Check out all the hot new blogging action! Ultimate Blogger 3

Welcome to the last episode of The Ultimate Blogger Season 2. All 13 of our contestants really showed us a lot of dedication while putting themselves out both emotionally and physically with long nights working on entries, and sharing their personalities with the cold, cold world.

Contestants: We loved each and every one of you and we'll continue to keep our collective eye on you and wish you the best.WE LOVE ALEX

Viewers: Your contribution via dialogue with the contestants was invaluable. Thank you for creating the sparks that make the game truly interactive and completely different from any other reality show in the world of man and/or beast.

Now, after thousands of world-wide applicants, four weeks of intense backstage wheeling and/or dealing, 1,264+ comments, and thirteen die-hard contestants, we finally have a winner! The $1000 Prize Package is all theirs!

Special thanks to Brandy Jenda of Long And Wild Limo's for donating time in her amazing stretch Lincoln in SE Portland. Visit her site or give her a call at 503-762-2417 for the ONLY limo in Portland with custom hydraulics. Because literally nothing in life is more satisfying than clowin' an H2 stretch on Broadway. Thanks Brandy! You are really cool.

If you missed anything make sure you check out all of the challenge introductions, immunity announcements, and game news in the ARCHIVES. Check out all of the contestants' entries and dialog in the DEN ARCHIVES.

Thank you for making this Ultimate Blogger season a success! Apply now for UB3!

Click here to view The Finale

Just two contestants left.

I remember the first time we saw both of their applications. Tim and Morgan were passed around from person to person and everyone loved the application and videos. Alex was someone we labeled as "creative" and his style was as excellent and his attitude was awesome. They both entertained, informed, made us feel good, and shocked us. It makes us very proud to have Alex and Tim and Morgan as our final two.

The final challenge is called "Intense Interview," and it could make or break this game for our two finalists. We have learned a great deal about our contestants, especially Alex and Tim and Morgan; but they have yet to reveal the deep secrets about the game and their strategy... now we are asking pointed questions and demaninding total honesty. We must know more about The Ultimate Blogger.

What happens next is not entirely in our hands. We're bringing back all of the eliminated bloggers to help us decide which of these finalists is the more ultimate blogger. Who will the glorious former bloggers vote for? Who will Lauren choose? What about Zoe? Or Daniel? We're not just looking at this one challenge, but the entire game they have played. One of these two will win the title and the $1000 prize package.

PS- Propers to E*Rock for making the Super Challenge Brothers faxel animation and Cabel Sasser for the new 8-bit remix and original version of the Challenge Brothers theme song!

Click here to view the challenge

Determining immunity was no easy task. Special thanks to our final guest judge, Lauren Cornell, the Executive Director of Rhizome.org, an online platform for the global new media art community. Before Rhizome, Lauren worked in the Andy Warhol Film Project at the Whitney Museum, served as Executive Director of Ocularis, a non-profit media arts organization based in Brooklyn and also worked as a youth media educator and organizer, at Global Action Project and T.R.U.C.E. Her writing on contemporary art, experimental film and new media has been published in Time Out New York, Nylon, Synoptique, and exhibition catalogues. And she has curated at venues including The Contemporary Center for Art Warsaw, The Liverpool Biennial, The Kitchen and The Institute of Contemporary Art London.

She is one of the most amazing people we have ever met in real/virtual life and has some great insight about challenge six:

Thank you so much to Lauren for her analysis! Now the e-lives of Zoe and Tim and Morgan hang in the balance, and it's up to Alex who he will square off with in the final round to go head to head for the $1000 prize package.

READ ALL of the Challenge #6 entries and View the Challenge #6 Top Fives

Thank you all for your patience. As this is the most important immunity to be awarded it is taking some extra time to determine who is the winner. Our guest judge is working to determine the best entry, and we appreciate her help and have agreed to give her extra time as this is a very large and multi-faceted challenge.

We'll be posting immunity as soon as we get the final results in!

Until then, here are the contestants' top 5 favorite submissions that they received via their page for the challenge:

View the Challenge #6 Top Fives

And then, there were three: Zoe, Tim & Morgan, and Alex. One of these will go on to win the $1000 prize package. It seems that all the former alliances have crumbled into a mess of anarchy as each contestant scrambles to come out on top.

