In true Season 9 fashion, it came down to *a single vote*.

There were 10 entries and 5 of them came within a single vote of either winning or forcing a major tie-breaker of some sort! (and every single writer who submitted something received a vote!) If that doesn't tell you just how good the quality of the writers are this season nothing will.

Well, except a note from one of the Judges saying that they are really impressed with your work!

When I invite people to come in as Judges, they are definitely doing me a favor, and I always worry "I hope I'm not wasting their time with this". Thank you, for once again, not wasting their time! :)

Before I get to the result, I'd like to thank the Judges for taking the time and effort to come to this conclusion.

Your Quick Fire Judges this week were:

You know her. You love her. You covet her icon collection. She's roina_arwen I know she's wanted to do this sort of thing for a *long* time (and considering that, unless my mental math is faulty, she's the longest-constantly tenured member of Idol, that's quite bit of time!) so I'm glad that I was finally able to cross that off her bucket list. :)

Next up is someone else that you should know. Granted, you may only know him from his stint as a Gatekeeper. But people who know joeymichaels know him as something of a legendary figure in these halls. I'm really glad that I could coax him back one more time to help out!

I was also fortunate enough to ask an old friend of mine, from back in my fanfic days, to show up and help out. Brent Lambert is a talented writer and an all-around good guy. He's someone that I've always enjoyed knowing and watching grow over the years - but lately he's really stepped up and done something that makes me go "Damn, I KNOW THAT GUY!"

He is in the process of starting R.R.A.P. (Race Relations in the Arts and Politics) which will be officially launching on Feb 1st. I'll definitely be pointing you in his direction when that happens.

One of the people who really excited and impressed me this season, with dedication to LJ Idol and just that general "This is what is about!" spirit was eternal_ot, combining both compelling writing with an incredible attitude toward life. (Note: One of the things on her "list of accomplishments" is that she is GETTING ENGAGED THIS WEEKEND!)

Last, but certainly not least, is something who spends her time entertaining the world in her travels as well as doing some freelance editing over at Unkind Editor
Most times you would say "When she's not doing that..." but this is whipchick, so she is ALSO writing her fingers to the bone and doing things being the winner of LJ Idol Season 8!

Thank you to all of you for helping out this week! I know it wasn't an easy decision, but I hope you had fun reading the entries!

***

Now that's out of the way - we have our Results.

One contestant, who participated in this Quick Fire, now has IMMUNITY for Week 34, and a guaranteed spot one step closer to a chance to get into the finale!

Who is that?

jexia!

Congratulations!

***
Are you interested in reading the entries yourself, but haven't had the chance to do so? Then go check them out: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/826465.html