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7th part brings another set of interviews. konig Argentinian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? In spite of Trump being the President of U.S.A and some victories of “the rigth parties” in Latin America, I still see the cultural marxism growing and growing and getting more powerful in the countries where it dominates the general culture of the population, being a new and modern expresion of totalitarianism. What is happening in Korea and Japan probably won’t have worse incidents and we will have a quiet Winter Olympic Games. In sports, sadly, the next year of the Olympic Games is clearly the most boring one and for that reasons I don’t have too much to say. Fito Paez achieved Argentina’s best ever TISC result at 2017 Open – 5th place What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? After the first break of the Open edition of this year, Argentina was first in the table position, keeping in mind that the best historical position of our country was seventh before the last TISC, I was really in shock with “at least” temporal first place. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? It’s difficult to me to choose one… But I choose the Annual of 2016 because I see the best “”average” level of music in my opinion, of course I love those TICS with the definition in the last vote. Annual or Open? Its weird because the Open must be better than Annual but, I don’t know why, many users don’t choose the best of their countries, so in practice the Annual has better level and I prefer that over the Open, sadly…. Favorite entry that represented your nation? “De Musica Ligera” of Soda Stereo is a classic of the Argentinian rock, “Funky” of Charly Garcia is close in my opinion (not in general Argentinian opinion) Wishes for 2018? More freedom for the people of world (not in the American way) to think what they want to think, more people and activity in the forum and good results for the Argentinian athletes. Pablita Italian juror, Committee member We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Trump’s presidency was the talk of the year Trump’s doings and sayings (unfortunately). What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? The day of the show in its entirety. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? I don’t remember the year but it’s the one won by Sweden with the last votes defeating Italy. Annual or Open? Difficult choice (I love both) but if I must choose, I would say Annual because it allows us to listen to the most recent music of the World. Favorite entry that represented your nation? Elisa with Luce (even if it didn’t earn much points). Wishes for 2018? A podium for Italy in Annual or Open contests. kungshamra Portuguese juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Trump on his very polemic and dangerous first year as president of the USA. Algerian singer Zaho has been highly praised by the Portuguese jury What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? The Algerian entry for the Annual edition. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? 2016, Annual edition, because of French entry, Jain. I still follow that singer nowadays! Annual or Open? To show my country songs: Open. To listen to others music: Annual (Open contest are usually filled with too old songs for my taste). Favorite entry that represented your nation? First ever entry, Deolinda – Um contra o outro. Has the true spirit of portuguese music, with our instruments and our “fado”. Wishes for 2018? To keep traveling around the World. rybak Polish juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Dangerous situation between both Koreas, new presidents of USA and France. Tangerines – hot topic of 2017 Open What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? 12 points for Polish song of course. But I also liked tension when last jury reveal their votes point by point and turning to talking about food again during dinner break. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Every contest has something special what brings good atmosphere between users and fun, so I can’t choose which one contest was my favourite. Annual or Open? Annual for me is better. Favorite entry that represented your nation? I have two favourite entries, the first one LemON – “Napraw” and latest one Patricia Kazadi, M. Pokora – “Wanna Feel You Now”, but if I must choose one then I pick “Wanna Feel You Now”, in addition this song reached Polish second best result in TISC history and the best when song was choosen by a lone jury memeber. Wishes for 2018? I wish everyone happy and healthy year, satisfactory results during Winter Olympics and in other important sport events and peace for world, especially between both Koreas and Russia-Ukraine and no terrorist attacks. Bohemia French juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? It’s hard to say, so many things happened in one year, and I have to say I mostly remember the bad things… So to stay positive, I’ll go with Paris getting the 2024 Olympics. The way we learned it was underwhelming, but finally we got them! I was waiting for this announcement since 2013 when they first talked about the possibility of being candidate for 2024. But I feel like I’m off topic, so I’ll just say that overall the year was pretty bad for the World. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? The tangerines. And Mariah Carey. It’s really hard to choose one moment though, because the atmosphere is so special and it’s so much fun to participate! Do you have a favorite TISC contest? I’d say the first one because, well, it was the first one. I had no idea how it would work, and it was a great surprise and when it was over I felt sad and wanted it to continue, and now we’re almost at the 10th edition! Annual or Open? Both. Corson has achieved the second of the two French podiums thus far – 3rd place at 2015 Annual Favorite entry that represented your nation? I’ll go with Raise Me Up by Corson, I still like the song and it had both French and English lyrics, and I still can’t believe it finished 3rd, I didn’t think people would like it that much! Wishes for 2018? Personal? To finally find what’s my dream job, to go back studying (this year I’m working because I didn’t know what to study after my first 3 years at the university), and have more self-esteem. And find new amazing songs. Other than that, I want to see great sport moments (who doesn’t) and I can’t wait for the next TISC!

