Post by DianeEPost by SavoyBGPost by DianeEPost by Bill BIn the preliminary round. That's the purpose of the round.
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I can't see anything wrong with your idea; now I'm waiting for Bruce to
explain what's wrong with it.
Don't hold your breath!
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What's wrong with his idea? Why bother ranking 4 if the whole point is
to eliminate 1? Just vote for the one you'd like to eliminate. (As he
said, only in the prelims.)
A - The ties. There will be lots of them. Suppose there are 12 voters and all 4 records get 3 votes each as the worst record? Suppose 3 records get 4 votes each as the worst record? Suppose 2 records get 6 votes each as the worst record. None of those ties can be broken by a head to head contest as Bill proposed. And I don't want to have to break ties with another vote.
B - We eliminate one from each group plus the lowest scoring 3rd place record from any of the groups. How does that work with Bill's proposal. What happens when 5 third place records all tie with 3 votes each as the worst record in their group. Another revote with just those 5, and then another tie when 4 of them get 3 votes each as the new worst record?
C - The song with the most last place votes is not always the worst song. For instance, in Group 10 of April's prelims "Starlight Starbright" by Luther Bond and the Emeralds finished last with 24 point but it only had 3 last place votes. "All My Love Belongs To You" by the Hearts finished 3rd with 25 points, but it had 6 last place votes, but was listed first or second on the other 6 ballots. Same thing in Group 5 where "Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train" by Mabel Scott had the lowest point total with 24 but "Never Knew" by the Midnighters had the most last place votes with 5.
That's why we rank them 1 through 4 rather than just voting for the best or worst song, because it's a far more accurate way of assessing the group's overall rating of each record.
I see nothing wrong with favorites being established in the Prelims, although that has not been what has happened in the past tournaments. The record that won the April Tournament (Rich Woman) only finished second in its prelim, losing by 3 points to a record (Slow Down) that did not even end up making the finals.
The rules are fine the way they are.