Topics

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General Discussion / Preselected, qualified judges for NPS?

« on: August 19, 2009, 11:42:40 AM »

Considering the amount of preparation and effort at the local and national level, why don't we assemble a pool of qualified judges from academia, slam, pop culture, maybe even a celebrity or two?

It could be a pool of approximately 60 judges to work the NPS tournament. Since there are usually no more than five bouts at a time, judges could work two bouts a night in different venues. Doesn't matter where they're from, as they will judge based on the poetry and performance. There are a lot of variables, but I'm hoping to hear amid many shouts of Are you crazy? and You don't know what you're talking about! some thoughts as to why this could possibly work.

I base this on two things:

1. The struggle to find an unbiased, random judge from the audience at an NPS bout.
2. Steve Marsh's writing "... some of our judges come from all over the country to sit in that bar to be a judge. They are not random at all" in another thread.

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General Discussion / So, who's clogging up 95S next week and when?

« on: July 24, 2009, 12:10:34 PM »

Just wondering how many of us East Coasters will be riding down?

Heading down from Richmond, VA on Friday, July 31. Stopover in Savannah, GA and on to Delray Beach for the weekend before. Team Richmond (SlamRichmond) is heading down night before, I think, in WPB starting Saturday or sooner.

Curious to know if I'll be sitting in NC and SC traffic with some of y'all.

~TSP

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General Discussion / Will it be impossible to compete in both haiku and nerd slams?

« on: July 17, 2009, 04:52:16 PM »

They are back-to-back on Saturday. I'm not on a team this year and I wanted to compete in both of these... since the lists are most likely first-come, first-served, I'm guessing unless the head-to-head haiku finishes in under two hours, I'm SOL.

Say it ain't so.

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General Discussion / SURVEY: What are the (x) different types of slam poems?

« on: May 27, 2009, 09:24:45 AM »

To clarify: What are the poem-types you hear at a slam every almost without fail, the kind that make you roll your eyes inside and hope for something original?

Not to diminish some staple poems, but just to see if there is a "slam slate" common across the country/world. I also think some of these may be combined.

Off the top of my head:

1. The Anti-Establishment/War Poem
2. The Hate/Love My Parent(s) Poem
3. The Incest/Rape/Abuse Poem
5. The Poetry-Saved-My-Life Poem
6. The Im'a Great Poet Poem
7. The Race/Heritage Celebration Poem
8. The Erotic Poem
9. The Funny Poem
10. The Love Poem

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General Discussion / Ummm... NPS 2007 DVD?

« on: August 19, 2008, 08:33:21 PM »

Were these available at NPS this year (wasn't there)? They're not on the site for purchase yet.

Need me some NPS DVD!

 

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Slam Selection Processes / Richmond, VA selection process

« on: August 13, 2007, 04:35:28 PM »

IV. Team Richmond and the National Poetry Slam

Team Richmond 2007. In order to make the Team Richmond 2007 roster, poets must:

1.   Finish in the top eight in a minimum of three (3) SlamRichmond qualifiers, including one top-four finish OR win one (1) SlamRichmond qualifier and participate in at least two others; AND
2.   Place high enough in a semifinal match (held in April 2007) to advance to the 2007 Championship Invitational; AND
3.   Finish in one of the top five positions at the Championship Invitational.

[IN 2007, DUE TO ONLY 13 POETS QUALIFYING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP, #2 WAS NOT DONE. INSTEAD, THE POETS WERE SEEDED, LOWEST-SCORING TO HIGHEST-SCORING, IN A THREE-ROUND POETRY SLAM. DETAILS ON SERIES SCORING APPEAR BELOW - TSP]

Series Scoring. These are separate from the points earned during one of the slam events, based on a poet’s overall finish in each event. Series points will be used to seed the Championship Invitational, which will be comprised of the top-scoring 16 poets over the series.

These points count towards seeding in the Championship Invitational, where the Richmond slam team is determined. Points are delivered as follows:

 
FINALISTS
1st place = 8 points
2nd place = 5
3rd place = 4
4th place = 3
FIRST ROUND
5th place = 1.5 points
6th place = 1
7th place = .5
8th place = .25
 

All ties will result in points to be shared between the finishers. If two poets tie for eighth they get .125 Series points each. Life sucks – get a helmet. There will be no tie for first. There are also bonus points and deductions:

A perfect night (all 10s)       +3 Series points
Second place by slam-off      +1.5
Five 10s in a round          +1
Each 30 earned             +.5
A zero that sticks         -1
Booed off stage            -1
Removed from stage*           -2

* for content, not time