There's another method I thought of, that counter-balances the famous trade-off between competitive equity and entertainment value: I have a strong feeling that, as the host declares a poet to be the last poet of the night, or even the second-last poet of the night, the judges come out of a haze and enter a more excited head-space. This is usually said in an excited tone before the poet is called up, or even as the poet is called up, which I suspect produces a similar effect to listing the poet's publishing credentials before the performance. I don't suppose you guys think it's a good idea to stop hosts from saying that?
