Hey if you win, I think contests like these do serve to broaden a persons reputation. Isn't that the way Tony Royster Jr. got his kick start?
Bermuda's right, it's drumming for drumming's sake, kind of in isolation. I do admire soloing skills because mine are kind of weak. I'm more about groove and providing the others what they need to shine, but if a drummer can't do a decent solo, then they aren't well rounded either. So soloing skills are something that need to be addressed. Drummers do get thrown solos, sometimes at a moments notice too, so contests like this aren't totally irrelevant. I attended 1 GC drum off, as part of the audience, and yea, it was enjoyable seeing the different peoples approaches. Entering one myself? I simply do not have the confidence in my soloing skills to enter one. If I felt I could solo pretty good, I'd enter, why not?
I actually think that I would do better soloing in a situation like this, where there is no song form to adhere to, no dancers to keep dancing. The time does not have to be kept, there's freedom to create whatever. My biggest problem soloing is keeping the song form intact, and keeping the time moving along. My brain can't solo and count out the form at the same time yet. One interferes with the other. Some forms I can, because they're pretty easy, others, not so easy. Someday I will develop that ability.