Topic: Blues Masters Finalists - Did My Entry Even Get Reviewed?
I think my Blues Masters entry might not have been considered due to a technical glitch.
Back in late March, I sent Yoov.io an email expressing a concern I had about my contest entry. My concern stemmed from the fact that while my contest entry on youtube was generating many views, likes, and positive reviews and comments, my yoovio contest page was not reflecting that response at all.
I explained that I noticed the direct link I provided to my yoov.io channel in the description box of my youtube video, when clicked, would take a user to the Blues Masters contest HOMEPAGE and NOT to my yoov.io channel. I wasn't aware of this until someone made a comment on my youtube page saying the link did not work.
Apparently, the fact that I used a "period" at the end of my contestant name ("Damian S.") did something weird to my hyperlink. When clicked, it would not allow me, or anyone else for that matter, to link from my youtube page to my yoovio channel (Please try it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ub9117NBME).
I tried deleting that period after the "S" and it still would not make the hyperlink work. I even tried other contestants hyperlinks pasted directly from their Yoov.io page in their youtube description boxes - theirs worked, mine did not. That's when emailed Yoovio immediately using the contact form on the Blues Master website because I was worried that this was handicapping me in the competition. I never received a response.
Yesterday, I saw the results for the 10 finalists (#11 is mine). And after taking a look at each of their respective views, likes, and dislikes on youtube, I decided out of curiosity to compare it to my own.
1. Jack Fosset 4,290 views 18 Likes 1 Dislike
2. Mario V. Sen 1,134 views 9 likes 0 Dislikes
3. Matt Hines 1,473 views 29 Likes 0 Dislikes
4. Brandon Sollins 795 views 9 Likes 1 Dislike
5. Golan Eini 3,558 views 97 Likes 0 Dislikes
6. Tony Stramella 4,184 views 13 Likes 0 Dislikes
7. Steve Balkun 967 views 7 Likes 1 Dislike
8. Bill "Tracer" Tracy 2,227 views 21 Likes 0 Dislikes
9. Claudio Tristano 1,899 views 31 Likes 0 Dislikes
10. Eric Happe 1,257 views 14 Likes 0 Dislikes
11. Damian S. 3,779 views 147 Likes 0 Dislikes
Now, I'm not going to criticize anyone here. There are some great players in the finals, and they clearly did something right.
But what I'm really perplexed by is the selection process, criteria and how those "points" are tabulated on a contestant's yoov.io channel.
Out of the 10 finalists chosen, I have the 3rd highest view total and I have the most likes by far. All of my views and likes were generated organically and honestly. Per the contest rules, I repeatedly spread the word about sharing my video through Facebook, my personal gmail account, my youtube channel which has over 3,500 subscribers. I could not have generated the aforementioned youtube response without doing that legwork.
However, my Yoovio contestant page has only "50 points." There is clearly a disconnect there.
Because of the disparity between my youtube page and the yoovio page, I feel like my entry might not have been considered because of the hyperlink glitch. Did this prevent people from sharing my video? People clearly could not get to my yoov.io channel through no fault of my own. The numbers just don't add up or make any sense to me.
I do understand that "judging" is required for a contestant to get into the top 10. If in fact my entry was judged and reviewed, but it did not pass muster, I could accept that. However, if my entry was not even judged because of a technical error (which I notified them of and tried in earnest to fix) because I didn't have enough "Points" or whatever to get judged, that would be really unfortunate.
Anyway, I truly loved this contest and I was excited to participate in it. I also met some really cool people along the way.
A sincere congratulations to the 10 finalists and best of luck in L.A.!
At least you let people know how you did the scoring!