Cobi

I want to congratulate both @OlympicIRL and @mrv86 for successfully hosting the event.
 
Personally, I was lucky with the draw, because I don't think  would have reached the Round of 16 with the traditional format. Anyways, thanks to all the jurors who voted for the song at least once.
 
In general I really liked the songs, so I had some troubles judging 4 or 5 matches, and changed my mind a few times during the competition, but finally this is my top7:       

I want to congratulate both @OlympicIRL and @mrv86 for successfully hosting the event.
 
Personally, I was lucky with the draw, because I don't think  would have reached the Round of 16 with the traditional format. Anyways, thanks to all the jurors who voted for the song at least once.
 
In general I really liked the songs, so I had some troubles judging 4 or 5 matches, and changed my mind a few times during the competition, but finally this is my top7:       

Gold Medal
Match
 
 
 
Now, for real, the user finishing in 2nd place is
 
 
 
That means that our TISC Special Champion is none other than
 
 
 

Totallympics, please let's hear a round of applause
for the Winner of the TISC Special 2020:
 
COSTA RICA
 

 

 
Fellow Users, please rise for Costa Rica's National Anthem
 

 
 
Let's close the celebrations listening the rightful winner
 
Patterns - Spirit
 

 
 
It has been a pleasure to see you tonight!
Thank you for your interest and we'll see each other soon!
 

 

Gold Medal
Match
 
Now let's meet the identify of the second group  of judges
 
 
 Judge Kronos voted for....
 
 
 Judge Hummer voted for....
 
 
 Judge Master Rufus voted for....
 
 
Now, the user finishing in 19th place
 
 
Judge Juli voted for....
 
 
 Judge Absent voted for....
 
 
 Judge Wörmann voted for....
 
 
 Judge Ikhor voted for....
 
 
Judge Piaff voted for....
 
 
 

Challenge
Final
 
Sunday, August 16th 2020, 18:30 (GMT +2)
Belarus   10 vs 6   Kosovo  
 
A total of 24 match judges, plus a reserve, have been assigned the task of adjudicating this match. The judges are each allocated a specialised hut which are located at various vantage points surrounding the arena where the artists will perform.
 
These judging huts can be seen in the diagram below with each cell representing a judge, known by an alias. Each judge will determine which of the contestants perform better either a technical or artistic mark, and thus award a point to said competitor. Scorecards will be revealed by blocks, after a determined number of marks are completed.
 
 
                  H    Belarus
 
     X     
 
Kosovo 
        F                  
 
 
 
Judge Granat voted for....
 
 
Judge Mon Cherie voted for....
 
 
Judge Ahlerich voted for....
 
 
Judge Rembrandt voted for....
 
 
Judge Gigolo voted for....
 
 
Judge Bonfire voted for....
 
 
Judge Salinero voted for....
 
 
And finally, Judge Valegro voted for....
 
 
 
Final Scorecard
 
 

Well folks, it has been a real challenge for me, but I think tomorrow should run smoothly. My special acknowledgement to @dcro for creating the templates used today and helping with the format that I will use tomorrow for the medal matches. Now the important part. You all have now received the voting template for the final matches.    I'll need it back in my inbox by tomorrow 16:00 GMT+2   Thank you for your replies.

Semi-Finals
 
Saturday, August 15th 2020, 21:30 (GMT +2)
Côte d'Ivoire   3 vs 3   Gibraltar  
 
Could anyone have asked for a more exciting duel in today's last match?
We're about to see if the Ivorian song can do what others couldn't:
beat a tough and so far the consistent Gibraltar entry?
 
 
 
  K   V   E   S   H   Côte d'Ivoire
 
     X     
 
Gibraltar 
A C     F   P   B   R   M  
 
Now it's time to reveal the verdict of Judges M to X...
 
 
Judge M voted for....
 
 
Judge R voted for....
 
 
Judge B voted for....
 
 
Judge P voted for....
 
 
Judge F voted for....
 
