OlympicIRL

Yes I will be voting in the European Parliament elections next Friday. We also have local council elections and a referendum on the same day so I will be voting on those too.

Remember to pick your team for the Shanghai leg of the Diamond League. Transfers will be locked down at 08:00am (UTC) on the 18th May (tomorrow).

ESC 1995 also had quite a number of classy songs. Slovenia and Sweden are my favourites, Denmark was great too as well as a number of others including the winners Norway. Sweden - Jan Johansen - Se På Mig Denmark - Aud Wilken - Fra Mols Til Skagen Slovenia - Darja Švajger - Prisluhni Mi

Well since it's Eurovision week, I want to post some ESC songs. I won't be watching Eurovision this year as the quality is garbage with almost no decent songs (or very few). Even when I first watched it in the early 90s, ESC always had a wacky element with crazy acts and songs, some trashy but sometimes catchy songs. But it was always sprinkled with a good helping of genuinely classy singers and performances with beautiful songs, the likes of which you don't really see any more or are very rare now. And with a live orchestra, some performances really were the definition of classy. My favourite ESC was 1994. The set was amazing, my favourite one in the history of the contest and with the introduction of Riverdance too, it had an extra special quality about it. And there were some amazing performances. Here are some of my favourites from that year and the beautiful stage in 1994: Portugal - Sara Tavares - Chamar a Música Poland - Edyta Gorniak - To Nie Ja! Hungary - Friderika Bayer - Kinek Mondjam El Vétkeimet Where are these types of songs now? Not at ESC

Rory Sabbatini also has Irish heritage. Unsurprising with the name Rory

Yeah, tell that to my Dad and my brother. One is a Liverpool fan and the other is a Spurs fan. There is going to be WAR!

Spurs

Such bizarre nights in the Champions League seem normal these days

Barcelona

A selection of songs that made it to the final stages of the Irish selection for TISC Annual this year. Walking On Cars - Monster Niall Horan - On The Loose Tim Chadwick - Weakness Gavin James - Always Wild Youth - Can't Move On Flecks - Samurai Sean and Conor Price - Storm Bowie On The Radio - Ryan McMullan Chasing Abbey - Talk To Me Rea Garvey - Hometown Gavin James - Glow Dermot Kennedy - Power Over Me Brave Giant - Somebody's Someone

I don’t know yet, we will see how things work out. I would love to host but there are a lot of others who want to get their chance too and that’s a good thing.

Wow, thank you so much for the 12 points for Kodaline, it is an honour to receive it And it is indeed an exclusive club as I seem to remember writing a TISC article in the past about that topic. I think only once before and that was for The Script -Superheroes. So you have the magic touch for us in TISC Annual it seems

Like last year, I will post a few of the songs I considered for representation in the Music Thread. One short-listed band gave me @Wanderer-style vibes so I was naturally afraid to select them

Loved it so much, I knew it was only a matter of time before you nailed it . It gave me a Fleetwood Mac of early 80s vibe and that is a very good thing And while I won't decide tonight, it's probably unlikely that I will host. I will at least consider though.

Previous best was 12th place.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and for everyone who voted for Kodaline. I can honestly say I did not expect this in a million years. Kodaline are my favourite Irish band of the last 5-6 years, and the fact you have shown so much support for them here makes this a very special win. Really mean that - thank you For @mrv86 thank you for all your efforts and for an amazing show. Everything looked beautiful and all went like clockwork.... even some time-travel added in This was a huge task to take on so we owe you a lot for the great day we spent here. Have a well deserved breather now and much rest And all those who added in the extra like the medal tables, team standings updates, and added the extra stats and commentary to keep everyone informed and make things more enjoyable - you know who you are. And thanks to everyone who participated. As always, it's nice getting to know you all a little better. I believe Séamus has put some money behind the bar so feel free to join in the celebrations Just thank you again, I love you all

@Wanderer I just have to say how much I loved your song. This hit all the sweet spots for me and I am so happy it climbed the table in the final session. Deserved 12 points for me. @Agger and @wumo26 I loved your entry, very fine choice

I thought it was weird when someone randomly came up and asked me to present for a gender test. I thought it was because of TISC regulations.

That's cause you're the freakin' one time-travelling your way around the globe, unaware of the affect it has on the rest of us mortals!

Dude, I thought we had taken a shot of tequila too many. Phew!! More tequila then?

WTF is going on. Who has got @heywoodu's time-travelling machine and using it?

Didn't Séamus teach you Irish culture... we just do things for no reason whatsoever

NEW ZEALAND 12 DENMARK 11 ITALY 10 MEXICO 9 NETHERLANDS 8 LITHUANIA 7 INDONESIA 6 PORTUGAL 5 SLOVAKIA 4 POLAND 3 FRANCE 2 SLOVENIA 1 Agus sin deireadh an vótáil ghiúiré na hÉireann. Slán agaibh! And that ends the votes of the Irish jury. Goodbye!

Amazing end to an amazing contest!! Thank you so much for the points Australia