OlympicIRL

That's a great idea. I am sure they wouldn't mind helping out if needed! Also I must make it clear before any votes are received that I have decided to use the following system to decide the qualifiers among the 3rd placed teams in each group: The 2 best 3rd placed songs will advance automatically to the Round of 16 The remaining 3rd placed teams will play-off against one another to decide the remaining 2 qualifiers. These play-offs will be seeded according to the ranking of the best 3rd placed teams after the group stages. To determine the best third placed teams, the 3rd placed teams with the most points will be ranked highest. If tied on points, the teams with the best vote difference will be ranked higher. Also in case it wasn't clear, the system used for match points is similar to FIFA WC. 3 pts for win, 1 pt for draw, 0 pts for loss.

I'm in the process of sending out everyone's voting cards now with the list of songs. Hopefully will have them sent out to everyone by the end of today and no later than tomorrow!

I am also planning on showing a TISC Open 2013 replay. I'm not sure yet when to hold it. I was planning on holding it on one of the weekends during the contest but the first weekend is going to have "Super Saturday" and so then I thought maybe hold it during one of the days designated as a"Voting Day". But I probably need my full attention on that day to keep gathering the votes and sending reminders so that's a non-starter. So maybe I will hold it this Saturday instead as a kick-starter before the contest begins on Wednesday. If nothing else, the TISC 2013 replay will give new users an opportunity to re-live a contest that is no longer available since it was opened on the old forum. I will be able to create a new thread on this forum with the TISC Open 2013 replay to allow users to at least re-live the grand final scoring, jury by jury. None of the first 5 contests (TISC Open 2013 to TISC Open 2015) are available to find on the new forum so there's no way for new users to re-live them the way they can with the later contests as there are threads on this forum for each of those later editions. But I would love it if at least a few users could gather to watch the TISC 2013 Replay and post along as the votes are revealed. It could be fun. There's no need for it to be the usual full day long TISC Grand Final. It will of course be a sped up version but with sessions, mirroring the actual voting order that day. Any thoughts on this if I were to hold it this Saturday?

Okay so I have completed the allocation of judges. The breakdown of the judging guidelines are as follows: Each judge will adjudicate in a minimum of 16 matches and a maximum of 17 matches in the group stages. Judges cannot adjudicate in matches within their own group. Judges will adjudicate at least one match involving each song in the group stages. Judges will judge a song a maximum of 2 times in the group stages. Judges will judge a minimun of 3 matches and a maximum of 4 matches in each group (except for their own group). There will be 8 judges allocated to each group match. I will take a look over it tonight and tomorrow morning to check for any obvious errors and then I will begin sending out private messages to each participant to let them know the list of songs they will judge. Everyone will be encouraged to vote as early as possible to allow the votes to be gathered and counted in good time. I will probably set the deadline for Monday night, 20th July. Tuesday will be used to validate and count the votes and draft in replacement judges in case someone doesn't turn up to vote. So I ask of you all to listen to the songs now as much as you can, even before you receive the list of matches you will be involved in because it will take me a little bit of time to release all the info to each judge.

Okay, I think I am getting somewhere now. Halfway there, hopefully by tomorrow I will have the judging allocation completed and sent out to everyone by mid-week

Well I definitely don't want anyone judging the same song more than twice in the group stages. We want more diversity in the judging. I think I will try with discarding the criteria about spreading the judging across the days. As long as they judge each song once and no more than twice then I guess it makes no difference. I will see how that goes then. If not then I am just going to throw my laptop in the air, see where all the fragments land and read the signs from there

Man, allocating the judges to matches is an absolute nightmare My criteria for allocating judges are as follows: Judges cannot judge in any match in the same group as their own song 8 judges per match means each judge will be allocated to 16/17 matches. Cannot judge more than 4 matches within a specific group. Must judge at least one match of every song, except those within their group. Cannot judge the same song more than twice. I am so far trying to avoid things like someone judging 2 matches within the same group in a single matchday. I am also spreading the judges matches out as much as possible between the days. The problem is though, while adhering to those rules, it means I am often finding the same judges alongside each other in various matches Before I continue on, does anyone have any ideas on how I can allocate the judges in a better manner?

I know having best runner-up system is probably the neatest way and I am considering it. But then again, I always really dislike that system of advancing teams who are best runner-up of certain groups. Because it's definitely much easier to do well in easy groups and for a team coming 3rd in a tough group, it's much harder to score points. So a best 3rd placed team is very rarely the best 3rd placed team in reality. It's still the most likely option I am considering, I just want to rant about my pet peeve

Another option I am considering is to have all the final group matches played on the same day, Thursday 30th July (instead of splitting them into 2 days). We could have the final matches from the same group play at the same time, the way they do at football tournaments. I think it will make the final day of matches in the group stage more exciting. Also, the big advantage of doing that, it means it opens up an extra day between repechages and Round of 16 to allow for voting as it might be very rushed to have repechages and then straight into Round of 16 the next day. Again I'm just thinking of the logistics of gathering the votes and giving myself the breathing room to prepare. For now, the schedule has the final group matches split into 2 days of action but this might change so I will keep you up-to-date on that.