 
Judge A voted for....
 
 
Judge X voted for....
 
Final Result
 

Semi-Finals
 
Saturday, August 15th 2020, 21:00 (GMT +2)
North Macedonia   2 vs 4   Costa Rica  
 
At half-point in this duel, our friends from Central America have a slight advantage.
However, we have seen bigger differences being overcome, and North Macedonia
is just capable of pulling a last moment upset
 
 
 
  K   V   E   S   H   North Macedonia
 
     X     
 
Costa Rica 
A C     F   P   B   R   M  
 
Now it's time to reveal the verdict of Judges M to X...
 
 
Judge M voted for....
 
 
Judge R voted for....
 
 
Judge B voted for....
 
 
Judge P voted for....
 
 
Judge F voted for....
 
 
Judge A voted for....
 
 
Judge X voted for....
 
Final Result
 

Quarter-Finals  
Friday, August 14th 2020, 20:30 (GMT +2)
Costa Rica   0 vs 0   Barbados  
 
A total of 7 match judges have been assigned the task of adjudicating this match.
The judges are each allocated a specialised hut which are located at various vantage points surrounding the arena where the artists will perform.
These judging huts can be seen in the diagram below with their locations denoted by letters (K, E, H, C, M, B & F).
 
 
 
  K   E   H   Costa Rica vs Barbados  A C     F   B   M  
 
 
Let's see which Country advances to Semi-Finals
 
 
Judge K voted for....
 
 
Judge E voted for....
 
 
Judge H voted for....
 
 
Judge C voted for....
 
 
Judge M voted for....
 
 
Judge B voted for....
 
 
Judge F voted for....
 
Final Result
 
 

Here are the uncomplete, current rankings... I discarded the repechage scores for this purpose.
 
Gold
Silver
Bronze
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th South Africa - 4W-0D-1L (22-17)
10th Cape Verde - 3W-1D-1L (26-13)
11th Somalia - 3W-0D-2L (24-15)
12th Cuba - 2W-2D-1L (18-21)
13th Guinea - 2W-1D-2L (23-16)
14th Angola - 2W-1D-2L (21-18)
15th Puerto Rico - 2W-1D-2L (18-21)
16th Guatemala - 2W-0D-3L (17-22)
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th South Korea - 1W-0D-4L (14-25)
26th Iceland - 0W-2D-3L (15-24)
27th Iraq - 0W-1D-4L (15-24)
28th Chinese Taipei - 0W-1D-4L (14-25)
29th Belize - 0W-0D-5L (9-30)
30th Japan - 0W-0D-5L (8-31)

No actually we will resume next Tuesday.
 
Sorry, and an apology to each of you. 
 
Had another fight with the internet company, as my connection is unstable since Sunday, with my main efforts being completing my duties while I'm still on home office duty and until me and my coworkers can safely return to our physical location, following sanitization after a collaborator was infeceted with COVID. Today is the first day in which, I have been able to stay online for more than two hours straight.
 
As for the schedule, it will be moved to next week. Expect your voting assignments, with Repechage and First Challenge Matches being rescheduled for next Tuesday

Just because there’s a little chatter about this on the 2016 Replays Thread, I thought I’d remind everyone about this thread.
 
@Vojthas and myself had a conversation about ceremonies in the 2000s and couple weeks back, and noticed some of y’all informally ranking ceremonies from the 2000s in the Replays thread. So here’s my rankings of 2000s from the perspective of someone very into the artistic segments, cultural significance, and politics of opening ceremonies:
 
Summer: 
1. Rio/London - This is a dead tie for me. London sold the UK as a cultural brand, while Rio gave us the soul of Brazil. For London, Pandemonium stands out as possibly the greatest artistic segment of all-time. Both Games have very memorable cauldron designs as well.
3. Athens - So began the use of floating stages, and storytelling really designed for the television over the stadium audience. Flaming rings are possibly still the most used image of the Olympic Rings.
4. Beijing - Who doesn’t remember the drummers? Don’t get me wrong, this ceremony was spectacular at the time. The thing that spoils it for me is that I’ve come to realize China can just pull off a show like this whenever they want too. Watch the Wuhan 2019, Guangzhou 2010, Nanjing 2014 ceremonies. It’s all more of the same unfortunately. Beijing was an incredible ceremony, it just doesn’t hold a special place in my heart like the others.
5. Sydney - Not bad either, just a little outdated compared to the others. 
 
