OlympicIRL

Also in terms of political leanings, Sinn Féin would be considered to be on the left, Fianna Fáil (centre, maybe more centre-left this time) and Fine Gael (centre-right traditionally).

Sinn Féin is a nationalist party (republican) and the only party to stand in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. Their main objective is for a united Ireland and they want a border poll on a united Ireland soon. Now that Brexit has happened they say it should happen as soon as possible. Fine Gael is the current party in government and they like to say how they saved the country after the last recession. Fianna Fáil is also a republican party and they were the party in government at the time of the last economic crash. The main issues that seem to have gained traction in this election are the housing crisis (not enough supply, high rents and young people feeling like they have no prospect of getting on property ladder), health (crisis in hospitals with not enough beds, waiting times for procedures, etc), climate change and of course Brexit. This all feeds in perfectly for the rise of Sinn Féin and also people clearly want a change from the usual 2 large party politics in Ireland. I should also say that all 3 large parties want a united Ireland but differ on the time frame and the vision of bringing it about.

The polling stations are now closed and the first exit polls are out... and wow this is going to be an exciting few days ahead for all politics fans in Ireland.... Fine Gael 22.4% Sinn Féin 22.3% Fianna Fáil 22.2% Sinn Féin have risen dramatically in the last few weeks but this means they did not run enough candidates. So they won’t win as many seats as the other 2 large parties. But it’s going to be interesting to see where their excess vote goes and should help some of the other smaller parties on the left. Looking forward to the counting which begins tomorrow morning

There may be a storm here and I may have no electricity but I have still completed my civic duty and voted

It’s election day in Ireland.... today we vote to elect our parliamentary representatives and after that the largest parties will try to form a government and elect a Taoiseach (prime minister).

Hi there @Dnl. Absolutely, you may join since you have shown a high level of activity on this forum in your short time here. So have a read of the rules and have a look at the schedule in the first post. You have until Sunday, 16th February to select your entry. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. We are pleased to welcome you and Israel to the contest for the very first time. And good luck

Great pole vault competition. Only a matter of time until Mondo smashes the records.

He was so close on that second attempt! One more attempt to come!

4 of those nations appeared in all 13 previous editions:

But if you haven’t watched every single show in history, how can you say that too

Totallympics International Song Contest: Rule Change Question ******************** Question: In the case of multi-member juries with more than 3 jury members, the internal voting should be structured to allow each member of that jury to award points in which of the following formats? (a) 18-15-12-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (b) 16-13-11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (c) 15-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (d) 14-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (e) 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (a) 7 votes (b) 3 votes (c) 1 vote (d) 0 votes (e) 2 votes So it is clear that a majority of users preferred the point format 18-15-12-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. I will not enforce this format on any jury against their will, instead for national juries with 4 or more members, they will be allowed to opt in to this points format if they wish. If not, they will use the standard points format, as will all juries with fewer than 4 members. As this only affects the Italian jury at this time, I will ask @Dunadan @Gianlu33 @Henry_Leon @Pablita and @SteveParker to debate amongst themselves to decide which format the Italian jury will choose for the upcoming TISC Annual 2020 - the standard format of 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 or the optional format of 18-15-12-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Perhaps it would be good for you to create a private group chat and have a vote on your format choice . After this you can post on the TISC Annual 2020 thread to report which format you have decided so that the host will know how to calculate the combined scores. I hope this is the best outcome for all. We have decided on an optional point formal for large multi-member juries but will not impose this format on that jury and instead it will be their decision whether to implement it. And once again, thanks to everyone who has voiced their opinions and who has taken the time to cast a vote

No there’s still plenty of time. You just need to post your entry by Sunday, February 16th

Yes indeed. And not surprising either as with greater number of jury members, it's more likely that a song voted only by one member will not make the combined. I just feel uncomfortable now with this whole process as a couple of Italian jury members say that they do not think it should be imposed on them without their wish. That's why I am considering whether it's more appropriate to delegate this decision to the Italian jury to decide themselves which format suits them best. I think for all juries with 3 members (or perhaps even 4 given the above stats) don't have any such problems with their combined votes. So maybe if we say that once a jury goes up to 4 or 5+ members, they can decide themselves whether they would like to retain the traditional format, or tweak it as they wish. Guidance very much needed here from everyone as I don't want to tread on any toes as I don't feel like I am in a position to view this fairly from the perspective of being in a single member jury.

Thanks for this info, it's the kind of detail I was interested in as I did not have access to the Italian jury votes. What I am most interested in is how many times a jury member's top preference did not appear in the overall votes and that was only once. The bottom line for me is that I will not impose a format on the Italian jury against the will of the Italian jury. The more I think of that, the more I feel strongly about that as it would be unfair. So I don't know how to resolve that without giving your national jury the right to decide itself which format works best for you.

Thanks for your vote. It’s a fair point also and I personally don’t like imposing different formats on national juries against their will. And yet I don’t want to ignore what majority are voting for here. I don’t know what everyone thinks about it? Whatever happens, the result of this vote will become the “default” option. But should those larger multi juries be allowed to decide on their own format for distributing their points?

