Crack Defeat: Difference between revisions

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** And one member of New Directions remarks that Aural Intensity's performance is a mash-up of two songs sung by two of the judges. Is it against contest rules to suck up?

** Vocal Adrenaline's performance was (allowing for differences in taste) quite good, however, it WAS clear that the intent of the episode was that the New Directions should have ''at least'' taken second place.

* This kicks off the plot of a ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' story arc. Shotaro's [[Joshikousei]] informants Queen and Elizabeth enter an ''[[American Idol]]''-style singing contest, and do well in their first two weeks<ref>Bearing in mind that the girls are played by members of [[AKB48]]</ref>. In the third week, they come up against a guy [[Brown Note|whose singing is so terrible it knocks birds out of the sky and causes earthquakes]], but the judges absolutely adore him. Naturally the girls are suspicious, so they hire Shotaro to investigate. {{spoiler|No points for guessing that a Dopant is involved, but not in the way it might seem.}}

* This kicks off the plot of a ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' story arc. Shotaro's [[Joshikousei]] informants Queen and Elizabeth enter an ''[[American Idol]]''-style singing contest, and do well in their first two weeks.<ref>Bearing in mind that the girls are played by members of [[AKB48]]</ref> In the third week, they come up against a guy [[Brown Note|whose singing is so terrible it knocks birds out of the sky and causes earthquakes]], but the judges absolutely adore him. Naturally the girls are suspicious, so they hire Shotaro to investigate. {{spoiler|No points for guessing that a Dopant is involved, but not in the way it might seem.}}

=== Comic Books ===

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* In ''[[Bob and George]]'', the robot Ran Cossack's backstory is that Kalinka Cossack built him for a [[Science Fair]]. They lost to a giant model volcano.

** Specifically, he lost to a model volcano because the alternative would be giving the prize to a ''girl''. And we obviously can't give the prize to a girl, right?

*** It's implied that Ran would have won if he'd been judged ~~first--the~~ judges gave the volcano very high ratings before discovering that the competing project was a self-aware robot. The judges' sexism was used as a tiebreaker.

*** It's implied that Ran would have won if he'd been judged first—the judges gave the volcano very high ratings before discovering that the competing project was a self-aware robot. The judges' sexism was used as a tiebreaker.

* In ''[[Gastrophobia]]'', Phobia and Klepto have a [[Cooking Duel|cooking match]] to prove who's the better cook. Phobia makes [[Cordon Bleugh Chef|squirrel-bacon applesauce.]] Klepto ''[[Anachronism Stew|invents]]'' apple pie. Phobia wins by default because Klepto is just a slave.

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* ''[[King of the Hill]]'': After having a heart attack, the boss of the propane company Hank Hill works at asks Hank to "take care of my dogs", and he thinks that boss is metaphorically telling him to take care of the company, so he accepts the job. Turns out boss literally does mean to take care of his dogs, while some other guy is taking charge of the company and putting "tattleboxes" in the propane delivery trucks, which royally pisses off the drivers and ruins productivity.

* ''[[All Grown Up!]]'', "Interview with a Campfire": No-talent Angelica Pickles and talented singer Susie Carmichael are auditioning for the lead in a camp musical. After all is said and done, both Kimi and Lil think Susie had the better audition for the lead role in the play (although we have to [[Take Our Word for It|take their word for it]]). However, come play time, she's only in a supporting role.

* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', "Operation ELECTIONS": Nigel [[Assumed Win|walks out to a presidential podium to make a speech]] before he finds out that he lost his 4th Grade President election to the Delightful Children. After being told that he in fact did win the election (in a scene where we find out that the Delightfuls weren't even on the ballot), he spends the rest of the episode involved in a war between the elementary school and middle school. At the end though, he finds out that he was lied to, and the real election results gave the win to another ~~student -- minor~~ [[Recurrer|background character]], Eggbert Eggelstein.

* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', "Operation ELECTIONS": Nigel [[Assumed Win|walks out to a presidential podium to make a speech]] before he finds out that he lost his 4th Grade President election to the Delightful Children. After being told that he in fact did win the election (in a scene where we find out that the Delightfuls weren't even on the ballot), he spends the rest of the episode involved in a war between the elementary school and middle school. At the end though, he finds out that he was lied to, and the real election results gave the win to another student—minor [[Recurrer|background character]], Eggbert Eggelstein.

** [[Early-Bird Cameo|Who was once shown]] trying to eat a candy bar while forgetting that he was wearing a space helmet, so that should give some idea about how terrible Eggbert (and the student body who elected him {{[spoiler|including Nigel's squadron!}}]) is.

** [[Early-Bird Cameo|Who was once shown]] trying to eat a candy bar while forgetting that he was wearing a space helmet, so that should give some idea about how terrible Eggbert (and the student body who elected him {{{spoiler|including Nigel's squadron!}}]) is.

* ''[[Teacher's Pet (TV series)|Teachers Pet]]'': [[Dark Horse Victory|Ian]] (the gross kid) somehow manages to squeak past both Scott and Leonard to win class president in an election [[Decided by One Vote]].

* Straddling on the fence... ''[[Rugrats]]'', "Moving Away": Angelica Pickles' mom Charlotte has packed her bags, and is ready to move (with Angelica and hubby Drew) cross-country to New York to be the new Vice President of her company. After Angelica recounts with the rest of the Rugrats on how they met in the first place, Charlotte's plans have hit one major snag: her assistant, Jonathan has taken the job ahead of his apparent superior. "There's no loyalty in this town!"