Winter:
1. Sochi - Oddly enough the ceremony remembered more for it’s large gaff with the Olympic Rings, is also my favorite. Putin wanted to put on a show, and he did. It was an impressive ceremony. I really enjoyed traveling through Russian history, and seeing how Russians (Putin) chose to portray it. The Russian Team entrance into the stadium was epic too with that awesome pop/rap song.
2. Vancouver - Another ceremony marked by a massive failure. Besides the cauldron mishap, this was a solid ceremony. Projections were very cool at the time, and the staging was rather unique with they entire audience wearing those white parkas.
3. Turin - Haven’t watched, but know it’s probably bette than the next two.
4. Pyeongchang - There’s nothing wrong with this ceremony, there’s just nothing that really stands out either. I will say that beautiful rendition of the Korean folk song by that older singer was very moving. Also, Pita was shirtless again, and that’s always a win.
5. Salt Lake - Ugh

Sorry if this was posted earlier, I did not check.
The perfect sport for the pandemic is fencing. You wear mask and gloves, and if someone comes closer than 1,5 meter to you, you stab them.

It is funny to see luge in Spain consdering that we do not have a single athlete . The only Winter sport slightly popular in Spain is figure skating, specially since the appearance of Javi Fernández. A few years ago, alpine skiing was also popular, with some World Cup events being shown in public TV, as well as ski jumping with the Four Trampolines, but nowadays nobody cares about Winter sports.

I think the main difference between the two is that morriña (which doesn't exist in portuguese) is more sad deep feeling than saudade.
 
But given the similarities between the languages (portuguese and galician) it's no surprise there are such similar terms  

Group B  
 
Sunday, July 26th 2020, 17:30 (GMT +1)
  Kiribati 0 vs 0   Kosovo  
 
Next up we have a crucial match between Kiribati and Kosovo. Both sides are languishing at the foot of the table having lost all their games so far. However, Kiribati have only played one match so far so they have a little more breathing room. On the other hand, another defeat for Kosovo will send them packing as they will be unable to catch the teams above them. Therefore it is imperative they avoid defeat today.
 
A total of 8 match judges have been assigned the task of adjudicating this match.
The judges are each allocated a specialised hut which are located at various vantage points surrounding the arena where the artists will perform.
These judging huts can be seen in the diagram below with their locations denoted by letters (K, E, H, C, M, B, F and A).
 
 
 
  K   E   H   Kiribati vs Kosovo A C     F   B   M  
 
 
Now it's time to see how the judges scored this contest
 
 
Judge K voted for....
 
Judge E voted for....
 
 Judge H voted for....
 
 Judge C voted for....
 
 Judge M voted for....
 
Judge B voted for....
 
Judge F voted for....
 
Judge A voted for....
 
 
Final Result and Scorecard
 
Updated Group B Standings after match
 
 

There were more Spanish entries than usual also at the most recent TISC from what I remember.... just after Spain 12 became a thing. I smell a conspiracy

Haha, it looks like our Pimba music (we call a specific genre of portuguese music Pimba, it's music used not only at weddings but also in cities festivals, in rural areas parties, and also popular in emigrants).
 
I have not yet shared in TISC because usually to enjoy it you need to understand the lyrics (filled with words that have double meanings haha), but one day i'll send one.
 
