Row over Battle winner
Friday 13th August 2010, 3:00PM BST.
Battle winners: St Clement's winning entry, Shen Lung.
CONTROVERSY is surrounding the judges’ decision to give St Clement the prize for the best float at the Battle of Flowers.
Other exhibitors are claiming that they feel ‘cheated’ by the decision.
Although the Shen Lung entry was a massive crowd pleaser, fellow exhibitors have said that they believe it was unfair that the parish was awarded the Prix d’Honneur because they had not finished flowering their float.
On parts of the float’s imperial dragon, bare wood was visible, on which pencil marks could be seen.
• See Friday’s JEP for full story and 16-page Battle supplement.
• Click here to view picture galleries of the event.
• Click here after 8 am on Saturday to order your Battle pictures.
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Sounds like sour grapes to me!!!
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I like the sound of seeing the pencil marks and everything! Shows the process. Very advanced concept.
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St Clement Rules!
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You could see the pencil marks, this is an absolute disgrace. I certainly won’t be going next year now and I have loved flowers all my life. I can’t get enough of them, they are absolutely amazing, so fantastic. man, do I love flowers. Flower power I say, ban them for next year. I LOVE FLOWERS!
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What? It took First Prize and it wasn’t even finished….. Wow! Well done!
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Come on,talk about sour grapes,can’t anyone see the talent. Get on with the show.
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OOOOH! the “Local” mentality strikes again!
Next year the most wichist 4000 litre engined
Waynge Wover wiv Sunflowers coming out of its exhaust and a statue of a gold calf will win!
Skoda floats with daisyes need “not” apply!
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I detect a whiff of scandal! It is essential the JEP get to the bottom of this murky business..
I also look forward to a 16 page ‘Jersey Live’ supplement, only fair now that it is the Island’s most popular event!
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This display of throwing teddy from the pram is sure to impress any visitors that happen to read the JEP!!
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I have to say it was such an impressive float…so detailed and truely beautiful. I didnt notice that it wasnt finished during the parade or when we went to see them stationary and Millbrook today. Is there a written rule that they have to be compeleted? Saying that I was equally impressed the the Showboat float!
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Well…… if an incomplete float was better than the rest……. then I suppose that shows how c**p the other floats must have been then!
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Having built a few floats now i have to say that this one was by far worthy of winning finished or not. It was easily the best float there and well deserved the title. Every float has problems and if they were disqualified for every fault then there wouldnt be anyone taking part. Im sure they were heavily marked down for not being finished and they still won so what does that say…
well deserved and an awesome float…
cant wait to see next years.
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Not sour grapes at all ! but when you have spent hours and hours working on a float to send it into the arena into a competition which is judged on your flowering and harestailing then it is unfair to award the top honour to a float that was clearly unfinished with bare wood and paper machie showing in great big patches some of which were at least a foot to 2 foot in diameter. After all if it has been a cooking competition would you not feel cheated if someone put in half done food and won ?
So not sour grapes at all PJ the real winners to me were the Optimists even though I worked on the St Saviour float and for me Grouville or St Brelade should have come second just my opinion I know but its what I feel was the rightful winner
So for me well done to the Optimist with Showboat and shame on you St Clements you did a great float but it was unfinished and you dont deserve the top honours !
I will also say that I am a st clements rate payer just in case you think I am biased !!
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I agree PJ, this float was magnificent, the clear winner aesthetically. However the float from the Optimists Club was also excellent. They provided the best atmosphere, I couldn’t wait for it to come around again. A great battle this year, well done to all involved.
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Isn’t the prize for the best float – not the best finished float?
So the crowd loved it, the judges loved it but the other competitors didn’t – grow up!
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Unbelievable, fisty florists!
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Get over it people ! It was a great float, finished or not.
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If it was finished, it would have won anyway ! So whats all the fuss about.
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It’s not sour grapes, if the rules say that the float should be finished then it should be finished. Otherwise you might as well turn up with a drawing of what you wanted the float to look like? Part of the challenge is surely planning and
designing a float you’re capable of completing.
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I’m going to enter a float next year it will be a painted wood wheelbarrow with a single sunflower, can i have some funding please,oh and a prize !!!
coz i reckon i’m in with a chance.
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Or it may have been a type of nepotism ? Who knows.
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It’s incredibly unfair on all the exhibitors who DID complete their floats that a clearly unfinished float should win!! Unless one has taken part in the Battle you cannot understand the frustrations of seeing an incomplete float win. Given that most floats are 12 months in their planning and construction, could the St Clements designer not have come up with a design that, once fresh flowers arrived, could have been completed in time? No amount of fancy hairs-tailing can make up for not getting the float completed…why not just submit a sketch on the back of an envelope next year…you’re bound to win!!
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I really couldn’t give a monkey’s….
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Pointless
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Pointless (x2)
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It was obviously a better float than the rest even in an unfinished state. Wait till next year, St Clement is just going to enter the plans and win lol
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# 13 jsybean
Your opinion doesn’t count though, it was the judges and the winner was??? St Clement!
Or are you saying the judging was fixed in favour of St Clement, the scandal of it all.
I don’t give a monkeys who won, it was the taking part that counted, all the floats deserve a round of applause, but it sounds like you are peeved that an unfinished float that you have sort out to destroy with your uncalled for comments, was of superior quality won on the day in comparison to the one you were working on, and you say you live in St Clement, traitor!!!!!! LOL.
Accept defeat graciously.
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I can understand that while we enjoy seeing the floats, to those who spent months developing them and ensuring they follows the rules it IS a competition and you would expect the rules to be followed by the judges.
Still, the floats that are turned out each year is one of the things that really impresses me about Jersey. They all look absolutely fantastic and it’s great fun. Well done to everyone who took part.
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Snore
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Get a life.
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Just goes to show how rubbish the others were if these guys won without even finishing.
I think they would have won even if they’d not stuck any flowers on.
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#31 Ashley, would you really want to read that kind of comment about something you spent hours of hard work on? More to the point, would you even know where to start creating such a float yourself? Battle of Flowers may not be your thing but as flowery floats go they were all brilliant.
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Best man (men) won on the day.
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I think the whole idea of Battle of Flowers is out dated, almost Victorian and is an absolute joke.
Its a load of self involved people wasting money and resources, causing all the chaos on the Island just to parade some daft looking floats around the main road – its ridiculous!
Don’t even get me started on the Miss Battle of Flowers sexist and outdated ideology!
Its time Jersey moved on and this event became extinct.
Look at Jersey Live, Grassroots, the Film Festival. These types of events are what people want, not a bunch of old fuddy duddys parading a bunch of cars covered in plywood and dodgy flowers around a road!
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34. If the Battle is outdated, sexist and should be extinct, why do they get more visitors than Jersey Live, Grassroots and Film Festival added together?
Not everyone likes the same entertainment, if the did the world would be a very boring place.
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