Tag archives: competition

Playing to Win: Why Do We Compete?
By Deann Zampelli   |   January 7, 2025

I have always taken an odd amount of pride in the fact that I am not a competitive person, often even a bit smug about how primitive and foreign I find the very concept. I am just not that interested. Nope, not bothered at all. Until I compete, that is. Some years ago, a dear […]

Popularity
By Ashleigh Brilliant   |   January 24, 2023

Our society is obsessed with popularity contests of various kinds. There are competitions for being the most beautiful, making the most money, and having a best-selling product. But the most prevalent type of such contention is called an “election,” which, in effect, means being chosen by the most people, usually for an office or position […]

It’s in the Bag:Throw Down Cornhole Festival Invades Ventura
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 30, 2022

When he brought cornhole to Ventura 12 years ago, John Karayan just thought he was adding a bit of fun to the second year of the annual summer block party he organized on the street in front of Spencer Makenzie’s, his popular casual dining seafood restaurant near downtown Ventura.  “We had bands play all day […]

Think Fast: Real-time Competition, Digital Challenge on Tap for MAW
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 5, 2021

The Music Academy of the West morphed into a virtual institute by necessity because of the COVID pandemic last summer, employing its inventive MARLI program — Music Academy Remote Learning Institute — to maintain connection with its faculty and fellows from around the world via a variety of platforms on the Internet and the use […]

Wuu-ing the Audience
By Richard Mineards   |   March 19, 2020

Despite coronavirus concerns, there were few cancellations when Elliot Wuu, winner of the Music Academy of the West’s solo piano competition, performed at Hahn Hall. The 20-year-old, an undergraduate of New York’s Juilliard School showing great finesse, won the recital and a future one at the Chicago Cultural Center on April 1, based on his […]

No Fuss
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 20, 2020

Montecito’s Dawson Fuss, who too made it to the final round of four at Teen Star 2019, is also returning for another try at the crown this Saturday. The 10th-grader at Carpinteria’s Cate School has his own reasons for competing at the Arlington again. “It’s the biggest platform for young artists and singers in town, […]

Making it on her Own
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 20, 2020

Lauren Cantin, the Montecito-raised teenager who was famously pulled from underneath a four-foot pile of mud and debris after being buried alive for six hours in the early morning hours of January 9, 2018, has appeared on all sorts of big stages in the two years since her rescue. That includes performing a duet with […]

Beach Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   June 28, 2018

It was an evening of good libations when Visit Santa Barbara hosted its second annual sold-out official drink of our Eden by the Beach contest at the historic El Paseo restaurant. Out of 25 entrants, five establishments were chosen to compete in the finals, with the winner being the Four Seasons with its Biltmore Fuerte, […]