WINNER - America's Next Dancing Dressage Star!

[Mike_Matson]

The votes have been tallied and the winner of American’s Next Dancing Dressage Star contest is:

FIRST PLACE ($1,000)
Contestant 2 - Julie Madriguera riding Teodoro’s Hechizo (aka “King”). Julie and King won by a mere 13 votes over the second place contestant!

SECOND PLACE ($200)
Contestant 3 - Aime Morrill riding Clark’s Dusty Bailey.

THIRD PLACE ($100)
Contestant 4 - A. Whit Watkins and Margaret W. Fox riding Miciah and Cipriani.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the finalists! In January there will be an announcement for the 2009 “In Search of America’s Next Dancing Dressage Star”, so start thinking about YOUR entry!

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The finalists have been selected in my contest “In Search of America’s Next Dancing Dressage Star” (details can be found at: http://www.ultimatedressage.co…p?t=122049) and are now posted on YouTube.

It’s now time for the dressage community to vote! First place receives $1,000, second place $200, and third place $100. Vote only for your first place preference, either on the YouTube site or here. I will tally the first place votes for each contestant to determine the placings. Voting ends November 30, 2008. I will provide an updated voting tally each day.

Here are the links to the finalists and some details on each:

Contestant 1: Michelle Freels riding her 7 year old Dutch gelding Undercover at Third Level to the music “99 Luftballoons” and “Dreamer”. She scored a 72.292% on this test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtLbjYBiaJE

Contestant 2: Julie Madriguera riding Teodoro’s Hechizo, a 14 year old P.R.E. stallion, at Second Level. The music is “Road to Marrakesh”, “Desert Caravan”, and “Objection (Tango)”, She scored 79.176% on this test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afGCytYCbSE

Contestant 3: Aime Morrill riding Clarks Dusty Bailey, a 10 year old Shire mare, at First Level. The music is from the “Gettysburg” movie soundtrack. She scored 72.292% for this test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjQfGHGFKH4

Contestant 4: A. Whit Watkins and Margaret W. Fox, riding Miciah and Cipriani, in a Second Level Pas de Deux. The music is from the movies “The Rocketeer”, “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”, “Freddy’s Nightmares”, and “Wizards & Warriors”. They scored a 78.250% for this test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZ-KsFSMRc

[Mike_Matson]

The first vote has been cast, so we are officially underway!

[fiona]

where do we vote???

[Mike_Matson]

You can vote on the YouTube site or on this thread. On the YouTube site in the “Comments” section for the video you like, just say something like “This is my first place choice”. Or you can post the same thing on this thread. However, just post on one place or the other as I don’t double count votes.

[MelantheLLC]

I’ll vote here because I’m not registered on youtube.

Contestant 4: Great choreography and the most like “dancing.” Loved the way the pair worked together and the interesting patterns. Instead of just trying to do everything exactly the same, they play off one another.

[didgery]

Another vote for Contestant 4: Whit Watkins and Margaret W. Fox, riding Miciah and Cipriani.

[stanza]

I liked #4 the best. What breed of horses were they riding?

[snopbobil]

I’d vote for #4. 1, 2 & 3 were horrible.

[siegi_b]

the Pas de Deux definitely gets my vote! Great job, well executed, very harmonious!

[freestyle2music]

Sorry but…

Sorry but I thought this was about freestyle to music and not freestyle with music.

But #4 is my pick, not because of the music, but the harmony between the horses !

[Pippin]

4 … a fun pair to watch…

P~

[fiona]

another vote for #4.
Liked the harmony/togetherness between the pair - and loved the grey horse.

Think maybe people could just vote though, to say the others were horrible is unnecessary and untrue imho.

[Mike_Matson]

The Pas de Deux riders did not provide me their horse breeds. I will get the information from them and post it.

[Mike_Matson]

Thank you everyone so far for participating!

Musical freestyles can garner a wide range of opinions, but that’s why we have more than one contestant and voting for your favorite.

All of these rides were scored by judges at over 70%, but to keep comments in perspective, refer to my sig line below.

[Hazelnut]

@Mike Matson;3620107

The first vote has been cast, so we are officially underway!

Your job would be somewhat easier if you made a poll that closed on a certain date.

[Mike_Matson]

True, but I’m an ex-government employee, so doing it this way comes naturally.

And it does encourage comments.

[Mike_Matson]

Vote tally up to this point (YouTube, CotH, UDBB):

Contestant 1: 2

Contestant 2: 7

Contestant 3: 9

Contestant 4: 16

[Hazelnut]

@Mike Matson;3620916

True, but I’m an ex-government employee, so doing it this way comes naturally.

And it does encourage comments.

Ah, I am a government employee…I get it. :lol:
I have viewed the videos once, but must go back and review a second time. hence, no vote, yet.

[FriesianX]

A comment I’d make, because I’ve seen one of these rides live - the video quality and place the videographer is standing makes a HUGE difference in how you might feel about the freestyle. Lateral work (and we see a lot of that in the 3rd level freestyle) does NOT look good when video’d from the side. It just looks like the horse gets short and tight - but if you saw it from the front, you’d see a much different picture. I was also bothered by the video quality in the 3rd level freestyle - when you look at the other videos, they look crisp and clean, while that one looked fuzzy and a little distorted at times. I’m kind of curious, how does one insure a good quality upload (in case I decide to enter some day :D)?

[freestyle2music]

[QUOTE=FriesianX;3621289]
A comment I’d make, because I’ve seen one of these rides live - the video quality and place the videographer is standing makes a HUGE difference in how you might feel about the freestyle. Lateral work (and we see a lot of that in the 3rd level freestyle) does NOT look good when video’d from the side. It just looks like the horse gets short and tight - but if you saw it from the front, you’d see a much different picture. I was also bothered by the video quality in the 3rd level freestyle - when you look at the other videos, they look crisp and clean, while that one looked fuzzy and a little distorted at times. I’m kind of curious, how does one insure a good quality upload (in case I decide to enter some day :D)?[/QUOTE]

Viddler and Veoh have a perfect quality. You can even upload in DVD-quality and an unlimited size.