Harmeet
Active Member
- Messages
- 127
On behalf of ABC, I have been a dancer for over 11 years since 2006. I have seen a lot of flawed judging decisions in my day, whether it involved my team or not. We all should collectively voice this in a professional way so that other teams in the Bhangra circuit will never experience what we experienced at this competition. The state of the Bhangra scene has diminished in the last 4-5 years, with a big part of it having to do with flawed judging, due to unqualified judges.
Three judges by the name of Mariam Afzal, Gurprit Pasricha, and Gary Khera judged Reign of Bhangra this past weekend. As the meeting started, I apologized to them with the uttermost sincerity, because one of my team members made a remark to them after the results. After that, they were not professional with me at all when I sat down with them during our judges meeting. They justified why they gave my team third, instead of focusing on giving me constructive criticism of what to work on. Gary Khera was beyond bias, and would talk over other judges when I was trying to speak to them. There is also a strong affiliation between Gary and Hardeep (coach of Royal Queens who got 1st place) as they go back to being good friends. This was absolutely unacceptable. After Gary stopped talking finally, I again asked for feedback. Mariam did point out some things that were beneficial for my team. For that, I thank her. Gurprit pointed out a few "breaks" my team took which penalized us, but also did not take into account how long each team danced for. He offered more praise than his opinionated feedback. The system of choosing judges is far from where it needs to be, and the hard work of committees to throw successful competitions goes out the window when something like this happens.
This was the first official "BTF approved" judging competition and was a complete debacle. All three judges were on a different page during the judges meeting. Every team here can agree that these three judges are not qualified to judge Bhangra competitions. Whether a judge has danced in the Bhangra circuit for 10 years or 5, it comes down to your knowledge, ability to be unbias when you make decisions, as well as your communication skills. If you are a Bhangra committee looking to throw a competition, you should NOT choose from three of these judges. I can further go into detail about each judges credentials if they would like me to. This message should get across to the whole Bhangra community. Together, we can make them never be allowed to judge a competition again.
Once again, this is not just one team speaking up, it is multiple. This is when you know there is a problem. If the Bhangra community realizes this, then something needs to be done for the sake of our younger dancers. This was my last competition and it was beyond bitter sweet, but the reason I am posting this is not for any reassurance or pity. This is for the bhangra scene that is falling off and the kids that grow up watching and experiencing this.
Regards, Harmeet Dhaliwal
Placings:
1st: Royal Bhangra Academy Girls
2nd: ShanE Punjab Arts Club
3rd: Tie (ABC/SFBC)
Below this will be other comments from a Facebook thread from teams who placed and did not place at this competition.
(Harkiran - Panj) Bhaji I agree with your post!! All these kids who were 16 are all now grown up at 24/25yrs old. They need to stand up.
We have to fix our local circuit ourselves, no outsider or BTF will do it.
It's takes your faith away when your team puts in countless hours of hard work.
I always say " don't give it to us if we don't deserve it". There is no worse feeling than getting something you don't deserve and no worse feeling than not getting what you know you deserve.
(ShanEPunjab) Bilkul kiran its true . We deserved 2nd that was ok for us but that Royal girls omg not even stand at last spot got 1st .It was not fair for other teams Norcal,ABC even Vancity were much much better than them.
(Harkiran-Panj) I have not seen any videos, and I was not there so I cannot point out certain teams. But I do say that this is happening way too often. Right when I think our local circuit is getting better it falls. Idols couldn't have a competition due to fights, judges were being yelled and sworn at in parking lots at Elite.
We as in the younger generation who are now grown adults 22-27 need to stand up and do something about it and not be scared of any ramifications.
(Vivesh- VanCity Bhangra) Totally agree with this post. Things need to change in the circuit and we have to work together to make this change. This competition was a complete push over, it took placings to a new extent. We all know who deserved to place and videos will speak for them selves-hopefully they are released. This is the first time that all 7 out of the 8 teams are on the same page about this situation and that really says something. This one shall not pass.
(Kabeer-Van City) It was shocking to see what happened last night. I personally will take a stand to make sure our youth isn't effected by actions of others.
(Jatinder- ShanEPunjab) Bro do u know someone (I do not want to take the name) said that one of judges said that he gave u guys 59 scores and he was questioned why u scored them so low ,the answer was that I don't like them.
(Rajan- VanCity Bhangra) If nobody speaks out about this bs now, this is going to develop into a trend. I'm not okay with sitting idle while youngsters are preparing for months for a competition, only to go and become disheartened and demotivated by politics, and inadequate judging. They were biased, and upon receiving very vague and unspecific feedback they told us that we lost due to some things that were common amongst all the performances of the night. We were told (and I quote) "VanCity is usually better than this", which of course is perfectly reasonable given that no two performances are ever the same. However each judge should look at a routine with a blank slate and impartiality, rather than through a filter of pre-determined expectations and what not.
These are a few of many posts that are continuing to pile up. We as teams are taking a stand, and something has to be done for the sake of this bhangra scene and our youth growing up in it.
