The number of entries almost in direct relation to the price of Steem. @prc who created DSound recently said he saw the exact same correlation of submissions to DSounds as I did on Open Mic.
We have also noticed this in our community in workshop participations. I think it's fine as it leaves out the people with whom we can work to create a better Steem ecosystem.
I have always liked your idea of open mic, in fact open mic has inspired one of our promotional side projects!