Something that has been on my mind before worlds even began this year was the question “Which would be better? Worlds in Prague or Worlds in Japan?”. Now that both of these two astonishing events are over, I figured I should probably post this poll/forum before all the worlds hype comes to an end.
After watching and keeping up with both of these events I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every second of every performance that I watched. In my opinion each and every yoyoer in worlds deserves a round of applause for all the effort they put in. Each thrower has gone through their own endeavors which has caused them to arrive at the point in their yoyoing where they have been able to preform at the level of the one and only, World Yoyo Contest. We the viewers (or for some of us the yoyoers at worlds) had the privilege of seeing all the finalized results of everyone’s hard work.
Having said that, there are still many advantages and disadvantages of Worlds in Prague compared to Worlds in Japan and vice versa. So which did you all prefer? And what aspects of both did you like, and dislike? Personally I am undecided which contest I preferred but I did enjoy having Steve Brown as a commentator on the live stream in Prague which was not on this past year’s live stream.
Please feel free to give any input and opinions you may have towards your preference of Worlds in Japan or Worlds in Prague these past two years. And don’t forget to vote!
Prague video coverage was better (live commentary, instant replay), I don’t think I can compare more than that as I wasn’t there.
I have to ask though, who was the European announcer this year (I think he did EYYC too)? While I understand his job is to announce and hype the crowd, he would also inject his personal opinion on people both before and after their routines which seemed very unprofessional. In a judged competition telling people a certain player is going to be amazing, or talking about how the last contestant did tricks you’d never seen before is just not fair to the other competitors and gives a pre-biased feel to everything even though I know the judges wouldn’t be affected by it.
It was Ong Yu Cheng I believe.
Now that you mention it, I do agree that hyping up his favorite players might be a little unfair, haven’t even crossed my mind before.
I can’t speak to which one was “better”, but the venue for Prague Worlds absolutely raised the bar. Multiple levels of seating, multiple viewing areas, two bars with delicious Czech beer, an espresso stand, etc, etc. It was more of a party atmosphere, whereas Tokyo seemed more serious (cool in its own way). I can’t wait to see how Cleveland’s going to try to beat it.
I have a contract for the venue already, but won’t be announcing it until the contracts are actually signed. Should happen fairly soon, once all of the NYYL folks are back in the country and we can finalize everything.
One thing I will say: from Cleveland Hopkins Internationals airport you can hop on a train from baggage claim and arrive basically in the lobby of the hotel venue for $2.25…which will make this the easiest and cheapest contest commute from the airport of any contest I’ve been to in 20 years.
Sounds good to me! Steve Brown, hooking us up on the daaaaaaillly… 8)
Maybe the fact I have Instagram now (and so was able to see all the behind the scenes action), whereas I didn’t have it for Prague, but Japan definitely seemed like the best WYYC yet. Everyone looked like they had SUCH a good time, it was awesome to see.
Also, getting IG was just a great idea. I’ve never felt like I was actually PART of a contest that I didn’t attend before. People were throwing up so many photos and videos… it was amazing, I felt like I was there with everyone.
That being said, I loved the replays, angle changes and the commentary on the Prague livestream. Would like to see that back.
I wasn’t there so this might be completely wrong, but I think that the venue in Prague was more visually appealing, and the atmosphere seemed more fun.
