A Show Review of Mercer University's Rangoli 2010 (Do Not Recommend)

[kinnell]

GODDAMNIT, why do the mods always get to these threads before I get to read them. *sigh*

(PS, +1 to the mods for being so efficient)

 

[lavesh]

Hey guys,

No one gives a damn.

Sincerely,
Everyone not on the 4 teams at this competition.

lol thank you for being the voice of the world however, maybe you don't care, but the teams that went to this competition were effected by this, and psant was doing a good thing by warning people about the bad judging at this competition so another team (big or small) doesn't go and waste their time.

"affected", not "effected"

silly summit

 

[nb0913]

lol so UGA borrowed props from 2 teams?
seems hypocritical to call out ECU for asking for pagh help.
getting sapps is easier than learning to tie a pagh, am i right?

 

[blasianjh]

*Sigh*

 

[BDR Official Fan]

First and foremost I would like to address the first part of our routine. The tech decided it was ok to play a completely different mix than ours which is why we looked so out of place.


The second thing I would like to address is the actual running of the competition and the judging itself. This year was organizationally one of the worst years this competition has faced. Everything started late. There were no such things as liasons for any team and the tech time we got was cut short to just about fifteen minutes. Now that being said we have to take into consideration that this comp is run by a different committee each year with new members doing everything. This year it was also helped out by FDA which idk how much of a help it was but yea. For the most part people come to macon to see that artist that is coming and not the actual competition. Last year it was Jay Sean and this year it was Baba Kahn and all them culture shock folk. But what did you except?

Baba Kahn was flashing pictures of women's cleavage and subliminal messages during their 40 minute performance.

Of course they did!!! Thats what they get paid too do!!! IT IS THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE CAME TO THE SHOW!!! I'm sorry if you were not able to come to that conclusion on your own. It is the only way they can actually get people to drive an hour or 2 to get to a small town and spend some money on a ticket and afterparty. Now with that being said I still think that this show has a some potential to be a good competition. So instead of just bashing it and banning it, why not try to reach out to the committee and express your concerns of having a correct judge for each category. I am not going to review any teams on here because I feel like it just takes the fun out of it. The one thing I must say is that the hateful comments that were being said are completely unnecessary and very immature. Saying that you will never come back to Georgia or that a competition is rigged is definitely not going to make any headway with the organizers and makes you look very uneducated. Having a shitty time does not give you the invitation to be disrespectful. Also if you think that the competition was rigged then you are very heavily mistaken because the same 3 judges placed two NC teams in 2008. I didn't hear any concerns then...just saying. So I think there are two options here. Either you do your best to express your concerns to the committee and organizers or you just choose not to come back. If you already felt that this competition was not going to be fair, then why even apply in the first place? A registration fee is exactly what it is a registration fee. It is not a guarantee that a competition will run smoothly or be judged fairly at all. Just look at other competitions that have taken registration money and have never even occurred. So if you that next the committee won't bring an artist that appeals to a majority of the people attending then be prepared to compete in front of an empty house. If you think that you have the possibility to make a competition run better because of the sheer lack of knowledge of bhangra by the committee then yes I do think that it is feasible. So attached I have the application packet with the email address and the mercer event page with the numbers of the organizers. http://mercer.edu/ice/rangoli/contact.html
So now instead of just bashing the hell out of this comp why not try to make a change for the better of the whole bhangra community?? I think we would all love for this competition to become super legit. I would love to see some feedback from anyone who had a problem with Rangoli. If you can take the time to post a lengthy post about how shitty this competition was I think the least you can do is contact them and provide some actual FEEDBACK. Please also let them know about BTF and the bhangra community and the scrutiny that competitions come under because I positive that they really have no clue. A problem never gets solved unless somebody does something about it. Posting on BTF is really not the way to go because its only our community that hears about it. I would also like to point out the local act who came on before Baba Kahn and who I think really stole the show. Shilpa Narayan straight up rocked it with just her voice and a guitar and no cleavage from what I could see.