6th part of the End of the Year series bring thoughts of four more TISC participants. Griff88 Indonesian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Trump administration drama and Brexit. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? Argentina did not expect 12 points from Indonesia. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? TISC Annual 2016, first Indonesian participation. Annual or Open? Open. http://cdn1-a.production.images.static6.com/G8NGTpnScVY2wyYbPWynoqhBfzE=/640x360/smart/filters:quality(75):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/liputan6-media-production/medias/1763291/original/076835000_1510103109-HL.jpgIsyana Sarasvati was the debut entry in TISC from Indonesia, finishing 6th at TISC Annual 2016 Favorite entry that represented your nation? Isyana Sarasvati – Tetap dalam Jiwa Wishes for 2018? Hoping for a better world. justony Slovenian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? It is hard to tell, probably lack of verbal communication due to technology improvement, but this problem is not global one, only in Western society, and not just in this year. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? I was impressed over quite remarkable number of countries still competing, showing their countries culture and of course once again we had tight finish till the end in our Open Contest. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Most memorable is probably the one with Bulgarian jury giving points one by one, since it was first time that tight. Other than that, probably TISC Annual 2014 had most songs, that are still close to my heart (or ear). http://www.sloveniatimes.com/modules/uploader/uploads/Aktualno/Podobe1/18-slovenia-tina-maze-what-do-countries-pay-for-olympic-medals-olympic-medal-bonuses.jpgDouble Olympic Champion, Tina Maze, also tried her hand at TISC, placing a creditable 10th at TISC Open 2017 Annual or Open? I take both equally, in Open contest members pick more worldwide hits than in Annual, in my opinion. Hard to choose. Favourite entry that represented your nation? As a person definitely my last one, Tina Maze, as a song, Anja Kotar – “Tightrope”, because she is not so well known artist in our country, but she has very beautiful voice, she competed in TISC Annual 2016. Wishes for 2018? This may sound kind of cheesy, but a lot of health and peace. But especially may we (forum members) be friends for a very long time and cherish our and other musical heritage. Agger Danish juror, TISC host, Committee member We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? It’s hard for me not to mention politics here. In many ways it was becoming a new world after BREXIT and Trump. The fact that the Trumpish ideas didn’t make too much impact on elections this year is very important. Most countries answered the calls and fought against it. Denmark is thought to be the premier influence behind the scenes at the secretive TISC committee What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? Another succesful year of “rigging” the results as the president of the committee. Though it was disappointing to lose Lithuania and Canada who have both been faithful members and almost missing Italy as well. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? It’s a close one between the two in 2015. Either the one that I hosted (annual) or the fantastic contest in Ireland (Open). And then it’s of course hard to forget our 3rd place back in the 2014 annual contest. But I think Ireland 2015 will take the prize. Annual or Open? Though it’s very hard to pick the songs for it, I would say open. Though we do see some good songs in the annual, it’s more interesting to see the cultural history in older songs. Mew represented Denmark at TISC Open in 2014 Favourite entry that represented your nation? I think I will go with Mew’s Snow Brigade. Mew has so much good songs and it was hard to pick one of theirs. Sadly it gave us one of our worst results. Wishes for 2018? A good and peaceful year and great Winter Olympics without any trouble. And maybe with Denmark’s only second Winter Olympics Medal. Also some growth to the Totallympics community and great sporting events. For my own personal life, a good finish to my time at the University and after that hopefully a good job. And finally an election here in Denmark! vinipereira Brazilian juror, future TISC host We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? If we’re thinking about something positive, I guess people fighting back against a growing culture of hate is the most important trend of 2017. Overall, though, I think this was a pretty bad year across the board, so let’s hope for something better in 2018. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? Bruno Martini, Alok and Zeeba brought back silver for Brazil at the TISC Annual 2017 with the hit “Hear Me Now” It was pretty exciting to reveal the final votes from the Open contest, but probably my favorite moment was the second position achieved by Brazil in the Annual contest – and, of course, learning that we would have the opportunity to host the next edition. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Probably the first ever contest. It was such a great idea to held this event in the Totallympics forum, mainly because most members not only like music, but also any competition among nations – which, of course, comes from our love for sports. Annual or Open? Talking strictly about “fun”, Open wins, but I prefer the Annual contests only because all songs are released in the same period of time, making it more even. Favourite entry that represented your nation? http://www.desfrutecultural.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/moveiscoloniaisdeacaju.jpg Móveis Colonais de Acaju represented Brazil at the first ever TISC Annual edition back in 2014 It has to be “Sede de Chuva” (Móveis Coloniais de Acaju), which we thought would do much better in the Annual contest in 2014 (I think?). Wishes for 2018? Talking about Totallympics-related things only, I wish the best for all members. Also, may we have a great contest in Brazil!

