Wrath of Cortex wasn't a good game.
Seriously, it was slow, the loading times were shit, and after the brilliantly fun Crash Bandicoot Warped, it was nothing more than a disappointment that started the downward spiral of the Crash series. How did this average-at-best game get into the tourney over Warped?
Dizzy was a colorful, funtastic platformer with great music. I'm not going to spend a lot of time arguing for it (since I know Gelgarin and Loveless will have quite a bit to say on the subject) but just know that it was in every aspect better than Wrath of Cortex, from the gameplay to the design to the music to the, well, everything.
There is no reason Wrath of Cortex should advance here, or even be in the running. None at all.