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18 minutes ago, rybak said:

What do you think about songs in Finnish selections? In my opinion 6 out of 7 songs deserve to be choosen for Eurovision.

I haven’t fully listened to all of the songs yet, but there were two or three that caught my attention.

 

 are probably my favorite national competitions this year.

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Replay of the Czechia national finals. Anyone can vote until February 6th. I’ve put my rankings in the spoiler box below.

 

https://youtube.com/live/EA5zETYL3fM?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

 

Spoiler

1. Pam Rabbit

2. Vesna

3. Maella

4. RODAN

5. Markéta Irglová

 

Definitely a case or quality over quantity in my opinion. One of my favorite national finals this year.

 

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18 minutes ago, ManuCHIL said:

Really good from Ukraine

 

Good but the show must be improved for the belgian entry

 

Albania, sorry but I can't with it

Pretty much identical thoughts for me at the moment, though I’m still not certain how I feel about the Ukrainian entry given it wasn’t my favorite in that national final.

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Whenever I post an American news article on here…

 

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 really is copying the U.S. homework at this point 

 

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Happy New Year!!!

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Well, where to begin…

 

The forum stayed online another year thanks to @Sindo. It got a facelift thanks to the content generated by @Matej@JoshMartini007@Vojthas @Mkbw50 and others. Our results section grew thanks to the major contribution of @frantic13poland, among others. We celebrated another two editions of TISC under the guidance of @OlympicIRL, with wonderful hosts @Vektor @Hipooo. Our competitive circuit of prediction contests was once again successfully overseen by @Wumo, and our end of year awards revived by @vinipereira. Finally, the moderation team kept things (mostly) civil in the threads for another year against all odds. Hats off all 

 

It finally felt like international sports returned to a semi-normal state this year. We celebrated another Olympics, World Cup, and numerous other events together. Unfortunately, it was also a year marked by conflict. Conflict between nations; between internal domestic forces; between users. It was certainly a year of highs and lows; from top athletes missing the Olympics due to Covid and other injuries, to Messi finally leading Argentina to a World Cup victory. Some of us spent time recovering from injuries and illness, while others celebrated bringing a new life into the world. Through it all, and not to lean too hard on the favorite cliche of the international sports community, we were united by sport. 

 

Whether we were captivated or devastated, entertained or bored, overjoyed by victory or ostensibly angered by loss; users alike were connected by sport. We screamed, laughed, argued, celebrated, and debated like one large dysfunctional family; a brotherhood of international sports fans. I can say, without a shred of doubt, that my year was inextricably improved by the time I spent on this forum. If time is money, then joining the forum just over four years ago was one of my more sound investments. I’d like to thank all of you for your contributions to this forum. We’ve collectively grown such a wonderful, even if occasionally frustrating, community. 

 

Additionally, many of you have been so incredibly supportive of my career as an international sports journalist. I can’t thank you enough for your support. I can only hope to repay you with more excellent content in the year to come. 

 

So with that sentiment, let’s remember fondly the year we’re leaving behind, and greet the future with great enthusiasm. We’re now mere minutes away from the last Totallympics time zone joining everyone else in the New Year, so break out the confetti, libations, firecrackers, boomsticks, and cursed vuvuzelas. It’s time for one last celebration in 2022!

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If I’m not mistaken, I’m now the last Totallympian living in 2022. Wholesome remarks incoming…

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I will be bringing back my end of the year, last time zone remarks this year, so you can all look forward to that in the New Year  

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@Vektor thought you might be interested to know that a Hungarian song popped up on one of my personalized music discovery playlists. I probably won’t add this song to my fabled main playlist, but it seems like a really nice song. I found the translated lyrics to be a little confusing though. It’s certainly the kind of song that earn a few of my points at a TISC

 

 

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Another early contender for my overall top 5 of the cycle.

 

 

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Linktree is also supposedly no longer allowed, so it would seem functionality for journalists, public relations professionals, and other large organizations has taken a hit.

At least that’s my outlook as someone who mostly uses Twitter to promote my work outside the app and interact with our international sports professionals.

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Sad day for Angelenos 

 

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I’d give this max points in a heartbeat. A little sad they didn’t choose it, but their other entry is rather interesting too.

 

 

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More videos from the protests in China.

 

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27 minutes ago, Federer91 said:

By the way, i was wondering, while watching last night, how do they re-draw the borders of the districts after the new Census came in? At CNN they would often mention "Well District X has now incorporated this county, or this part, and is now leaning more Dem/Rep", which brought up my interest how exactly do they decide these restructures of district borders? Is there a formula that is being followed? Maybe @Olympian1010 can give some inside answers. 

The rules for the redistricting process are left up to each individual state. In California, we have an independent commission called the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC). I remember there was a portal online where you could write in to the commission describing what you considered your “local community.” They then took the input from individual citizens and advocacy groups and drew up new congressional districts based on it, while making sure they were roughly equal in population, and that they weren’t drawn in a way that would purposely dull the voting ability of a particular group.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Olympian1010

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Regardless of the outcome, it’s hard to find a less inspiring, or unhealthy (can’t quite come up with the words I want here, so these will have to do) election than this one. I read up on the all the major candidates (top 5/6) during the first round, and I honestly don’t know if I’d willingly support any of them. The amount of scandals, conflicts of interest, questionable political decisions, etc. are just ridiculous. I’d certainly like to here some local users viewpoints on the state of Brazilian democracy.

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Tragic events in South Korea tonight 

 

 

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Easily one of the best joke headlines I’ve seen in a while 

 

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I just came across a series of international high school student discussions/debates held in the 1950s on American television. I’ve only watched the video linked below so far, but it’s a fascinating window into the geopolitical debates of the time. 
 

This discussion features students from  and starts with general thoughts about America and the experience. They then get into some more “juicy” issues like Italy and Ethiopia’s relationship and what students in both countries are taught at the time, Ethiopia’s ethnic divide, and South Africa’s policy of apartheid. The discussion is held completely in English, and there’s subtitles available as well.