Balearica Island makes a wish (NSC 233)

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island celebrates Mr. Duck (NSC 224)

My expectations for 2084 in 223 were way off. Altho it was close, it managed to sneak into the final, which was a lot better than the result I expected. Didn't manage to get a top 20 result in the final tho, but just being there was a bit of a win.

2023 has been a big year for Disney fans, celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. And on top of that, Donald Duck celebrates his 75th year in Norway. So I figured, what better way to end 2023 than sending something Donald Duck related to the last NSC edition of the year? And I found something pretty cool. In 1995, there was a eurodance single release in Germany featuring the German Donald Duck voice Peter Krause, and it was published by Walt Disney Music Company. So this is actually an official Donald Duck release. It's called Mr. Duck (That's Donald!).

There's a few different versions of it. The eurodance radio edit is called "Donald Will Tanzen Mix", then there's a rave edit called "Oh Boy Oh Boy Mix", the club mix is called "Jetzt Zeig Ich 's Euch Mix), there's a rave mix called "Ravin' Mad Donald Mix" (and it is pretty mad too), and finally the "Donald's In Da House Mix". Someone's been having fun, and I want that CD. I considered the "Donald Will Tanzen Mix" for a while, which has a longer part with Sabine Heil singing, but eventually decided on the "Oh Boy Oh Boy Mix" instead:

Expectations? I don't know why I bother, since I'm usually very off, but since Papendink has returned (and is in my semi), I think I will be avoiding 0 points at least. But I will be very surprised if Donald qualifies to the final. Also, according to Discogs, one of the producers (Frank Meyer-Thurn) died in 2009, just 49 years old.

In the WLSC, the Markus Schulz vs Grube & Hovsepian remix got a normal result for me, and finished in the bottom 5. Due to very busy days lately, and not thinking I can vote in both NSC semi(s) and WLSC in the same week, I had to sit out of WLSC 265, but I hope to be back in 266.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island looks forward (NSC 225)

The German Donald Duck did better than I thought he would. Didn't qualify to the final (insert rage noises by Donald here), but wasn't actually that far off. 13th is a pretty good result.

And I'm actually staying in the 90's. In Norway we have a word called "Norgesvenn", "friend of Norway". Typically used for international artists, politicians and celebrities that frequently visits Norway or have a personal connection to Norway. We're a small country up here, so to get recognition from foreigners is often popular among us. My personal favorite among those might be Tiësto, who had his international breakthrough with "Theme From Norefjell", so Norway has always been a special place for him. DJ Sash! is another, I've seen him play 6 times in Norway, and he keeps coming back, and altho I think he's a little too active with his microphone when he plays, there's no denying that he knows what he's doing, and his long line of hits never disappoint. He also won NSC for Prasia all the way back in NSC 35, but in the 15 years I've been in this contest, he's only been performing once, when ChessLand sent "La Primavera" to NSC 96. Just a couple of days ago, Sash! posted on his Facebook and Instagram about the video for his 1999 hit "Adelante", which was shot in Norway. I had no idea. And my immediate thought after that was that I need to send Adelante to the NSC, because it was also already one of my biggest favorites by Sash! before this shocking revelation.

Not expecting to qualify to the final with this, and the recent collapse in diplomatic relations between and Onlar is unlikely to help in that matter, but if Adelante can squeeze into the semi top 15, that'll be a great result.

After skipping WLSC 265, I rejoined in 266, and decided to do another Disney themed entry, which I found while searching for my NSC 224 entry. It's a eurobeat cover of Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca", which was sent to NSC 6 by Phinechendza. It's made by Dave Rodgers, and it's called "Livin' La Vida Mickey":

It was all started by a mouse. Mickey Mouse. But this song is actually about Minnie, who's the one "living la vida Mickey". Got a similar result to Donald, finishing in 14th, altho with fewer competitors than Donald, so Donald won that battle.

WLSC 267 is also happening, and this time I've gone for a remix of Rihanna's "Unfaithful" (sent to NSC 10 by Streets ET), made by DJ Bass (formerly known as Adam B.A.S.S. and Dya-Mond X, and currently known as Ay-Zed). I also considered the Nivara remix of Comeea's cover, and Exit Eden's cover, but eventually decided on the pretty amazing trance remix by DJ Bass.

