Hmm, not sure 'bout this, ShadowWind, okay, I never took these things too serious anyway and under the conditions now... .... can't care less to know whom some anonymous folks consider AOM. shrug But then, I don't think that all these Hot 20, AOM or what ever, was necessarily a bad thing. A professional artist has to find ways to get the attention of a large audience. So now here * is* a large audience and a good opportunity to practice this important skill. For the 79999 other artist it may be a food of tought and they may learn a lot about what the AOM did better to get attention. For the observer it was an additional joy to see how artists dealt with this difficult task. And maybe one shouldn't be that negative about arguments and fuss. I think artists like Picasso, Schiller, Brecht, Kollwitz... never would had done art if there wasn't the need to express a controversial viewpoint or to develop new way of artistic expression. They caused a lot of fuss and argueing, but I wont miss it, think about how miserable life would be w/o them. :) On the other side see how "art" looks like in totalitarian systems, with anonymous committees and just one viewpoint that is allowed to express. I don't think it's the competition that is "tearing this place apart" it's rather the inability to accept new points of view, the lack of tolerance and the wish to impose the artist's will and to create a kind of Disneyland instead of a place where art can freely thrive and breath. Oh, and Papu, just FYI, the AOM is still voted by members, so I don't think this new way will solve your problem. :) cheer and have a nice weekend.