that just finished in front of you.
So what can we do to not get butt hurt over this?
Easy, Don't care so much.
Just be concerned if you did well or if you need to improve. Do not concern yourself over WHO you did better or WORSE than. (especially because those are your fellow dancers) Be concerned that you entertained everyone. hell, even if you lost your footpaw while voguing, at least it was memorable. Remember remember remember, this is for fun.
And if you got ranked in the top it means that one or more of those judges thought you were the best while the other judge(s) liked another just a little more as their personal favorite. No matter how many people come up to you saying you shouldve won or how many comments on youtube said it was rigged just smile knowing you did well, never think of it as anything negative or as if something deserved was handed to the wrong party.
We cartoon animals, we aint that serious.
So if we are through with putting value on the judge's rankings what do we need them for? For commentary and flow.
Yes, theres a lot of dumb things the judges say. We aren't professionals, we didn't study for this. We make up shit. Musicality aint a real word, it should be rhythm and lyrical play. The hardest part is coming up with something nice when the dancer basically bombed. We most certainly aren't here to bring down any performers and its rare for any judges to actually completely criticize a performer infront of the audience. A judge should always let the dancer know what they *sincerely liked about the routine. Any advice on what to improve on [key word IMPROVE][Fluke, I like how you shake your curl but I think you can improve on not always dancing to Bruno Mars] should only be included if it sticks out. Like, don't compliment on a dancer just because you have to be nice, then you may give them a false sense of praise. If its clear their routine was off, acknowledge so they know they can do better. Do a good job judges, because we're judging you so those words should count. The purpose of the judge is to be a feedback voice. And if you are saying things that the audience agrees with then that connects everyone together because it affirms their thoughts and the dancer hears what they need to hear.
Thats about all I have to say about being a Judge.
Dancers, don't get fixated on ranks. Judges give well constructed commentary.
Audience, don't get so caught up in all of it, we're not professionals.
BAM, TRI-FORCE of Good Vibes.