Provisional Schedule Below is an outline of the provisional schedule. It is still subject to change as I have to analyse everything carefully in order to foresee any problems. As of yet there are no match times and the days allocated for voting days in the final week may be filled with a challenge tournament for the songs eliminated in the early stages. I am still trying to figure out the logistics of everything but I just want to get this draft schedule out to you all as soon as possible as that's more important right now than making everything neat. The next and most important item on the agenda that I will work on now is the allocation of judges and the logistics of that! By the way, you will see on the schedule that I am planning on having a "Super Saturday" on July 25th, where all groups will have matches scheduled. That means 12 matches that day! I think it's a good way to kick-start the tournament after the official "Japan Day" which is scheduled for the day before where no matches will be played. Group Stages Group A Fixtures Wed, July 22nd Japan v Jamaica Wed, July 22nd Guinea v Gibraltar Sat, July 25th Gibraltar v Belarus Sat, July 25th Guinea v Japan Sun, July 26th Jamaica v Guinea Sun, July 26th Belarus v Japan Tue, July 28th Belarus v Guinea Tue, July 28th Gibraltar v Jamaica Thur, July 30th Jamaica v Belarus Thur, July 30th Japan v Gibraltar Group B Fixtures Wed, July 22nd Sri Lanka v Somalia Wed, July 22nd Kosovo v Puerto Rico Sat, July 25th Sri Lanka v Kosovo Sat, July 25th Somalia v Kiribati Sun, July 26th Puerto Rico v Sri Lanka Sun, July 26th Kiribati v Kosovo Tue, July 28th Kiribati v Sri Lanka Tue, July 28th Somalia v Puerto Rico Thur, July 30th Kosovo v Somalia Thur, July 30th Puerto Rico v Kiribati Group C Fixtures Wed, July 22nd Zambia v Guatemala Wed, July 22nd South Korea v Burundi Sat, July 25th Zambia v South Korea Sat, July 25th Guatemala v Albania Sun, July 26th Burundi v Zambia Sun, July 26th Albania v South Korea Tue, July 28th Albania v Zambia Tue, July 28th Guatemala v Burundi Thur, July 30th South Korea v Guatemala Thur, July 30th Burundi v Albania Group D Fixtures Thur, July 23rd Monaco v Costa Rica Thur, July 23rd South Africa v Iraq Sat, July 25th Monaco v South Africa Sat, July 25th Costa Rica v Côte d'Ivoire Mon, July 27th Iraq v Monaco Mon, July 27th Côte d'Ivoire v South Africa Wed, July 29th Côte d'Ivoire v Monaco Wed, July 29th Costa Rica v Iraq Fri, July 31st South Africa v Costa Rica Fri, July 31st Iraq v Côte d'Ivoire Group E Fixtures Thur, July 23rd Cape Verde v Iceland Thur, July 23rd Mali v Cuba Sat, July 25th Cape Verde v Mali Sat, July 25th Iceland v Chinese Taipei Mon, July 27th Cuba v Cape Verde Mon, July 27th Chinese Taipei v Mali Wed, July 29th Chinese Taipei v Cape Verde Wed, July 29th Iceland v Cuba Fri, July 31st Mali v Iceland Fri, July 31st Cuba v Chinese Taipei Group F Fixtures Thur, July 23rd Barbados v Belize Thur, July 23rd North Macedonia v Angola Sat, July 25th Barbados v North Macedonia Sat, July 25th Belize v Hong Kong Mon, July 27th Angola v Barbados Mon, July 27th Hong Kong v North Macedonia Wed, July 29th Hong Kong v Barbados Wed, July 29th Belize v Angola Fri, July 31st North Macedonia v Belize Fri, July 31st Angola v Hong Kong Repechages This round will determine the 4 best 3rd placed songs to advance to the Round of 16. Format yet to be decided. The repechage round is currently scheduled for Saturday, 1st August. Knockout Stages Round of 16 All Matches to be Played on Sunday, 2nd August Match 1: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up C Match 2: Winner D v Third-place B/E/F Match 3: Winner B v Third-place A/C/D Match 4: Winner F v Runner-up E Match 5: Winner C v Third-place A/B/F Match 6: Winner E v Runner-up D Match 7: Winner A v Third-place C/D/E Match 8: Runner-up B v Runner-up F Third-placed teams qualify from groups 1A vs 1B vs 1C vs 1D vs A B C D 3C 3D 3A 3B A B C E 3C 3A 3B 3E A B C F 3C 3A 3B 3F A B D E 3D 3A 3B 3E A B D F 3D 3A 3B 3F A B E F 3E 3A 3B 3F A C D E 3C 3D 3A 3E A C D F 3C 3D 3A 3F A C E F 3C 3A 3F 3E A D E F 3D 3A 3F 3E B C D E 3C 3D 3B 3E B C D F 3C 3D 3B 3F B C E F 3E 3C 3B 3F B D E F 3E 3D 3B 3F C D E F 3C 3D 3F 3E Quarter-Finals All Matches to be Played on Tuesday, 4th August QF 1: Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2 QF2: Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4 QF 3: Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6 QF 4: Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 8 Semi-Finals All Matches to be Played on Thursday, 6th August SF 1: Winner of QF 1 vs Winner of QF 2 SF 2: Winner of QF 3 vs Winner of QF 4 Medal Matches All Matches to be Played on Saturday, 8th August BRONZE MEDAL MATCH Loser of SF 1 vs Loser of SF 2 GOLD MEDAL MATCH Winner of SF 1 vs Winner of SF 2

