And then there were … ten.  Hot Air readers have selected ten semifinalists among the hundreds of Obamateurisms of the Day this year to compete for the top spot for 2011.  Yesterday, readers selected Obama’s claim to have had the best first two years of any President in American history (except maybe FDR, LBJ, and some no-account named Lincoln), and by the widest margin in any of the first-round flights.  In our second-chance flight, the voting was closer, but Obama’s scare-tactics-for-me-but-not-for-thee lecturing won by a comfortable margin.

Today we’ll tackle the first five semifinalists, the top two of which will go on to the final on New Year’s Eve.  Will we be toasting Obama’s fumbled salute to the Queen of England, or his salute to the dictator in Beijing?  Will we dig the President’s “subterranean” analysis, or his faceplant on the Medal of Honor recipient?  The biggest question will be whether Obama will invite us to dinner after giving out this reward.  Odds: slightly better than Gary Johnson’s to win a single electoral vote.

• 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner holds state dinner for man who has 2010 winner under house arrest
• Obama tells group that there is a “subterranean” racially-based agenda in opposition to his presidency
• Obama telling people it would be easier to be President of China because “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”
• Obama botches toast to Queen Elizabeth
• Identifies wrong soldier as non-posthumous MoH recipient

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!