Season 5 Finals Results + What's Next?

It's been a long and turbulent season, but we've finally reached the end. After a highly anticipated bracket was cut short by forfeits and burnout, we finally reached two (admittedly worthy) candidates in @AstroTheoretica_lPhysics and @1cbb. The two have had somewhat different journeys to the finals, with Astro's being noticeably more dominant, but both have had absolutely stellar seasons, and have earned their spots.

Their blogs were of slightly lower quality than usual due to them having to rush somewhat with a somewhat short schedule and the holidays exacerbating this effect, but it's a testament to their skill that these were still very good blogs and this as certainly our toughest matchup to judge in a while. With @Don being in hibernation, I called on @nbrasington to be out backup once again, and the results were tight, ending in a 3-2 finish. With that, the winner of BlogChamps Season 5 is... (drumroll please)

@1cbb!

An upset to be sure, but a welcome one. Congratulations 1cbb! Your reward is an offered spot on the judging team and a (potential) recommendation for Top Blogger! 

Now that we've gotten the good part out of the way, where do we go from here? 

Well as many of you know, I am going to put the competition on a brief hiatus, and Season 6 will start April 1st, so we are essentially taking a full season break. Why? Well, for one, running this can be taxing at times, and even the participants are suffering from burnout (with the abnormal forfeit rate) but I want to find a solution without resorting to leaving. And for another thing, it's been an open secret that the quality of the competition has been decreasing since Season 2. This season was especially heartbreaking since by Week 1 of Qualifiers it was shaping up to be almost Season 2 level, and of course, there was Season 4 (we don't talk about Season 4, the only good thing about it is that we got turtle as a judge). What's been happening? Well of ocurse the blame starts with me, I haven't properly figured out the format, and I haven't been inviting enough fresh hungry faces, the Top Bloggers who have little incentive will have a higher likelihood of forfeiting. Additionally, I haven't properly set the atmosphere or been on the ground enough to address the little things, and hopefully this time off will allow me to address all of these problems. Of course, the judges being late and (besides turtle and fire) unproactive has placed a bit more of a burden on me, but I need to figure out a way around that. Of course it's also up to the competitors to actually post, not just for their sakes, but for the sake of the competition, and although I've been wanting to create slight punishments for forfeits, I understand that things happen, and the last thing I want to do is stop people from competing because they're afraid of forfeit penalties. 

So wit all of these problems, I'm hoping that I can fix them before the three months are over. 

So when we get back, what's going to happen? Well first of all, I am kicking Rodgy and Don from the judging team and I couldn't be happier to do it. Don has just straight up disappeared, and Rodgy has been mostly useless and annoying this season (what a tragic fall from grace), and sometimes I can't even trust his judging because of certain stuff that goes on in the chat, and whn that happens I have to use a backup anyways. Luckily, Turtle has been amazing, and Fire is still great, so I will be deeply grateful to have them back. @nbrasington, our backup judge, has agreed to step up to a regular judge so if 1cbb accepts his spot then we will be full, but if anyone wants to become a backup, just message me and I might call on you if I need you.

Registration for Season 6 should start in late February/early March, and will last until qualifiers end. I believe I have mentioned everything, but if you think I forgot something, just let me know and I will edit this announcement to address that. With that, goodbye for now!