In this, the 5th part of the End of the Year series we will hear thoughts and opinions of several regular TISC participants. dezbee American juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Wow, where to start. I’d say, since I live in the US, the empowerment of women on speaking up against sexual assault. As a woman myself, I am grateful that the tide is turning on this topic. Also, I’m starting to see countries that don’t normally do well in Eurovision and/or the World Cup did well (though my country is out of the world cup!). What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? I guess my favorite moment of TISC 2017, hands down, is redeeming myself for 3rd place at the Open after giving it away in the same contest in 2016. Though I was focused on beating the Netherlands, I had forgotten that I gave points to Canada, but this year it was redemption time (after leading most of the way). But as you know, my favorite moment for each contest is other participants’ reactions to my ‘sometimes’ erratic voting! Do you have a favorite TISC contest? After 9 contest, it’s hard to say which contest is my absolute favorite, but my top 3 are: http://cdn01.cdn.justjaredjr.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2017/03/christina-grimmie-humane-society-honor.jpgChirstina Grimmie – USA’s first ever representative at TISC – sadly lost her life in 2016 a) 2017 Open, now our highest placement in history b) 2016 Open, our first contest after Christina Grimmie’s death c) 2013 Open, just because of Bulgaria’s voting presentation #neverforget As for the annual, my favorite is the first one held in 2014 Annual or Open? I like both, I actually do better at the Open than I do at the Annual due to my preference with songs from my childhood years (1996-2004ish). And no, I haven’t started my search for our entry for the Annual yet (but we will be there) Favorite entry that represented your nation? See, here’s the thing, all 9 entries are great in their own way, some more well received than others, but my favorite one has to be Drops of Jupiter by Train, followed by our entries by Christina Grimmie and Kelly Clarkson Wishes for 2018? Personal or for the contest? If personal, I would like to follow through with my new years resolution that I made back in 2005 (being, you guessed it, losing weight). For the contest, though, I’m in the good mood, I’m hungry for a win (or second place, baby steps). DaniSRB Serbian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? I think the central happening in 2017 were still ongoing wars, continuing propaganda of fake news and use of political correctness. Countries that have power to stop these issues don’t will to do it, but instead it use it as a means of personal gain and profit. http://www.balkanika.tv/uf/sasa_kovacevc.jpgSasa Kovačević struck bronze for Serbia at the TISC Annual 2017 in Great Britain What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? Serbia’s 3rd place in annual song contest, great achievement for us. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Hm, I think I can’t decide which is my favourite contest. I hosted one and it was great experience, but all contests have something special and provide us a lot of fun. Annual or Open? In annual is easier to achieve good placement but I am not such a big fun of contemporary music so maybe open. Favorite entry that represented your nation? For me it’s hard to say because it depends of mood. Right now I am in between Oktobar 1864 Sam and Vlado Georgiev Iskreno. Wishes for 2018? Health, nothing is more important than that and of course lot of great sports moments for your countries and great results at upcoming TL song contests. HenryLeon Italian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? The slow “failure” of Europe (UE), not only for the “Brexit”, but also for the many controversial matters that have divided the nations (immigrants, taxes). More than an “Union” seem a “Partnership” of Nations (too many nations….), where each one want only the advantages (money) and let at others the troubles….. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? The surprise win of Ireland (The Stunning) over Colombia and USA Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Open 2013 Annual or Open? Open http://glasgow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/andrea-bocelli.jpgAndrea Bocelli narrowly missed out on victory after a final vote decider at the first ever edition of TISC back in 2013 Favorite entry that represented your nation? Andrea Bocelli – Con te partiro’ Wishes for 2018? The health of family is the most important. Gianlu33 Italian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? In 2017 we had a growth of the extremities around the world and, Joe you know, an extremist never has right, don’t care what type of ideas he has. From the left-wind and racist idea all-around the Europe to the religions problems in Middle East, and now I’m very worried about the situation in Iran. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? My favourite TISC moment was the head-to-head in Great Britain 2017. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? No, I haven’t a favourite contest. Every contest is unique and special. http://img2-ak.lst.fm/i/u/arO/b14169a20f52bf8e835ef9ee0fbd087aNek – silver medal winner at TISC Annual 2016 Favorite entry that represented your nation? I like all Italian entries, because they are a mix of ideas of people with different music tastes. My best entry is “Fatti avanti Amore”, in TISC Open 2016. Wishes for 2018? I hope that 2018 will be a nice year in my personal life and in Italian sport, I hope that finally we’ll win a gold at Winter Olympics and of course have nice performance of our athletes in all sports. Ah, and of course, I hope to learn English and improve it! Have a good year, Gianluca!

