Friends, for all of the bellyaching about the overall volume of quality idol output in 2017, we still managed to have an exciting showdown of idol forces for the best of the year. You don’t know it, and I won’t be too specific, but there were a lot of close calls in what follow here, and a number of ties just below the winners even at that — ultimately, even you all couldn’t decide what it was that most deserved to be honored with a Best Of. Good job!
Nonetheless, after months of pre-nominations and voting and etc., we got down to a healthy group of finalists, all of whom deserve a ton of credit for being the literal cream of the crop even thought only one was going to win — ultimately, in a situation like this, everything is subjective, anyway. BUT! To make things more interesting overall, while it is the picks of you all, the Western loud idol community, that really matter, I will again demonstrate my own incredible acumen for being correct about what’s best in idol, as will folks who contributed to the site over the course of the year. You’ll find it fascinating if not unnecessarily obscure!
As a brief preview: Do you remember how BiSH ran roughshod over the awards last year, basically making a mockery of the whole shebang? We managed to avoid that this time, though WACK’s influence was strong. However, for all of Watanabe’s stable’s influence over Western fandom, a new apple of our all-seeing eye has emerged, and the distribution overall, I think, speaks volumes as to where people line up and how they view what idol is producing.
Without further ado, I give you the Best of 2017. Continue reading →