Let's get our minds off of potential "cheating" and such. How about we do a little guess work?
Not talking about favorites here, I'm asking "Which five videos do you think will win?"
IM support or not, I wanna know which videos you guys think have the best shot. That means, videos [b]IN OR NEAR THE TOP 20 ALREADY[/b].

no order:
1) Charm Face - Gazelle City* - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LNf-Sz_5gA
2) he'll need to get away from spot #24, krooton0737 - FOTP* - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXdlw6kLPhg
3) amkun - Rookie Jet - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwTNQbgMNM
4) popopoagon - YOUNGSTER - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le6b0LDVhKw
5) if he can pull into the 20s, Tencom72 - No Self Control - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4vGkloojv0

Runner up: Ano hi to onaji sora no shita de (taffy)
and maybe Orange Film Garden (uma110x). They have the burden of being obscure songs. Both are phenomenal entries though.

Dear god, change the rules for: sacraelectro's Hybrid Rainbow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiNxsoviGCk

*Don't give me shit, this is one of the best videos, and I don't think anyone can deny that this guy has a great pop rock voice.

**This could be switched out with TheStillSteelDown's FOTP* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsPowA5UDg) depending on if the pillows want more of an international winner base.

***It slightly disappoints me that three of the five I chose are very simple songs. Easy to play, easy to sing (if you're a singer). I guess that's how it is though. Thankfully, CharmFace and amkun went all out with their videos.

****if krooton's FOTP doesn't win first, that'll be surprising. if it doesn't get in the top 5, it'll be a tragedy.

There are about 10 videos I can see making top 5, and you listed most of them.

EDIT: I still keep wanting to throw you and Mare in. You see, I'm not really a fan of flashy videos. I prefer the covers that just show people doing what they do best - rocking out (or in your case, jazzing out).

You guys just brought it like it was. Raw admiration for the pillows and changed it up a bit. IMO, it's one of the best.

Also, Back Seat Dog cover has the Nine Miles thing going for it. The musical production could've been better, but it's pretty good in general... and the video keeps you looking.

Actually this would be a cool top five:

1) [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUgXWmiR8VI[/url]
2) [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHWa5kIc9Tw[/url]
3) [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BeJrdZ5P2U[/url]
4) [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OM1YEASNbs[/url]
5) [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqz8AF-sROU[/url]

What doya think?

I agree with GR's entries, although I'd push the Orange Film Garden video, and his/mare's video, up a bit further on the list.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Shit[/quote]

You shithead, you can at least put yourself in there. Let's not pretend it's over until it's over.

Yeah, I don't want to poop on myself or Mare. I am damn proud of what we did, and I don't think we could have done much better, given the equipment and skillsets we have.

But there have been a ton of videos that have honestly just went above and beyond the call of duty (with video, instrumental skill, and arrangement), so I gotta really tip my hat to them.

I don't want to overly brag about our cover, but frankly, a lot of the high-view-count videos have more flash than actual musicianship. Just because we're not music video-making wizards doesn't mean we're out of the running. I'd put Tidus' cover up in what I project as the top 5, too, since it's clearly one of the very best total reinterpretations that we've seen in this contest.

To say that something musically mediocre is more likely to win than any of the actually good covers is just silly.

I see that [i]someone[/i] has retained his [i][b]fighting spirit[/b][/i].

NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER. In mah fighting pose, rofl.

Tonight, NO SURRENDER!

[img]http://kumakorner.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/kamina.jpg[/img]

YOURS IS A DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS!

[img]http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/riviera-gba/art-006.jpg[/img]

YAAHH WE'RE EVIDENTLY POSTING COMBAT RELATED PICTURES ASSOCIATED WITH GAMES OR SERIES WHICH WE ENOJY!!

(Sorry, off topic)

I played a bit of Riveira, and it was pretty fun. I can't remember why I stopped. Also: Kamina is a badass.

No matter how I look at it, I can't really see myself placing Top 5.

I've never won anything in my life... so I doubt the first thing I'm going to win is an international competition.

No, see, you're doing it wrong. It should be "I've never won anything before in my life, so this time, it's my turn."