We've had to choose
Time after time
We've done our picks
And submitted on time.
And pick mistakes
Made only a few
We've had our share of scares that we've had to face
But we've come through.
And we need just go on and on and on and on
We are the finalists, my friends
And we had to bring it till the end
We. are. the final-ists
We. are. the final-ists
No time for snoozers
Cause we are the finalists of...
...The World Series of Pop Culture!
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And here we go! The three remaining. You have the gauntlet before you. The scoring is as follows, win the round with a judge and get a point. Each pick will have four judges voting. There are 10 picks you will have to make this round. That is 40 points up for grabs. The one with the most 1st Place votes out of the 40 eligible votes will take home our trophy. In the event of a tie, we will resort to overall rankings among the four judges.
So what is in store in this, out SECOND edition of World Series of Pop Culture?
CHOICE 1
SPIRIT OF COMPETITIONThis theme is a restricted theme in which Sports may NOT be picked.To begin our finale, why not capture the spirit of competition? Here, we are looking for a selection that features competition of any kind, EXCEPT in a non-sports format. Plenty of unique opportunities here. We are looking for competition in a non-sports format.
CHOICE 2
HAVE I MET YOU SOMEWHERE BEFORE?This theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture.Next, it's an opportunity to recognize your fellow competitors. In fact, the full list of contestants is in the original post along with the five judges and your host. Finalists, in this category, you must make a selection that is in some way related to the names of any one of the contestants that begun this game, any of the five judges, or your host. You do not have to make the choice so literal either. For instance, we had a contestant that was named Too Many Smurfs. You don't have to choose a clip from Smurfs. Perhaps you find a random Samuel L Jackson moment where he's dropping the popular word of profanity for which he's most known. Well, you could go so far as to have a clip of the TBS network version of that moment, and maybe he exclaims he wants to "kill some mother smurfers." That's good enough, it counts. Again, folks, you are allowed a very vague connection to the name; the judges are instructed to judge by the quality of your choice and not if they agree whether or not you were not staying true to the theme of the pick. I'll make that judgment myself and let you know if you succeeded or failed in that regard. The point is to get you all to think and dig deep into the well.
CHOICE 3
GETTING TO KNOW YOUThis theme is specific to the Pop Culture medium of TELEVISION TALK.After confirming the recognition of your fellow competitors, it's always nice to get better acquainted with one another. Finalists, you are to choose a clip from a television segment that features a talk show host doing an interview with a guest. Now, we have had ONE pick thus far in the game that does this. Only one. We have had a couple of other talk show hosts appear in other categories. For this round, since the focus is on the interviewee most times, you are allowed to re-use any talk show host that may have appeared already thus far in the game.
CHOICE 4
A SIGN OF THINGS TO COMEThis theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture.As with any story, there is usually a reference that will inevitably have a bearing on what happens later on. So, finalists, make a selection here in which a sign--a physical sign--is used in the scene. Street signs, arrows, signs with words, etc. are all allowed. We are NOT looking for metaphorical signs here like a rainbow in the sky, a light bulb going off above someone's head, or someone doing sign language.
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In the original post, there is a link to all of the rounds thus far in the game. We all know there has been a round where you were just dying to submit a second pick. Each person was to pick a theme that we've used thus far in the game that they wanted to see make a comeback in the finale.------------------------------------
CHOICE 5
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL (PART 2)This theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture, but it must feature the Pop Culture medium of DANCE in some form.This choice comes courtesy of Mr. B Natural. Contestants, your task is to make a selection that features a DANCE sequence/number of your choosing. You MAY have additional parts to your selection, but the focal point of your selection should be dance. Context can, and probably should, be factored in to an extent, but try to make the dance quality enough to operate on its own merits as well. You may select from any pop culture medium you choose, but dance must be the feature. I feel safe in saying all five judges are not all "recital" types of people or season pass holders at The Met, so I would be remiss if I did not back up my "the dance should earn merits of its own" statement without saying that that is totally up for judge's interpretation as to what "merit-worthy dance" is. This can include ballet, folk, contemporary, ballroom, etc. I cannot prescribe how judges will interpret your choices. Their only instructions will be what you see written here. Take a stab at it, show off this aspect of your Pop Culture knapsack of tricks, and let's kick off Stage Two ... on the right foot.
CHOICE 6
DOUBLE DIP 2: NO TRIPLE SCOOPSThis theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture.Finalists, the rules here are along the same lines as our Double Dip rounds. However, we are asking you take an extra dip and make a selection from the same source as something already chosen thus far in the game with NO triple scoops allowed. In other words, SNL has been used twice, so you can't triple scoop it with another pick here. It must be a selection from a source that has only been used once thus far in the game. As such, all previous Double Dip picks are off the table.
CHOICE 7
LISTEN UP: PART 2 (PART 2)This theme is a MIXED MEDIA requirement and must feature an example from the Pop Culture medium of MUSIC.Contestants, courtesy of fw91, we have a request to throw back to this theme from earlier in the game. This round requires you to select a moment from any medium of pop culture in which a musical selection with words/lyrics is playing in the background (or prominently featured in the audio foreground) in order to help make the moment. Like last time, no music videos allowed. This is simply a moment captured in pop culture in which music WITH words plays a key role in helping establish that moment. There CAN be dialogue in the actual clip and several other things going on, just make sure the music is there at some point as well. You are free to choose from any pop culture medium you want. This is mixed media, so we want the musical selection to be part of another pop culture medium and not just the music industry, music video, or a music awards show live performance or what have you. We do not want fan-edited videos. We want the moment to appear as it was featured in the pop culture moment you select. The music must be an addition to the scene and not performed by the actual featured people in the scene. So, for example, the cast of The Office sitting around a campfire and singing a song would NOT be allowed.
CHOICE 8
OPEN CHOICEThis theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture.Sometimes, the hardest choice is the one with the least restriction. You may choose anything you want here, just as long as it's not from a source or celebrity we've already seen before. Please keep this selection to under 7 minutes.
CHOICE 9
ULTIMATE BETRAYALThis theme is open to any medium of Pop Culture.You had the sign earlier that this was going to happen. But we still got ya! Inspired from the early portions of the game where contestants made suggestions that could later come into play in the game, this theme requires to make a selection that features a betrayal in any form.
CHOICE 10
...AND FINALLY (PART 2)This is an OPEN theme that can come from any Pop Culture medium.This one comes from MGH. There are moments when something happens that makes you want to stand up and cheer, shed a tear, or smile to yourself: maybe a lovable loser finally getting a win, or two people who should be together finally realizing it. For this round, you may use any of your mediums of Pop Culture and select a moment that has been long overdue or was wanted for a very long time or one that was expected ... and finally, it happened.