heywoodu

I'm positively surprised every nation in the first session posted their own votes

MOLDOVA Bună dimineața, iată voturile juriului moldovenesc! Good morning, here are the votes of the Moldovan jury! Malta 10 Mexico 9 Portugal 8 Poland 7 Netherlands 6 Germany 5 Egypt 4 Hungary 3 Argentina 2 New Zealand 1

Good morning!

The morning break is over, we go on with the 8th nation already! Moldova, can we have your votes please?

I'm getting myself some kruidnoten at this very moment

Morning break The first of five sessions is already behind us and it's a close race! Canada leads the charge, but Malta and Ireland are close behind, while only three nations are waiting for their first points. Interestingly, already six nations have received a set of 12 points, which promises for a close battle. With that, we take our first break: feel free to grab a cup of coffee or tea, maybe some hot chocolate is more your choice? We're getting ourselves a nice double shot of hot chocolate with some extra cream! Early December is closing in, which in the Netherlands means - or at least used to mean - the national celebration of Sinterklaas, a children's party full of festivities, fun and children getting presents. Traditionally these are delivered in a large bag on 5 December, often done by friends or neighbours to make the children think it came from Sinterklaas. A tradition in the days leading up to this is to put a shoe down somewhere in the house, preferrably with a carrot or something for Sinterklaas' horse, and the next morning a small present can be found there! Sinterklaas on Amerigo, his trusted horse for many years, who sadly passed away aged 30 last year Anyhow, there's not only gifts related to Sinterklaas, there's also things to eat! Most notably, the so-called kruidnoten: small, mostly round sort of cookies which are the main thing around the Sinterklaas celebrations - hands full of them are quite literally thrown around for example in classrooms. Beware: a lot of people call them 'pepernoten', for some weird reason. Pepernoten are a very different kind of 'snack' though, they taste entirely different - 10/10 would not recommend. Kruidnoten are made with basically the same ingredients as speculaas, another kind of cookie which comes in all shapes and sizes. In the middle we see kruidnoten, the regular ones, with chocolate-covered kruidnoten on the right. The ones on the left are 'pepernoten', avoid them, pick the kruidnoten, which by the way are really easy to make yourself! As a third option for your snack during this coffee break, there's the stroopwafels - few things are as Dutch as these bits of absolute delight. Basically it's two thin waffles with caramelized syrup in between them, it's magic. Extra magic if one lays a stroopwafel on top of their hot beverage (or a heater) for a little bit, to make the whole thing just a tad softer and even more magical. The goodness that are stroopwafels The last option is a simple, yet very much local one: 'Veluwse Zwienenkeutels', basically translated as 'Veluwe boar droppings'. No, they are not actually made up of pig shit, they are delicious soft chocolates with a tasty and of course chocolatey inside, which one can get in plenty of smaller shops around the Veluwe. A bag with some Zwienenkeutels Our musical entertainment for this short break comes from the mid-90's, the time in which the so-called Happy Hardcore scene was big in the Netherlands. The nation is represented by a song out of this genre in TOISC 2020 after a long internal battle between Rainbow in the Sky and the 1996 song Have You Ever Been Mellow by the Party Animals, one of the leading groups in the Happy Hardcore era. That's it for the morning break, enjoy what's on offer and we'll be back at 11:00 CET!

I do realize I could have thought this through better in terms of using the same places as team locations and delegation locations, but I am cheering for the Nunspeet Wolves nonetheless Nunspeet

Romania makes a jump and joins the fight for the lead, where Canada has taken over first place. The top-6 could all be in the lead after the next vote, it's a close battle! Juries voted so far: 7 / 35 Next jury: Moldova TOISC - NETHERLANDS 2020 Moldova 17 12 Canada 1 43 Croatia 19 11 Malta 2 40 France 20 10 Ireland 2 40 Denmark 20 10 Serbia 4 36 Israel 20 10 Romania 5 33 United States 20 10 Indonesia 6 31 Czech Republic 24 9 Brazil 7 28 Portugal 25 8 Kazakhstan 8 27 Netherlands 25 8 Argentina 9 25 Poland 25 8 India 9 25 Slovakia 28 7 Italy 11 21 Slovenia 29 4 Great Britain 12 17 Greece 30 2 China 13 16 Mexico 31 1 Lithuania 14 14 Tunisia 31 1 New Zealand 14 14 Bulgaria 33 0 Spain 16 13 Egypt 33 0 Germany 17 12 Hungary 33 0 It's time for a 15-minute break, the next vote is up at 11:00 CET

