This year, my pick was Caleb Johnson. It was a tough pick, and I had a couple others I was considering. Ultimately, I went with my gut, and the fact that Caleb just seemed like a true performer, who really had his act together. He knew what kind of an artist he wanted to be, and he was so consistent in all of the rounds leading up to the live shows. Week after week during the competition, he continued to make the smartest song choices. They were perfect for his voice and his style. He also challenged himself and chose a few songs that were outside of his comfort zone. But like all of the greats before him (David Cook, Adam Lambert, etc.), he made those surprising song choices into some of his best performances. He was inventive and creative, and always made you wonder what he was going to sing the following week. He continued to escape the bottom 3 every week, and I felt like he only grew stronger and stronger. It was to the point that I wasn't even worried about him ever being in the bottom, because he was just that good.
The other 3 ladies in our bracket, were not so lucky. Ben was chosen as a pick to win it all, and he was voted out in week 3. The other 2 ladies chose Majesty as the winner. She was voted out in week 4. By week 4, I was the only one with my "horse in the race". As our rules state, you can switch your pick to win if your pick gets voted out, but you will only get 5 bonus points if that person wins. Dexter was chosen as a replacement, and he was voted out in week 7. After that, Alex and Jena were the picks by the 3 other ladies. Alex was voted out in week 11. We were now down to the final 2: Jena and Caleb. It was me against 2 of the other ladies, with my Caleb STILL being in it! For the first time, I was really worried that Jena was going to win. The critics and fans all around raved about Jena's talent. I just didn't see what all the fuss was about (If you read by Reality Bites blog, you know my feelings about Jena).
As we went into the final night, I was still leading the bracket by 2 points. Only Nancy could catch me. I knew I had to be careful, so I weighed by final vote very carefully, and I figured something out. If I voted for Caleb to win, and he lost, I got 0 points for the week. Nancy would get 5 points for guessing Jena to win for the week. Her pick to win was Alex, so she couldn't get any bonus points, but that 5 points would be enough to beat me. However, if I chose to give Jena my vote for the week, I stay ahead if she wins, but even if I was wrong and Caleb won, I still would get 10 bonus points for picking Caleb as my pick to win it all from the beginning. So, the choice was obvious. Plus, I thought it might actually help Caleb by "voting against him". Sure enough...it worked! The other 3 ladies (plus me) picked Jena to win, and it was CALEB!!!! I was so ecstatic! Not just because I won, but because the right person won. All of my voting (50 votes by text, Facebook and Google, and as many phone calls as I could get to go through), plus my mom's 50 votes on all methods proved to do the trick.
It was another fun and unpredictable year for our bracket. I fully expect to keep this trophy next year as well. :)
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