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...if you're hosting the contest, you get to set the rules. (We may have "traditions" we usually adhere to, but they're not set in stone.)
The only limiting factor is the polling system built into the web software. That both includes the "fark" issue some mention, and the limit on ten entries in a poll. At times, if I had my way, I'd wish for a system that would allow all entries to appear in a single, one-round poll...but, then again, I wonder if some of the appeal for GDers is in the "Academy Awards" style of nominations and awards.
I suppose, if one wanted to be purist, one would have those three preliminary rounds, and then a final round with only the winner of each preliminary in the finals. After all, it that photo was judged the best in its group of ten, does it make any sense that a runner-up in that round should be able to beat it out in the finals? And, to be truthful, I know of only one contest where a second-place preliminary finisher took the top spot. So, why not limit it that way? I guess, in my case, I like the notion of having a "Top Ten," so that even people who've submitted a really good image but haven't wound up in the top three can still say "I made the Top Ten!" (As someone who wound up in fourth place for about three straight months last year, I'd much prefer to say that my photo was the fourth-place finisher than that it finished just outside of the final round. ;-) )
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