In the meantime, to get the idea, this is what i mean by Pimba music 
 

I guess one of the reasons why "La Vuelta al Mundo" has so many views is because of the lyrics. From the perspective of a non-Spanish speaker, the song might sound like simply a guy talking, without any artistic talent. However, what makes this song so interesting is the meaning and how the writer structured the song. 
 
The song basically tells how a man realizes that his life sucks. He has spent his whole life studying to get a good job, and once he has the job and a good salary, he is not happy because he is not doing what he really likes. So after a while, he decides to quit after proposing to his girlfriend. The story is quite simple, but from a literary point of view, the lyrics are very interesting to read as a poem, since they play with the double sense of some words and expressions, and the writer uses this to criticize some aspects of the society he doesn't like.
 
In fact, they became popular in Spain and Latin America during the early 2010s because of the way they wrote... The music is not the only thing to determine if a song is a good one or not.
 
Just to be clear, writing this comment does not mean that I entered the song.

Good day for Spanish-speaking countries, with both Puerto Rico and Guatemala winning their matches. Very impressed with Calle 13 victory over Dua Lipa.

I guess one of the reasons why "La Vuelta al Mundo" has so many views is because of the lyrics. From the perspective of a non-Spanish speaker, the song might sound like simply a guy talking, without any artistic talent. However, what makes this song so interesting is the meaning and how the writer structured the song. 
 
The song basically tells how a man realizes that his life sucks. He has spent his whole life studying to get a good job, and once he has the job and a good salary, he is not happy because he is not doing what he really likes. So after a while, he decides to quit after proposing to his girlfriend. The story is quite simple, but from a literary point of view, the lyrics are very interesting to read as a poem, since they play with the double sense of some words and expressions, and the writer uses this to criticize some aspects of the society he doesn't like.
 
In fact, they became popular in Spain and Latin America during the early 2010s because of the way they wrote... The music is not the only thing to determine if a song is a good one or not.
 
Just to be clear, writing this comment does not mean that I entered the song.

I guess one of the reasons why "La Vuelta al Mundo" has so many views is because of the lyrics. From the perspective of a non-Spanish speaker, the song might sound like simply a guy talking, without any artistic talent. However, what makes this song so interesting is the meaning and how the writer structured the song. 
 
The song basically tells how a man realizes that his life sucks. He has spent his whole life studying to get a good job, and once he has the job and a good salary, he is not happy because he is not doing what he really likes. So after a while, he decides to quit after proposing to his girlfriend. The story is quite simple, but from a literary point of view, the lyrics are very interesting to read as a poem, since they play with the double sense of some words and expressions, and the writer uses this to criticize some aspects of the society he doesn't like.
 
In fact, they became popular in Spain and Latin America during the early 2010s because of the way they wrote... The music is not the only thing to determine if a song is a good one or not.
 
Just to be clear, writing this comment does not mean that I entered the song.

Good day for Spanish-speaking countries, with both Puerto Rico and Guatemala winning their matches. Very impressed with Calle 13 victory over Dua Lipa.

Group C  
Wednesday, July 22nd 2020, 21:30 (GMT +1)
  South Korea 0 vs 0   Burundi  
 
The second encounter in Group C sees South Korea take on Burundi. The judges are in their seats for the final match of the day and both sets of fans are anxiously waiting to see if their team can make it a victorious start to the contest!
 
A total of 8 matches judges have been assigned the task of adjudicating this match.
The judges are each allocated a specialised hut which are located at various vantage points surrounding the arena where the artists will perform.
These judging huts can be seen in the diagram below with their locations denoted by letters (K, E, H, C, M, B, F and A).
 
 
 
  K   E   H   South Korea vs Burundi A C     F   B   M  
 
 
Now it's time to see how the judges scored this contest
 
 
Judge K voted for....
 
Judge E voted for....
 
 Judge H voted for....
 
 Judge C voted for....
 
 Judge M voted for....
 
Judge B voted for....
 
Judge F voted for....
 
Judge A voted for....
 
 
Final Result and Scorecard
 
Updated Group C Standings after match