And the winners (yes, plural) in the ‘Weird Al’ contest are …

August 4th, 2008 at 11:04am Georgette Braun

Update 1 p.m. Monday: Regarding the “botting” issue. See below. Our online editor tells me we can only prevent “botting” on our system by allowing only one vote a day. So, it’s unlikely on this type of poll that we’d do that in the future.

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Update 2:45 p.m. Monday: Stephanie Bennett is giving her pass to meet “Weird Al” to her competitor, Rachel Manis. Bennett didn’t want to leave the friend she’s taking to the show alone while she met Al.

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Jacob Olson and his dad Rob of Machesney Park will meet “Weird Al” Yankovic at the MetroCentre Sunday because Jacob’s submission garnered 22,255 votes (96 percent) cast in the What (and Who) Is Weirder than Weird Al in the Rock River Valley contest.

But wait. There’s more.

Rachel Manis (aka Avid Lebon), who received 797 votes (3 percent), and Stephanie Bennett, who got 30 votes, also will get to meet Yankovic.

Yankovic’s people came through with two more meet-and-greet passes, one for Manis and one for Bennett, in addition to the two passes that Jacob Olson as winner gets.

Voting ended at 9 a.m. this morning.

Rob said he started listening to Yankovic in the fifth or sixth grade and that Yankovic’s musical parodies offer a “break from reality.” Rob’s been singing parodies about his own family for years. His son, Jacob, 14, said his dad is amusing and funny. “Once you hear him singing, everything stops, and all the attention goes to him.”

Read more about all three submissions in the “Poll will be up soon … ” post below. Olson, Manis and Bennett also get two tickets each to get into the “Weird Al” show at the MetroCentre courtesy of NiteLite Promotions.

Oh, and regarding the flurry of comments in the “Vote for who gets to meet Weird Al” posting I read this morning after having been on vacation since Thursday, here’s where I stand:

Even if “botting” was a factor — the Olsons say they knew of no one doing that on their behalf and felt bad about the accusation — I didn’t specifically preclude that in my call to everyone to “vote as often as you like.” However, I have asked our online staff to check into a way to prevent “botting’ on future polls.

Thanks to all who voted.

Entry Filed under: weird al