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* Similar to the above, the ''[[Father Ted]]'' episode 'A Song For Ireland' sees Ted's hopelessly lame song "My Lovely Horse" (whose melody consists of one note played over and over again) triumph over Father Dick Byrne's obviously superior effort to be nominated as Ireland's [[Eurovision Song Contest]] entry... because [[Springtime for Hitler|the Irish organisers are sick of always winning Eurovision because it was getting too expensive to host]] (Which was true, because at the time, Ireland had just had a three-year winning streak at the ESC.) Needless to say, they don't tell Ted this. Needless to say, Ted doesn't win Eurovision, a rare case of [[Springtime for Hitler]] actually working.

* An episode of ''[[Family Matters]]'', the Winslows engage in a rivalry with another couple in a dance competition. Right before the final showdown, the couples reconcile and decide to split the top prize. Unfortunately, they are told that this is illegal ... so first place goes to "the commissioner's kids."

* [[Shocking Elimination|Happens all the time]] on [[Reality Show~~|Reality Shows~~]], with the exact justifications depending on the format:

* [[Shocking Elimination|Happens all the time]] on [[Reality Show]]s, with the exact justifications depending on the format:

** [[Eliminated From the Race]] (''[[The Amazing Race]]''): A normally-excellent team just has a really bad day and comes in last.

** [[Voted Off the Island]] (''[[Survivor]]'', ''[[Big Brother]]'' US): Plot and scheme all you want, you still have to please the other competitors so they'll keep you around. Many players have been voted out for being too good and a threat to others' success.

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* Playing with this trope is ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', "Family Man", where restaurant cook Hyunh (see [[Celebrity Is Overrated]]) is concerned that his new boss will pick an inferior cook as his new head chef because he has a large family, and Hyunh only has a daughter (who doesn't even appear in the story).

* ''[[Rocket Power]]'' included a sand castle contest. The various entrants spent lots of time and effort on elaborate sand sculptures, but first place went to a little girl who made a tiny sand tower with a bucket. Reason? It was a sand ''castle'' contest, and hers was the only one that could be called a "castle".

* In an episode of ''[[Pepper Ann]]'', the eponymous character completely wins over the judges of a beauty pageant with her heartfelt speech about being herself... but another girl wins because the entire pageant was rigged to give her the ~~prize -- she~~'s the daughter of the president of the company that organized it.

* In an episode of ''[[Pepper Ann]]'', the eponymous character completely wins over the judges of a beauty pageant with her heartfelt speech about being herself... but another girl wins because the entire pageant was rigged to give her the prize—she's the daughter of the president of the company that organized it.

=== Webcomics ===

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* In ''[[Stick It]]'', one of the gymnasts performs a difficult vault with impeccable skill, but loses points because of a technicality: her ''bra strap'' was showing. As she herself points out, the judges were overtly biased against her coach and were exploiting this rule as a covert mean of revenge. This event causes the rebellion that makes up the remainder of the film, and is apparently a problem [[Truth in Television|in real life]]; in actual gymnastic competitions the complex rules and unnecessary penalties confuse viewers and allow judges to deliberately alter the outcome.

* One of Dewey Finn's lies in ''[[School of Rock]]'' has him telling about how he auditioned for an orchestra and ended up getting spurned in favor of a relative of Yo Yo Ma's. Dewey: "A little nepotisssss!"

** {{spoiler|By film's end, Dewey suffers what he feels is a [[Crack Defeat]] at a band contest, at the hands of the very band that kicked him out at the film's start. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Until his band gets a call for an encore.]]}}

** {{spoiler|By film's end, Dewey suffers what he feels is a Crack Defeat at a band contest, at the hands of the very band that kicked him out at the film's start. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Until his band gets a call for an encore.]]}}

=== Literature ===

* Obligatory ''[[Discworld]]'' example: At the end of ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'', Agnes's annoying and tone-deaf roommate Christine is the one who looks forward to a brilliant future as a diva while Agnes, who actually did all the singing every time Christine appeared onstage, is shunted off to one side. The stage manager {{spoiler|Walter Plinge}} tells her that yes, she was very good, better than Christine will ever be even after years of training - but Christine is naturally a star, which in the opera world is more important than being talented.

* Justified in [[Piers Anthony]]'s [[Apprentice Adept]] novels, where Stile and Clef compete in a contest to see who's the master musician. Clef's first piece is technically perfect, but doesn't attempt to appeal to the audience at hand. Stile's piece does so, allowing Clef to learn to suit his music to his audience. Although the audience clearly finds Clef's second performance to be the best of the lot, the judges aware the victory to Stile, because Clef's skills benefited more from hearing Stile's piece than vice versa. So, Stile is the master and ~~Clef -- however~~ refined his ~~technique -- is~~ the apprentice under the circumstances.

* Justified in [[Piers Anthony]]'s [[Apprentice Adept]] novels, where Stile and Clef compete in a contest to see who's the master musician. Clef's first piece is technically perfect, but doesn't attempt to appeal to the audience at hand. Stile's piece does so, allowing Clef to learn to suit his music to his audience. Although the audience clearly finds Clef's second performance to be the best of the lot, the judges aware the victory to Stile, because Clef's skills benefited more from hearing Stile's piece than vice versa. So, Stile is the master and Clef—however refined his technique—is the apprentice under the circumstances.

** Also noteworthy in that both the audience response ''and'' the AI computer analysis had Clef as the winner. However, they only get to submit ''advisory'' opinions; the judges' vote is binding.