Hey all,

So I’m doing my first contest! Inspired by this great question:

“why dont you rebuild darth vader like you did general grievous? That way he wont look like a total noob to luke skywalker when he duels him.”

I’m asking you, my loyal viewers and supplicants, to send me your designs for a new and better Darth Vader. I’ll use the best design, as voted on by myself and possibly some special guest judges (to be announced soon!) and will build a better Darth Vader, who will make it on to Ask Palpatine for a couple episodes. Pretty cool, yes?

What’s the deal?

The contest will be open until the end of August. The winner will be announced on September 16.

What do you have to do?

All you have to do is submit a design for a better-looking Darth Vader. How do you do that? Simple! Upload your design (as a drawing, 3D model, photo, or whatever) to the brand-new Ask Palpatine forums, which are at: http://www.forum.askpalpatine.com/index.php

That’s pretty well it. The design should kick-ass, so nothing that will make me want to force-choke you. Also, I don’t want a bunch of Darth Vader … but with a hat! submissions; get creative, make it feel Star Wars-y but with a twist. Go crazy!

What can you win?

We’re still working out the specific prizes, but they will be awesome, and they will be Star Wars-related. Keep watching the skies!

How many winners will there be?

There will be one grand-prize winner, that’s for sure. There will also be a number of runner-ups, too. Probably 3.

Where can I see the entries?

You can see them on the Ask Palpatine forums, which are here.

Is this contest endorsed by Lucasfilm?

Not in the slightest. That would be really nice, though.

Who’s going to judge it?

I’m going to pick the semi-finalists, and send them to these fine, fine folks to make a decision about who’s got the best design:

	Ze Frank - Ze is a creative volcano. Aside from teaching people how to dance, he was the host of the excellent The Show, and shows us all what it means to be an internet superhero.
	Bonnie Burton - Bonnie is a geek of the highest order, running grrl.com, wrote the books Girls Against Girls: Why We Are Mean to Each Other and How to Stop the Hating , Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs and You Can Draw Star Wars, and, oh yes, runs a little thing called Official Star Wars Blog.
	Danie Ware - Danie is the Marketeer at Forbidden Planet, perhaps the coolest source of geek paraphernalia in the world. What does it mean to be a Marketeer? It means that she’s in charge of spreading the word about Forbidden Planet, setting up events, and doing far more things than one person should be able to do. But she does it, and she does it well. (Danie’s blog is http://danacea.blogspot.com/. Check it out!)
	Yuri Baranovsky - Yuri is the co-creator of the hit internet sitcom Break a Leg, one of the very best shows about making a show that isn’t really about making a show. You should watch it.
	Rudy Jahchan - Rudy is the co-creator of the smash-hit sci-fi parody show Galacticast, ultra geek, and all-around creative dynamo. Pretty impressive, huh?
	Jonathan Coulton - Traveling troubador, renowned singer, and curator of the smash hit “Thing a Week,” where he wrote a great song every week, simply because he’s awesome. He not only wrote the kick-ass “Code Monkey,” but he also wrote “Still Alive,” the song from the end of Valve’s fantastic game Portal. He performs regularly, and if you can go to one of his performances, you should.

You WILL enter the contest: I have SEEN it!