Best Song Contest
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2003: Origins
The now-annual Best Song Contest began in 2003 in an effort to inspire more people to take an interest in what was seen as a slightly faltering community. Administrator NYRSkate called upon forum-goers to nominate their favorite VGM tracks, and then opened polls for voting (http://www.geocities.com/nyrskate/vote.htm).
This event (known then as "Best Song Of All Time") had major flaws. The biggest of which being that none of the nominated tracks were available for direct download, and thus could not be heard. Also, the voting page was very primitive, being that Kaleb.G used only HTML form controls to create it. Furthermore, discussion was limited to only a couple threads. And as the final nail in the coffin, the contest never truly ended, since interest dropped off after reaching the Quarterfinals.
2004: Redux
In 2004, Skate completely revised his event. People were allowed to list their top 10 nominations out of all VGM, and Skate with the help of some other staff tallied the votes, placing the tracks that received the most votes into the contest. (tie-breaker rounds were also included in order to reach the 255 nominations to complete the brackets.)
The contest seemed to go off rather well, and although there was some dissatisfaction expressed by members over the final few rounds, everyone seemed to be in agreement that the contest had been a success overall.
One-Winged Hutt
One of the more interesting facets of the 2004 contest was the first round pairing of Final Fantasy VII's One Winged Angel against the Hut Hut Hut Hut Hut sound effect from Tecmo Bowl. Fueled by a couple of remixes made by falkon2 and bobo, a song that essentially wasn't a song at all beat the number one seed in the contest. This was pretty much a result of a large group of people feeling the song was overrated, but all in all was more of a joke than anything else.
Related Songs:
- The Original Hut Hut (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Hotobu%20-%20Other%20-%2000%20-%20Hut%20Hut%20Hut.mp3) by Hotobu
- One Winged Hutt (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Falkon2%20-%20Other%20-%2000%20-%20One%20Winged%20Hutt.mp3) by falkon2
- Bye Bye Hut (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Bobo%20-%20Other%20-%2000%20-%20Bye%20Bye%20Hut.mp3) by bobo
- Can't Hut This (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Bobo%20-%20Other%20-%2000%20-%20Can%27t%20Hut%20This.mp3) by bobo
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times
Runner-Up
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Metal Gear Solid Main Theme
Top 16
- Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times
- Metal Gear Solid 2 - Metal Gear Solid Main Theme
- ActRaiser - Fillmore
- Aka - To The West
- Android Assault - Bay Side City
- Beyond Good and Evil - Home Theme
- Beyond Good and Evil - Hyllian Suite
- Castlevania II - Bloody Tears
- Castlevania: Lament of Innocence - House of Sacred Remains
- Chrono Cross - Radical Dreamers ~Without Taking the Jewel~
- Chrono Cross - Time of the Dreamwatch
- Ico - Castle In the Mist
- Katamari Damacy - Lonely Rolling Star
- Neorude II - Last Battle
- SaGa Frontier II - Ruckerinnerung
- Super Smash Bros. Melee - Fountain of Dreams
- Vagrant Story - Staff Roll
2005: Drama
In 2005, the contest began reasonably enough, nominations and tie-breakers running smoothly, but as the rounds progressed it became clear that factions were dividing among the voters, causing intermittent fights to break out within the voting threads. Emotions came to a head when the divided camps (or rather, what everyone perceived to be the divided camps) were defined as ORCHESTRATIN' and OLD SCHOOLIN' respectively. Some members believed that the only reason certain tracks were advancing was because of the quality of their instruments, and other members believed some tracks were only advancing because of a certain nostalgic quality attached to them. Similar fights broke out between ORCHESTRATIN' and ROCKIN' camps concerning the type of instruments used.
Most of the participation in 2005's event was openly bitter or recalcitrant, and many issues among the members were never fully resolved upon the contest's completion.
Notable participants in the arguments for musical superiority included: Skexis, GoldfishX, Merv_Burger, PiccoloNamek, and Cal.
