More Honors’ Coming of Age: Vol. 21

  With More Honors now officially old enough to drink in the US, take a look at the show for the birthday party. Namely, the More Honors Academy's 21 Awards Ceremony, more commonly referred to as "4/20", which took place on April 20 at Skaptopara Hall in Blagoevgrad, where the club awarded this year’s nominees in eleven different categories. The 2018’s show delivered the annual dose of sketches, performances, and humour with a lot of sarcastic hues. [caption id="attachment_39451" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dickie Statue at the Award Ceremony, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] The categories and their respective winners are as follows: Fishy – Boris Beshkovski’s hair Coolest Non-Student – Professor Sabina Wien Lick-a-fessor – Simona Zlatkova Duo – Vasilli Kulev and Daniyar Irgaliyev Trippster – Noel Ceta Freshman – Tomas Kristofory Smooth Operator – Vasilii Kulev Slacktive – Mario Grachenov Intoxikant – Pavel Dzhelyov Public Enemy – Smartversity Lifetime Achievement – Underground Club As tradition goes, the videos represented various situations on campus and implied issues and problems that are socially significant to the student body and the university. They were spun through the More Honors prism and caused numerous rounds of applause from the audience throughout the night. [caption id="attachment_39454" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Prof. Sabina Wien receiving her award, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] During one of his reward acceptance speeches, Vasilii Kulev, a member of the club, expressed his hopes that what they had prepared was entertaining to watch. “I am having a great time and I want to believe that you guys are enjoying the show, as well.” [caption id="attachment_39453" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Vasilii Kulev giving his acceptance speech, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] He concluded his speech quoting Kanye West. “Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t win. I guess we’ll never know.” One of the nominees for Slacktive, Kristiyan Dimov, shared that the event was quite engaging for him. While he does not have anything to compare it to since this is his first year in AUBG, he is looking forward to attending the shows in the years to come. “It was something new for me," elaborated Dimov. "I had a blast and I think it was extremely funny. My only regret is that I did not get the D…ickie. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised how well the event was organized.” [caption id="attachment_39455" align="alignnone" width="785"] Dickie Statue, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] The club presented different points of view on socially crucial topics. One of them was the Public Enemy category. The winner was the Smartversity campaign in AUBG. The club screened a video with the so-called “sin count” and while the frames were rolling, the narrator explained the flaws of the marketing idea and the video campaign. [caption id="attachment_39456" align="alignnone" width="1024"] AUBG representatives receiving the Public Enemy award for Smartversity, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] This was the fourth Awards Ceremony that Tihomir Dimitrov, a fourth-year student, attended. He said that he knew it would have been difficult for the club to top their performance from last year. According to him, the 2017 show was the best he had attended. “I did not really like the videos, overall," clarified Dimitrov. "However, I enjoyed the video with the professors reading comments about themselves very much. The smooth operator video imitating an Indian soap opera was the jewel of the night. Honestly, I think the idea with the Bar was not that interesting compared to the show last year. The hosts’ characters then were more dynamic and intriguing. I also think that it does not make a good impression on people when several crew members from More Honors win awards when there were more deserving nominees. Nonetheless, I still want to congratulate the club for the efforts they put in their main event.” [caption id="attachment_39457" align="alignnone" width="1024"] More Honors stage,Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] This year a video was shot without the knowledge of the people who were in it. It's essence was a social experiment on how people on campus would react when they are being approached by a person who is clearly looking for or selling drugs. [caption id="attachment_39458" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Rim Mustafin receiving the Trippster award on behalf of Noel Ceta, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] Kristina Stamatova, from Residence Life and Housing, shared her thoughts on the event and the club. She shared that some of the discussed things in the show were exactly on point. “I strongly believe that things which are affecting people on campus should be put on the table especially when the topics are controversial and they are not being openly discussed by the corresponding university body.”  [caption id="attachment_39459" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ana Oketa, the hostess of the event, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] Stamatova also added that what the show does successfully every year is bring those topics to light. The importance of this is high, according to her, because it shapes the public image of the university. “The sketch about Mary Jane was insightful and put in perspective – very ingenious to people who have been around for more than a year because that is a topic which is often being neglected due to its ambiguous nature," elaborated Stamatova. "For example, last year with the events surrounding AUBG’s president position crisis, the club abstained from including it in the show. I think this testifies that More Honors are considerate when needed. I reckon that this is the purpose of it all – satire is an excellent way of exposing problems that need to be solved.” More Honors’ 21 birthday was met with mixed reviews. [caption id="attachment_39461" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tomas Kristofory, receiving his Freshman award, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] Edvald Alikaj, a third-year student and President of Rock Jamming Club, said that he enjoyed his evening tremendously despite some small drawbacks. “It was my first show and I really liked it," added Alikaj. "The technical issue with the video with the professors bugged me a little. However, I think the ceremony was great.” [caption id="attachment_39462" align="alignnone" width="1013"] One of the sketches during the ceremony, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] "Frankly, I expected more," said Georgi Georgiev, a second-year student. "I may be under the influence of the previous ceremony, which was amazing. However, this year was weaker than last year, in my opinion.” [caption id="attachment_39463" align="alignnone" width="1007"] Ivaylo Kolev from Underground Bar receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] Boris Beshkovski, a second-year student, who also won the award in the Fishy category shared that the videos were wonderful. “The videos were brutally awesome. From what I have heard from others, the sketches in the ceremony were a little bit excessive. However, for me everything was great.” [caption id="attachment_39460" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Boris Beshkovski receiving the Fishy award, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption] The ceremony concluded with More Honors members addressing the audience, thanking everybody for attending, and appreciating the work every person from the club had done to make the event possible. [caption id="attachment_39464" align="alignnone" width="1024"] More Honors members, Nicola Smilenov for AUBG Daily[/caption]