With a new TISC year on the horizon we have caught up with the TISC-News site founder, dcro for a quick chat about sport, TISC and the year that was… Hi Dario, great to be here with you today. I promise not to take up too much of your time and let you get on with your New Year celebrations. Firstly, I have a present for you *hands over a tangerine*. Freshly bought this morning from the market – as a memento for the last TISC contest! Why, thank you for the tangerine! I’m happy to take up this interview. How do you plan spending your New Year’s Eve, any wild parties planned or will it be a quiet affair? It looks like it will be a quiet affair this time, as none of the other plans really worked out (including the last ditch effort from yesterday). A glass of champagne and a cake will do the job. So with 2017 drawing to a close I can’t let the opportunity go without asking you about the year that was. How will you remember 2017 in terms of your personal life and in a global context? In a global sense, 2017 brought a lot of instability (wars, terrorism, referendums, natural catastrophes…), and sadly it doesn’t look like any of those things that human kind can influence will change anytime soon. For me 2017 was also marked by the continuous rise of “social media moralists”… Athletes and other famous people are being constantly criticized at their social pages for every little thing they possibly didn’t do right. I’m sure they aren’t different from ordinary people in a sense that majority of them are not trying to be bad or something. And if you think I’m putting this out of proportion, then you haven’t seen equestrian social media (though I’m sure that’s present everywhere, remember Fourcade, Koukalova?). On a personal note, 2017 wasn’t too bad, however it wasn’t ideal either. As a fellow Totallympian, you are clearly a big sports fan. But what has always aroused my fascination is your obsession with equestrian sports. Coming from a nation of great athletes and stars, one might consider it unusual for a Croatian fan to have developed such a keen interest for equestrian sport. Can you tell me a little about how this developed over the years and what it is about equestrian that has you hooked? If I remember correctly, I only learned about existence of dressage and eventing during 2008 Olympics. However, I wasn’t interested in them at that point. At all. Later on, during 2011, I remember stumbling on a streaming site named ClipMyHorse when searching for some Olympic qualification event in show jumping (around the same time I also stumbled on Totallympics). That site stayed with me and in early 2012 I remember watching plenty of dressage competitions in the run-up towards London 2012. I don’t quite remember how much I knew about the equestrian sports then, but it was definitely a lot less compared to today. Even so, coming into Olympics eventing cross-country and dressage freestyle final were already on my “not to miss” list. Fast forward to WEG 2014. That was the first time I watched complete equestrian championships, and got hooked to dressage in particular (after watching exactly 100 tests in two days of team competition). After that I started watching as many streamable international events as possible. As for eventing, it was around Rio 2016 (which was the most exciting competition I’ve ever seen) when I really started following it also outside of championships events. And that’s where I’m now. Meanwhile, show jumping has been in the mix all the way, but never in the spotlight. Do you have a favourite sporting moment of 2017? Well, I admit it’s kind of hard to remember all of them. And to choose one. http://www.radionz.co.nz/assets/news/108881/eight_col_horse_1.jpg?1494181052Andrew Nicholson onboard Nereo on their way to Badminton glory in 2017 I enjoyed seeing Andrew Nicholson winning Badminton Horse Trials in his 37th attempt. That was quite inspiring. For the Croatian sport, global athletics championhsips were quite successful and also water polo gold was pretty memorable. Dcro’s statistics have become an integral part of any TISC live show in recent editions….you have even been dubbed as our resident TISC statman! However, this wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until after a few editions that we saw your first TISC participation and since then you haven’t looked back, becoming a stalwart of TISC. So can I ask, what is it about TISC that has captured your interest and won over your heart? Yeah, I wasn’t there at first. Initially, I entered 2013 Open (failed to register votes) and 2014 Open (failed to register a song). It didn’t hook me at first for two reasons: 1) I’m not really a follower of Croatian music, 2) I got very tired of Eurovision, which I used to really like at one point. I finally decided to give it a try when someone contacted me before 2015 Open (don’t remember who). I was like “Why not?” and soon afterwards I realized TISC is so much more than a music contest. It’s time and place when Totallympics community comes together and has a blast! Do you have a favourite TISC moment of 2017? That would be getting 12 points from Mexico at 2017 Annual, hands down. First Croatian 12 points since 2013 Open and first set of 12 points for any of my entries (and still the only one). That was a cool