Probably another bottom 5 result coming up here.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island is a 90s b*tch (NSC 226)

HUUUUGE update right here!

And we start off with the main contest, NSC. A bottom 3 semi result for Adelante. A bit disappointing, but also not a shocking result. What was more disappointing was that Alice Deejay and E Nomine also both failed to qualify to the final. A bad edition for the old classics.

For NSC 226, I struggled a bit to find an entry. It's not because I have nothing to send, I rather have too much, but the struggle is figuring out which direction I want to go for each edition. And I have once again decided to throw away all hopes of reaching the final, and go with what's becoming one of my favorite genres. Hardtechno. Maddix and The Rocketman has recently teamed up for a couple of tracks, one of them is "90s Bitch", and it sounds awesome. The video is also pretty good, reminds me of the video for The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", and given the titles of the two tracks, I don't think that's a coincidence.

The Rocketman participated in NSC 215 for Arirang, coming up just short of qualifying. I think this attempt will be much further away, but we'll see.

WLSC next. The DJ Bass remix of Rihanna in WLSC 267 got a very similar result to Dave Rodgers in the previous edition of WLSC. One position higher, one point more, but still bottom 5. At least I'm stable.

For WLSC 268, an interesting band suddenly popped up on Facebook, as they're playing in Norway in April. They're called Hellsongs, and it's a Swedish band known for making pop/lounge versions of classic hard rock and metal songs. I usually go the other way around, occasionally sending metal covers of pop songs, and figured this could be a cool twist. So I went thru their discography, and found out that only one of the 50ish songs they've covered has been sent to NSC. And that was Rammstein's "Engel", which was sent by... . And I've kinda decided to NOT send covers of entries to WLSC, so that went out the window. I think they're working on a new album tho, so maybe something I can use will pop up.

So that meant it was back to the drawing board, and since the theme of WLSC 268 was flashback, I decided to follow along, and pick an entry that could be tied to a special memory. And I'm just gonna paste what I wrote in the WLSC thread:

As you might know, I go to a lot of concerts, and I usually have to travel pretty far to attend these concerts as well. If it's not in Trondheim, then I usually have to drive a minimum of 4 hours each way to get to the concert, usually more. And I usually travel alone, because most people aren't that into long car trips, but I like driving, and I'm used to it. My mom on the other hand hasn't attended a lot of concerts, I think you can count on one hand how many concerts she's been to in her life. In 2011, the city of Gjøvik celebrated their 150th anniversary, and Canadian superstar Bryan Adams was performing. My mom has always been a big fan of Bryan Adams. So I took her to Gjøvik, and we saw him play, a day or two before my nephew's baptism. There was a lot of rain those days, and there was a point where we were unsure if we would make it back home in time for the baptism. I did my research tho, and found roads that weren't affected by the ongoing floods, and it all turned out to be a memory for life, for both my mom and me.

So my entry was going to be related to Bryan Adams. Somborian Republic sent Do's cover version of "Heaven" back in NSC 40, and I think "Heaven" is one of the most covered songs in history. And DJ Sammy & Yanou's cover might be one of the most remixed cover songs ever. I only searched for the electronic covers and remixes for this, and still had 75+ to choose from, and it took me several days to pick an entry. I've even made a screenshot of that project:

I put way too much work into this. Time well spent when my apartment is a total mess? Maybe not, but it was a journey. I found potential entries from unusual countries like Vanuatu, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Albania, as well as loads of other countries, and I eventually managed to narrow down to 3, all of which are remixes of DJ Sammy and Yanou's cover. An 8+ minutes trance remix from 2001 by Green Court from Germany, a near 6 minute UK hardcore remix from 2007 by Chaos (or Ted, as his mom calls him, according to his Soundcloud), and a 3 minute hardstyle bootleg from 2016 by Theo Gobensen from Singapore.