P.S. Thanks for the Shoutout Dippy!!

 

[cheena]

UGA BdR was phenomenal. Props to them for an amazing performance, and congrats on the first place.

 

[sumeetj]

unc - clean as hell. thank you so much for helping us with two of our paggs. yall will tear it up at burgh.

duke- you guys are getting better and better, and i didnt see much influence from other teams (which you guys coulda been accused of before, but def not at this performance). and your paggs, well, so what if you used pins. NO ONE STEPPED ON ANY AT LEAST

before you talk shit about other teams about not being creative, not tying good enough paggs, not having good enough outfits, asking others for help, and not executing a good routine, take a look at who your affiliated first




north carolina put yo handss upppppp.

 

[abhigames]

I heard pandemonium dressed up as GT Qurbani for halloween and stole the show.

 

[Psant]

1) The second thing I would like to address is the actual running of the competition and the judging itself. This year was organizationally one of the worst years this competition has faced. Everything started late. There were no such things as liasons for any team and the tech time we got was cut short to just about fifteen minutes. Now that being said we have to take into consideration that this comp is run by a different committee each year with new members doing everything.

2) Of course they did!!! Thats what they get paid too do!!! IT IS THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE CAME TO THE SHOW!!! I'm sorry if you were not able to come to that conclusion on your own. It is the only way they can actually get people to drive an hour or 2 to get to a small town and spend some money on a ticket and afterparty.


3) Now with that being said I still think that this show has a some potential to be a good competition. So instead of just bashing it and banning it, why not try to reach out to the committee and express your concerns of having a correct judge for each category. I am not going to review any teams on here because I feel like it just takes the fun out of it. The one thing I must say is that the hateful comments that were being said are completely unnecessary and very immature. Saying that you will never come back to Georgia or that a competition is rigged is definitely not going to make any headway with the organizers and makes you look very uneducated.


4) Also if you think that the competition was rigged then you are very heavily mistaken because the same 3 judges placed two NC teams in 2008. I didn't hear any concerns then...just saying. So I think there are two options here. Either you do your best to express your concerns to the committee and organizers or you just choose not to come back.


5) If you already felt that this competition was not going to be fair, then why even apply in the first place? A registration fee is exactly what it is a registration fee. It is not a guarantee that a competition will run smoothly or be judged fairly at all. Just look at other competitions that have taken registration money and have never even occurred. So if you that next the committee won't bring an artist that appeals to a majority of the people attending then be prepared to compete in front of an empty house. If you think that you have the possibility to make a competition run better because of the sheer lack of knowledge of bhangra by the committee then yes I do think that it is feasible.


6) So attached I have the application packet with the email address and the mercer event page with the numbers of the organizers. http://mercer.edu/ice/rangoli/contact.html


7) So now instead of just bashing the hell out of this comp why not try to make a change for the better of the whole bhangra community?? I think we would all love for this competition to become super legit. I would love to see some feedback from anyone who had a problem with Rangoli. If you can take the time to post a lengthy post about how shitty this competition was I think the least you can do is contact them and provide some actual FEEDBACK. Please also let them know about BTF and the bhangra community and the scrutiny that competitions come under because I positive that they really have no clue. A problem never gets solved unless somebody does something about it.


8) Posting on BTF is really not the way to go because its only our community that hears about it. I would also like to point out the local act who came on before Baba Kahn and who I think really stole the show. Shilpa Narayan straight up rocked it with just her voice and a guitar and no cleavage from what I could see.

So, basically, I am going to systematically refute every single point that you made in a timely manner. I have even numbered them in a readable format.


1) I don't believe you have any knowledge of how a real competition is run at all. Most college competitions are run by a different group of people every year, as students graduate from school. Surprising phenomenon eh? That doesn't give you the excuse of putting on a consistently bad show every single year. There is documentation from previous years to work off of and plenty of guidance from alumni. I run a competition, if you don't know how to do something...seek help.


