OlympicIRL

5-3 Wright! Just 2 more sets Peter, come on

2-0 Wright

Hoping for the Wright winner

Ireland will participate.

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you and your loved ones all the best for 2020!

I have messaged bestmen and he has explained that he simply opened the thread so that he can firstly, post the "Happy New Year" greeting he created for TISC and also for another reason. He has created intros for each nation that he wants to post as each nation registers. It's just simply to mark the news that x nation is coming to Algeria to participate in TISC. It doesn't mean that the official song submission period has begun, it's simply to pass the time, make a bit of TISC news to keep the TISC in the spotlight before the contest officially begins and I think that is no harm. The official song submission window will still be a 2 week window, and this will open at a later date when bestmen is sure of the date he wishes to host the final. I personally have no issue with this as the main reason users wanted to streamline the windows and make them shorter is because users said it seemed like the period between when users submitted songs and the grand final was too long. This won't affect that. So the way I am looking at it is that bestmen would like us to announce our intention to participate and he will then provide us with a little intro to mark the news. It sounds like a nice touch. @bestmen if I didn't get this right, maybe you can do a better job in explaining.

Okay, I have moved the debate about the new thread and the rules to the discussion thread so we can keep the start of this thread relatively clean until registrations begin. I will also update the rules thread here to reflect the new rules that were implemented. I have asked bestmen if we have a schedule yet for when the final will take place and we will come up with a schedule for the registration, voting and preparation windows based around that. Until then the thread can remain open but we will keep registrations closed until we know the schedule. The reason for this is because on the request of users previously, we had a vote on this very subject because users had already brought up the issue of there being too long a period between registrations, voting and the eventual final and that is why there was a vote for that in the first place. Also, if a Grand Final in February suits bestmen best (if he is unable to host in March or April for example) then that should be fine. All we need to know is the schedule so we can implement the 2 week registration, voting and preparation periods. I hope everyone is ok with this resolution. Thanks, Dan

I totally understand why people are not happy with bestmen as host, his behaviour towards previous hosts has been appalling to be frank. And I respect those opinions of those who don't agree with Algeria hosting. Just like bad remarks towards previous hosts has been an injustice to their efforts, stripping Algeria from hosting rights after the fact would seem like a similar injustice. I think we are better than that and by showing we can rise above the bad example of others is a more fitting example of what we are as a community. Obviously, bestmen or any future host can still be stripped of hosting rights if they misbehave prior to or during the contest, but until then I would love if you can all get behind this as much as you are comfortable with. Who knows, by giving someone an opportunity to redeem themselves instead of closing the door to them, they might just surprise you. And if not, then it's their loss. But let it be them who squanders the chance to make amends and turn over a new leaf rather than us deciding that they can't. Sometimes it's good to give people another chance.

They are still an up and coming with not much prominence yet. Even in Ireland they are not really known that much yet. And yes, Bono's son, Elijah Hewson is the lead singer. You can really hear the influence of U2 in that song, it has a very nostalgic sound for me

Damn @Wumo, you just found one of my long listed songs for TISC Annual 2020. I didn't think you would have heard this song by Inhaler.

PDC Darts world championships, then English Premier League and then Munster v Leinster in the Pro 14 rugby and then more darts

Good work on the new podcast episodes to all who were involved

No problem, and happy listening

As always there are grey areas and we take them on a case-by-case basis (see example of the Moldovan song in the previous contest). Just because the singer is outnumbered by band members does not mean that the song could not represent the nation of the singer. We would look at how the song is credited (who is the featured artist or if it is a 50-50 collaboration, etc.). If you want you can PM me the example and I could look at it and it would be easier for me to explain.

Dinner is about to begin

Nollaig Shona Daoibh Happy Christmas to all on Totallympics who celebrate. I hope you and your families enjoy the festivities

Because I love the carols, the atmosphere and the general feeling of goodwill. I don't go to church most of the year (maybe on Easter too). Tradition counts for a lot in my enjoyment of things associated with Christmas. It's not just about going to talk to God, at least not for me. Though I do go up to the crib, say a prayer and remember my loved ones no longer here.

Just finished watching Die Hard 4.0 before I go out to midnight mass now. Two very traditional Christmas customs for me

Katie Taylor by an absolute mile. Best male would be Paul O’Donovan (probably the best lightweight rower in the world in the last few years with 4 successive gold medals at the world championships).

Our main celebration is on Christmas Day (25th December). Santa leaves presents under the tree and we open them on Christmas morning. We also have a huge feast on Christmas Day. We will have a starter (garlic mushrooms or soup with bread rolls), the main course (roast turkey, ham, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, loads of boiled and roasted vegetables). At this point we also pull crackers and tell those silly jokes inside (which I love btw ) and wear party hats. Then because we are so full, no one can look at dessert so we have that maybe 90 mins later. This year we have so many to choose from (Black Forest gateau, Chocolate Fudge cake, sticky toffee pudding, Christmas pudding with custard, and my personal choice will be banoffee pie ). We will also eat lots of chocolate and pies and various treats throughout the day. Today is Christmas Eve and this is also a very nice occasion. I will go into the fields to look for holly and decorate the house with it. Some of the food for tomorrow will be prepared and I will spend the day watching Christmas movies with my nephews (The Snowman movie) is a tradition. Then one of my absolute favourite things about Christmas is the Midnight Mass in the cathedral on Christmas Eve. It’s a beautiful occasion, seeing families reunited (remember Irish families have a lot of family members living abroad so coming home for Christmas is an exciting time for all). And the Christmas carols being played and the church organ blasting out the music. I look forward to hearing O Holy Night every year. They always do it so magically at Midnight Mass and it sends shivers down my spine it’s so good. So very much looking forward to that

I wonder will we see a certain judge from and Mr.Umbach here

Where are the other 2 judges from? One really high score and one really low score. Either 3 bad scoring judges (the 3 high ones) or 2 bad scoring (the low and the high)

I am up to date and will watch the final episode of the series on Sunday. I agree it hasn’t been the best and when I watch I am constantly thinking, that could have been done better. But I found it interesting enough to continue watching and don’t feel like it’s been a waste of my time.

I'm enjoying listening to all the Christmas classics as always at this time of year. Also some nice new songs too. Irish band Picture This have released a beautiful Christmas song which I love Picture This - This Christmas