*In no way, shape, or form does this reflect Reign of Bhangra's committee. Gurinder (organizer) did an amazing job throwing this show and it turned out to be very successful for a first year competition, along with being almost completely sold out.*
Three judges by the name of Mariam Afzal, Gurprit Pasricha, and Gary Khera judged Reign of Bhangra this past weekend. As the meeting started, I apologized to them with the uttermost sincerity, because one of my team members made a remark to them after the results. After that, they were not professional with me at all when I sat down with them during our judges meeting. They justified why they gave my team third, instead of focusing on giving me constructive criticism of what to work on. Gary Khera was beyond bias, and would talk over other judges when I was trying to speak to them. There is also a strong affiliation between Gary and Hardeep (coach of Royal Queens who got 1st place) as they go back to being good friends. This was absolutely unacceptable. After Gary stopped talking finally, I again asked for feedback. Mariam did point out some things that were beneficial for my team. For that, I thank her. Gurprit pointed out a few "breaks" my team took which penalized us, but also did not take into account how long each team danced for. He offered more praise than his opinionated feedback. The system of choosing judges is far from where it needs to be, and the hard work of committees to throw successful competitions goes out the window when something like this happens.
This was the first official "BTF approved" judging competition and was a complete debacle. All three judges were on a different page during the judges meeting. Every team here can agree that these three judges are not qualified to judge Bhangra competitions. Whether a judge has danced in the Bhangra circuit for 10 years or 5, it comes down to your knowledge, ability to be unbias when you make decisions, as well as your communication skills. If you are a Bhangra committee looking to throw a competition, you should NOT choose from three of these judges. I can further go into detail about each judges credentials if they would like me to. This message should get across to the whole Bhangra community. Together, we can make them never be allowed to judge a competition again.
Once again, this is not just one team speaking up, it is multiple. This is when you know there is a problem. If the Bhangra community realizes this, then something needs to be done for the sake of our younger dancers. This was my last competition and it was beyond bitter sweet, but the reason I am posting this is not for any reassurance or pity. This is for the bhangra scene that is falling off and the kids that grow up watching and experiencing this.
Regards, Harmeet Dhaliwal
Placings:
1st: Royal Bhangra Academy Girls
2nd: ShanE Punjab Arts Club
3rd: Tie (ABC/SFBC)
Below this will be other comments from a Facebook thread from teams who placed and did not place at this competition.
(Harkiran - Panj) Bhaji I agree with your post!! All these kids who were 16 are all now grown up at 24/25yrs old. They need to stand up.
We have to fix our local circuit ourselves, no outsider or BTF will do it.
It's takes your faith away when your team puts in countless hours of hard work.
I always say " don't give it to us if we don't deserve it". There is no worse feeling than getting something you don't deserve and no worse feeling than not getting what you know you deserve.
(ShanEPunjab) Bilkul kiran its true . We deserved 2nd that was ok for us but that Royal girls omg not even stand at last spot got 1st .It was not fair for other teams Norcal,ABC even Vancity were much much better than them.
(Harkiran-Panj) I have not seen any videos, and I was not there so I cannot point out certain teams. But I do say that this is happening way too often. Right when I think our local circuit is getting better it falls. Idols couldn't have a competition due to fights, judges were being yelled and sworn at in parking lots at Elite.
We as in the younger generation who are now grown adults 22-27 need to stand up and do something about it and not be scared of any ramifications.
(Vivesh- VanCity Bhangra) Totally agree with this post. Things need to change in the circuit and we have to work together to make this change. This competition was a complete push over, it took placings to a new extent. We all know who deserved to place and videos will speak for them selves-hopefully they are released. This is the first time that all 7 out of the 8 teams are on the same page about this situation and that really says something. This one shall not pass.
(Kabeer-Van City) It was shocking to see what happened last night. I personally will take a stand to make sure our youth isn't effected by actions of others.
(Jatinder- ShanEPunjab) Bro do u know someone (I do not want to take the name) said that one of judges said that he gave u guys 59 scores and he was questioned why u scored them so low ,the answer was that I don't like them.
(Rajan- VanCity Bhangra) If nobody speaks out about this bs now, this is going to develop into a trend. I'm not okay with sitting idle while youngsters are preparing for months for a competition, only to go and become disheartened and demotivated by politics, and inadequate judging. They were biased, and upon receiving very vague and unspecific feedback they told us that we lost due to some things that were common amongst all the performances of the night. We were told (and I quote) "VanCity is usually better than this", which of course is perfectly reasonable given that no two performances are ever the same. However each judge should look at a routine with a blank slate and impartiality, rather than through a filter of pre-determined expectations and what not.
These are a few of many posts that are continuing to pile up. We as teams are taking a stand, and something has to be done for the sake of this bhangra scene and our youth growing up in it.
*In no way, shape, or form does this reflect Reign of Bhangra's committee. Gurinder (organizer) did an amazing job throwing this show and it turned out to be very successful for a first year competition, along with being almost completely sold out.*
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