Totallympics Annual International Song Contest 2022

[Vektor 3,326]

Team Challenge Host City

Kecskemét

 

 

The lineup of the Goats

•  Moldova @Ionoutz24
•  Netherlands @heywoodu
•  Portugal @kungshamra71
•  India @Fly_like_a_don

 

Kecskemét is the home of 110 thousand people and it's located south of Budapest, between the Danube and the Tisza. There are multiple theories what the "mét" in the name of the city means, but we all know what "kecske" means in Hungarian. Yep, it means goat. Now you know why I named this team the Goats. 

 

 

Similar to Győr, Kecskemét has its own large German car factory which is serving Mercedes-Benz. But let's not get sidetracked again by a factory because I actually visited Kecskemét last year and I must say I was surprised by how lively and beautiful the city center was. Honestly, Kecskemét is not one of the cities that comes up in many discussions in Hungary despite its fun name, which is a shame because I enjoyed the little time I spent there. They have a interesting looking city hall and also a weird building called Cifrapalota, which means... "flashy palace"? It's an Art Nouveau building which was finished in 1902.

 

Cifrapalota

 

Kecskemét isn't exactly know for its successes in sports, but they do have a men's volleyball team who have won the Hungarian Championship 3 times. 

[OlympicIRL 5,532]

Totallympics International Song Contest - Top 40 Chart

 

 

 

 

 

We are just 3 days away from the Grand Final of the Totallympics Annual International Song Contest 2022 and the Countdown of the Top 40 Annual Chart is well underway. We resume today at position #15 in the chart with TISC Annual 2021 bronze medal winner, Dermot Kennedy of Ireland....

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dermot Kennedy - Giants

 

 

Edition: TISC Annual 2021

 

Placement: 3rd

 

Points: 160 points

 

Points-Per-Jury Average: 4.44 pts

 

Number of Juries That Voted For The Song: 20 / 36 (55.56%)

 

Medals Won: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze

 

Juries Who Awarded Their 12 Points To This Song: Romania, Indonesia, Canada

 

*************************************************************************

 

 

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nek - Fatti Avanti Amore

 

 

Edition: TISC Annual 2016

 

Placement: 2nd

 

Points: 147 points

 

Points-Per-Jury Average: 4.45 pts

 

Number of Juries That Voted For The Song: 23 / 33 (69.70%)

 

Medals Won: 0 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze

 

Juries Who Awarded Their 12 Points To This Song: N/A

 

*************************************************************************

 

 

13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within Temptation - Mad World

 

 

Edition: TISC Annual 2019

 

Placement: 2nd

 

Points: 171 points

 

Points-Per-Jury Average: 4.62 pts

 

Number of Juries That Voted For The Song: 20 / 37 (54.05%)

 

Medals Won: 4 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze

 

Juries Who Awarded Their 12 Points To This Song: Slovakia, France, Mexico, Denmark

 

*************************************************************************

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Aristone - Sunlight

 

 

Edition: TISC Annual 2015

 

Placement: 4th

 

Points: 139 points

 

Points-Per-Jury Average: 4.63 pts

 

Number of Juries That Voted For The Song: 21 / 30 (70.00%)

 

Medals Won: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze

 

Juries Who Awarded Their 12 Points To This Song: Chile, Ireland

 

*************************************************************************

 

 

11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Molly Sandén - Husavik (My Home Town)

 

 

Edition: TISC Annual 2021

 

Placement: 2nd

 

Points: 169 points

 

Points-Per-Jury Average: 4.69 pts

 

Number of Juries That Voted For The Song: 18 / 36 (50.00%)

 

Medals Won: 5 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze

 

Juries Who Awarded Their 12 Points To This Song: Italy, India, Malta, Great Britain, Slovenia

 

*************************************************************************

[OlympicIRL 5,532]

Now that the voting order has been finalised, let's have a look at the projected finishing positions for each nation based on previous results achieved by nations in those voting slots in the previous 17 contests. What say you? Would you sign on the dotted line and accept the projected result with open arms, or would you rather dare to take your chances on Saturday?