Malta gets it's second set of twelve points already and nearly closes the gap to the Irish leaders, splitting them and Canada and moving up to second place. Serbia is starting to join the fight as well, it is far from over. Juries voted so far: 6 / 35 Next jury: Spain TOISC - NETHERLANDS 2020 Moldova 17 12 Ireland 1 40 Israel 19 10 Malta 2 36 United States 19 10 Canada 3 34 Croatia 21 9 Serbia 4 31 Czech Republic 21 9 Brazil 5 28 Denmark 21 9 Kazakhstan 6 27 Netherlands 24 8 Indonesia 7 24 Poland 24 8 India 8 22 Slovakia 26 7 Romania 9 21 Slovenia 27 4 Great Britain 10 17 Greece 28 2 China 11 16 Mexico 29 1 Italy 12 15 Tunisia 29 1 New Zealand 13 14 Bulgaria 31 0 Argentina 13 14 Egypt 31 0 Lithuania 13 14 France 31 0 Spain 16 13 Hungary 31 0 Germany 17 12 Portugal 31 0 We travel to the south of Europe and meet @Cobi, could you please share the Spanish votes with us?

But why is the rum gone?

Osovo or Latvi

Spain 12

Liechtenstein

They might not win though. You know, or one of them might.

@Vojthas, apparently

The origin of my name.

After the awesome vote presentation of the Polish jury, Canada is still in the lead, but there's still five nations who could take it over with a single voting round. Kazakhstan is making a surge and....Spain 12! Juries voted so far: 5 / 35 Next jury: India TOISC - NETHERLANDS 2020 Croatia 16 9 Canada 1 34 Denmark 16 9 Ireland 2 30 New Zealand 16 9 Kazakhstan 3 27 China 20 8 Malta 4 24 Netherlands 20 8 India 5 22 Poland 20 8 Romania 6 21 Slovakia 23 7 Indonesia 6 21 Moldova 24 6 Serbia 8 20 Germany 25 5 Brazil 9 19 Mexico 26 1 Great Britain 10 17 Tunisia 26 1 Italy 11 15 Bulgaria 28 0 Argentina 12 14 Egypt 28 0 Lithuania 12 14 France 28 0 Spain 14 12 Greece 28 0 Israel 15 10 Hungary 28 0 United States 15 10 Portugal 28 0 Czech Republic 16 9 Slovenia 28 0 India is up next, are you ready @Fly_like_a_don?

And correctly! 'Hey would you', unlike certain Dutch commentators who, when I send in a question, pronounce it like 'Hey woo do'.

He commentates on live streams for U23 modern pentathlon championships, I'm fairly certain the amounts of money that brings in makes for a huge house

I would like to nominate this for best ever vote presentation in TISC history Awesome Rabobank jersey Field hockey?

Slovenia brings Ireland to a solo lead, raise your hand if you thought you'd live to see the day! A small lead is emerging, but then again, there's plenty of space to jump more than 10 positions in one single voting round. Juries voted so far: 4 / 35 Next jury: Poland TOISC - NETHERLANDS 2020 New Zealand 15 9 Ireland 1 30 Netherlands 19 8 Canada 2 25 Poland 19 8 India 3 20 Serbia 19 8 Brazil 4 19 Moldova 22 6 Indonesia 5 18 Germany 23 5 Kazakhstan 6 17 China 24 4 Great Britain 6 17 Czech Republic 25 3 Italy 8 15 Tunisia 26 1 Lithuania 9 14 Mexico 26 1 Romania 10 13 Bulgaria 28 0 Malta 10 13 Egypt 28 0 Spain 12 11 France 28 0 Israel 13 10 Greece 28 0 United States 13 10 Hungary 28 0 Denmark 15 9 Portugal 28 0 Argentina 15 9 Slovakia 28 0 Croatia 15 9 Slovenia 28 0 Poland is up next, may we please see the Polish votes @Vojthas?

Slovenia fell asleep?

Votes being posted in 3, 2, 1...

Why eliminating the best team in case of a tie?

I know I know I know