In the end, after replaying all 3 over and over, the choice was Chaos. I've sent quite a few hardstyle entries to WLSC already, and recently also a few trance entries, but never any hardcore entries, neither Dutch (gabber), French (Frenchcore) or British (UK Hardcore). I don't think either of the 3 remaining candidates would score me a top 10 finish, and I was kinda expecting a bottom 3 result with this, but at least with Chaos I got to add one more genre to my WLSC history.

And it got a surprisingly good result, finishing in 8th. It was still bottom half tho, as there were only 14 entries, but the points score was surprisingly high for a UK hardcore track.

And while we're at it, I've also picked an entry for WLSC 269, and that was a lot easier. Within Temptation posted a Ukrainian cover of "Faster" on their Facebook page, and since I still support Ukraine, and this cover sounds awesome, I didn't even bother looking for alternatives. My entry is Hold My Borsch - Faster (or Швидче, as it maybe should have been titled):

The original was sent to NSC 65 by Horehronieland (currently known as Waiting Iist), and it scored a 6th place back then. I don't think this will follow up the success I had with my previous Ukrainian entry, but hoping for a top 5.

But wait, there's more. Some spinoff action, another AATW, but with an unusual twist. This time we were looking towards Natia instead of Earth, and we were looking at artists that have represented one of the nations who has received the most points from in NSC, the current #8 - . And there was obviously a lot of great artists to choose from there. I went for an artist that was "only" a featured artist in NSC 181, the Russian singer Глюк’оZа (Gluk'oZa). Only got a from me in the final of 181 (not unusual, Rumia has gotten my final 7 times), because Roseland sent Mark'Oh, but the song and video combination of "ЖУ-ЖУ" really stuck with me. And I've found the follow-up to that video in "Мотыльки", featuring the Ukrainian rapper Kyivstoner. I read that Глюк’оZа was banned from entering Ukraine in 2020 due to visiting Crimea, but she's collaborated with several Ukrainian artists before (e.g. Artik & Asti), so I'm just going to assume she's against the war, like I assume most Russians with some knowledge of the outside world is. Either way, it was really an easy choice for me to send this:

The result was pretty good, 8th place in the end.

Also, some sad news from the NSC entry YouTube playlist. My NSC 188 entry, the Conrad Edit of Agnes Obel - Fuel To Fire, is now nearly completely restricted on YouTube. PIAS (fuck you Sam) has blocked it in every single country and territory, apart from these: Antarctica (population 1100-4400), Saint Barthélemy (9100), Bouvet Island (0), Western Sahara (594400), Heard Island and McDonald Islands (0), and French Southern Territories (200). That means worldwide, there are about 600000 people who can access it, and I don't think any of the 1600 viewers live in those areas. I don't think I can even access it with a VPN. Why block a video with 1600 views in 9 years? Are the greedy bastards really losing out on massive revenue on this video?

Anyway, while it's annoying that it won't pop up when I listen to my playlist anymore, the song can still be found on Conrad's Soundcloud:

Conrad Music

Swiss musicians

soundcloud.com

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island has the kinda beat that goes RATATA (NSC 227)

Not the greatest result for 90s Bitch, but 18th also means it could have been worse. So I'm sticking on a similar route for NSC 227. KREAM has made a really good (altho a bit too short) remix for a collab between Skrillex, Mr. Oizo and Missy Elliott, called "RATATA". And the timing for this entry is actually really good. Until this week, I had no idea KREAM were Norwegian. I thought they were Dutch or something, but no, they're from Bergen. And next month, I'm actually going to visit Bergen, Norway's second biggest city, for the first time. And considering it's taken me 40 years to finally go on a trip to Bergen, this could be my only trip there. Probably not tho, the reason I'm going there is an event where they play early hardstyle, and if it's any good, it might not be the last time I go to one of those events.

Not expecting to reach the semi top 20 tbh, but the important thing is that the beat goes RATATA!

In the WLSC, Ukraine has once again proven to be a success for . Швидче (aka Faster) finished 2nd, making it my second best result in the contest.

