Huge congrats to Julie (your fantastic and inventive sonnet was my first choice), Susan (your mastery of the form shows through), and Elise (excellent work with emotional impact—I remember voting for your winning sonnet last year)!! And huge thanks to Aaron (I had no idea!) and Alex on a successful and enjoyable bake-off.
As for the level of subjectivity, I think skill and beauty and emotional impact can be recognized on a more objective level than "choice," wherein the latter (emotional impact) can sway one's selection considerably. It was a hard choice to make really.
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