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Legend of Mana - Song of Mana ~Ending Theme~
Top 16
- Legend of Mana - Song of Mana ~Ending Theme~
- ActRaiser - Fillmore
- Aka - To The West
- Android Assault - Bay Side City
- Beyond Good and Evil - Home Theme
- Beyond Good and Evil - Hyllian Suite
- Castlevania II - Bloody Tears
- Castlevania: Lament of Innocence - House of Sacred Remains
- Chrono Cross - Radical Dreamers ~Without Taking the Jewel~
- Chrono Cross - Time of the Dreamwatch
- Ico - Castle In the Mist
- Katamari Damacy - Lonely Rolling Star
- Neorude II - Last Battle
- SaGa Frontier II - Ruckerinnerung
- Super Smash Bros. Melee - Fountain of Dreams
- Vagrant Story - Staff Roll
2006: Exit Skate
In May 2006, Skate opened nominations for the Best Song Contest 2006. Nominations closed on June 4th, but the contest was delayed due to Skate's sudden disappearance from GFF. The community eventually rallied and proceeded with the contest sans Skate, with several members helping to gather songs, tag them, create threads, and more. As a result, BSC '06 was a success despite its architect's absence.
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Soukaigi — Fire Wire
Runner-up
Suikoden V — Wind of Phantom
Top 16
- Soukaigi — Fire Wire
- Suikoden V — Wind of Phantom
- Ace Combat 5 The Unsung War — The Unsung War
- Ace Combat Zero — Zero
- Albert Odyssey — The Airship
- Castlevania: Curse of Darkness — Baljhet Mountains
- Jets 'n' Guns — Shop Music
- Legend of Mana — Earth Painting
- Phantasy Star Online episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution — IDOLA The Strange Fruits
- Shadow Hearts 2 — The Fate
- Sim City 4 — By The Bay
- Tales of Legendia — Enemy Attack
- Tales of the Abyss — The Arrow Was Shot
- Viewtiful Joe 2 — Ice Edge (The Polar Movie Land Theme)
- Wild Arms — Morning Journey
- Wild Arms 4 — Nightless City Guara Bobelo
2007: The New GFF
Dr. Uzuki took the lead in getting the 2007 contest underway, and nominating took place throughout April and May 2007 despite the instability and rebirth of GFF. Several other members volunteered to help out, giving the contest a greater degree of community input. Hosting at the new domain remained a problem.
MERLON
In the final rounds, controversy arose over whether there had been vote rigging in a close contest which saw a late surge of support for one of the tracks. In the end, the track with the surge was disqualified, but not before some spirited debate over the nature of the vote and the spirit of the contest.
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Wild Arms 5 - The Road to Tomorrow Follows Behind You MERLON
Runner-Up
Wild Arms Alter Code F - Puzzle
Top 16
- Wild Arms 5 - The Road to Tomorrow Follows Behind You
- Wild Arms Alter Code F - Puzzle
- Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War - MERLON
- Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia - EXEC_LINCA/
- Cave Story - Labyrinth Fight
- Deus Ex - The Synapse (Hong Kong Streets)
- Donkey Kong Country - Fear Factory
- God Hand - Sunset Heroes
- Grandia 2 - FIGHT!! Version 4 ~ The Final Battle
- Legaia 2: Duel Saga - Lost Forest
- Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Sky Tower (15th Dungeon)
- Radiant Silvergun (Saturn) - Penta
- Ragnarok Online 2 - Din Don Dan Dan Non Monstr
- SimCity 4 - Oasis
- Valkyrie Profile - Mission to the Deep Space
- Wild Arms - Into the Wilderness
2008: The Longest Contest Known to Man
In 2008 the BSC was headed up by Drakken. While the preliminary round started June 21st, the entire contest ran all the way into November, finishing on the 19th. That's five months of BSC. There were assorted reasons for this, from lack of predefined schedule to staggered Brackets and Drakken being too busy due to school. Oh, and some fag renominated Electric Power Building. Good thing it lost in the prelims because it's garbage.
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation - THE LIBERATION OF GRACEMERIA
Runner-Up
Waterworld - Diving
Top 16
- Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation - THE LIBERATION OF GRACEMERIA
- Cheetahmen II - In-Game Music
- Contra 4 - Jungle 1
- Death Smiles - Hades Castle - Stage Final-1
- Himesama Oteyawarakani! - Sky March -This Princess with Divine Grace-
- Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color - The Sea
- Mega Man Network Transmission - StarMan's Stage (Zero Gravity Area)
- Musashi: Samurai Legend - White Whale of Heaven
- Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Wild Wind
- Streets of Rage 2 - Go Straight
- Super Mario 64 - Dire, Dire Docks
- Super Mario Galaxy - Floater Land
- Super Mario Galaxy - Wind Garden
- Voodoo Vince - Jean Lafitte's Ship
- Waterworld - Diving
- Ys Origin - Oboro
2009: 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS
In 2009 the Best Song Contest was headed up by previous contest winner Tails. Many of the old contest conventions were thrown out, such as seeding, thread creation staggering, extended poll tiebreakers, and a predefined month and a half schedule was set. The contest saw a small (but noticeable) increase in voting participation, which started up on May 29th and wrapped up in early July. Drakken somehow managed to put forth the best song of the year, despite his previously committed sins running the longest contest ever the previous year.