 

 

	Nation	Projected Finish	Notes about this voting position
1	New Zealand	34th	New Zealand becomes the second nation in TISC history to kick-off the voting for a second time, Slovenia being the only other nation to do so. The last time New Zealand voted from position number 1, they finished the contest in 33rd place out of 34 nations. They will be hoping for changed fortunes this time around.
2	Tunisia	13th	A favourable draw for Tunisia perhaps as this voting position has seen 2 winners in the past. Tunisia voted previously from position 2 at TISC Annual 2019, finishing 8th, one of the nation's best results. Position 2 has been very fruitful with no less than 5 top 5 results and 7 top 10 finishes in the history of the contest, both are TISC records.
3	Poland	23rd	This is the earliest voting slot Poland has ever had but could be a lucky one as we have seen 2 previous winners come from voting position 3. Could this give Poland a first ever TISC podium?
4	Bulgaria	32nd	Bulgaria has not voted this early since they opened the voting at the TISC Open 2016, finishing a very respectable 10th. Early voting slots for Bulgaria may be a good omen then. France twice one bronze from this voting position, but apart from that, this voting slot has offered limited success and Chile finished rock bottom at the TISC Annual 2019 from this position. What's it to be for Bulgaria?
5	Spain	30th	Spain has history of voting from position 5, finishing 26th at TISC Annual 2019. Nothing notable has been achieved from a nation voting in this position, though Hungary might disagree as they finished 4th at TISC Open 2019 from position 5 in the order, the best result from any nation from this slot.
6	India	26th	Incredibly, this will be the 4th time that India has voted from position 6 and the third time in the last 5 editions! The fact that no nation has finished on the podium from position 6 and India finished last from here at TISC Annual 2014 doesn't offer much hope for India. Or does it? It was in fact India who achieved that 6th place from this voting slot, their best ever TISC result. Can they continue in that vein of form at TISC Annual 2022?
7	Colombia	16th	Colombia don't have a good record from voting early so perhaps they were not jumping for joy when the draw was made. However, Italy won from position 7 at TISC Annual 2018 and New Zealand claimed silver at the most recent TISC from this very voting slot so it's not all bad news for the Colombians.
8	Germany	7th	Position 8 seems like a lucky voting slot. A winner may have not have been crowned from this voting position, but it did give United States a silver medal as hosts at TISC Open 2018. Added to that is that fact that 7 times, nations voting from this position finished in the Top 10. the one caveat for Germany is that Croatia finished last from this position at TISC Annual 2014 when Germany won their only TISC crown.
9	Hungary	12th	It's the first time a host nation has ever voted from position 9 but it has been a relatively good slot, offering 5 top 10 finishes but only a solitary bronze medal from the United States at TISC Annual 2018. Position 9, a safe pair of hands but not spectacular enough to make it to the top. And although it is a relatively decent voting slot, Moldova did come last at the most recent TISC Annual from this position. Will Hungary be able to bring some glitter to this voting slot?
10	Croatia	28th	Reading into the history of this voting position offers a bit of a conundrum for the Croatians. Sure, it has given out bronze medals United States and Ireland at TISC Open 2017 and 2018 respectively, but it has been calamitous for Bulgaria who finished at the foot of the table from this slot at the last 2 TISC Open contests. The only 2 occasions Croatia voted earlier than this has offered mixed fortunes also, a respectable 15th place at TISC Open 2019 but a last place finish at TISC Annual 2014. So the bets are off for this one, only time will tell which side of the coin luck will shine on this time.
11	Sweden	33rd	An unlucky draw on the face of it for Sweden, who finished in 27th place the last time they started at position 11 in TISC Annual 2015. No medal has been won from here since Italy won silver all the way back at the very first edition of TISC in 2013 and we know that was an unlucky finish with Italy just being pipped to the post by none other than Sweden. Two 4th place finishes at TISC Annual 2016 and 2017 reinforces the "unlucky" tag of this voting slot. Can the Swedes change all that in Hungary?
12	Slovenia	29th	Slovenia don't exactly have the fondest memories of this voting position, having placed 38th from here at TISC Open 2015. In fact the highest result from any nation voting at position 12 is 5th from Algeria in TISC Annual 2016. Apart from the fact that 2 host nations voted from this slot, there is not much of note happening at this voting position.
13	Indonesia	14th	Unlucky for some? Well maybe not quite for Indonesia as voting position 13 has already been a successful voting slot, with Ireland winning TISC Open 2016 from this position and Denmark picking up a bronze at TISC Annual 2014. It has also been responsible for 6 top 10 finishes and only once did a nation finish outside the top 30 from this voting position so the Indonesians may be on to a good one here.
14	Greece	27th	Greece has previous history with voting position 14 and not a good one, having placed 33rd of 35 nations at TISC Annual 2022. However, it's not all doom and gloom for the Greeks as it has been a successful voting slot in the past, most notably for Canada, who won the title from position 14 at TISC Annual 2020 with Netherlands also clinching a silver from here at TISC Annual 2019.
