Elimination competitions
Nov. 8th, 2025 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcMany television reality competitions have a format where they start with many contestants and eliminate one-ish each episode. Once we get to the last small handful, we hold the final.
One thing that surprised me at first but seems commonplace is the idea that the semifinal is before the final, then before that is the quarterfinal, etc. I can understand that in two-contestant-trial knockout matches, as one can find in some tournaments between sports teams. Then, the teams in the quarterfinals are in the final for a quarter of the teams, the teams in the semfinals are in the final for half (semi) of the teams, etc. However, this model doesn't fit the current reality shows at all.
Perhaps my reasoning fits the original meaning, then the typical thing happened where a precise word was broadened into becoming rather less useful. Or, I was just mistaken from the start.
One thing that surprised me at first but seems commonplace is the idea that the semifinal is before the final, then before that is the quarterfinal, etc. I can understand that in two-contestant-trial knockout matches, as one can find in some tournaments between sports teams. Then, the teams in the quarterfinals are in the final for a quarter of the teams, the teams in the semfinals are in the final for half (semi) of the teams, etc. However, this model doesn't fit the current reality shows at all.
Perhaps my reasoning fits the original meaning, then the typical thing happened where a precise word was broadened into becoming rather less useful. Or, I was just mistaken from the start.
