Words of an eliminatee

My ramblings after I got eliminated from mdd8:

It's no secret that I'm already out.

Nor is it a secret that everybody knows how tough the competition is.

It took me a long time before I could pen this down on my blog.

With great deliberation and blogmanship, I'm just going to write what I want to write.

I'm upset about my elimination.

I would be lying if I said I didn't. I am pretty upset about two things and there is really not much I can do but just reflect and pondered what really happened was so surreal.

First of all, I feel that I should not get eliminated. Why? I have expressed willingness to participate actively, willing to contribute and share my life to the people out there who would like to read.

I love to blog. That was why I joined this contest in the first place. But the contestant, Kirin above me already has expressed giving up, asking his friends not to even bother about voting for him.

He is still fighting for survival though and has blogged quite a lot. Rewind back to elimination period, I woke up at 7am (it's my daily weekday ritual as I have to wake up for work) and monitor the votes.

I was safely 0.5% ahead of Kirin. After I came back from a shower barely 20 minutes later, I got jumped over.

I was like. What the fuck?

Someone who already has lost all interest in this competition by stating it openly in his blog still wants in? Either people can't bear to fulfil his wishes or that people just can't read proper English.

I panicked and called friends to stand behind me. To no avail. Only one fan responded and it wasn't enough.

I was eliminated.

Now, you might think I hate Kirin. Actually, not much. Because some might have the idea that Kirin did such a despicable ploy to delude people on his chances and jump over me in the last hurdle.

I can't say I know Kirin (aka Jack) very well but from what I have gathered, he doesn't need to be that sly. He didn't do it. Someone else knowing that Kirin already has given up all hope saw a window of opportunity to get rid of me and keep Kirin which is a hopeless next round eliminatee and decide to get rid of me, the competition.

I already know who voted for Kirin.

Second thing that I'm pretty upset about how the game has ended up.

Reading all the blogs of the competition, many have expressed the unfairness of the voting system.

As long as one has the financial muscle, one can strengthen their way to the US$5,000.

It's a matter of investment.

But I love to be deluded. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

I'm an idealist and I believe in the good nature of people and I guess I was too naive for thinking that nobody hankered for the title of "a dream date" and US$5,000.

I came into the game believing as long as I blog considerably well, the public would make an effort to vote for me.

I wasn't wrong. I was only partially right. There were only some casual votes from the public but what THE NEW PAPER said last Saturday, the voters and the votes just don't tally up. It does raise your eyebrows, doesn't it ?

It is pretty obvious in the game. People are voting for themselves. Stop lying.

I'm sure a high percentage of the votes comes from yourself except for a few who have true blue fans out there as you can see from the chat logs who will support them all the way till they die.

I'm an idealist. I'm too naive. And if this was a perfect world with no prejudice, no slimming centres and a well-sealed Pandora’s Box, the objective of this competition would hold true to its name.

Vote for the best person who has the best blog with the best criteria to be a dream date.

I know I don't have the makings of a dream date but the premises of this "ideal" competition are based on your main form of communication platform, which is your blog.

I have to say, some blogs here simply "cannot make it".

Want me to back it up. Just go to Google, type "mydreamd8" and "sucks" and you can see the scores of links to blogs commenting about this competition.

Quotes are like "An embarrassment to the blogging community" and "I don’t dare associate my blog with theirs" is just common phrase.

I have to say my blog is pretty alright, along with Farharri, Spunky, Trojan, Leese, Xiaxue, Sel, MisirLou, Keito, Nuj, Junaidi, Janice and Clement. Their blogs are an interesting read and are in my favourites although some of you might beg to differ.

If the "ideal world" exists, these names would be the cream of the crop of what this competition really has to offer. But the "ideal world" doesn't exists, because greed is what drives us to be better than the other be it perform better than your colleague or snatching more food from a buffet.

I sound jaded. You could even say pissed. Or even sour of the fact of my elimination. That's because what I feel for the past few days is the feeling of being unjustified.

Unjustified with the fact of the calibre of my blog and the rest of the wonderful people there who got eliminated along with the greed.

To see greed in its true form, just watch the mdd8 stock market closing hours where the bullish run is bound to keep you on your toes.

Let's just see who has the financial muscle to climb their way to the top.

I agree with what Junaidi wrote. It isn't about the best blog or the best looker. It is the one with the best network of friends or financial means who are willing to vote themselves in.

I'm feeling better now as I have vent my frustrations here. And I guess I have the right to do so. It is my blog after all, and nobody can take that away from me.

A very sore,
Benjamin

P.S. The ironic thing that happened was after my elimination at 8 am, I took a cab to the MRT and the ABBA song "Winner Takes It All" was playing on the radio to kind of mock/amuse me. How poignant.

P.S.S. I know complaining and grumbling about the system isn't of any use. SingTel isn't at fault at all because mdd8 is the pioneers of this moblog competition and guinea pigs and tweaking of the whole system is needed. I promise to give some of my own feedback to make mdd8 (2) a better and more fair competition, I hope.

Peace out.