Bake-off voting thread! (Secondary Challenges)
 

BAKE-OFF VOTING THREAD

Cast your votes here to decide the winners of the 2015 Translation Bake-off secondary events!

Voting will close at noon (Pacific Daylight Time) Sunday, October 18. For each of the secondary events, one prize will be awarded, consisting of the winner’s choice of a book from the Able Muse Press catalog, courtesy of Able Muse / Able Muse Press.

There's no need to vote on the winner of Challenge #2, as there was only one entry; so a sample ballot might look like this:

------------------------------------

Challenge #1:
Emily Dickinson (Post #44) 1 point

Challenge #3:
William Shakespeare (Post #28) 1 point

------------------------------------

If you are undecided between two candidates, you might split your vote for that event, like this:

------------------------------------

Challenge #1:
Emily Dickinson (Post #44) 1 point

Challenge #3:
William Shakespeare (Post #28) 0.5 point
Kay Ryan (Post #25) 0.5 point

------------------------------------

The actual candidates for each event are as follows:


Translation Bake-off secondary challenge #1: "Cielito lindo"
(original and Spanish crib at the top of this thread)

Roger Slater (Post #2 (alternative refrains in Post #7)
Julie Steiner (Post #6)
Catherine Chandler (Post #8)
Marion Shore (Post #11)
Birthe Myers (Post #13)

An extra point, equivalent to one vote, has already been awarded to Marion Shore for providing an audio link of her translation in performance.


Translation Bake-off secondary challenge #3: "Mon loup"
(French original and English crib at the top of this thread

Mary McLean (Post #3)
Kyle Norwood (Post #8)
Catherine Chandler (Post #13)
Roger Slater (Post #15)
Susan McLean (Post #16)
Brian Allgar (Post #23)

An extra point, equivalent to one vote, has already been awarded to Mary McLean for providing an audio link of her translation in performance.


Congratulations to the winner of Challenge #2!

Translation Bake-off secondary challenge #2: "Děkuji"
(Czech original and English crib at the top of this thread)

Julie Steiner (Post #2)

Damn, I was ready to cast my vote for William Shakespeare. Foiled again!

Um, Martin. I provided an audio link as well. Which guarantees me at least one point, right?

Marion, Martin already said that.

Marion,
yes, it is mentioned above and I enjoyed it!

Martin

Whoops, my bad!

These secondary events were indeed challenging. Still, I'm surprised there weren't more entries.

I'm sorry I didn't have the proper equipment (or voice!) to enter an audio file. :eek:

Here are my picks:

Challenge #1:
Julie Steiner Post #6

Challenge #3:
Roger Slater Post #15

Looking forward to the main event.

Challenge #1: Roger Slater, though I laughed out loud at Julie's version for her moxie at setting the lyrics to "Big Girls Don't Cry."

Challenge #3: I liked all of the translations very much, so it was almost impossible to choose a winner. I'll give this one to Roger Slater too, based on his amazing rhymes, but truly there wasn't a bad version in the bunch, so many great innuendos!

Susan

Challenge #1: Catherine Chandler

Challenge #3: Brian Allgar

Challenge number 3, My Wolf
I love Catherine’s ‘bain marie and tartines from the original French, and the flour rolling and the double meanings, but Roger’s version takes the cake.
Roger Slater First place

Challenge Number 2, Thank you Lord
I am full of admiration for Julie’s translation of Thank You Lord, it is so elegant and smooth, it reads as if it had been written originally in English.
Julie Steiner, First place.

Challenge Number 1 "Cielito lindo”
I will use Martin’s suggestion of split votes. Without my attempt there are four versions, I give 1/4 vote to each. I can't choose just one.
Roger Slater 1/4, Julie Steiner 1/4, Catherine Chandler 1/4, Marion Shore 1/4 of first place.

Once upon a time the Translation Bees were buzzing with contestants and eager critics from other parts of the forum. It would be nice if that happened again.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to take a look at the entries to Challenge 2. I'll try to do so before the deadline.

