Hello Bhnagra enthusiasts, I was also a judge at this past weekend’s Rangla Punjab Bhangra Competition, and due to the apparent controversy that has erupted I too am inclined to post about the factual on-goings of the evening.
Judging Panel:
Allow me to say that I was honored to be a part of such a skilled and qualified judging panel, all of whom who have been involved in the art form of Bhangra for many years, performing, competing teaching and judging.
As a panel, upon hearing from the organizers that there was controversy prior to the competition regarding rumours of certain teams paying off judges ect we decided to hold a captain’s meeting to address this concern and ensure the teams that judging proceedings would be fair and unbiased.
Teams were also told that judges would deliberate and placings would be based on scoring and deliberation to ensure fairness. Deliberation was agreed upon by the judges due to the vagueness and unevenly weighted score sheet criteria and as well because highest and lowest marks were not going to be thrown out.
We as a panel made a concentrated effort to ensure we were making through remarks about each team as we were judging them, both on their positives as well as areas of improvement (these notes were referenced during our feedback to the teams)
At this meeting we also told the teams that we the judging panel would be available to provide feedback to team captains after the competition.
Scoring:
As mentioned above we as a panel along with the organizer decided that there would be a judges deliberation after the teams had been scored to ensure accuracy of the results. We had informed the team captains that our final placings would be based off score sheets and deliberation both.
As a panel we all had the same 4 teams in the top, and these same 4 teams were the highest scoring teams of the night, however due to the vagueness of the score sheet we had to thoroughly look at each section of the score sheet and take a vote, the results were that of what my fellow judge Kiran Mander Sooch stated above:
4/5 judges: Michigan 1st place
4/5 judges: Panj for 2nd place
4/5 judges: Bar-B for 3rd place
4/5 judges: NSM for 4th place
As a panel we felt that NSM should perhaps be tied with Bar-b for third place as NSM put on a great show of creativity and entertainment and score wise were close to Bar-B, however the organizer was dead-set against having a tie, thus we took a judges vote and 4/5 judges were in favour of Bar-B for third place.
What I would like to bold and highlight here is that each score sheet was scored by a judge on the panel, thus the panel has every right to deliberate and review their scores and placings, thus we as a panel proceeded with exaclty that by throughly reviweing our scores and comparing our notes and who we feel were the top placing teams of the night. The final three teams placed by the panel were of the top 4 scoring teams of the night.
I have personally judged numerous competitions and deliberation is often ensued to ensure fairness and non-bias, this was not exclusive to Rangla Punjab. My collegeus are also seasoned judges who have done the same in the past.
Aftermath:
We as a judging panel made ourselves available for feedback to all the teams, and requested that only two captains per team enter the room (very tiny small room that we were in!) Each judge had made through notes for each team during the judging process and we were more than happy to sit down and chat with each team for feedback purposes.
Every team with the exception of one, came into the judges room with positive attitudes, respect and humility. Talking to those teams and seeing the passion that lay within them and their willingness to receive feedback and share with us their journey was refreshing and as Kiran mentioned above it reinstated any faith we had lost in the spirit of bhangra that night. To these teams (Michingan, Panj, Steel City, Wash U, SFU and Bar-B) you have our utmost respect and thank you for reminding us that there are great artists like you that have the heart and passion that has allowed Bhangra to evolve to where it has today because Bhangra has certainly not evolved because of teams who lack any sense of respect, integrity, passion, or humility.
When writing this message I thought not to mention the name of the team that caused the madness that ensued just so I could save them any morsel of respect and dignity that they may have left as a team. However as I’m writing this post and recalling the outlandish, outrageous, animal- like behaviour of this team I feel inclined to name them…NSM. Never in my years of bhangra nor my years as a professional athlete have I witnessed such unsportsmanlike, disgraceful, disrespectful and self-humiliating behaviour, never.
The playback:
NSM team members, parents and supporters barged into the judges room yelling, swearing and raging. The way our panel was bombarded by this team and their child-like behaviour (although I haven’t even seen children react this way at juniors comps) shocked our entire panel. It didn’t help that none of the organizers were there to intercept or stop the harassment that ensued, nor was there any security.
As a panel we urged the team to calm down and encouraged them to keep two captains in the room so that we could offer the feedback that we had. It became apparent that NSM wasn’t there to receive our feedback but to inform us through their obsenities as to how we had wronged them, or in their words ‘screwed’ them. As Kiran, I have never competed against NSM, nor have I ever judged NSM however their personal attacks and non-factual banter continued amoungst their high-pitched, nonsensical commentary, bantering, and whining…ohhh the whining…I truly have never seen anything like it. At one point I remember feeling so embarrassed for this team and its members...I kept telling their captain to calm her team down and if they don’t that this moment will define them…and alas it has…to myself and the judging panel, and I’m sure all teams that were witness to the debaucle, NSM displayed themselves to be nothing but an unsportsmanlike, undignified, disrespectful team without an ounce of humility. Had we not had to maintain our professionalism when dealing with the rampage of NSM, I too would have loved to share my opinion of them in that moment. It’s so sad that the entire team of NSM had to be so misrepresented by those members who could not control their actions...to the member of NSM who stayed back to apologize for the actions of his team, we commend you and appreciated your apology. We are sorry your team represented you so negatively.