birthday present from mrv. Do you have a favourite TISC edition that stands out? It’s hard to say. Song-wise, I’ll say it’s 2016 Annual. There were so many beautiful entries at that one. I still listen some of the songs that didn’t even make my top 12! Atmosphere-wise, I’ll pick 2017 Open. Emotional ladies, tangerines… It was a blast, and also a record number of Grand Final posts I believe. Annual or Open? Both. I guess it would be Open if more contestants were putting in braver (older) entries. Of all the Croatian entries, which one would you say you are most proud of? http://www.hercegovinapromo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/neno-belan.jpgNeno Belan & Fiumen took Croatia to their best-ever placing at TISC Open in 2017 I really like my very first entry. Nikol from Zvijezde (2015 Open). Rijeka Snova from Neno Belan & Fiumens is very fine too (it’s quite cool that a song about my hometown produced our highest ever placement – 11th place). We are approaching a significant milestone in TISC history with the 10th edition not far around the corner now. Do you think TISC will still be going strong into the future? Do you think we will see a TISC 50th edition one day? Woah, 50th edition sounds crazy. Particularly as I’m one of those who still struggles to realize it’s 2018 tomorrow. However, I expect and hope that TISC franchise will continue to grow, with new music, new countries and new continents (Antarctica?). Finally, I can’t let you go without asking if you have any wishes for 2018? I wish for health and happiness. And a lot of exciting sports moments. On a personal level I’d like to be braver and try new things, as I feel like I’ve been kind of stuck in the last few years. Thanks a million for sharing your thoughts with us. I would like to take this chance to wish you and your family a very happy and peaceful 2018! Happy New Year everyone!

In this, the 3rd part of the End of the Year series we will hear thoughts and opinions of several regular TISC participants. heywoodu Dutch juror, Committee member We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? In general, I’d go for every little thing being criticized for being racist, insensitive, politically incorrect, discriminating against *insert any random thing you can imagine* and so on. In sports, I’d say it’s one sport after another falling victim to the ‘gender police’ resulting in good events being taken out and rather untested and/or boring events being put in, because good competition is apparently less important than making each and every possible thing completely equal (yet strangely, they’re not going for an open competition yet…separating men and women could be considered discriminatory if all other things in life are to be believed). Antarctic plotting continues In terms of TISC, that’s a good question. I’m not that deep into the TISC history and discussions to know exactly what’s playing, but I guess organizers still being screwed over by Antarctica’s penguins is a worrying trend. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? That one where at the very end, 2-3-4 nations still had a realistic chance of winning. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? That one I mentioned above (that would be TISC Open 2017, heywoodu) Annual or Open? The one where there’s no ‘age limit’, I guess that’s Open (yes, that is the Open contest heywoodu) Favorite entry that represented your nation? Racoon – Love You More Wishes for 2018? Awesome Olympics and a ton of fantastic competitions in all sports. stefanbg Bulgarian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? The reinforcement learning of computers. By experimentation artificial intelligence can learn by itself. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? http://static.bnr.bg/sites/en/music/publishingimages/630/12-06-21-81065_2.jpgBulgarian bagpipers setting the world record for most bagpipers performing in concert (2012) The moment when users of the forum found out that the bagpipe is the traditional national instrument for Bulgaria too, not only for Scotland. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? I like all of them. Annual or Open? Open Favorite entry that represented your nation? Georgi Stanchev – Ti Uzhasno Zakasnia Wishes for 2018? World peace… Joking… I wish 2018 to be the year when humanity realises the need to change their lifestyle – from throwing out completely edible food to usage of plastic bags and bottles. intoronto Canadian juror We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? Two things: 1) Polarization of incomes. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, with the middle class disappearing. 2) More competitive sporting world as globalization continues to evolve. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? I don’t have a favourite moment per say, but I would have to pick the USA giving their accepting speech in the open contest. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Yes, when Canada finished second, and I cannot seem to recall the contest. Annual or Open? Open – you have a lot of songs too chose from and the restrictions are less than the annual one! Favorite entry that represented your nation? Alessia Cara – Wild Things Wishes for 2018? Canada to top the medal table in Pyeongchang!

