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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Packing A Bag But Not Going Far

5:33 PM

For the next four days and nights my abode will be the Media Center Hotel close by CCTV here in Beijing. After 3 grueling days spent determining the 23 finalists from the 91 provincial semi-finalists in the 5th Annual CCTV Cup English Speaking Competition, there is no rest for the weary. The semi-finals closing ceremony ended about 6 p.m. last night, and tonight we have a production meeting for the judges and hosts of the finals at the Media Center, and start taping tomorrow.

While I am tired, I must say that I am proud and delighted to continue my relationship with the CCTV Cup; I have participated as a judge or question-master in three of the last four competitions. I was in the States for the 2005 CCTV Cup, and could not accept the invitation.

I am also quite proud of the work the nine judges and two question-masters did in the just-completed semi-finals. I believe this year's finalists are the best crop of talented young speakers yet. The heated competition should make for some spirited TV. The Finals will air in December on CCTV International Channel 9.

While my solid core of detractors will label this post as shameless self-promotion--along with decrying my "qualifications" to do much more than breathe--in truth it is mostly informational for regular readers, friends and students. I will not have my computer over these coming days, so I will not have access to my e-mail. Please be patient with me if I owe you a word or two.

5:33 PM / Editor / permalink 2 comments

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2 Comments:

I always find the speeches during the Cup to be deadly boring. Why can't they lighten up and speak naturally?

By Xiao Zhu, at 8:51 PM

Dear Xiao Zhu,

Your comment is well deserved; but then it is a mixture of show business and academic politics. A number of changes made in the procedure this year are, with good intentions, aimed at doing exactly what you are complaining about: minimizing the boredom factor.

But still, there will be problems. Today, the best speaker and speech--to whom I gave my highest mark of the day--was shot down by my fellow judges on what I believe were political and academic issues. No one will ever admit as much, and we do not chastize one another unless a truly egregious mistake has been made and a challenge is worth the potential bad blood--I have done that on three occasions, once this year in the semi-finals.

But at least that speech will be televised and other folks can do their own scoring. I will not identify that speech or speaker for that very reason.

Thanks for dropping in and taking the time to leave a comment.

All the best,

Joseph

By Joseph, at 7:05 PM