Holy crap and balls, every time I think I have y’all’s voting patterns figured out, you throw me for a loop. I thought this was going to be the round where we’d get a couple of runaway games, but…. but! Our Elite 8 was so close in all four match-ups. Three of the four match-ups could have swung either way at any time. This has been one of the best tournaments we have had. We only had one match-up total come within one vote of a 100-0 win (no one hit that mark this year) and every round has been a nailbiter!

So here we are. The Semi-Finals begin now and voting will end Sunday, April 7 at 5pm Central. I truly cannot believe we are already at the Final 4, this year’s tourney has absolutely flown by!

But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.

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Elite 8

Rockstar Region

(1) “Scotty Doesn’t Know” – Eurotrip vs (2) “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” – O Brother, Where Art Thou? 

I thought our 1 seed “Scotty Doesn’t Know” would get a good shot from 2 seed “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow”, but I didn’t see a tie on the evening of the next to last day of voting. This one was tight all the way through, and I saw either one of these songs up by one vote every time I checked. At the close of voting, our overall 1 seed from Eurotrip takes the Rockstar Region by a final of 54-46. That’s a two-vote victory!

Cartoon/Kid Region

(1) “The Climb” – Hannah Montana: The Movie vs (2) “Peaches” – The Super Mario Bros. Movie 

This match-up was our biggest “blowout”, as it were, of the Elite 8. But even though the margin was more wide than the other 3 games, it still wasn’t a runaway. Ol’ Miley had put the beatdown on the competition so far but came up against a steamroller in the Elite 8. Bowser had a Super Star though, so it was never a fair fight really. We lose our second 1 seed of the tournament in “The Climb” as 2 seed “Peaches” walks off with the Cartoon/Kid Region title and moves on to the Semi-Finals by a final of 69-31.

Solo Region

(2) “Lose Yourself” – 8 Mile vs (4) “I’m Just Ken” – Barbie

The right side of the bracket was wild. When I checked on Tuesday, the Barbie jam was up by 1 vote. As of 10am on the morning of the last day of voting, our Solo Region was led by one vote from our 2 seed “Lose Yourself”. This one was back-and-forth, and I never saw either of these songs up by more than 2 votes. A true match of Keepy Uppy if we’ve ever seen one. I’m telling you, 4 seed “I’m Just Ken” was just a juggernaut and I thought it may take out a longtime fan favorite. But in the final minutes, the 2 seed “Lose Yourself” got a buzzer beater and wins the Solo Region by a final of 52-48. Just as this Regional Final was every time I checked in, that’s a one vote margin of victory for Eminem!

TV Region

(1) “5,000 Candles In The Wind (Bye Bye Li’l Sebastian)” – Parks & Recreation vs (3) “Smelly Cat” – Friends

Again. This right side. What a ride! I knew when this match-up was finalized that we could very well see another 1 seed fall. And it seemed to be materializing before our eyes as the Parks & Recreation horsey memorial song was down early. They made a big push throughout voting and did the work – this one was in a tie as of Wednesday morning! Late voting went the way of the elder millennials and 3 seed “Smelly Cat” from Friends fought their way to a two-vote coup, knocking off another 1 seed, and taking the TV Region by a final score of 54-46. Bye Bye, Li’l Sebastian, indeed.

We head into the Semi-Finals with Matt Damon vs Bowser and Eminem (Or B-Rabbit, if you please) vs Phoebe Buffay. Absolutely impossible. How do you even choose? Wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, after all the votes and all of my back-patting about seeding so well, we head into the Semi-Finals with only one 1 seed representing. I don’t feel too bad though as the other three entries to make it to the Final 4 could all have very well been seeded as 1’s. There have been a few surprises this year, and I’m missing some of my absolute favorites (justice for A Goofy Movie!), but overall, I feel very comfortable with these results! Good voting, team!

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That leaves our bracket looking like this:

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Final 4

Semi-Final #1

Semi-Final #2

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We’re here, guys! We have our regional winners and now it’s time to see who moves on to the finale! Polls are open and will close on Sunday, April 7 at 5pm Central.

Let’s get to voting and see who gets to the ‘ship! See you guys on Monday with our Championship match-up! Unreal that we are already here.