15	Netherlands	22nd	Voting position 15 has been a bit of a mixed bag over the years. On the positive side, it has offered up 4 top 5 results with Great Britain winning silver at TISC Annual 2015. However it has also thrown up a lot of poor finishes, and has seen nations finish outside the top 30 no less than 5 times, the nadir being Czech Republic's last place finish at TISC Open 2017. So what side of the pendulum will the Dutch be on this year?
16	Canada	6th	A very good draw for the Canadians as voting position 16 has been responsible for a record 7 top 10 finishes over the years, even if the best result has been a 5th place courtesy of Denmark at TISC Annual 2020. Canada's previous outing at position 16 resulted in a 16th place finish. The worst result of any nation in this slot was 31st so at the very least it should be a respectable finish for the Canadians this year.... well, that's what the stats say anyway.
17	Lithuania	11th	Voting position number 17 is perhaps the most middle-of-the-road slot of them all. A 5th place finish for Switzerland at TISC Open 2014 being the highlight. On the other end of the spectrum, only once has a nation finished outside of the top 30 from this slot but this comes with a huge caveat.... Tunisia finished 31st and last from this position at TISC Annual 2015. But outside of those 2 results, previous results are packed in the middle  Will Lithuania follow this pattern or be a breakout star?
18	Argentina	25th	Argentina return to voting position 18 for a second time, having placed 18th from here in TISC Open 2018. Germany won the very first edition of TISC Annual from this voting slot. Could Argentina follow in their footsteps? Well they will need to go against the grain as the highest position since then was a 6th place finish at TISC Open 2019 for Spain.
19	Italy	37th	A bronze medal for Canada at TISC Open 2016 is just about the only highlight of voting position 19 over the years. It has been a barren desert for the most part with 10 of the previous 17 nations who voted in this voting position finishing outside the top 20. In fact, the highest position since Canada won that bronze medal in 2016 was a 19th place finish and even that came back in 2019. Not an ideal draw for the Italians to say the least, but the future is yet to be written.
20	Serbia	24th	Voting position number 20 has been highly successful over the years. Ireland clinched victory at TISC Annual 2015 from this very position, and came back for a bronze one year later. Mexico also claimed silver at TISC Open 2016, giving position 20 a very good reputation of being a lucky voting spot. Well, that was then. Now? Well 16th position has been the best if had to offer since 2016 with Spain crashing to last place from here at TISC Open 2018. Have Serbia found this "lucky" voting slot much too late, or are they about to bring back the good old days?
21	Finland	31st	Finland enter the voting this year at position 21, a voting slot that gave Great Britain victory on home soil at TISC Annual 2017, just one edition after Colombia crashed and burned in last place at TISC Open 2016. Apart from that win for GB and a 5th place for Italy at TISC Annual 2015, this has been an unnotable voting slot for most nations who had the misfortune to land here. Who knows where the Finnish finish this time?
22	Mexico	4th	Mexico will have fond memories of voting position 22, having voted from here when they hosted the contest at TISC Annual 2019. Uruguay finished rock bottom from here at TISC Annual 2020, but apart from that, results have been largely decent from this slot with Sweden winning silver at the last TISC Annual in 2021.
23	Ireland	20th	For the second contest in a row, Ireland will vote from position 23. They finished 8th last time out and can be hopeful in that Serbia won from this voting position during TISC Annual 2020 and Colombia also claimed silver from here at TISC Open 2017. There was also 6 top 10 finishes to be found from the 23rd voting nation over the years. There have been lows too, however, with 4 nations finishing outside the top 30 from this position.
24	Kazakhstan	10th	Denmark struck gold from position 24 in the voting order at TISC Open 2018 with Romania also claiming bronze at TISC Open 2015. Could this be the positive omen Kazakhstan need to give them a first ever podium finish? Not too much negative to say about this voting position, a 32nd place at TISC Annual 2021 being the all-time low for this voting position.
25	Portugal	5th	Position 25 is gaining momentum as being a lucky voting slot. Canada won from here at TISC Annual 2021 and there has been 6 top 10 finishes in the past 9 editions alone. Portugal won't be giving away this voting position anytime soon given those stats!
26	China	3rd	This has been a notriously solid voting position.... with 7 top 10 finishes, it has a reputation of throwing up good results, including a bronze medal for Sweden at TISC Open 2019. But results in general have not been spectacular from here outside of that, but mid-table respectability is generally the worst-case scenario. In fact, India's 33rd place finish at TISC Open 2021 was the first time in 17 editions where any nation finished outside the top 30 from this voting position.
27	Malta	15th	Slovakia took home silver from position 27 at TISC Annual 2014 but since then, good results from here have been few and far between. However, results are very much on the rise.... a 5th place finish, backed up by a 4th place in the 2 previous editions for nations in this voting position gives a lot of grounds to be optimistic for the Maltese... can they go one step better and get onto the podium at TISC Annual 2022?
