I think I took the wrong meaning from the original post.
I do agree that where there is a theme then obviously the photo that captures that theme in the best way would attract my attention, but it is still a matter of how each particular judge interprets that theme and the contestant's version of that theme.
I am just a little miffed at the way photos are appreciated these days, It once was enough to take a good photo of a subject and if the lighting, exposure and ability to capture the entire subject were carried out correctly then you had a good photo.
Now somebody introduced the rule of thirds and suddenly if your subject is not within that "rule" it is not even considered to be worthy.
In my opinion, if a photo covers the subject/theme and is not too light or dark then it is a good photo, if for example the theme is cars then obviously the majority of entrants will post cars, so then I believe it comes down to getting the subject well covered, not blurry and well exposed and is the correct colour, eg white balance etc.
Peter