Saying "if GE wasn't part of the criteria, BD wouldn't be be winning", is the old "if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle" line of reasoning.
Audience reaction is a thing, but no way should it be some sort of component of the judging criteria. The general public is understandably biased. They'd scream like heck for some things, and sit on their hands for others based on who they inherently like and don't like, regardless of its actual quality.
If audience reaction was part of the criteria Scouts, PR and Troopers would have a ton of championships.