28	Brazil	19th	There have been 3 podium finishes in the history of the contest for this voting position but never a gold one. Perhaps this is the time to change that for Brazil. However, look away now Brazilian fans, the worst-ever result at TISC was achieved in this very position in the voting order, when Venezuela scored only 4 points on their way to a last place finish at TISC Annual 2018. Lightning doesn't strike twice, does it?
29	United States	35th	United States return to voting position 29, from where they finished 14th at TISC Annual 2016. However, the real story about this voting position is that it gave us the most recent winner of TISC, Czech Republic striking gold from here at TISC Open 2021. Can United States keep up the winning ways for this slot?
30	Great Britain	17th	Voting position 30 is the epitome of consistency, with no fewer than 10 nations finishing 11th-20th from this voting slot. It did give Italy a silver medal at TISC Annual 2016 but apart from that, it has been mostly middle-of-the-road showings. A great voting slot if you want the best chance of a good decent position but don't expect to be winning the title from here. Well that's what the stats say, Ed Sheeran will have other intentions.
31	Czech Republic	36th	As the most recent winners of TISC, you might have thought Czech Republic earned the right for a good voting position. Well the voting order gods had different ideas and placed them in one of the worst voting slots available. Only once in 17 editions has a nation broke into the top 5 from this position and that was a 5th place finish for Argentina at TISC Open 2017. It has been generous in handing out last place results however, with both Colombia and Azerbaijan both falling victim of this curse, with a combined total of just 17 points between them at TISC Open 2015 and TISC Annual 2017 respectively.
32	France	2nd	France are on to a good one it seems with voting position 32. They have already finished 10th from here at TISC Annual 2018 and indeed there have been 7 top 10 finishes from this voting slot. In fact, only 4 times in 17 editions has a nation finished outside the top 20 from this position so it looks like France will be flying high, but just how high? Well here comes the drawback and it's a rather big one..... no one has ever finished in the top 5 from position 32!
33	Ukraine	21st	Victory for Ireland at TISC Open 2014 and 2 silver medals from Brazil and Norway at TISC Annuals 2017 and 2018 respectively have been the eye-catching highlights of voting position 33. Apart from a 4th place finish for United States at TISC Open 2016, the reaminder of results from this voting slot have been nothing to write home about. Ukraine will be hoping to bring some much needed joy and hope back to their citizens with a big TISC result this year and will be hoping to re-write those stats.
34	Turkey	9th	This has been a mixed bag for the nations who previously voted from position 34. Bulgaria finished last at TISC Open 2013 and Hungary placed 40th from here at TISC Open 2014. However, it has given us a TISC winner, with Lithuania winning gold at TISC Open 2015 after voting 34th with Serbia also bagging at bronze at TISC Annual 2017. Turkey will be striving to replicate those successes rather than the bad of voting position 34.
35	Moldova	8th	This will be Moldova's latest voting slot in TISC history and it seems like a relatively good draw. Malta won bronze from here at TISC Open 2020, Australia won silver from here at TISC Open 2019.... can the Moldovans trump them all go all the way to the TISC title in Hungary?
36	Romania	38th	Romania tend to finish mid-table when starting from a late voting position. Well they will need all the luck they can get this time as they have been drawn in one of the worst voting positions according to previous results. Only 8 nations have voted 38th in the order and it proved to be unforgiving for New Zealand who finished last from here at TISC Open 2019. Sweden showed the other side of position 38 however when they claimed a bronze at TISC Open 2021, so everything is possible.
37	Denmark	18th	Only 8 nations have had the opportunity of voting from position 39 and 2 of those came home with medals....Ireland won gold at TISC Annual 2019 while France won bronze at TISC Open 2020. Apart from 39th place for Algeria at TISC Open 2015, results have been largely positive for this voting slot so it appears as it Denmark struck relatively lucky here.
38	Israel	1st	Voting position 38 has only been used 5 times before and in those rare occasions it has given up 2 medals, a silver for Colombia at TISC Open 2014 and a bronze for Australia at TISC Annual 2019. All this means that Israel have been given the most favourable voting position of all according to our combined stats of average results based on voting position. Whether they go on to make the victory in Hungary remains to be seen.
39	Slovakia	39th	Slovakia have a bit of a reputation for late voting slots, having closed the voting at TISC Annual 2019. They only managed a 29th place finish on that occasion and when they voted in the penultimate voting slot at TISC Open 2015, they finished in 19th place. So what's it to be this time for the Slovakians? Stats say that they have an uphill task.... forget the Tatras... this task is as big as Everest as this is statistically the worst voting position of all. But then Slovakia likes a challenge don't they?