2) Wait, so Baba Kahn was supposed to induce seizures with strobing subliminal messages and flashing girl's cleavage in background videos? I'm sorry, but the target audience included uncles and aunties from the area, as well as parents of performers. That is simply unacceptable. Also, there's no excuse to say they didn't know about this because there is something called rehearsals that competitions hold. I thought a performer's purpose was to entertain by actually singing, not lip-syncing into a mic and yelling FAT MAN SCOOP BABA KAHN.


3) I believe the people that are making these comments are the educated ones because they have been to competitions that actually work or actually organize competitions that work. On that note, I personally wrote emails expressing my opinions about Rangoli last year to their board, but clearly that doesn't work, thus it needed to be posted in a public location.


4) If you can indeed confirm that they were the same three judges, then I can provide email proof of direct lies stated by the Mercer Rangoli Board, as UNC Bhangra Elite did not wish to partake in this competition unless there was a change in the judging. We were assured by the board that there would be a change. HOWEVER, when asked to see who the new judges were, we were shafted a week before the show and told that this information could not be given. If you can find an excuse for their board for this action, be my guest.


5) As stated in #4, the ONLY reason we applied was because we were promised a change in judging, yet not given any information about it. Then, for the second year in a row, three Georgia teams won. Think about it now. So, you're telling me, that you shouldn't expect a fair competition when you are expecting to go to a show? You don't expect your hard work and effort and money to go into a show where you will be fairly judged? That is preposterous that you have such low expectations. And now you're comparing it to shows that never happen and steal fees? Are you happy with a show that's slightly above a show that doesn't happen at all? Why can't we expect to compare this show to other shows like Burgh or AKD or even AKR at USC? Being in a random small town is no excuse. BDM was in a random town...


6) Cool Story Bro.


7) I have done something about it and that is exposing this show's flaws. How can one be so ignorant to not know that their show will be reviewed online? I posted this on DesiDanceTeams also. As an organizer, you should be LOOKING for criticism and looking for ways to improve. It is pure stupidity to throw a show, get complaint emails and criticism and NOT DO ANYTHING. Changing committees is no excuse.

 

[Psant]

I heard pandemonium dressed up as GT Qurbani for halloween and stole the show.

Dude, they even had a guy wear a wig like you guys. They wore jumpsuits. The "jumpsuit" guys said they wanted to do bhangra. They did bhangra.


They also had Kamaal's "I'm on a Boat" from AKD.

 

[BDR Official Fan]

1) The second thing I would like to address is the actual running of the competition and the judging itself. This year was organizationally one of the worst years this competition has faced. Everything started late. There were no such things as liasons for any team and the tech time we got was cut short to just about fifteen minutes. Now that being said we have to take into consideration that this comp is run by a different committee each year with new members doing everything.

2) Of course they did!!! Thats what they get paid too do!!! IT IS THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE CAME TO THE SHOW!!! I'm sorry if you were not able to come to that conclusion on your own. It is the only way they can actually get people to drive an hour or 2 to get to a small town and spend some money on a ticket and afterparty.


3) Now with that being said I still think that this show has a some potential to be a good competition. So instead of just bashing it and banning it, why not try to reach out to the committee and express your concerns of having a correct judge for each category. I am not going to review any teams on here because I feel like it just takes the fun out of it. The one thing I must say is that the hateful comments that were being said are completely unnecessary and very immature. Saying that you will never come back to Georgia or that a competition is rigged is definitely not going to make any headway with the organizers and makes you look very uneducated.


4) Also if you think that the competition was rigged then you are very heavily mistaken because the same 3 judges placed two NC teams in 2008. I didn't hear any concerns then...just saying. So I think there are two options here. Either you do your best to express your concerns to the committee and organizers or you just choose not to come back.