Bracket A and Let's Go Away
Due to an absurd amount of joke/j-pop/retarded nominations (such as those from Maris (http://www.gamingforce.org/forums/bsc-2009/37371-best-song-contest-2009-nomination-frenzy-3.html#post701936)), 32 selected tracks were quarantined off into their own bracket (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/BSC%202009.htm) where they wouldn't interfere with the serious progression of the contest. The true intent however, was to get Hatsune Miku and Touhou (two ineligible tracks that were given special exception by Tails) into the Final 16. This plan was an amazing success, despite efforts to the contrary.
It should also be noted that beyond Round 1, all of the streaming tracks in the pairing threads were replaced with various songs of Tails' choosing. For example, Let's Go Away was replaced by WHERE DA HOOD AT during Round 2, and Jam Project's Name ~Kimi no na wa~ was switched out for assorted Jam Project songs every round, such as the Shin Mazinger OP 'Kanjite Knight' (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Kanjite%20Knight.mp3), Rescue Fire (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/01%20-%20Rescue%20Fire.mp3), or their cover (http://www.gelb-2.belkanairforce.com/Music/Name%20R4.mp3) of the Power Rangers theme. All Mikuruga pairings were replaced with the proceeding level from the same soundtrack. All other songs were replaced with random j-pop and anime openings. There were no shortage of people who voted based on what was streaming in the flash player rather than what the actual pairing songs were.
Colonel Skills on the other hand, saw fit to nominate five copies of Let's Go Away from various editions Daytona USA. Seeing a golden opportunity to troll the fuck out of Skills, Tails paired all of them up against random half-assed nominations in hopes of having them all lose in the first round, like this. (http://www.gamingforce.org/forums/bracket/37487-a1p1-lets-go-away-vs-devils-go-through-night.html) Unfortunately one copy of Let's Go Away did make it past the first round but it was swiftly defeated (http://www.gamingforce.org/forums/bracket-b/37723-b2p1-lets-go-away-vs-wings-kynareth.html) by some boring ass Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion track. Ultimate shame.
Winners and Top 16
Winner
Enthusia ~Professional Racing~ - AWAKENING ~Nürburgring Suite~
Runner-Up
R-Type C64 - Title
Top 16
- Castlevania Judgment - Vampire Killer
- deathsmiles - Burning Halloween Town
- Donkey Kong Country 2 - Forest Interlude
- Enthusia ~Professional Racing~ - AWAKENING ~Nürburgring Suite~
- F-Zero GX/AX - ZEN (Aeropolis)
- Granado Espada - La Vistazo
- Hatsune Miku – Ideal (Chapter 01)
- Jazz Jackrabbit - Pull Back the Bass
- Lost Odyssey - Dark Saint
- Mr. Bones - The Village
- R-Type C64 - Title
- Senko no Ronde - assemble
- Shirogane no Soleil - Daily Life ~The Sun Returns Today~
- Sonic Rush - Wrapped in Black
- Touhou – Devil’s Go Through The Night
- Valkyria Chronicles - Main Theme
Spin-offs
In fall of 2004, Skate held another contest called the Best RPG Battle Track Contest. This contest progessed through several rounds but ultimately stalled.
In early 2005, Skate held the Best Mega Man Song contest, which was seen through to completion.
Later on in 2005, Skate opened nominations for yet another battle track contest, but this never came to fruition, mostly due to hardship in Skate's personal life at the time.
Skate proposed to start the battle track contest again in early 2006, but due to conflicts with Song of the Year, as well as an impending board crash, this dropped out of the picture. It has been postponed indefinitely.
In late 2006 and early 2007, the Best Chiptune Contest was launched, the first such spin-off created without Skate's involvement at any stage. Participation was high and discussion was spirited.
The Super Audio Universal Showdown, while not technically a spinoff, nevertheless ran during the summer of 2007 alongside the BSC. The event attracted spirited posting, though participation lagged in the end.
A year later, a Best Doujin Contest was attempted. Though interrupted by a board crash, the 2007-08 event was seen to its conclusion, despite technical mishaps and managerial incompetence. Participation was low, however, and discussion lagged.
A pattern of "off-season" contests seems to be developing, with a more specialized contest being held in the winter before the larger summer event. These smaller events have served as testing grounds for new ideas which may be incorporated into the main BSC.
