dcro

Scoreboard? Where is the scoreboard?

And why is she meeting with the Mexican delegation?! Rigged votes!

It appears both our governments are quite easy to bribe with Mariah.

You can always ask for an express refill.

And that's a court order coming from Slovakia.

Aaaaand we have our first basis for a lawsuit next week.

But where are the vegetables in all this?

I just can't get over the start of that song. So briliant.

Is the president missing? #Brazzaville2015

If WADA representatives have imposed quarantine too, then everything is set.

How we interviewed Tunisia,

amen09: "Local Languages Help Me Discover New Varieties of Music" As of today, Tunisia remains the only African nation who have hosted TISC. And on top of that, they also proudly hold the best African result to date - Myrath's 4th place from the 2016 Annual. In other words, Tunisia quite simply dominates TISC within the African community. Even if Algeria is usually the loudest (when not barred). Although tuniscof joins the festivities quite regularly, amen09 represents the permanent fixture behind the Tunisian success... Q: How do you go about evaluating TISC entries? Do you use a specific system when picking out your Top 12? A: I listen to all songs three times. I give songs between one star to five stars. Then I eliminate songs with one star. During the fourth and fifth listening, I give remaining songs a mark between 1 and 20. If two songs have the same score, I award songs with an exotic language an additional +0,5 points. Q: And what about the maximum 12 points? Can you recognize it immediately? Or do you take a certain amount of time before deciding on it? A: I need at least three listenings to determine the song which deserves the first place. Q: Do you have a favorite music genre? Is there any genre you would like to hear more of on the TISC stage? A: I'm a massive fan of rock, metal. My favourite bands include Nirvana, Scorpions, System of a Down. I would like to listen to more songs in performed local languages, which help me to discover new varieties of music. Q: How important are lyrics to you? A: For me, the quality of voice is much important than the sensation of the singer, and then lyrics, and the last thing - video clip. Q: And finally... How can we get 12 points from amen09? A: I can't tell you how to get 12 points, but I can tell you how you will never get it - bad voice or lousy quality of voice. If amen09's musical preferences still feel like a jigsaw puzzle - maybe this will help. Our resident Tunisian juror has outlined the following entries as favorites during the most recent editions... Stay tuned for more user interviews to come, as we count down to TOISC 2020...

Fly_like_a_don: "Unity in Diversity" India has been represented by a myriad of different jurors. Fly_like_a_don has been the latest one to fill in the shoes. Perhaps no other TISC nation has so many languages to choose from. From Bengali to Hindi and Tamil - India has used this fact to their advantage and has sent entries in a whole variety of regional languages. Even one instrumental... Q: How do you go about evaluating TISC entries? Do you use a specific system when picking out your Top 12? A: I do my first listen and usually eliminate 15-20 songs easily. In second listen it's about the positions, and few songs get removed from my list further. Sometimes it might take three listens too. The bottom five songs are listened to ensure no song has been unjustly removed (depends on time sometimes it's hard to have an extra listen to the bottom five). In my first contest, I followed a grouping system0 choosing the best two in 5/6 songs or so. But then the group was based on order, and some good songs are located closeby, so had to listen to all again to decide top 12. Q: And what about the maximum 12 points? Can you recognize it immediately? Or do you take a certain amount of time before deciding on it? A: I was sure about the winners in last two editions the first 30s of listening to my 12 pointer song. There was a decent fight for the other positions. I take a few days off and listen to the top 12 again just to be sure. Some songs get going later, which is unlucky when even voting has ended. After the 3rd / 4th listen, there is a top 6. Playoffs for minor spots start 7-12. For top 6 there is another listen after which the gold medal contest, bronze medal contest and if required a 5th place playoff are decided. I take 2-4 days off and listen to the final day of action (medal matches and an optional 5th place playoff). Q: Do you have a favorite music genre? Is there any genre you would like to hear more of on the TISC stage? A: I love pop music, but it's not the only thing I love. I'd like to here an Irish and Dutch song and also more regional songs, folk songs etc. Q: How important are lyrics to you? A: Not at all. The music and sound are enough to decide. But I prefer a brief description of the song in a sentence or two just to know the theme the song is based. The theme of the song is more important than lyrics unless it's in a familiar language. I'm not a fan of instrumentals since I believe even the ones with lyrics have a good one too, but it doesn't get the required attention while we listen to lyrics. So either the instrumental should be the best, or it's hard to get points from me. Q: And finally... How can we get 12 points from Fly_like_a_don? A: Just send a catchy song with good music. There is something called a 'bonus' given to songs when they are based on a socially relevant theme / inspiring theme, and is used in case of a tie. This isn't about a question but wanted to bring it to the notice. I feel the few, very very few jurors need to change their attitude towards the unfamiliar languages. It's hard to listen to unknown languages, I understand, but ignoring the song just because you don't know the language is awful. Sometimes the lyrics are written in English but may not be 'rhyming' since it's not written in English. If you are voting based on your familiarity of languages, your voting as an individual not as a nation. In India, for example, over 1500 languages are spoken, and we call it 'Unity in Diversity'. I was pleasantly surprised at China doing well at TAISC earlier this but I still think the very few of you guys should be more flexible in unfamiliar languages and try to listen to music and sound rather worry about what you understood! More open-minded voting by everyone will truly encourage more nations to send an entry in their regional language!! If Fly_like_a_don's musical preferences still feel like a jigsaw puzzle - maybe this will help. The Indian juror has outlined the following entries as favorites during his two participations... Stay tuned for more user interviews to come, as we count down to TOISC 2020...

