My closest friends know that if there’s one thing I want outlawed, it’s bunting! And so there was a sense of irony in my being picked as head judge of the Bunting Contest of Carrascal yesterday, 10 July 2012.
My team included budding painter Mr. Ryan S. Novo and former teacher and present Administrative Officer of PGO, Ms. Soledad V. Vaz. After being whisked by a silver gray Innova from Tandag to Carrascal, we were given the judging sheet. I asked Ms. Charlita Montenegro, the committee chair, if she had operational definition of the metrics that included Creativity (25%), Originality (20%), Aesthetic (30), Color Combination (15%), and Online Voting (10%). She said none. The judges being of different persuasions and backgrounds, I called for a huddle in an effort to arrive at a common understanding of the contest criteria. (We always do this in Tago and each time I'm engaged as contest judge.)
We defined the metrics this way: Creativity is the manner by which the participants handle and manage different materials to come up with a cohesive whole; Originality is the extent to which the participants innovate and shift from traditional bunting design as staple fiesta decoration; Aesthetic is the capacity of the overall design to trigger a positive effect on the visual sense of the judges; and Color Combination is the interplay of colors and hues, one that truly reflects the festive mood of the occasion. We factored in the Online Voting Results by using the weighted average method the result of which was added to the total individual scores of the participants. We used the rank system to pick the winners.
The three of us had different choices, in short, the decision was in no way unanimous. It was not even a majority decision because we had different bets for the grand prize winner. And just because as chair I was required to submit an anecdotal report of the contest, we deliberated on the result by sharing observations and insights.
One participant’s buntings were colorful and reflected a very festive mood but didn’t score high in originality as they were a tad too conventional. The buntings of another participant were the most colorful and the most festive, showing use of varied materials that came in different shapes and sizes. However, this “variety” was not controlled that the whole thing didn’t cohere aesthetically. The buntings also looked sparse. Another participant used a very common material but put a new spin to it and came up with a beautiful palette of colors. The buntings were so pliant that when the winds blew, the colors exploded, evoking a feeling of simplicity and ease. The buntings were tight and plenty they practically made the streets look like they had valances. Another one made creative use of eclectic materials to fashion different shapes that would form part of an intricate design. Though the color combination wasn’t as festive as that of other contestants, it was the participant’s way of exploiting the thematic concept and wrapping up the whole thing beautifully that made the entry a cut above the rest.
Looking at most of the materials (plastics and cellophanes most especially) reinforced my stand against buntings. But please banish all thoughts that I allowed my personal bias to get in the way because my choice of winner was not based on it. After all, that feature was not part of the criteria.
Let it be said that the buntings made the streets of Carrascal beautiful, so beautiful in fact that as we walked, we felt like footloose royalty. Kudos to the organizers!
Wait, did I say I got an honorarium worth about a month of gas for my Jazz?
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