5) If you already felt that this competition was not going to be fair, then why even apply in the first place? A registration fee is exactly what it is a registration fee. It is not a guarantee that a competition will run smoothly or be judged fairly at all. Just look at other competitions that have taken registration money and have never even occurred. So if you that next the committee won't bring an artist that appeals to a majority of the people attending then be prepared to compete in front of an empty house. If you think that you have the possibility to make a competition run better because of the sheer lack of knowledge of bhangra by the committee then yes I do think that it is feasible.


6) So attached I have the application packet with the email address and the mercer event page with the numbers of the organizers. http://mercer.edu/ice/rangoli/contact.html


7) So now instead of just bashing the hell out of this comp why not try to make a change for the better of the whole bhangra community?? I think we would all love for this competition to become super legit. I would love to see some feedback from anyone who had a problem with Rangoli. If you can take the time to post a lengthy post about how shitty this competition was I think the least you can do is contact them and provide some actual FEEDBACK. Please also let them know about BTF and the bhangra community and the scrutiny that competitions come under because I positive that they really have no clue. A problem never gets solved unless somebody does something about it.


8) Posting on BTF is really not the way to go because its only our community that hears about it. I would also like to point out the local act who came on before Baba Kahn and who I think really stole the show. Shilpa Narayan straight up rocked it with just her voice and a guitar and no cleavage from what I could see.

So, basically, I am going to systematically refute every single point that you made in a timely manner. I have even numbered them in a readable format.


1) I don't believe you have any knowledge of how a real competition is run at all. Most college competitions are run by a different group of people every year, as students graduate from school. Surprising phenomenon eh? That doesn't give you the excuse of putting on a consistently bad show every single year. There is documentation from previous years to work off of and plenty of guidance from alumni. I run a competition, if you don't know how to do something...seek help.


2) Wait, so Baba Kahn was supposed to induce seizures with strobing subliminal messages and flashing girl's cleavage in background videos? I'm sorry, but the target audience included uncles and aunties from the area, as well as parents of performers. That is simply unacceptable. Also, there's no excuse to say they didn't know about this because there is something called rehearsals that competitions hold. I thought a performer's purpose was to entertain by actually singing, not lip-syncing into a mic and yelling FAT MAN SCOOP BABA KAHN.


3) I believe the people that are making these comments are the educated ones because they have been to competitions that actually work or actually organize competitions that work. On that note, I personally wrote emails expressing my opinions about Rangoli last year to their board, but clearly that doesn't work, thus it needed to be posted in a public location.


4) If you can indeed confirm that they were the same three judges, then I can provide email proof of direct lies stated by the Mercer Rangoli Board, as UNC Bhangra Elite did not wish to partake in this competition unless there was a change in the judging. We were assured by the board that there would be a change. HOWEVER, when asked to see who the new judges were, we were shafted a week before the show and told that this information could not be given. If you can find an excuse for their board for this action, be my guest.


5) As stated in #4, the ONLY reason we applied was because we were promised a change in judging, yet not given any information about it. Then, for the second year in a row, three Georgia teams won. Think about it now. So, you're telling me, that you shouldn't expect a fair competition when you are expecting to go to a show? You don't expect your hard work and effort and money to go into a show where you will be fairly judged? That is preposterous that you have such low expectations. And now you're comparing it to shows that never happen and steal fees? Are you happy with a show that's slightly above a show that doesn't happen at all? Why can't we expect to compare this show to other shows like Burgh or AKD or even AKR at USC? Being in a random small town is no excuse. BDM was in a random town...


6) Cool Story Bro.


7) I have done something about it and that is exposing this show's flaws. How can one be so ignorant to not know that their show will be reviewed online? I posted this on DesiDanceTeams also. As an organizer, you should be LOOKING for criticism and looking for ways to improve. It is pure stupidity to throw a show, get complaint emails and criticism and NOT DO ANYTHING. Changing committees is no excuse.

