Remember that music montage near the end of the '80s movie "The Karate Kid"? The one with the Joe Esposito song "You're the Best" in the background? The one where bullied underdog Daniel LaRusso manages to punch and kick his way to the final round of All Valley Karate Tournament? Talk about your inspiring David-and-Goliath moments.

That's sort of the philosophy behind our annual East Tennessee's Best Readers Poll. We don't know about underdogs, but when we start thinking about all the great things East Tennessee has to offer, we can't help but hear, "You're the best! Around! Nothing's gonna ever keep you down. You're the Best! Around! Nothing's gonna ever keep you down. You're the Best! Around! Nothing's gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ow-own."

Each year, we like to celebrate the best of what's around by polling our readers and asking them their favorites. This year, News Sentinel readers voted in 100 categories to bestow the honor of East Tennessee's Best to different businesses and entities throughout the area. Nearly 2,321 ballots were counted to determine the winners. Everyone who voted in at least half of the categories was entered into a cash-prize drawing.

The $1,000 first-place prize went to Judy Thompson, Knoxville.

The $500 second-place prize went to Kathy Raines, Clinton.

The $250 third-place prize went to Jane Walker, Seymour.

One category — Best Category We Missed — doesn't have one distinctive winner. Instead, we have listed an assortment of reader suggestions for what should be included on next year's ballot.

The other 100 categories include a list of runners-up. Most categories have two runners-up, although occasionally there are three due to tied voting.