I was actually going to skip the next WLSC, due to being away for Easter, but then the theme (comics) was perfect for me, and recent events in Ukraine meant that the schedule would actually work for me. Would have preferred Ukraine to be safe and free tho. The entry isn't related to the theme this time, I simply decided that "Coco Jamboo", originally sent by the Roman EmpireRomeria in NSC 8, was going to be the base for my entry. Once again I was torn between a few possible versions in the end, and I'll give a shoutout to the Roki'X bootleg of Lubella - Koko Jambo (which I believe is from a Polish TV commercial), DJ Splash's hands-up remix of Mr. President's original (altho it is also listed as a remix of Stian K's cover version), and a metal cover by UMC feat. Dennis Poschwatta (from Guano Apes) and Jacky Vox (because there's always a metal cover in the mix as well).

But the winner of the Coco Jamboo battle is from Balkan, and it's been on a journey. Bosnian rappers and producers Jala Brat and Buba Corelli has made several songs together, one of them being the heavily Coco Jamboo sampled "Coco" in 2022. Pretty popular too, it has 40 million YT views. Then they were joined by Swiss-born Austrian rapper and producer RAF Camora and German-Kosovar rapper Dardan for "Coco 2.0", which is shorter than 2 minutes long, and probably made for TikTok (because kids these days apparently have a really short attention span). Twice as many rappers, half the song length. Another Bosnian took care of that tho, N3R4 remixed it into a 4 minute track, which combines the lyrics from both Coco and Coco 2.0, and that became the entry for WLSC 270:

Maybe different enough from Mr. President's original to possibly even be accepted in NSC, but I'm playing it safe to avoid more controversy than necessary, and it's going into my WLSC history instead. Being optimistic for a change, and hoping the Balkan banger can reach the top 10.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island blacks out (NSC 229)

It's been a while since my last post here, because of the chaos surrounding the "sclan" in recent editions. I needed time off from NSC (after 142 consecutive editions), ESC was a disaster in many ways and I needed some time off from that as well, and my life off the forum has been far too busy as well lately, and I think I would have failed to vote if I hadn't taken 228 off. did take part in 227 tho, but got a poor result in the semi. It didn't reach the semi top 20, as I predicted. The trip to Bergen was great btw, but it is a really long drive to get there, so it's not a trip I'm going to do often. But I also don't think I've been there for the last time.

I mentioned how my 227 entry was a bit too short. Well, my 229 entry is even shorter, barely reaching the 2 minute mark. But it somehow speaks to me, so it's an easy choice to send it to NSC anyway. Might need to send something a bit longer in 230 tho, but we'll see what YT recommendations throw at me until then.

In the WLSC, Coco 2.0 didn't reach the top 10 result I hoped for in 270. Wasn't even close, finishing in 17th. Then I skipped WLSC 271 due to my break, but have now returned for WLSC 272. So far, with two exceptions (233 and 241), my entries have all been based on NSC entries from NSC 1 to NSC 99. But it's been getting harder to pick entries (mostly because there are so many versions of the songs I want to send), so this time I decided to make it easy for myself, and pick Da Tweekaz' "Frozen", which is a hardstyle remix (or Disney Tool, as they call it themselves) of Rumia's NSC 102 entry, "Let It Go" (often used as part of an argument for banning covers and remixes from NSC). Da Tweekaz' version has been very popular in the hardstyle community for a decade, and it's just incredible to be at hardstyle festivals when it's played. You can see Dutch football hooligans sing along to a Disney tune, and it's wonderful. Not sure it'll be as wonderful in WLSC, but we'll see.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island can tell you miss me (NSC 230)

Time for another update, before NSC 230 finishes. Yes, a bit slow this time...

Starting off with NSC 229, "Safe Word" surprised me, and qualified to the final, after a great 4th place in the semi. Didn't go that well in the final, and didn't reach the triple digit result I always hope for, but wasn't that far off. Can't be unhappy tho, considering it made it to the final.

My next entry is also pretty short, but it's not actually due to YouTube recommendations. Got completely addicted to Artemas' "I Like The Way You Kiss Me" as it was (and still is) played very often on the radio, and just had to send it. The video might be in a slightly similar style as "Safe Word" (dark and erotic), and altho there are parts of it I like, there are also some parts I seriously dislike.

