DJ Tiesto is the best DJ in the world

Thanks to my opponent for instigating this debate, during which, I will attempt to prove that the possibility that "DJ Tiesto is the best DJ in the world" is indeed improbable and virtually impossible. ===== Definitions: Best: http://www.google.co.uk... http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... the person who is most outstanding or excellent; someone who tops all others; "he could beat the best of them" DJ: http://www.google.co.uk... http://thesaurus.reference.com... http://www.urbandictionary.com... http://en.wikipedia.org.... http://en.wikipedia.org... I won't bother defining 'world' but obviously we are talking international, rather than just local here. ===== Arguments: ----------- 1. Awards. My opponent's entire opening argument consists of an impressive looking list of awards won by DJ Tiesto but he doesn't go on to explain why these prove his status as the world's best. People can receive awards based on many criteria other than outstanding ability and they are only the opinions of the people who give them out. Some publications or other companies who give awards may have direct commercial links with an artist they give awards to, (as in the case of Mixmag and DJ Tiesto http://www.rapidshareindex.com...) others may be trying to associate their organisation with a popular personality regardless of their personal opinions. The vast majority of the awards are in any case completely irrelevant to the resolution. Of approximately 100 awards listed: About a quarter (26) are specific to Holland and Dutch audiences and have nothing to do with being the best in the world. Almost half (48) do not refer to DJing at all and are awards for Tiesto's achievements as a producer, artist, re-mixer, ambassador, generally great guy etc. Some appear to be multiple entries, for example "TMF Award Holland Best National DJ" appears twice with two separate dates but also twice again nearer the top of the list without a date for either. This and other duplications suggest the list may not be accurate, especially as my opponent seems to have combined lists from two different sites. Once we also rule out those that refer only to a specific genre or genres or only apply to a select few (Ibiza residents etc.) only a handful remain. We must also take note that the resolution suggests Tiesto IS the best, not that he has been voted the best by some individuals in the past. We should therefore also disregard all awards for achievement in previous years as these do not reflect our subject's current status. When the above criteria is applied to the listed awards, very few can infer any relevance to the current debate Most of the awards fall into least two of these categories and are thus invalid for proving this resolution on multiple levels. Lastly if we were to regard the people who select such awards as having ultimate authority on who is the best DJ, then we should of course take note that in one of the most recent, "2008 DJMag Top 100 DJ Ranking", Tiesto actually came 2nd which would prove beyond any doubt that he is not the best. ----------- 2. Opinion. To claim that anyone is the best at anything, particularly an artform, can only ever be a statement of opinion, not a statement of fact. You can claim to believe it based on your own critical analysis of the international music industry and you can point me to others who share your opinion but I think you will be hard-pressed to objectively prove that he is the best. Being the most publicised, receiving the biggest performance fees and getting the most awards does not make someone the best. ---- 3. Skills. There are many different skills inherent in the art of DJing and I would expect the best DJ in the world to be a master of all of them. Many of these skills such as beat-matching and crowd interaction I would say that Tiesto has probably mastered to a very high level but I'm not so sure about skills like scratching and other turntablist techniques. I would also like to see some evidence for Tiesto having a deep knowledge of music beyond the Trance/hard house genre he specialises in. ---- That will be all for now, 5000 characters is really not enough for all the points I would like to make. I look forward to my opponent's response. Thanks. Con.