It's been a long road from the nomination process, to the final voting process, to now, when we unveil the winners of the January 2006 Superlatives. But in keeping with the Olympic theme, I'm going to prolong it just a little bit longer to talk about this amazing event. :) January and February were dark months for TV.com. The site was littered with bugs, Howdy Doody and MP3.com icons were appearing more often, and Level 51 could not be surpassed. It was a time of frustration, a time of anger, and a time when many of the site's biggest contributers and most influential members decided that there were better things they could do with their time. It was a time that needed distractions. And thus, the January 2006 Superlatives were born. I decided that the site needed this to look forward to, and that we'd do one of these every four months. But in order to keep the schedule straight so that every year started with a superlatives, the first one would need to be in January. And so February became January, at least on my blog. ;) It began with a nomination round, a first for the Superlatives, on February 12, in which tens of users submitted their choices for 12 categories. It was difficult work for the vote counter, and he had to learn a great deal about organization and spreadsheets. But the people needed their votes counted. :) And the nominations were announced on February 17, to great fanfare. Then the real battle began. There were numerous problems during the final voting round. First of all, the French were involved in some shifty vote stealing. They contacted the Canadians and promised them that Stig14 would win in Most Popular if Witchinsider won Best Blopper. The Canadians of course, being the good people they are, ratted out the French and the deal was squashed. ;) And then one of the contestants, who has yet to be discovered, had her ex-husband try to hack into Awerlwas' computer so she could no longer blop. Luckily, the ex-husband wasn't very good at hacking. :lol: But it just goes to show how cut-throat these competitions can be. Finally, after all the troubles, we get to this moment: the votes have been tallied, the winners have been decided, and the medals have been made. Now, here are your choices for the January 2006 Superlatives! :D Most Popular: This award goes to the person whose colossal blogs and polite blog comments have made her a favorite among all TV.com users. Angelsxo wins most popular in a landslide. Funniest: "Hey, have you heard the one about Ole and Sven going Ice-Fishing?" This award goes to me, Midwestrocker. Most Influential: Let me ask you: who doesn't want to be like Stig14, the winner of this award? She's smart, she's funny, and she's lived in Japan. :D And her blogs have changed the way a lot of us do things. Best Blog: I would provide a link to the best blog, but that would be pointless since you are already there. ;) This award goes to me, Midwestrocker. Best Blopper: She blops to many, many blogs every day with interesting commentary and uplifting messages for those who are down. Thus, the winner of this award is Awerlwas. Best Banner: Not only is it the best banner, it's the best dressed banner! This award goes to Witchinsider. Best Poster: She's always helping out those in need, answering questions and sticking up for those who're frustrated, and keeping every one out in the forums sane. The winner of this award is Angelandspike. Smartest: You don't have to be smart to know, that the smartest one here is clearly Sesho. :) Most Missed: Who else could it be? The man whose blogs are still unparalleled. The man whose influence brought us all together. The man whose links were so well-placed. The man who left us for a real life. This award goes to Danasdude, who we will always remember no matter what. Best Ranter: You feel her anger. The winner is RoxieVelma, who is thoroughly fed up. Best Cult: Although it's going through a rough patch right now, the Cult of the Blue Boxies is still the most dominant cult. The Boxies aren't blue anymore, nor are they as prolific, but they still exist, and they're still cool. :D Most Polite: Finally, we come to the last category. This person's kind words have clearly touched every one on the site. The winner of the final award is... Awerlwas. Congratulations to all the winners! You'll have your gold medals by tomorrow, at the latest. Special congratulations go to RoxieVelma, Witchinsider, and Awerlwas (in no specific order), who've won their first ever superlatives. :) They serve to remind everyone that that didn't win these contests are open, and if you didn't win this time you stand a chance of winning when this happens again in May. And I'd like to note that all but two of the winners, Danasdude and I, are women. What does that tell you? Finally, I want to end by asking you all for a favor. "Superlatives" is a very bad word for this. It's long, it's clumsy, and it's hard to use. I would like a different name for all this, so if anybody can come up with one post it here. Something like "The _______ Awards." ;) That's all. Thanks to everyone who voted, this clearly wouldn't happen without you (well, it might, but I would come off as a jerk :P). Keep doing what you do, and be back here in May (if not before then) to vote for the second Superlatives of 2006.