But it seems like this works in NSC, because even tho this is going pretty viral these days, which I thought would work against it in NSC, it qualified to the final. We'll see how it goes there when the results are presented in a few days, but I'm already happy with the result tbh.

Things have happened in WLSC as well. "Frozen" didn't get a great result, finishing in 13th, but with one exception, my Da Tweekaz entries have never done well in NSC either. My WLSC 273 entry was influenced by the death of Paul Spencer from Dario G (R.I.P.), and I decided to go with something based on Sunchyme, Bezzulandia's entry for NSC 40. After considering both a couple of remixes, by the Austrian Dream DJ Team and Dya-Mond X (aka DJ Bass), and a couple of mashups by Jamie B & Nova Scotia (with Alesso and Tove Lo's "Heroes") and Kritikal Mass (with Annie Lennox' "Little Bird", I eventually went for a track that isn't a cover of Sunchyme, but instead a track that samples the same song as Sunchyme (The Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town"), Tritonal's "Hey MaMaMa":

Better result than Frozen, just managed to sneak into the top 10.

For WLSC 274, I used the Formula 1 theme to pick my entry. Waloria sent Swedish House Mafia and Pharrell's "One (Your Name)" to NSC 59, and I decided to base my entry on that one. Considered a few remixes by Hauzy Ramz, Houseshapes and Indra, but went for a mashup by Scar that also included James Hype's "Ferrari":

Results are coming soon, we'll see how this goes, but I'll be happy with a top 10 result.

 

[Rmetr0]

I just found out, Artemas was born just one day after me, the same year, that's so crazy

 

[Morty]

We interrupt the regular programming with some news from the world of sports. The Natialympics 2024 are finished, and here's a breakdown of the results in ALL 32 events.

7 of them went without any participation from tho. Triathlon - hosted in Öösingimäed, rugby sevens - hosted in Waiting Iist of Shelley & Nici, field hockey - hosted in MatiMati, sport climbing - hosted in Doire, archery - hosted in Vylkuzeme, breaking - hosted in Adamsburg, and skateboarding - hosted in Halito. Maybe next time.

So we start off with handball, hosted in Konthena. played in Men's Group A, where was beaten 37-20, then was beaten 40-28, then there was a 20-28 loss against home nation , followed by another loss, 24-29 against , before ending the group stage with a 26-20 win against . finished 3rd in the group, and met in the quarterfinal, and that ended our run, with a 23-30 loss. did not qualify for the women's tournament.

Following up with gymnastics, hosted in Tanoiro. And what a tournament it was for the men in Artistic Gymnastics! Demir Nikolovski brought home 's first medal, winning the silver in the Floor Exercise with a score of 15,366. Walter Royceston scored 15,666 in the Pommel Horse, and also won the silver. Pietro Cassano finished 6th there. In the Vault, Rasmus Nelson also finished 6th. Pietro Cassano had an amazing tournament tho, because he won the gold in the Horizontal Bar (score 16,733), and silver in the Individual All-Around, with a score of 88,097. And in the Team All-Around, Pietro, Demir, Walter and Rasmus won another gold medal, with a score of 262,900. Absolutely incredible! And in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics, Akane Hidaka won the gold in the Floor Exercise, with a score of 14,466. Other results was Hanna Horn's 6th place in Vault, Joanna Peck's 5th place in Floor Exercise, Akane Hidaka's 8th place in the Individual All-Around, and a 5th place in the Team All-Around. also had a 4th place in Men's Individual Trampoline, and a 14th for the women. But these Natialympics will definitely be remembered for the results in the Artistic Gymnastics!

