heywoodu

The one time I was in Amsterdam during New Year's Eve I can only describe as hell, never again I'm not at all a fan of the fireworks and explosives being set off in the days (and weeks) leading up to 31 December, but I have always liked the first hour or so after midnight, especially a few minutes after midnight when people start going outside and setting off their fireworks everywhere in town As a kid I used to go up to my room to have a look over the town first, before going outside to set off our own fireworks You've been in the Netherlands for a while now, have you heard of carbidschieten? That shit suuuuuuuuuuuucks. It makes the windows shake and ground tremble...it's mostly popular in rural areas, you know, like the exact part of the Veluwe where I live

I mean the real lakes, not the small ponds inside parks and cities Yeah, those are definitely the easiest to freeze

Well, whatever we call it, she is princess and she is called queen, that's just how it is It doesn't matter much and I think 95% of the Dutch people don't know it, that's how little it matters.

Reports which are supported by plenty of videos of people apparently being held hostage on the roof. Although it's not sure whether it's actually got anything to do with Ubisoft, since there are more companies in the building.

The freakshow starts a day early

Nope. She has actually kept the titles she had before Willem-Alexander was crowned king and so, offically speaking, she is Princess of The Netherlands. This was made clear even in 2011 by one of the ministers: "She will not be queen, but she will be called queen." It's a courtesy title and by far the one used most (basically everywhere), but deep down and officially, the Netherlands has a king and his wife, the princess, much like before him there was a queen and her husband, the prince.

I am not telling you that

Totallympics Open International Song Contest 2020 - The Scoreboard! To close off proceedings, we are proud to present to you the official scoreboard for this year's Totallympics Open International Song Contest! A final word from the host delegation's president, heywoodu, 7th place finisher in the 2002 Nunspeet BMX championships and participant's medalist and 610th place finisher in the 2019 Amersfoort half marathon: "I would like to thank @OlympicIRL for this never-ending patience and his utterly crucial help in designing everything remotely related to tables and templates., it would not nearly have looked good enough had I done so myself. I'd also like to thank our Mexican friend @mrv86 for his help in designing templates; even though we ended up going with the Irish design, the effort and knowing there was a willingness to help is very much appreciated! The scoreboard will have a bit of a change compared to other TISC editions, but you'll see tomorrow. " Juries voted so far: 0 / 35 TOISC - NETHERLANDS 2020 Argentina 0 Israel 0 Croatia 0 Denmark 0 Portugal 0 Italy 0 United States 0 Slovenia 0 Netherlands 0 Poland 0 Serbia 0 India 0 New Zealand 0 Spain 0 Germany 0 Moldova 0 Egypt 0 China 0 Indonesia 0 Bulgaria 0 Canada 0 Brazil 0 France 0 Lithuania 0 Czech Republic 0 Ireland 0 Hungary 0 Slovakia 0 Kazakhstan 0 Great Britain 0 Greece 0 Tunisia 0 Mexico 0 Romania 0 Malta 0 Goodnight, and see you tomorrow! As promised, Caro Emerald has not yet left the arena. Apart from Liquid Lunch, this unique Dutch artists has another excellent trick up her sleeve, which is most likely a much better idea than a liquid lunch during a TISC event and with which she'll close the evening. We hope you have enjoyed the opening ceremony and truly wish to see you all tomorrow after a good night's sleep on the Veluwe!

I'll go and take a look to see if there happens to be a bottle in the garage

In good Slovak style, we say it's finished with one more obvious part to go

The result is already final Donald, no worries.

I've never actually tried this, but maybe I should

Who said it was easy? There were huge amounts going round Allegedly.

Yes she is Well, officially she's a princess, but she is generally mentioned as Queen Maxima

A final act We have nearly reached the conclusion of the TOISC 2020 opening ceremony. This would normally mean Mariah Carey comes and performs Emotions, but as you're all aware, this year is a bit...odd. Travel restrictions make for significant challenges, and the government - oddly enough - doesn't necessarily see the Totallympics International Song Contest as essential travel, so the organization had to improvise a little.

Veluwe at the Song Contest - Part 2 We have already mentioned Waylon, but there is another Dutch Eurovision Song Contest entry coming from the Veluwe: Hearts of Soul. Three sisters from Harderwijk founded this group at the end of the 1960's and participated in the Song Contest in 1970, finishing in 7th out of 12 nations with their song Waterman.

It's Slovak, you barbarian!

Keep breathing buddy, the ambulance is on it's way to pump your stomach.

Technically that would only count for the contest itself and I'm definitely on course for a start at 09:00 CET sharp.

I do remember there was controversy

Totallympics International Song Contest Oaths Competitors' oath Hua Chenyu, China "In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in this contest, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern TISC - committing ourselves to a competition that values respect and the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of music and the honor of our nations!" Jury members' oath Werloc, Lithuania "In the name of all the jury members, I promise that we shall adjudicate in our deliberations at this contest with complete impartiality, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern TISC in the true spirit of sportsmanship!" Hosts' oath heywoodu, The Netherlands "We promise that we shall organize this contest, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern TISC - committing ourselves to overseeing a competition that values respect and promotes the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of music and the honor of our nations!"

I don't remember Jamala's song at all, I found Netta's performance rather.....not so good I actually really liked Conchita's song, I just found her voice to be very much off and just not enjoyable, which is a shame, because the song itself was (in my opinion) really good and would have been wonderful with a stronger voice.

Rest In Peace It's time for a short break and a moment of remembrance. A little over a month ago, rock great Eddie van Halen passed away. Together with his brother Alex he had an incredible influence on music in the past few decades, and there is in fact a bit of a link with the Veluwe: south of the Veluwe is the city of Nijmegen, which is where the musical life of the Van Halen brothers started, after moving there from Amsterdam and before moving to the US, from where they became superstars.

I thought this GIF was on a loop but it is actually @hckosice's real-time drinking pace..

You asked that not even 3 minutes ago buddy..