Exciting times are upon us! The 2014 US Air Guitar Season is beginning in earnest. Most, if not all, of the qualifiers are booked, and the Kansas City and Brooklyn qualifiers have been officially announced. Some things are different since last year, though - I think some of the changes from last year are still being hashed out, balanced, and tested. Whether the latest round of changes are a success will be up to this season to prove.
One major change is in terms of who gets a pass to the Semi-Finals. Like last year, the hosts of local qualifiers get in. Like last year, the top 2 from each qualifier get in as well. Unlike last year, so does the #3 competitor. The winner of the semifinal gets in as well, which cannot be either like or unlike last year since such a person did not exist before this year. Past winners of qualifiers don't get a bye - they did last year, but understandably that field needed to be seeded since there would have been too few people otherwise. If these rules result in too few people this year, they may do again what they did last year and invite past stars (last year, this meant such people as historical winners, perpetual bridesmaids, competitors who don't have a qualifier in their town...) - but that's not been confirmed yet and naturally would only be a possibility if the extra bodies were needed.
So what does this meeeeaaaan?
- Some people may have expected they wouldn't need to compete at the Qualifier level this year, because they won a Qualifier last year. Sorry! You still do. Hopefully they were preparing their routine for Semi-Finals anyway, but they've now got much less time to practice.
- The likelihood that someone gets into more than one Semi-Final is reduced, since there are fewer ways to get into any Semi-Finals. This is good and sensible.
- Another concern is that it reduces the pool of available air-guitarist judges. Last year, you could rely on the previous year's winner to judge, since he or she wouldn't need to compete. No longer! That air guitarist is competing unless they have retired, or unless they won the semi (or something even bigger). So your options are retired air guitarists, if your area has some, and local luminaries. You can sometimes score a big win with them! Boston was super lucky last year with the jazzy and sensual Barry Tattle. But not everyone "gets it" right away and you're taking a risk. Honestly, this is something USAG had to deal with every time they ever put on a competition - just now there are more competitions, so more judges are needed.
- The big one: It is no longer the year of the new person. Last year, so many people were automatically in at the semi-final level that the qualifier field was wide open. This year, the newbies have to face down against past winners and other seasoned competitors who might otherwise have had a bye to the next level. Not to say that there's no such thing as an upset - obviously anyone can beat anyone else - but the field is deep this year. Expect to see familiar faces at Semis.
What do you think about these changes? Is it going to be an improvement? Do you agree with this assessment? Let's hear you!