I will start working on drafting a schedule tonight. I’ll try have it out by tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group F Group F Hong Kong Angola North Macedonia Belize Barbados Hong Kong Joey Yung - Pretty Crazy Angola Anselmo Ralph - Não Me Toca North Macedonia Toše Proeski - The Hardest Thing Belize Andy Palacio - Ámuñegü Barbados Rihanna - Diamonds

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group E Group E Mali Iceland Cuba Cape Verde Chinese Taipei Mali Tinariwen - Tiwàyyen Iceland Hatari - Klámstrákur Cuba Descemer Bueno feat. Issac Delgado - La Vida Es Buena Cape Verde Cesaria Evora - Sodade Chinese Taipei EggPlantEgg - Back Here Again

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group D Group D Monaco Costa Rica South Africa Iraq Côte d'Ivoire Monaco Stephanie - Born Blue Costa Rica Patterns - Spirit South Africa Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata Iraq Saif Nabeel - Dayekh Bek Côte d'Ivoire Magic System - Tu Es Fou

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group C Group C Guatemala Burundi South Korea Zambia Albania Guatemala Ricardo Arjona - El Amor Burundi Khadja Nin - Kuji Fondeya South Korea Shin Yu - 일소일소 일노일노 (Laugh Once Gain Youth, Angry Once Gain Age) Zambia Peace - Black Power Albania Ermal Meta - Regazza Paradiso

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group B Group B Kiribati Sri Lanka Somalia Kosovo Puerto Rico Kiribati KMTA Singers - My Kiribati Lady Sri Lanka M.I.A. - Paper Planes Somalia K'naan - Wavin' Flag Kosovo Dua Lipa - New Rules Puerto Rico Calle 13 - La Vuelta Al Mundo

Totallympics International Song Contest Special Event Meet the Artists! Introducing Group A Group A Japan Guinea Gibraltar Jamaica Belarus Japan EGOIST - All Alone With You Guinea Mory Kante - Yeke Yeke Gibraltar Albert Hammond - The Free Electric Band Jamaica Bob Marley - Is This Love Belarus NIZKIZ - Niebiaspiečna

For all those asking, the songs will be revealed tomorrow starting at 14:00 (GMT +1). I will reveal them throughout the day, group by group.

So that concludes today's draw for TISC Special. We now leave you in the hands of @Olympian1010 who will bring you the official slogan of the TISC Special Excuse me while I collapse in the corner......

4 Barbados Group A Japan Guinea Gibraltar Jamaica Belarus Group B Kiribati Sri Lanka Somalia Kosovo Puerto Rico Group C Guatemala Burundi South Korea Zambia Albania Group D Monaco Costa Rica South Africa Iraq Côte d'Ivoire Group E Mali Iceland Cuba Cape Verde Chinese Taipei Group F Hong Kong Angola North Macedonia Belize Barbados

4 So let's just complete the draw and reveal the final nation to be drawn....

1 Cape Verde Group A Japan Guinea Gibraltar Jamaica Belarus Group B Kiribati Sri Lanka Somalia Kosovo Puerto Rico Group C Guatemala Burundi South Korea Zambia Albania Group D Monaco Costa Rica South Africa Iraq Côte d'Ivoire Group E Mali Iceland Cuba Cape Verde Chinese Taipei Group F Hong Kong Angola North Macedonia Belize

1 4 @Olympian1010 can you draw a ball please?

3 South Africa Group A Japan Guinea Gibraltar Jamaica Belarus Group B Kiribati Sri Lanka Somalia Kosovo Puerto Rico Group C Guatemala Burundi South Korea Zambia Albania Group D Monaco Costa Rica South Africa Iraq Côte d'Ivoire Group E Mali Iceland Cuba Chinese Taipei Group F Hong Kong Angola North Macedonia Belize