[hckošice 14,900]

This smell like relegation here

[OlympicIRL 5,532]

15 minutes ago, hckošice said:

This smell like relegation here

 

Relegation to WINTERFEST

[mrv86 3,138]

23 minutes ago, OlympicIRL said:

Would you sign on the dotted line and accept the projected result with open arms

To which account should I made a transfer to secure or better this result?

 

I meant, thanks for the optimistic projection.

[Vektor 3,326]

Team Challenge Host City

Székesfehérvár

 

 

The lineup of the Saints

•  Colombia @Damian
•  Canada @intoronto
•  China @Vic Liu
•  Romania @IoNuTzZ

 

Oh wow, we were so close to CCCP!  Anyway, welcome to the former capital of Hungary, Székesfehérvár, or as many lazy people, including me, calls it, Fehérvár. It's the home of 95 thousand people and its latin name is Alba Regia, which is why many of its sport clubs and companies use "Alba" in their name.

 

 

The city is "royal" ("Székes"), the first kings of Hungary were crowned and buried here. I was debating what I should choose for the team, "Royals" or "Saints" and I went with the latter because... I sounded better to me.  In 1083 King Saint Stephen and his son, Emeric, were canonized here in Székesfehérvar. Due to the city being the capital of Hungary for many years we got many sights here. The symbol of the city is the globus cruciger (cross-brearing orb) statute, which we call országalma (country apple) in Hungarian. It's one of the five Hungarian crowning symbols: the Saint Crown, the Crowning Robe, the Royal Scepter, the Cross-brearing Orb and the Crowning Sword.

 

Statue of the Cross-bearing orb

 

The five crowning symbols

 

Our largest lake is the Balaton, which we will visit during the Opening Ceremony, but we got another lake next to Székesfehérvár that I should mention, Lake Velence. It's the third largest lake in Hungary and a popular holiday destination for many. But sadly it won't be for long if climate change will destroy it. The lake has lost 44% of its water in the last two years. It's a grim sign for the future of Hungary if we won't stop climate change.

 

 

To end on a happier note, Fehérvár is quite successful in team sports. They have a great ice hockey team who were in the final of the Austrian ice hockey league this year. And they have the second strongest football club in recent years, which we still call Videoton, despite the fact that the club changed its name because the company Videoton isn't sponsoring them anymore. The team won the Hungarian league 3 times.

[Bohemia 1,418]

@OlympicIRL France 2nd? Yes please where do I sign

[dcro 10,210]

4 minutes ago, Bohemia said:

@OlympicIRL France 2nd? Where do I sign

[Vektor 3,326]

Team Challenge Host City

Szombathely

 

 

The lineup of the Romans

•  Germany @catgamer
•  Lithuania @Werloc
•  Malta @Glen
•  Denmark @Agger @Wumo

 

We are now at a lesser known city even in Hungary, Szombathely, which is the most Western "large" city in our country, with the population of 78 thousand people. Similarly to many Hungarian cities, it has an ancient past that goes back to the Roman empire., The Roman city located here was called Savaria. The Hungarian name of the cities means "Saturday place" because back in medieval times there were weekly markets held in the city on Saturday. 

 

 

Out of all the cities in Hungary Szombathely embraces its Roman past the most, their main cultural event of the year is the Savaria Historical Carnival where a bunch of people dress up as Romans and try to kill each other with swords. Okay, okay, I am joking, they just only dress up, there are no killings (that I know of). It's a quite large event with a bunch of programs for the whole family. The city's most famous sight is the Bishop's Palace and Cathedral, which was visited by the Pope in 1991. 

 

Savaria Carnival

 

Szombathely has a football club with a long history, their name is Haladás. Remember the Hungarian goalkeeper from Euro2016? He's from this city. But their most successful club is actually their men's basketball team, Falco, who have won the Hungarian league 3 times. Interestingly enough the county of this city, Vas county, is so great in men's basketball that there's a second team located in Körmend who were also the Hungarian champions 3 times. And sure enough, there's a rivalry between the two teams.