In this, the 2nd part of the End of the Year series we will hear thoughts and opinions of several TISC hosts. Werloc Lithuanian juror, TISC winner, TISC host Emotional Woman – Mariah Carey We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? I have no idea, perhaps the dank memes that I experience through Youtube and Reddit? And if I were to mention my favourite Totallympics trend, it would have to be “the emotional woman” and Mariah Carey with “Emotions”. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? How the TISC members learned to manipulate the votes through saying that they’re not getting any points. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? I guess it has to be the 2014 TISC Open. Annual or Open? Annual. http://www.music.lt/images/groups/3/2298/Leon_Somov_&_Jazzu/1d2.jpgTISC Open 2015 Champions, Leon Somov and Jazzu Favorite entry that represented your nation? It’s either Leon Somov & Jazzu with “Song About Love” or Erica Jennings “Leading Me Home”. Wishes for 2018? Hm, to survive at least one week of Eurovision, for starters. After that, I don’t know, just a good year surrounded with the music that I love. hckosice Slovakian juror, TISC host We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? I am unfortunately watching with concern that we are not going on the right way speaking about our behavior to the planet. too many natural tragedies in the world happened this year. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? I have no specific moment, you know, I´m really enjoying every single edition. For me, it is always about spending some great fun watching our competition from start to finish, so it was the same in both his year´s editions. It’s really about having great moments with all our friends in this awesome competition, so yes, my answer is the fun and ton of laugh I had during the both this year´s TISC. Also it is always great to learn and listen all these various musical compositions and styles from the whole world, whether during the music festival or directly at the competition. And the best feeling I always have is when I know that the competition finished once again successfully and that we all together with joined forces have once again managed to get rid of all the attempts of sabotage of our arch-enemies, the penguins. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? Slovakia hosted the 4th edition of the Totallympics International Song Contest (TISC Annual 2016) I would say the one Slovakia had the luck and honor to organize, I remember never been so much nervous and scared than I was before the day D, I remember you (OlympicIRL) were the one who calmed me and helped me the most, I’m very grateful. It was really quite stressful even more when we had that crash of the old forum just few weeks before the contest so we had to restart everything in this new portal. Now looking back I am really proud of that edition. Annual or Open? Both have some “magic” for me, but if I have to chose one, I´ll pick the Open contest. Favorite entry that represented your nation? Celeste Buckingham landed Slovakia their best-ever placing at TISC Annual 2014, finishing 2nd My personal TISC debut and Celeste Buckingham, also because she was the most successful, I was very pleasantly surprised how excellent response earned my first ever selection for this contest. Even if, let not hide the truth, it´s absolutely not my preferred musical taste at all. but well, it only show how bad I am when it come to music. Wishes for 2018? Peace, health, happiness and many many reasons of joy and smiles to all us and for all our loved ones during the whole year. To the TISC I wish another fantastic year with both editions full of great songs and a lot of fun to all us TISC participants. ….and lofc many sporting successes for your favorite athletes and teams! amen09 Tunisian juror, TISC host We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States…. With Trump maybe other wars will be declared against countries like North Korea, Iran, Russia (after approving a package of new sanctions on Russia), between Palestine and Zion after he recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? The last vote in the TISC Open… USA, Colombia or Ireland still fighting for the first place. It was dramatic and emotional… Brazilian vote gave the win to Ireland Tunisia hosted the 9th and most recent edition of TISC (Open 2017) Do you have a favorite TISC contest? The TISC Open 2017 also it’s special for me it was held in Tunisia! Annual or Open? Annual because music in Tunisia is developed very well last years. Favorite entry that represented your nation? Emel Mathlouthi – Ma Lkit is my favourite one a mix of Tunisian sounds and modern electronic production. Wishes for 2018? I’m sick of what is happening in our world. I would like to turn on the news and hear there’s peace on earth. I wish also for my family and all totallympics community health, happiness and prosperity.