Then we had the Balearica Island hosted volleyball tournament, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, considering Beach Volleyball is pretty much our national sport. Indoor Volleyball first tho, our men's team had a good run in Group A, beating 3-1 and 3-0, while losing 0-3 against . It was a full stop in the quarterfinal tho, losing 0-3 against . Our women's team did not have great success in the group stage. They beat 3-2, but lost 2-3 against and 1-3 against , and that was the end of their tournament. Then the Beach Volleyball. We had two teams in the Men's tournament. Fuare and Baláž in Pool A, beating 2-1, but losing 0-2 against and 1-2 against . Then it was Ó Flannagáin and Robledo in Pool B, who beat 2-1, but lost 0-2 against and 1-2 against . Both our teams then had to play in the Lucky Loser Round, where Fuare/Baláž beat Ó Flannagáin/Robledo 2-1. But their run ended in the Round of 16, losing 0-2 against Low/Lorenzon from . A better start for our women's team, Dumbledore and Ó Gráda won all their matches in Pool A, but lost against Fujita/Holst in the Round of 16. Fujita/Holst, who had to go thru the Lucky Loser Round, ended up winning the silver, but it was a very disappointing tournament for .

We move on tho, next was the taekwondo, hosted in Endórë. Not a big sport on , no men competed for us, but we had a couple of women competing. Sarah Kilduff competed in the Women's -49kg, where she beat Lucie Varnham from 35-25 in the Round of 16, then lost 4-11 against Tea Oursler from in the Quarterfinal, and then lost 5-21 against Paula Roach from in the Repechage. Jacinthe Langlais competed in the -57kg, but lost 8-35 against Silke Merx from in the Round of 16.

Roseland hosted the badminton event, Kanta Bandyopadhyay competed in the Women's Singles tournament, but unfortunately lost all her 4 matches in Group C.

Then it was the weightlifting, hosted in Denmark of Sisters, where our only result was a 7th place in Men's 61kg.

Then we had the Comino hosted judo, with several competitors from . In the Men's 60kg, 90kg and 100kg+, and Women's 48kg, our competitors all lost in the Round of 32. In the Women's 57kg and 63kg, our competitors lost in the round of 16. In the Men's 73kg, there was a win against in the Round of 16, then a loss against in the Quarterfinal, and finally also a loss against in the Repechage. In the Women's 70kg, our competitor went all the way to the semifinal, after winning against in the Round of 32, in the Round of 16, and in the Quarterfinal, but then lost against Mələk Jafarova from in the Semifinal, and also Tilda Tuominen from in the Repechage. A similar story in the Women's 78kg+, a win against in the Round of 32, a win against in the Round of 16, and a win against in the Quarterfinal, and then a loss against Gold Medal winner Sirvad Nazarian from in the Semifinal, and a loss against Nora Dávid from in the Repechage. In the Mixed Team, our team lost against in the Round of 16. But we've saved the best for last. In the Women's 52kg, Marcia Bellamy won the silver, after beating in the Round of 16, in the Quarterfinal, and 's Lene Haraldsen in the Semifinal, but losing to Daria Keely from in the Gold Medal Match. Still, a great result!

Next, we have the athletics, hosted in Dalisska. Men's best results: 100m - 16th. 400m - 9th. 110m Hurdles - 6th. 3000m Steeplechase - 10th. 4x100m - 11th. 4x400m - 13th. Marathon - 71st. 20km Walk - 4th. Triple Jump - 16th. Hammer Throw - 20th. Javelin Throw - 29th. Decathlon - 14th. Women's best results: 100m - 31st. 200m - 9th. 400m - 26th. 800m - 9th. 1500m - 18th. 400m Hurdles - 13th. 3000m Steeplechase - 7th. 4x400m - 6th. Marathon - 38th. 20km Walk - GOLD, Tajana Ilic. Triple Jump - 16th. Heptathlon - 19th. 4x400m Mixed - 9th. Marathon Mixed Relay - 10th.

Moving on to golf from Xochimilia. In the men's competition, there were 4 competitors from , 15th was the best result. In the women's competition, 3 golfers from took part, and 8th was the best result.

In the Begonia hosted canoeing, we had one competitor in the Women's K-1 canoe slalom, who finished 6th. In the canoe sprint events, we had a 9th place in the Men's K-1 1000m, a last place in the Men's K-2 500m, and a 4th place in the Women's C-2 500m. But, there were also some gold medals for in canoe sprint, as Tara Joshi won the Women's C-1 200m, and Ora Hubert won the Women's K-1 500m.