According to the new schedule in the opening list it’s Sunday 16th February. All registrations as well as song selections will be permitted until then.

Well that's the thinking behind the new proposed points distribution. With extra points behind awarded to the first preference of each jury member it will hopefully ensure they appear somewhere on the combined list.

@mrv86 Thanks for explaining, I understand what you mean now. But I think that’s not the fairest system. For example, pretend the Italian jury with 5 members voting for 5 different songs as first preference and 5 different songs as 2nd preference. That means 10/12 votes in the combined are already used. And then a song which received 10 points from all 5 members (50 combined points) would only receive 2 points in the combined. Even though it is the most liked in general and probably deserves the combined 12 points. Also, another example. A song which receives 11 points from all 5 members (55 combined) would be ranked behind a song that receives a single 12 from one member and nothing from the other members. I think that would not be a reflection of the overall taste. There needs to be a balance if possible between allowing for the overall favourites to be rewarded fairly but also allowing individual preferences to appear in there too.

I’ll try make one soon, been a bit hectic for me lately

Thanks for voting I’m not sure if I understand how that system works. Maybe you could explain it further.

I think imposing that on multi juries and not on other juries would be unfair. I personally don’t see the need to rank all 30-40 songs. I spend a lot of time analysing my favourites to make sure I award them the points I think they deserve. If I had to do the same for 40 songs it would mean I wouldn’t be able to spend that time to make the quality analysis.

I was going to include your option but it was too similar to (b) with 16 points so I thought, better not

Totallympics International Song Contest: Rule Change Question Ok so given how the voting was going (everyone voting for Option A) and due to some comments about agreeing but having concerns about the points format, I think the fairest thing is to scrap the original poll and continue with a revised one. The revised poll will still allow users to disagree with any proposed changes, however, instead of having a simple agree, disagree, this poll will offer a range of options in terms of the format. So to remind everyone of the background of this poll, on the TISC Annual 2020 thread, @Dunadan has brought up the idea of changing the internal voting format for multi-member juries as he feels the current system in large multi-member juries means that the preferences of one member can be completely wiped out by the combined voting. As such I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to gauge the opinion of the wider TISC community on this issue. It is important to be clear here that this does not mean that a large multi-member jury will award more points than any other jury. The internal points will be combined as normal to create a set of points from 12 to 1, in the same way that all national juries will award their points. ******************** Question: In the case of multi-member juries with more than 3 jury members, the internal voting should be structured to allow each member of that jury to award points in which of the following formats? (a) 18-15-12-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (b) 16-13-11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (c) 15-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (d) 14-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (e) 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Apologies to all who voted in the original poll. Thank you for your votes and opinions as you have enabled a more clear and accurate poll to be created. However, I need you all to read through the revised poll and again cast a vote for your preference. We will put a deadline of Friday, 31st January 21:00 GMT for members to vote on this issue and whatever option receives the majority vote, the result of this poll will be implemented in time for the upcoming TISC Annual 2020 in Algeria and the rules will be edited accordingly. Only users who have participated in a previous TISC event are permitted to vote in this poll. I will not participate in the vote unless there is a tie in the result at which point I will cast a vote to break the deadlock. Thank you for continued your attention @bestmen @konig @LDOG @KingOfTheRhinos @titicow @vinipereira @intoronto @Manulete @Function CR Lee @dcro @Agger @Wumo @thepharoah @Finnator123 @Bohemia @Benolympique @uk12points @Janakis @Vektor @Fly_like_a_don @Griff88 @Ruslan @Werloc @Glen @mrv86 @Ionoutz24 @heywoodu @Wanderer @Skijumpingmaster @rybak @kungshamra71 @IoNuTzZ @DaniSRB @hckosice @justony @Cobi @Belle @amen09 @tuniscof @dezbee2008 @Olympian1010 @stefanbg @Damian @catgamer @Quasit @Dolby @Monzanator @kungshamra71 @FC Mezhgorye @Jur @Memo @Argenis Gonzalez @Henry_Leon @SteveParker @Pablita @Gianlu33

Ok thanks guys for these suggestions. I will allow the original poll to stand for now but I’m definitely seeing the need for a supplementary question or maybe even a poll to replace this one. Almost everyone is agreeing that it is worthwhile to change the format for multi-member juries but the format might need tweaked. I think a better poll then might not be to ask if users agree yes or no, but to create a poll with a range of formats and one option for to keep the status quo and then we will be able to gauge the most desirable option. I’ll see if I can create a new post with a more detailed range of options and tag everyone on it.

I think that’s a fair suggestion so if the new change is implemented we will look at it after the contest and maybe even after each of the first couple of editions to see if it is proving effective. One thing to look for is whether (a) the favourite of each member is making it into the combined vote and (b) whether the songs that are being voted for by each member or by the majority are still making it in also. I think if those 2 conditions are being met it will prove to be a good change. If not then we can consider revising the scale. I don’t have access to the individual votes of the Italian jury from previous editions so I can’t project how it might operate so I can only review it after each of the next couple of editions and then offer a review of how it seems to be working and what isn’t working.