Fandom Season Can't Come This Early Either! 2017 E!Online Top TV Couple Begins!
The three notifications that somehow formed some kind of a message for me when I woke up.
So it was that Tuesday morning that I opened my Twitter notifications, finding out that a couple of different shippers liked and retweeted my tweets related to #TopTVCouple, of which I thought it won't be going to happen until April just like last year. An Olicity shipper liked my tweet about how close the Oliver/Felicity vs. Claire/Jamie face-off were, followed by a Clexa/Malec shipper retweeting the tweet to my last article and a couple other shippers liked the same tweet.
Then hours later, a visit to SpoilerTV's Daily Discussion Thread, one of my go-to rituals, gave me an enlightenment which I reluctantly believe at first: "so eonline is doing their yearly best tv ship competition."
That means Top TV Couple, right?
(Image: Giphy)
And then what I could call as the "Fandom Season" (a season where fandom-centric online poll competitions take place) has finally started, as early as Critics' Choice Awards kicking the 2017 Awards Season, arguably.
WHAT DOES IT SAY ON THE TIN?
(Image: The CW, NBC, Freeform/E!Online)
"Valentine's Day is upon us, and that means it's time for the biggest battle of the year.
Of course, we're talking about our annual tournament to find TV's top couple, and not about any actual warring. It's all peace and love here, with emphasis on the love." (2017 E!Online TV's Top Couple Nomination post)
E!Online TV's Top Couple Competition, also known as Top TV Couple, is a online poll competition involving 64 television ships acknowledged by their respective fandoms. The voting process lasts 48 hours and uses tournament format each round, of which each match involves one ship competing against another. Anticipating Valentine's Day, the competition kicks off in February rather than April, which was their last year's running month. This year though, the first round begins with a single, 64-man royal rumble, which will be followed with the tournament-style elimination game format.
In World Fandom Championship's calendar, it is the fifth round overall and the first one in the polling competition calendar. It would usually run in conjunction to the similarly-formatted polling competition Zimbio TV Couples March Challenge (or in last year's case, after ZMM), but it seems that the host really wants to embrace Valentine's Day.
Nominations started on Monday, February 6 at 11 PM (Tuesday morning in my place, as I said earlier). Criteria to be fulfilled include the nominee belonging to a show currently on-the-air or ended in 2016 or 2017, and being a couple of some kind at some point on the air in 2016 or 2017, whether it's a kiss, a date, an admission of love, or similar. In short, the competition is open to all canon pairing on television.
Despite being on the E!Online site, we don't need to expect any of the Kardashian/Jenners to make it to the race.
THE ONES TO WATCH
Still qualified for this year's running, Clarke Griffin and Lexa are about to unleash their Clexakru Crusade once more. Can they make another one this year? (Image: leksaklarke.tumblr.com/)
Still qualify for this year's bracket despite Lexa's death last year, the pairing between Clarke Griffin and Lexa is set to win this competition the second time in a row. Taking last year's dominance in polling competition into account, the fandom still hungers for a victory as a means of revenge. The majority of the fandom still recalls the alleged "Bury Your Gays" trope done by the showrunner Jason Rothenberg, and at the same time accused him for queerbaiting despite the man himself denied any of them.
Previous top runners such as Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Stiles Stilinski/Lydia Martin, Jamie Fraser/Claire Fraser, Stefan Salvatore/Caroline Forbes, and Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak are also set to break down the lesbian pair's dominance, despite the circumstances. The Shadowhunters ship is set for its second dive to the finals this year, with Clary and Jace also returning from last year's race, while the Teen Wolf pairing wants to make their final years a worthwhile, knowing that the show is in its last season, and also accompanied by a new ship Melissa and Argent. Jamie and Claire, whose actors both won People's Choice Awards, is expected to reach at least the semifinal once more, especially with a good backing support from the fandom which saw themselves vying against Malec last year in an epic fight which saw them overtake each other for a couple of times. Last but not least, the two solid efforts of Steroline (the 2015 edition winner) and Olicity will have to find their way to reach the finals.
Pretty Little Liars on the other hand sends four ships like they did last year, this time with four different ships of different characters: Emily Fields and Allison DiLaurentis, Hanna Marin and Caleb Rivers, Aria Montgomery and Ezra Fitz, and Spencer Hastings and Toby Cavanaugh. Knowing that this is a fandom that has repeatedly won Teen Choice Awards a couple of times and being the show with a vast social media interaction, the four ships are the ones expected to go to the second round. With PLL reaching its series finale by this year, the ship fandoms need to step up their "A" game to succeed.
The fateful scene that successfully secured Root and Shaw's spot in this year's Top TV Couple. (Image: CBS/AfterEllen)
Thanks to Root and Shaw making out on season 4's episode "6,741" on Person of Interest and with a very passionate fandom, the ship has made it to this year's competition. Known for winning the 2015 running of the Zimbio competition, the pair is set for its first and probably last ever E!Online campaign, having the show itself concluded last year. With a good CV across Zimbio and SpoilerTV competitions for Root, Shaw, and both, there's no denying that they would make a worthy opponent against Clexa, perhaps replaying the final in the Zimbio competition they won.
The newer shows will also spice up the grid as well for this year's running. This is Us sends its three ships Rebecca/Jack, Randall/Beth, and Kate/Toby for its online competition debut, with Norwegian Teen Drama sensation Skam make it to the competition with Isak and Even. Supergirl sends Alex/Maggie and Kara/Mon-El for the campaign, as my gut has always expect, Gilmore Girls' Luke/Lorelai and Rory/Logan put the revived Netflix series to the maps, award favorites Stranger Things get Steve/Nancy and Mike/Eleven on board, and finally shows like Fresh Off The Boat, The Real O'Neals, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Lucifer, Black-ish, Eyewitness, and Good Behavior get represented as well.
128 characters, 64 ships, 20 fandoms, only one winner! It all has started!
(Image: PopKey)
In the end, you can join all the pairing madness, the first one of its kind this season, by voting in the Round 1 here! Voting will end in Friday 5 pm PT (that's probably 7-8 am in my place). Within ten minutes to each round's closing, I'll try capturing the final tallies on all matches just in case the host doesn't rank all of the competitors like last year!
Oh, and did I forgot to say "Unlimited voting with Captchas?"
~[R]