I used to think that 10-liner competitions were just for the arcane and esoteric, and I suppose they are--
but after having immersed myself in BASIC for the last few months, I can see the appeal, and it is definitely possible to go from n00b to expert in BASIC rather quickly.
It's in the name, I guess. If you were looking for a quick way to get started in programming, and have some feeling of having finished something early on, BASIC can do that for you.