This is the last immunity of the game, and therefore the most important challenge. With that in mind, this is the most difficult challenge we have ever devised. The challenge will be due on Tuesday, March 21st, at 12 noon (PST).

Each contestant has been emailed a flier which they must print and post in a public place. On the flier is a unique URL for each contestant which leads to a page soliciting visitors for creative responses. They may also (and are encouraged to) spread the word about their unique URL all over the internet. In The Den, each contestant will simply list where they posted the flier, who they emailed it to, which message boards they put it on, and anything else they did to get the word out.

The judging will be based on many factors, including flier location, their appeal to visitors, how they get the word (which they will keep track of in The Den), and on who gets the most creative and entertaining contributions. This is by far the most elaborate and complicated challenge we have ever seen.

But, while very difficult, the winner will not only be guaranteed a spot in the final two, but will also be choosing who will join them. That is why this is the most important immunity of the game.

We look forward to seeing where and how our final three get the word out, and the entertaining results of their hard work.

Click here to view the challenge

She turned down $200, and made it look so easy! (How many visits to Sephora is that?)

Soon we will see the faces of the final three contestants and the challenge that will will award one lucky contestant the most important immunity of the game. Because once we are down to the final three, the Challenge #6 immunity winner will choose who to take into the final two. The light is shining at the end of the tunnel, but only one player will emerge to take the $1000 prize package and the title of ULTIMATE BLOGGER.

READ ALL of the Challenge #5 entries.

Congratulations to Zoe for her first Immunity Win. She now has the opportunity to keep immunity and guarantee her spot in the final three, or take $200 in COLD HARD CASH.

Special thanks to guest judge Matthew Stalder who says, "Zoe brought the heat of her passion for male hygiene directly to us through the cool conduit of her well-lit graphics. Never have products looked so good to me. The soaps and powders and gels floated in an abstract space, a luminous totality that resembled Buddhist notions of nirvana, a kind of nullity comprised of complete presence. Around these almost abstract specters, the delightful heat of Zoe's enthusiastic prose shimmered and shone. I will use these products now, and think of this challenge. Zoe spoke from the heart and changed what my skin will look like, and not many people have ever done that."

Matthew is the author of four novels and a co-founder and the editor of Clear Cut Press. Clear Cut Press is also awarding an eight-book series subscription to Zoe for winning this challenge, a $65 value.

Zoe has two hours to accept either immunity or the $200 cash in the comments of this entry.

READ ALL of the Challenge #5 entries.

Tim, Thom, Alex, Zoe, and Tim & Morgan are The Final 5!!!!!! Like the Mount Rushmore plus 1 of the world's greatest reality blogging show. The competition seems to be flying by, but there is a lot of great Ultimate Blogging action still to come. It's getting harder and harder to say goodbye to our eliminated contestants. Daniel and Mike D. gave us such great entries and we will miss them much. It appears like there were two factions in the vote this time. I have a feeling there will be more unexpected votes in the near future. I think this is still anyone's competition.

The most important thing in the game at this late juncture is most definitely immunity. It's the only thing that assures that you will be around in the next challenge, and as we have progressed the battle for immunity has become closer and more heated.

For the fifth challenge we turn to each one of our remaining blogger's strengths. We ask them to show us/tell us/bring us in on what they are good at. This challenge should provide our final five with a time to shine, a time to share their specific expertise. We need to know what separates them from the other bloggers. So, we are looking for the person is best at showing what they are best at. META!

The entries for this challenge are due on Friday March 17th at 12PM PST. We are incredibly excited to see what our Final 5 comes up with for this one. The most important challenge yet, the most valuable immunity yet.

Click here to view the challenge

Let it be known to all you read these words that Tim has chosen the majesty of this immunity item rather than take home $100 cold hard cash. This money could have been spent on any number of things, but Tim is a man of honor, and will not sell his virtual immunity opportunity for a mere $100. We applaud him.

Tomorrow morning we will know who the Final Five contestants are. No matter the outcome, surprises are guaranteed. The Unholy Alliance will be forced to crumble under its weight as it ejects its own from the game.

It's going to be quite an exciting Wednesday everyone, so get a good nights sleep and we'll see you tomorrow.