1. So you run a competition. This should have been probably the biggest warning flag as you already know how this competition is run, but you bought into a whole new committee and a whole new board promising you a change? I mean did u see the registration packet? It included no judging criteria at all!! I wish we actually knew who the judges were as well I don't even think we got to meet them after the show. Now you assume that they had the guidance from previous alumni and so forth BUT IF THE SHOW WAS HORRIBLY RUN BEFORE then how do you expect it to be run smoothly now?


2. Im sorry Baba Kahn was such a disappointment for you. Why not ask them to bring back Jay Sean who pranced our the stage lifting his shirt up and thrusting his crotch into the crowd. Im sure aunties and uncles will love that. Im sure they were more aggravated by the drunk people in the crowd who kept yelling random things and profanities. Hey lets just not get an artist and give everyone a breathalyzer and have a quite please sign in each seating section. If it was up to me I would love to get a legit artist but hey I don't run the thing.


3. Being disrespectful is never acceptable especially if you consider yourself educated. Have you posted a link of this forum to them? Called them? Expressed that you yourself run a competition and would like to help them change some things?


4. Never once did I say I was happy or content with the judging or the way the competition was run, but I also don't expect it to be run like Elite 8 or Burgh or Boston. It would be great if they had the resources and the knowledge to do that because this competition would be amazing and not shitty. I think they do need to learn from other comps so they can become more efficient. Maybe instead of forking over so much cash for an artist they can invest it in the competition itself to make it better. Yes BDM was in a random town and people most definitely complained about it. But look at the organizers. They were experienced and knew what the bhangra community wanted which was why it was successful.


5. I provided you with all the information to the rangoli committee so its up to you to actually do something about it and SHOW US that you have. Otherwise they can just read all of this and ignore it and find another team who will come and compete. I'm sure they would love to have a legit bhangra judge and since you yourself run a competition why not suggest one to them??? I think the raas judge has been judging and teaching it for like 11 or 12 years so I think they should get someone equally knowledgeable about bhangra.


6. How many people on committee's actually take into account what people say on this forum??(I wish more would) I am sure they have no idea that this forum even exists!!! Posting it on Desi Dance Teams was a good idea but if you want them to focus on this you need to show them this. Don't just use BTF to rip on another comp and just leave it at that. Why not use the knowledge of this community to help better educate another competition so that everyone can come down and have FUN. F-U-N. Isn't that what its about anyways??

 

[nb0913]

As psant said, the only reason our team went was because we were told the judging would be different from last year, and that the judges were more qualified and it would be fairer than last year. I can show you the emails personally if you want me to see them. Not releasing the judges is one thing, but having the judges run out of the competition is pretty ridiculous. And don't worry I did message the Rangoli board.

 

[Psant]

All in all, this was a badly run competition, and I have stated exactly why. That is what a review is for and that is what I have presented here. I have made my point.

If the future Rangoli board ever reads this (which you will because I will personally link this to you and send it through a postcard, sext, telegram, and carrier pigeon), I hope you can turn this show around. I truly do. Because if you don't, ATL Tamasha just started up and it will take away your entire crowd.

If the current board is reading this, I apologize for being harsh, but these are recurrent themes I have noticed in the running of the show and should be fixed. If I was like most people posting reviews, I would sugarcoat everything, but I'm not. These are valid concerns that need to be addressed. Costs of registration and travel and lodging is high.

It would be great for Rangoli to start an upwad trend and I wish you guys luck.

 

[Psant]

3. Being disrespectful is never acceptable especially if you consider yourself educated. Have you posted a link of this forum to them? Called them? Expressed that you yourself run a competition and would like to help them change some things?

I just did all of the above. For your information, also, they are all very aware of BhangraTeamsForum and have read the entirety of this thread in their meeting.


Also, these judges were not the same from 2008, that placed two NC teams, so that information is false.


Thank You.