Knowing what the judge is looking for is good... but if they say they want originality, and the ONLY original entry gets ignored, it does make a person wonder. However, even that is better than the community voting where the only people who have a chance are the ones attending school or whatever with a large mailing list. If there is a monetary prize, that only increases the odds of favortism. The better contests are the ones where you are not being judged on creativity or expression, but the ability to guess a number or name or item correctly. Those may not further the goal of nudging us into creating more art, but they are fair. I don't mind if there is going to be personal bias in a merchant-sponsored contest. A person running a contest and supplying a prize has the right to determine the conditions of that contest. There are contests where the judge has said that he wants to laugh or be grossed out or whatever. As long as it is stated at the outset that this is a condition, then it is fair. In any contest, fairness and the perception of fairness are critical points. Carolly