Regardless of the harassment of our panel, we continued to try and reason with NSM, but it was impossible. NSM came with an ego…as said by one of their members, they came into the competition knowing it would be them and Panj for 1st and 2nd….as mentioned by Kiran, we as judges don’t judge over preconceived notions of teams or their past records, we judge based on the performance put on by each team that night on that stage. NSM you are a good team, none of us said otherwise, and had you put your egos aside for one minute you would have heard all the wonderful things we had to say about your team. Your misdemeanour automatically disqualified you in our eyes. I, along with my collegues will ensure that this behaviour from your team does not ensue upon other competitions. Too many teams, individuals and organizations have worked too hard to elevate and evolve Bhangra to where it is today, and we will not let teams such as yours be the demise of this beautiful art that we are all so passionate about.
My sincerest suggestion to NSM is to approach a situation such as this with a little bit of humility and respect…it will lead you to success…and I say this to you from personal experience. That night you had a room full of judges with years of experience in the world of Bhangra, what we had to say to you in our feedback would only have helped you on your road to success. As mentioned above, no one said NSM is not a good team, I think they are a very talented team with much promise, but without humility and respect that success will be hard to achieve and that passion will remain un-tapped.
To the Placing Teams:
To Michigan Bhangra, PANJ and Bar-B, please do not be disheartened by the actions of NSM and the organization of Rangla Punjab. Regardless of what ‘new’ placings Rangla Punjab is putting forth, that holds zero credibility as the judging panel holds true and stands by it’s placings that night:
1st :Michingan
2nd
ANJ
3rd: Bar-B
You all did an amazing job and should be proud of yourselves.
The Oraganization of Rangla Punjab:
From the moment we arrived at the venue, the organizer of Rangla Punjab informed us that there was controversy amoung some teams that judges had been paid off, and that teams also had a problem with the organizer having a boyfriend on NSM ect. The organizer proceeded to tell us that as a result of this controversy she had broken up with her boyfriend.
Anyhow, I have lost all respect for this organization and its organizers. First and foremost, the results were changed two days after the competition without consultation of the judging panel-I was texted by the organizer after she changed the results that the organization had reviewed the videos and score sheets and thus making the formal decision to change the placings. I question then why did the organization call upon a judging panel to judge if the final decision was to be made by them? Unbelieveable.
I further lost respect for this organization when none of their members were in the judging room when the panel was being harrased. Instead the organizer was in a rush to get to the afterparty...the fact that we had parents threatening us wasn’t a concern in the least…but I mean the afterparty must go….ridiculous!
Even if scoresheets are looked at solely, NSM was not the top scoring team and all the judges can attest to that. However, I fear given the lack of credibility of this organization those marks may as well be skewed by now…it’s an assumption but could likely be a fair one at this point.
Rangla Punjab is a not for profit organization that really could have elevated itself and achieved great success, but the misdemeanour of its organization could very well be it’s demise. I urge the organizer of Rangla Punjab to act in good faith and retract her statement of the new placings just so to regain any credibility that she can for her organization.
Further to that, even if NSM is being placed ‘first’ by the organizer this falsified placing cannot be so not just for the obvious reasons but also due to the clause on the registration package, eluding that if a team interferes or debates with the judging panel they will be immediately disqualified…debating aside, the judges were harassed and verbally abused, disqualification shouldn’t even be a question …however the organizer chooses to place NSM first…this just shows you the intent of the organization.
Going forward:
Bhangra has evolved and grown so much in the past decades…we are lucky to have such a great art in our lives, and to have the capacity, resources and platform to perform. Through this art we have been able build friendships and experiences. Thru this art we have been able to immerse and connect with our culture, language and roots and introduce who we are what we are to the mainstream community, to a point where they too want to revel in the beauty of bhangra with us. Let’s please all work even harder now to ensure that we keep working to build this bhangra community and to elevate this art form, and lets all hope that these types of organizations and teams who are a misrepresentation and lending to the demise of Bhangra and the worlds we have built around it get sifted out before it’s too late.
I apologize for the many spelling errors and run-ons this post may have…it’s 3am and I’m tired…however I was fed up with this drama and had to post to clarify the on-goings of the weekend and to mostly ensure that the placing teams do not feel dis-heartened or think they have been removed from their standings.
Rab Rakha,
Mandeep Patrola-Rai