Challenge 1: Like Birthe, I was tempted to divide my vote in fourths. Bob's is closest to the original in tone and spirit. Julie's is the most delightfully off-the-wall: Ricky Ricardo driving a hot rod! Catherine's R-rated romp gets the Ogden Nash award for the foreplay/doorway rhyme . But it's Birthe's " My Honey Bunny" that won my heart. "Honey bunny" for "cielito lindo" alone should get an extra point. She is a writer of children's songs, and I think it shows, in her playfulness and humor and whimsy. So, after much agonizing, I vote for:

Birthe - "My Honey Bunny"

BTW, I agree with Birthe that it would be good to bring in critters from the outside world. Martin, what do you think about posting invitations on the other forums to weigh in on this competition?

Challenge 1: All the entries are fun and have their virtues! I really liked Julie's version, but I prefer the original melody, and so I vote for Roger's version with the revised refrain.

Challenge 3: A tough one--all the entries are really fine. Not to give Roger all my votes, I'll vote for Brian.

Birthe and Marion, I just posted invitations on D&A and GT. Should I ask Alex to make a general announcement?

Martin

Sure, the more the merrier!

Thank you Marion,

I didn't really think My Honey Bunny would be in the running. It's lovely that it makes you laugh.

Challenge #1--Roger Slater

Challenge #3--I still can't decide...I've got until Sunday to make up my mind, right? Each entry has its own strengths and weaknesses. Thanks for making this decision so hard.

I'm impressed with all of these. I tried to enter, but couldn't carry the tunes in my head long enough to make a lyric for them. Kudos to all.

If I must choose, then I'll give a vote to Roger for the first one and half each to Brian and Susan for the third (it was so nearly Cathy but I can't leave the "t" off bergamot and if that's a Brit thing (after all I can't do "a-REGGER-no", either!) then I beg you to forgive me.

Not easy to choose, but
1) Roger
3) Brian

Still can't decide on #3...and I will be too busy tomorrow to come back and vote, so I guess I'll split my vote four ways: 1/4 Catherine, 1/4 Roger, 1/4 Susan, and 1/4 Brian.

Mary, I liked yours, too, but I really missed the wolf...and Kyle, you had some very nice turns of phrase in there, too.

Well done, all!

Well, this is tricky. I found myself wishing I could give everyone a point in challenges 1 and 3, Julie having already won no. 2, but that would turn it into a caucus race.

So for Challenge 1:

Rogerxxxx- .5
Juliexxxxx- .25
Catherinex- .25

Challenge 3 is even harder. They’re all good!

I admired Mary’s version for preserving the original rhyme scheme, even though it meant losing the wolf.

There were a number of felicitous phrases: ‘wolf you down’ from Kyle and Catherine, ‘mutton chops’ for ‘moustaches’ also from Catherine, ‘stuff you like a goose’ from Kyle and Susan.

I particularly liked Roger’s fully and ingeniously rhymed version, and its snappily sardonic ending.

So for Challenge 3:

Rogerxx- .5
Kylexxx- .25
Susanxx- .25

Voting is closed: I have totaled all the votes and found:
Challenge 1:
Roger Slater............. 5.75
Julie Steiner............. 1.5
Catherine Chandler... 1.5
Marion Shore........... 1.25
Birthe Myers............ 1

Challenge 2:
Julie Steiner............. unchallenged!

Challenge 3:
Brian Allgar.............. 3.75
Roger Slater............. 3.75
Susan McLean.......... 1
Mary McLean........... 1
Catherine Chandler... .25
Kyle Norwood.......... .25

Congratulations to all for a great job, and particularly to the winning entries:
Roger Slater for his delightful translation of Cielito Lindo for Challenge 1.
Julie Steiner for her impressive rendition of Kryl's rhymes in Děkuji for Challenge 2.
Roger Slater and Brian Allgar for their delicious versions of Mon Loup for Challenge 3.

Thank you all for participating in this translation event! Thank you Martin for for hosting it!

Congratulations to our winners and chart toppers for the events: Roger, Julie, Roger again, and Brian! Please, PM me the book (or books in case of Roger) that you'd like to claim as prize from the Able Muse Press catalog. And don't forget to include the snail mail address to send it to (please, be sure to include zip or postal code).