[Bards] in response to Esther

[Michael Silverhands]

On Oct 31, 2006, at 6:45 AM, Mike C. Baker wrote:

>>> Esther <reese_esther at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> A thought -- just a thought....
>>>
>>> What if the Eisteffod was a bard off of the branch
>> champions? It would
>>> both strengthen the competition for local titled bards, and in turn
>>> strengthen the Kingdom competition.
>>>
>
> I would offer the "refinement" / extension that former Premier /  
> Kingdom
> Bards would also be eligible (after a "one-year" / one term delay).
>
> An intriguing proposal -- although unless and until reasonably uniform
> selection criteria are in place, could ultimately leave matters in
> similar conditions to current as far as skill levels represented are
> concerned.  Consider for example the newest incipient group with three
> contenders drawn from their own local ranks versus the oldest /
> most-active baronies with fields of contenders numbering thirty or  
> more
> of the most experienced, well-qualified entertainers...
>
> But I still like the basic idea of preliminaries at other events.
>
> Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / Pax ... Kihe

Exactly. You can end up with some pretty green goobers in the  
Eisteddfod list, while many of the kingdom's best must stay home.

Also consider this: I've seen a young bard (who was having a good  
year) go out and win 5 branch championships. If the branch  
championships are the "prelim" to Kingdom, then 4 branches aren't  
going to be sending anyone in that scenario.

But if there's a need for a "filter" for those entering Eisteddfod  
(and I'm not sure that there is... just saying *if* there is), how  
about this: you must have won a branch or Kingdom bardic competition  
previously. Not necessarily that year's competition, just sometime.

That at least raises the bar to exclude absolute newcomers to bardic  
who've never won any competition anywhere before, but otherwise  
doesn't exclude any of our "best and brightest".

If you want to lower the bar a bit, you could say that all entrants  
to Eisteddfod must have at least *competed* in a branch championship  
before. Or you could say they have to be sponsored by someone --  
their branch nobility, a Peer, or a previous winner of Eisteddfod.

Or you could just leave it as it is: anyone with the courage to enter  
is free to do so. :-)

At the moment, I don't think the problem is "too many in the list".  
Quite the opposite.

Michael