With 2017 rapidly approaching its end, we have sat down with OlympicIRL to discuss about TISC and life in general. This interview marks the first of its kind at the newly established TISC-News website. Without further ado, we shall start the interview. Hey there Dan, glad you could join us for a cup of tea. Glad, but not surprised since you are one of the TISC-News admins [laughs]. Hi there! Always happy to lend a hand, especially when there is tea on offer. We are reaching the end of 2017. Generally speaking, which is in your opinion the most important happening, evolution or trend in the World in 2017? For me the most important trend of 2017 is the continuing destruction of the planet by the human population, the same issues which we have been facing for many years already and for the foreseeable future The human population continues to grow putting a strain on resources and on the environment. More and more plastic and chemicals clogging up our oceans and seas, endangering the ecosystem and having countless knock-on effects, all pretty much undesirable. Habitats continue to be destroyed and many species continue to decline to the verge of extinction. Humanity not waking up to our responsibilities and to the crises facing future populations. I don’t speak with morality on this issue as I myself am part of the problem. But for me, this is the most important trend in the world. Happy New Year everyone. Now onto more Totallympics themed question. We realize it can be hard to choose, but what was your favorite sports moment of 2017? You can pick up to 3 moments if necessary. Irish show jumping on the top of the podium (2017 European Championships) Ireland’s team gold at the European Showjumping Championships was a real highlight for me this year. Especially after so many years of terrible luck, I really savoured that medal. Elsewhere, Galway’s first All-Ireland hurling title since 1988 and the Irish rugby team’s record 38-3 victory over the Springboks in the autumn tests were other memorable moments in 2017. What are your best and worst TV and/or radio shows? I don’t watch a whole lot of TV these days but my two favourite shows at the moment are Line of Duty and the topical British panel show Have I Got News For You. Fawlty Towers is probably my favourite TV show of all-time, it’s simply a masterpiece of comedy. Oh and Star Trek: The Next Generation, I still love watching it. In terms of my dislikes, I’m not a big fan of shows like Grey’s Anatomy or reality TV such as Britain/America’s Got Talent, X Factor, Big Brother, etc. I also don’t get the fascination with The Big Bang Theory. Fireman Sam My TV hell, well there are two shows in particular that my brain just can’t handle and I can thank my nephew on both counts for subjecting me to these horrors….. Fireman Sam and The Chipmunks. I just can’t deal with them, please let me never have to see or hear another minute of either ever again! And now onto more TISC related questions. What was your favorite TISC moment of 2017? Well it has to be….. you know what I’m gonna say, right? That glorious moment when the deciding jury from Brazil gave Ireland victory at TISC Open 2017. I have twice hosted a contest in which the final jury cast the deciding votes, but I had never before been involved in such a tight race for the win. Going into the final set of marks, trailing Colombia by 6 points and sitting in 3rd place behind the USA, things weren’t exactly looking in my favour. But as the points were revealed one by one and neither the USA, Colombia or Ireland were appearing, the tension just built and built. And that moment when Vini revealed “Ireland 11 points”, it was a moment of true elation. Then after a couple of seconds I suddenly thought, “oh crap, I don’t want to lose this on the very last point reveal”…. the tension was unbearable. Then vini revealed the 12 point score and the rest is honestly a bit of a blur. Magical, unforgettable. Thank you Brazil!!! Back in 2013 you were one of the fathers (or rather THE father of TISC). Can you tell us how the whole TISC idea started? The origin of TISC goes all the way back to the autumn of 2012, a full year before the first edition took place. In 2012 we opened a “Best Eurovision Song of All-Time” contest on the forum in order to re-visit the history of Eurovision. That particular contest carried on for several months and into 2013, with many rounds, finally culminating in a Grand Final early in 2013. The thread proved a huge success and it left a void when it was finished. There was a sadness when it was over. I wanted to somehow be able to re-capture that sort of community atmosphere which was really unique at that time and something I knew was special and could not be lost. So I started to ponder what the next step would be. I wanted to involve all nations so they had an active interest, something which was not possible with the Eurovision contest. Having a contest showcasing all our music and giving us the power to select our candidates seemed very appealing. So I thought, why not, let’s give this a try. And that is how the idea of TISC came about! Back when TISC was just an idea, did you believe that before the 10th edition more than 50 countries from all of the continents would have taken part? No absolutely not. I had no idea it would be the success story it is and now TISC has truly come to life and taken on a whole other dimension. It’s more than simply a music contest. I was actually worried that the initial contest would only involve a handful of die-hard participants and would fizzle out. But thankfully the community took the concept to their hearts and the rest is history as they say. Do you have a favorite TISC contest? The very first contest will always hold a special place in my heart. Everything was brand new and we were discovering for the first time all those little intricacies that make TISC so