Post by globalextemper on Jul 3, 2008 16:04:21 GMT -5
I seem to have lost my flows, but I will definitely discuss what I remember from the final round. Please help me out here guys.
I didn't get a chance to see Hunter Kendrick speak, so I won't comment on him.
Omar Qureshi
How effective has the UN been in fighting for Human Rights?
Omar's introduction about the xboxes for guns was purely brilliant, and thankfully associated with the topic. I really enjoyed his analysis, however it seemed like he only used the examples of Rwanda, Myanmar, and Darfur as specific country examples. However, I did enjoy his analysis on sovereighnty vs. human rights and corruption. While his jokes in the speech were very funny they didn't seem to advance his analysis which was kind of a turn off for me. He was a slick speaker and controlled the audience the most out of any of the finalists. He was the crowd favorite from what I gathered.
Aaron Mattis
Will the EU expand and prosper?
Aaron's speech was very good. While I can't seem to remember his points specifically, I did have problems with his geographic expansion argument. Because as Omar pointed out in cross examination geographic expansion weakens the EU's defense capacity as these nations aren't contributing to the Unions defense. His economic analysis was pretty good though. Aaron was absolutely HILARIOUS. His delivery felt a bit odd at times though, and his gestures didn't seem very effective.
Excellent answers in CX.
Nima Ahmadi
Is World Democracy on the decline?
Forgive me because I have no idea what happened to my flows from now on. But from memory I still have some recollection of the round. Nima's introduction was clearly canned and I didn't like it at all. He used REALLY old sources in his first point. In his second point it seemed Eastern European centric and I don't know if I bought the Ukrainian media as sufficient justification for world democracy. Speech was somewhat dry and ineffective. Speaking was slightly robotic.
Akshar Rambachan
Will there be a new cold war between the United States and Russia?
Akshar's intro was excellent. pure brilliance. I definitely enjoyed his analysis, and his points had know real flaws. However, he missed what I think was the most important issue: the US missile defense shield. he talked about pertinent issues but he subverted military analysis and this was a rather large problem for me. That being said the Javon Walker joke was gold! good overall speech it just missed a major component for me. Delivery was excellent and without flaw, but he didn't have the same slick style that Omar had. Still top notch- his humor felt lessed forced than Omar's though.
Maddie Gardner
Does the world view the US as an imperialist power?
I don't exactly remember Maddie's intro. Her analysis was rather bland. From Kyoto to Iraq and undermining the UN there was really nothing new. With that in mind there were no gaping flaws either. It was a very tight and analytically sound speech. I didn't really see the same depth as the first three speakers though. Very good speaker but nothing exciting. Top notch and she showed that she definitely deserved to be there, but still very bland.
Overall I would rank the 5 speakers that I saw as such.
1. Omar Qureshi
2. Akshar Rambachan
3. Aaron Mattis
4. Maddie Gardner
5. Nima Ahmadi
It was very tight between Omar and Akshar, I just enjoyed the fresh analysis in Omar's speech a bit more. He was also a brilliant speaker.
I didn't get a chance to see Hunter Kendrick speak, so I won't comment on him.
Omar Qureshi
How effective has the UN been in fighting for Human Rights?
Omar's introduction about the xboxes for guns was purely brilliant, and thankfully associated with the topic. I really enjoyed his analysis, however it seemed like he only used the examples of Rwanda, Myanmar, and Darfur as specific country examples. However, I did enjoy his analysis on sovereighnty vs. human rights and corruption. While his jokes in the speech were very funny they didn't seem to advance his analysis which was kind of a turn off for me. He was a slick speaker and controlled the audience the most out of any of the finalists. He was the crowd favorite from what I gathered.
Aaron Mattis
Will the EU expand and prosper?
Aaron's speech was very good. While I can't seem to remember his points specifically, I did have problems with his geographic expansion argument. Because as Omar pointed out in cross examination geographic expansion weakens the EU's defense capacity as these nations aren't contributing to the Unions defense. His economic analysis was pretty good though. Aaron was absolutely HILARIOUS. His delivery felt a bit odd at times though, and his gestures didn't seem very effective.
Excellent answers in CX.
Nima Ahmadi
Is World Democracy on the decline?
Forgive me because I have no idea what happened to my flows from now on. But from memory I still have some recollection of the round. Nima's introduction was clearly canned and I didn't like it at all. He used REALLY old sources in his first point. In his second point it seemed Eastern European centric and I don't know if I bought the Ukrainian media as sufficient justification for world democracy. Speech was somewhat dry and ineffective. Speaking was slightly robotic.
Akshar Rambachan
Will there be a new cold war between the United States and Russia?
Akshar's intro was excellent. pure brilliance. I definitely enjoyed his analysis, and his points had know real flaws. However, he missed what I think was the most important issue: the US missile defense shield. he talked about pertinent issues but he subverted military analysis and this was a rather large problem for me. That being said the Javon Walker joke was gold! good overall speech it just missed a major component for me. Delivery was excellent and without flaw, but he didn't have the same slick style that Omar had. Still top notch- his humor felt lessed forced than Omar's though.
Maddie Gardner
Does the world view the US as an imperialist power?
I don't exactly remember Maddie's intro. Her analysis was rather bland. From Kyoto to Iraq and undermining the UN there was really nothing new. With that in mind there were no gaping flaws either. It was a very tight and analytically sound speech. I didn't really see the same depth as the first three speakers though. Very good speaker but nothing exciting. Top notch and she showed that she definitely deserved to be there, but still very bland.
Overall I would rank the 5 speakers that I saw as such.
1. Omar Qureshi
2. Akshar Rambachan
3. Aaron Mattis
4. Maddie Gardner
5. Nima Ahmadi
It was very tight between Omar and Akshar, I just enjoyed the fresh analysis in Omar's speech a bit more. He was also a brilliant speaker.
