Award Site Advice

I am making a site for website awards, yeah I know it’s not very original. My thoughts are there can never be too much recognition for designers and developers out there:P

I am wondering what’s the best way to judge the sites. I have thought about the american idol method where you just let the public vote, which could lead to abuse. I have also thought about having a panel of judges. I like the panel idea, but I don’t have enough reputable designer friends that would be up to judging sites every week. I could judge the sites myself, but then the question of biased judging might come up.

Any ideas? I’m open to anything right now.

I plan on having a vbulletin messageboard and integrate it into the site. I’ll probably write the voting/submission system from scratch. It should be pretty sweet in the end.