special. That contest made such a powerful impact on the forum…. we stumbled on a new dynamic that allowed users to come together and share in something fun and exciting. The music was also of excellent quality in that contest. And of course, TISC Open 2013 also gave us our very first TISC nail-biter, that one-by-one voting that TISC has become known for. Annual or Open? I love the Open contest because it gives us such a variety of music and I tend to find it very difficult to award my votes as there are just too many great songs!! Ireland won 4 out of 9 contests. Have you ever expected an Irish victory before a Grand Final started? Emerald Isle has been the dominant figure in the first 9 editions of TISC I have never expected an Irish victory before a contest, absolutely not, and that’s the truth. I really find it hard to gauge how my songs will do and I guess this is no different for any other participant. TISC Open 2014 is probably the one I had the strongest feeling that I could have a good result (the year the Cranberries won). But never in my wildest dreams did I think it would have been so universally well received. And as for TISC Open 2017? I’m still asking myself did that actually happen? Which of the Irish victories was the most emotional for you? This one is easy. I can say without hesitation, The Stunning – TISC Open 2017. Without a shadow of a doubt the most emotional one for me. I love Brewing Up A Storm and I was so proud to see this song making the impact it did amongst the international juries. I really didn’t expect it. I had already made peace with the fact that I probably would not have a particularly notable contest but was proud of my choice to give the Stunning a bit of exposure. And of course you can imagine the emotion that was soaring through my veins at that very climactic finish. I may have jumped up and down and flew around the kitchen for a few random seconds on that November night. Your favorite Irish winning entry? The Stunning – Brewing Up A Storm Your favorite Irish non-winning entry? Little Green Cars – My Love Took Me Down To The River (To Silence Me). Also my favourite Irish entry of all 9 editions to date. You’ve hosted TISC twice: 2013 Open and 2015 Open. 2013 Open established the TISC brand, while 2015 Open has raised the level of TISC in every aspect. What do you remember most from hosting those two contests? The very first edition of the contest which I hosted, I remember feeling very nervous for many reasons. Firstly, I wanted to make it as special as possible because in that way, the contest would have a good chance of winning over our hearts. This was also important as I wanted to show users that being host was a rewarding task and not just all about hard work. But I was really nervous that I would not get all the templates prepared in time and mainly that the live show would be a complete disaster. With 34 voting juries, I remember thinking the morning of the live show, “what on earth have I got myself into, this can’t possibly work out”. And the nerves of knowing too that we were going to have our first ever last vote climax and trying to arrange the point-by-point voting without making a mess of everything. It was really exciting but not good for my heart. When TISC Open 2015 came around, it was the second time I hosted and I felt more confident that I could get through the live show as I prepared everything in advance and it wasn’t the same sense as taking a blind leap in the dark that the first one was. I remember spending much time planning how to welcome everyone to Ireland and to really try my best to make it as entertaining as possible. And of course there was that same sense of nervousness and bursting to reveal the results when I realised we were again heading for a final vote climax. One thing that really struck me though from hosting is the great support I received from the community while hosting. It really is a wonderful feeling, especially when the live show is over and you are reading all those words of thanks and I would definitely recommend anyone to give it a try. So overall, I have really fond memories of hosting. Do you have any TISC regrets? I have one or two, like everyone I guess. My biggest regret in terms of selection is not entering Markus Feehily in TISC Annual 2016. I planned to enter him but made a change in the final week, though I am very proud of Enya and she had an amazing run in the contest too. But every time I heard Markus Feehily since I did have a moment of regret that I didn’t give him his chance at TISC. I also really regret not giving justony an extra few minutes to come online and vote in the very first contest. Yes, I know this sounds a little unimportant, but this has stuck with me since for some reason. I felt terrible that he missed the chance to reveal his votes by just a matter of minutes and he made a big effort to get there on time. Sorry buddy. Have you already started the selection process for the 10th edition jubilee to be held in Brazil? If so, can we get a hint or two? Yes I have already begun the search for the next Irish entrant. I usually draw up a list of candidates and after the New Year I will begin whittling them down to a manageable number (currently I have a list of more than 40). I have no idea yet who the final selection will be, that is what the next few weeks and months will be used to decide. Any wishes for 2018? I wish to win the Euromillions, no more work, yay!!. More seriously, I wish for continued health for me and my family and all my fellow Totallympians, health really is wealth! From a sporting perspective I wish some fresh young Irish talent comes out of the blue, someone to hope in for the future. And as always, I hope to end the year a better and stronger person than the year before. Thank you for participating in the interview! Thanks for the opportunity. It’s been a pleasure.