Xhuxhmaxhuxh hosted the wrestling, and we had a few competitors in the Men's Freestyle. In 86kg, our man lost against in the Pre Playoff. In the 125kg, our man lost against in the Round of 16. But in the 97kg, Andrej Babic won our 7th gold medal, after beating 5-4 in the Round of 16, 13-4 in the Quarterfinal, 7-5 in the Semifinal, and 's Valentino Biondo 9-6 in the Gold Medal Match. Only one competitor in the Women's Freestyle, who lost against in the 76kg Round of 16. Also only one competitor in the Men's Greco-Roman, who lost against in the 130kg Pre Playoff.

Illumia hosted the tennis. In the Men's Singles, our man beat 2-0 in the First Round, and 2-1 in the Second Round, but lost 1-2 against in the Round of 16.

In the Tcher-Racoi hosted fencing, we had three competitors in the Men's Foil Individual, who all lost in the Round of 32. They did better in the Foil Team event tho, beat 45-40 in the Quarterfinal, then lost 31-45 against in the Semifinal, but beat 45-32 in the Bronze Medal Match, and won 's first bronze medal. In the Men's Sabre Individual, we also had three competitors. 2 of them lost in the Round of 32, while the third lost against in the Round of 16. But again, better results as a team, where they beat 45-43 in the Quarterfinal, and 45-38 in the Semifinal, but then lost 42-45 against in the Gold Medal Match, winning our 5th silver. A few competitors in the Women's Épée Individual as well. One lost against in the Pre Playoff, one lost in the Round of 32, while the third ended her run in Round of 16. But just like the men, there were more success as a team. They beat 45-41 in the Quarterfinal, lost 36-45 against in the semifinal, but beat 45-32 in the Bronze Medal Match, and won another bronze for . In the Women's Foil Individual, one of our ladies won in the Pre Playoff. In the Round of 32, 2 of our 3 competitors won, and one of them also won in the Round of 16, but her run was ended in the Quarterfinal. As a team? Unfortunately a loss against in the Quarterfinal. And finally, we also had three competitors in the Women's Sabre Individual. 2 of them lost in the Pre Playoff, while the third lost in the Round of 32. But in the Sabre Team competition, they had much more success. First beat 45-32 in the Quarterfinal. Then beat 45-36 in the Semifinal. And finally, beat 45-36 in the Gold Medal Match, winning 's 8th gold! 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze in fencing!

Our next stop is Rumia, who hosted the table tennis. One competitor in the Men's singles, who lost in the First Round, and the same in Women's Singles, where our only competitor lost in the First Round.

Elvaci hosted the shooting, and we had some competitors here as well. In the Women's 10m Air Rifle, 9th place. Women's Skeet, 6th and 20th. Men's 10m Air Rifle, 23rd. Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, 6th and 24th. Men's 10m Air Pistol, 22nd. But again, we've saved the best for last, as Kobus Kappel won the gold in the Men's Trap!

Modern pentathlon was hosted by Kamandé, and our results were 6th and 11th in the Men's competition, and 28th and 33th in the Women's competition.

The surfing was hosted by the Zombiran island of TZSMBOD, and we had one competitor in the women's event. Beat 14,01 - 13,93 in the Round of 16, which was a close battle, then lost 9,05 - 13,34 against in the Quarterfinal.

Then we head off to Rahasia-Diati, who hosted the football tournament. reached the round of 16 in the recent Natia Cup, and had also qualified for both the men's and the women's tournament in the Natialympics. Our women's team struggled in the group stage, drawing 0-0 against and losing 0-3 to and 1-2 to , but our men's U-23 team had a far better tournament. Beat 1-0, then drew 2-2 against and 0-0 against , which was enough to win the group, scoring one goal more than . That goal turned out to be important, because we avoided in the Quarterfinal, and instead beat 1-0. In the Semifinal, was also beaten 1-0. That meant in the Gold Medal Match, and they proved why they were the team to avoid in the Quarterfinal, was beaten 0-2, but we got yet another silver medal.

