I have a headache on the last day of the holiday, gahh.
Ugh. I cringe when I watch the Arena. I cannot see how something so lacklustre and obviously unintelligent can be allowed to be televised. I feel uncomfortable when everyone starts commenting on amusing style or bitchy comebacks; I feel worse when more credit is given just for the laughter/cheers that are generated by one-liner rebuttals because that is a totally different representation from what A Debate really is about. And then everyone starts asking each other to repeat their questions and the opposing speaker would mock-furiously accuse everyone of not listening to her. My goodness—I've heard better comebacks from a tuna sandwich. Futhermore, 3/4 of the panel of judges are usually not debaters at all, so who are they to judge and criticize the speakers? Even if they wanted representation from the public, a majority of the panel should have some idea of the standard of a debate; instead they seem to be judging a mere quibble.
That said, however, the speakers seem more engaged now that they are more familiar with this style of debating. And Andrea isn't that stumbling block of wood now! Loyang had a more pleasing style but it wasn't fully taken advantage of when it started to sound like the angry bitching of a PMS-y teen towards the end. (Well frankly I would have responded that way too.) I'm quite excited about the finals of the Arena, but I think the winning team wouldn't be too surprising.
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