Three last interviews coming up today...

konig: "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Language People" Whether peacefully or in a coup, Argenitian national jury has recently transitioned from "All About LDOG" to "All About konig" model. Indeed, while LDOG tended to get more recognition and thank-you notes from fellow participants, Argentina has now become a safe haven for konig's unique musical selections and preferences. Konig is no Videla, but beware of entering joke songs... Q: How do you go about evaluating TISC entries? Do you use a specific system when picking out your Top 12? A: I try to listen to all the songs at least 3 times, [before] knowing for the first time where are they from. There were cases of listening to all the songs ten times, for reasons of music and languages that are not common to hear in this part of the world. Sometimes it happens that a song I didn't like the first or second time, starts to be nice after some "accustoming". In very few cases, it is the opposite. After 3 listenings (or more) I make 3 tables: the "sure top 12 songs", the "repechage songs" and the songs that won't be in the top 12. Another thing is that I watch the clip (if there one is) and give some more points if it is good, and only "deduct" points for what I call "joke songs". Q: And what about the maximum 12 points? Can you recognize it immediately? Or do you take a certain amount of time before deciding on it? A: Probably in one half of TISC, I recognize with the first listen. In the other half: there were TISCs where I needed to define it between two or three songs. Q: Do you have a favorite music genre? Is there any genre you would like to hear more of on the TISC stage? A: My favorite music genres are rock (of course I like some sub-genres more than others) and rap/hip hop, very difficult to see a song of this genre here, I count with fingers of one hand haha. On the other hand, I hate reggaeton, salga and merengue (fortunately, we have very few examples of those genres). The pop is in a neutral place, but definitely, the classic pop songs in English from countries where English is not their native language are in the last places of my consideration, only defeating the genres I mentioned before. Q: How important are lyrics to you? A: Considering we have many types of languages and not being fair to, respect me, because I can appreciate easier the English, Portuguese and Spanish. I don't pay too much attention, only if there is a song of "unknown" language I like enough and I have the curiosity of what is saying... But I believe that you can enjoy a song without understanding the lyrics, that happened with the English songs when I was young. Q: And finally... How can we get 12 points from konig? A: Don't put a joke song (a song that is not serious about participating in this competition), have something original, something different from the common pop song of the competition, if it is rock or rap/hip hop better and.......DONT BE IN ENGLISH IF it is from a country where English is not the native language. Don't be ashamed of your language people. If konig's musical preferences still feel like a jigsaw puzzle - maybe this will help. The Argentinian juror has outlined the following entries as favorites during the most recent editions... Stay tuned for more user interviews to come, as we count down to TOISC 2020...

Did Youtube algorhytm really connect Werloc woth TISC entries? Because I don't really remember playing Gebrasy, but I did open plenty of past entries when creating articles...

When this casually appears on your feed...

Biden became the first Democrat to win the election without carrying Vigo County, Indiana since 1884.

I'm just glad heywoodu didn't diss at pumpkins. Yet.

