There's already a popularity contest out there - it's called the Hot 20. Personally, I like this change. Asking members to nominate and vote for AOM was becoming less and less viable as the commmunity grew. I'm not, however, sanguine about the anonymous committee. Surely we have a right to know who is making these decisions, given that there's still a popular vote involved? Or at least how many are there, and what their qualifications are? I mean, is this a way of saying it's "admin's choice", or are they members? Are the committee people whose artistic opinions the members can respect?