Again, this is the only immunity being awarded for this challenge, and with only seven players left every immunity is more valuable than the last. Tim turned down the $50, will he also turn his back on $100?

This was the closest immunity challenge yet. After we tallied our internal judging it was almost a three way tie, and then the guest judges, Erik and Marv of Fogstock, sent in their votes and Tim managed to sneak into first place. Erik said, "Just a great, honest portrait to start with, strong use of depth-of-field to abstract the background. Then he closes out with the best application of Photoshop compositing among all of the entries that went down that road." and Marv added, "Tim has created all sorts of questions about a likable but complex personality."

Marv and Erik will also reward Tim with unlimited downloads from the very extensive stock photography collection of Fogstock.com. Thanks for the support guys!

READ ALL of the Challenge #4 entries.

And then there were only 7... It's starting to get heartbreaking. We bid a fond farewell to Lauren and Brittanie, and also cast an evil glance the way of the Unholy Alliance for making this nearly an all dude contest. By our count it's time for that alliance that has seemed to call the shots all the way through the game to implode. Who will be caught unprepared? Who is making the back door deals and securing their advancement in this game? These last two weeks will definitely be interesting.

In this 4th challenge we move away from words and videos to get super specific; It's a photo challenge. We are asking for 3 photos (and only 3 photos) of our bloggers showing different sides of their personalities. This "reward challenge" also has a special prize for the winner in addition to immunity: Fogstock has been kind enough to provide the winner of this challenge unlimited downloads for their very extensive stock photography collection. It's worth $600!

The entries are due on Monday March 13th at 12PM PST. We look forward to the photos. Make 'em special! Immunity is up for grabs, and it only becomes more and more important as we find ourselves with less contestants.

Click here to view the challenge

Tim turned down the $50 cash, and chose to take home The All-Seeing Vibrational Robotic Eagle Eyes, Beak, and Ear-Wings of Immunity. By refusing the cash and taking immunity this means Tim is guaranteed a spot as one of the final seven Ultimate Blogger contestants.

This is the first single immunity awarded, leaving all remaining 8 contestants at risk of being voted off the internet... forever! Votes are due on Friday, March 10th at 2:00 pm PST. The next challenge will be posted on Saturday, March 11th.

With only single immunity being awarded the stakes have been raised. Will the pressure be too much or will the responses to the challenges be greater than ever? The last challenge produced some of the best content we've seen yet. We can't wait to see what comes next!

Special thanks to the team at FogStock for the lighting equipment!

READ ALL of the Challenge #3 entries.

These were some of the most amazing entries we have seen (and heard!) yet, and with the help of recording artist Khaela Maricich of The Blow and the founder of Marriage Records, Curtis Knapp, we have decided on a winner. With only nine players left there will be only one immunity granted. That is, if Tim decides to take it!

And on a personal note, Happy 29th Birthday to Daniel!

READ ALL of the Challenge #3 entries.

After two challenges we have learned all about the wonderful dreams and homes of the Ultimate Blogger contestants'. With two more contestants now eliminated, only 9 remain to take part in the third challenge, which is due Thursday, March 9th @ 12:00 noon PST.

With two time winner Alex and our the tag team of Tim and Morgan clinging to immunity the other 9 contestants have been biting their fingernails. The voting ended with SG Pierce receiving 7 votes, and Eric, with 8 votes, and both have been eliminated from the competition. The high number of votes reveal to us that a powerful filthy alliance has been formed. What are the other contestants to do? Watch the video for some strategy advice and a special guest star!

As the game progress, we get to know each contestant better and better. Now we want them to really define who they are in a small package. While in real life they are a multi-faceted and complicated person, an online presence needs to be brief and identifiable. Sort of like Mike and his MS Paint, Tina and her Vimeo videos, or Zoe and her make-up. Now we're looking for each contestant to sum up their character into a "Distinctive Ditty."We want a personal theme song of some sorts. It is open to interpretation. Could be an audio version, video, the lyrics, the album cover, a description.

Special thanks to Bobby Birdman for all the musical assistance, Susan for allowing us the use of some lights and to Marcus for the on-set encouragement!

Immunity is up for grabs, and these 9 players are one step closer to the $1000 prize package.

Click here to view the challenge