Griff88: "It is Up to My Ears" Indonesia suffered from a severe case of "debutantitis". New (or returning) TISC nations have a tendency of achieving outstanding results on their debut (or comeback), only to find themselves nowhere near such heights on contests that follow. Such was the case with Indoesia. 6th place on their debut was followed by 20th, 14th, 26th, 36th, 32nd, 28th and 29th. Finally, earlier this year, Indonesia broke the spell and returned to Top 10 aboard Modern Love... Q: How do you go about evaluating TISC entries? Do you use a specific system when picking out your Top 12? A: I usually create a preliminary round, where I listen to each song for around 120 seconds. I mark the songs that either did not "click" on my ears or just not my taste. Usually, 5-7 songs eliminated in this method. After that, I'll just listen again and again to the remaining songs (this time in full) and give them a score from 0-100. Usually, the songs that will get points need 70 points or more. Q: And what about the maximum 12 points? Can you recognize it immediately? Or do you take a certain amount of time before deciding on it? A: I usually can easily identify the song that gets the 12 points. Even at closer contests where I can't quickly decide the 12 pointers, there were only max 3 songs in contention for 12 points. Deciding the lower points is actually tougher. Q: Do you have a favorite music genre? Is there any genre you would like to hear more of on the TISC stage? A: I can't really say a certain genre is my favorite, which leads me to not having certain expectation on what genre I am looking forward to in TISC... I just like the songs that "click" on my ears, it can be a ballad from the mid-70s or newest pop songs. As long as it is not a screaming punk rock/heavy metal songs, I think there might be a chance I like that song haha. Q: How important are lyrics to you? A: Meanings of the lyric or the lyric itself are not part of my scoring, although the catchiness from the lyrics might contribute in the point giving. It is always nice to hear different languages. In fact, none of my top 5 songs from TISC are in English! Q: And finally... How can we get 12 points from Griff88? A: First, make sure it is composed for humans (i.e. the singer is not screaming like mad). Then, make sure the tempo is not super slow or super fast. And the rest is up to my ears... If Griff88's musical preferences still feel like a jigsaw puzzle - maybe this will help. The Indonesian juror has outlined the following entries as favorites during the most recent editions... Stay tuned for more user interviews to come, as we count down to TOISC 2020...

I'm quite intrigued what they will write about that team dressage silver from 1980.

That's probably because the Dutch have undeveloped cuisine culture (Ireland too, according to my friend, they don't have a national dish). These parts of Europe do have their special cuisine. No, we don't have a strict eating schedule or whatever, but there are some dishes largely associated with certain ocassions, and so on.

Vic Liu: "Famous Songs or Singers May Have Some Advantage" Vic Liu has taken TISC by storm. First participation brought an instant podium finish - the first one for any Asian nation. Consistency on the TISC stage, however, is a hard task for any given nation, so we are anxious to find out whether the Chinese run of success will continue... Q: How do you go about evaluating TISC entries? Do you use a specific system when picking out your Top 12? A: I am usually evaluating entries by melody and beat because usually, I don't understand the lyrics and it's hard to sense the emotion in it. I don't have a system, but I will give a score to each entry based on my own taste. For entires with similar scores, I will hear them a second or third time. Q: And what about the maximum 12 points? Can you recognize it immediately? Or do you take a certain amount of time before deciding on it? A: For the maximum 12, it must be a song I like very much at first listening. So it's not a problem for me, I know it's my favorite at the first time. But if there is some famous song or singer on the list, he or she may have some advantage in my voting. Q: Do you have a favorite music genre? Is there any genre you would like to hear more of on the TISC stage? A: I don't have a specific favorite genre. But usually, I prefer fast-melody with strong/clear beating songs if I don't understand the lyrics and emotions behind. So Rock&Roll, EDM, Pop songs may have some advantage. Q: How important are lyrics to you? A: If it's not English or Chinese, then it's not very important to me. Q: And finally... How can we get 12 points from Vic Liu? A: A song that hits me at first listening. Maybe because it's melody, beat or some other surprises. If Vic Liu's musical preferences still feel like a jigsaw puzzle - maybe this will help. The Chinese juror has outlined the following entry as favorite during his TISC debut... Stay tuned for more user interviews to come, as we count down to TOISC 2020...