I have the perfect project for this - and will give it my best shot whatever is decided - but would it be possible to extend the time frame so it includes two full weekends? Early Friday morning is not the ideal time of the week for a final mad dash to the finish line for those of us trying to do this in parallel with a 9-5 job in a European time zone.
A Monday morning deadline would be much better - I have no problem with showing up in a zombie-like state at the day job due to lack of sleep! :-)