Next up was the equestrian, hosted by Trollheimr. Not a big sport on , but we had one competitor in Individual Dressage, who only got a bottom 6 result. A better result in the Individual Eventing, where our only competitor got a 16th place.

New Acadia hosted the rowing, and there were competitors from taking part. Didn't go too well in the Men's Single Sculls tho, and our man ended 30th (of 32). But in the Lightweight Double Sculls, McGee and De Angelis beat everyone, and brought home 's 10th gold medal. And they weren't the only men bringing glory back to the island, Desrosiers and Ayton won the bronze in the Coxless Pairs. We also had a team in the Men's Eight, who finished 6th. For the women, we had one pair in the Lightweight Double Sculls, but they finished last.

We stay in the water, New Bander State hosted the aquatics, and after 3 gold and 1 bronze in water so far, you might think BINC (Balearica Island Natialympian Committee) were looking to add to that. And these are the results: Diving: Men's 3m Springboard, 7th and 19th. Men's 3m Synchronized Springboard, 8th (of 8). Maraton Swimming: Women's 10km Open Water, 9th. Men's swimming: 100m Freestyle, 14th. 800m Freestyle, 25th. 200m Breaststroke, 6th. 100m Butterfly, 11th and 20th. 200m Butterfly, 21st. 4x100m Medley Relay, 12th. However, women's swimming remains, as we have once again left the best for last. In 400m Freestyle, Maude Moray grabbed the gold medal, and in 200m Butterfly, Doris Davidovic won the silver. Two more medals for ! But, our long-lasting lead in the medal table was ended, as home nation grabbed a lot of gold and silver in the aquatics events.

Next, it's the basketball in Tamausia & Deltannor. had a team in the Men's 5x5, who lost 78-105 to and 78-119 to , and then beat 97-72, but they ended last in their group.

In the Insomnéa hosted cycling, we start with the road cycling. In the Men's Road Race, our best result was a 37th place, and in the Men's Time Trial, our only result was 19th. For the women, best result was a 31st in the Road Race and 25th in the Time Trial. Then there was the track cycling. No men competed for there, but we got a 16th in the Women's Sprint, a 13th in the Women's Keirin, and a 20th in the Women's Omnium. In BMX, no competitors from , but we had one woman in the Mountain Bike, Janet Samuels, who won the silver medal. The hills around has been a great training ground for her.

Aimūlli hosted the boxing, and there were some competitors from . In the Men's 51kg, our man beat 5-0 in the Round of 16, but lost 0-5 against Cyril Maxwell from (who ended up winning the gold) in the Quarterfinal. Bernard Tunison had a long tournament in the Men's 80kg. He beat 2-3 in the Pre-Playoff Round, then was beaten 5-0 in the Round of 16, was beaten 3-2 in the Quarterfinal, Bala Devi from was beaten 4-1 in the Semifinal, and Daniele Rizzo from was beaten 3-2 in the final. That means another gold medal for ! In the Women's 57kg, our fighter lost 0-5 against in the Round of 16. Then it was Antonela Nikolić in the Women's 60kg. Just like Bernard, she had to go thru the Pre-Playoff Round first, where she beat 5-0. Then was beaten 3-2 in the Round of 16, was beaten 4-1 in the Quarterfinal, Jonie Cochrane from was beaten 3-2 in the Semifinal, and then Gerd Hjort from won the Gold Medal match 4-1, which means it was a silver medal for Antonela in the end.

Finally, we have the sailing, which was hosted by Fervorosia. isn't unfamiliar with water and wind, but there weren't that many competitors. We had a duo in the Mixed Multihull - Nacra 17, who finished 14th. We had a duo in the Mixed Two Person Dinghy - 470, who finished 8th. We had one competitor in the Women's One Person Dinghy - ILCA 6, who finished 30th. But we also had Miriam Ahmad competing in the Women's Windsurfer - IQFoil, who won 's 13th gold medal of Natialympics 2024!

So to sum this up, Natialympics 2024 was a huge success for . 13 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 3 bronze medals, and #1 in the medal table!

Gold medals:
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Horizontal Bar - Pietro Cassano
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Team All-Around - Team Balearica Island
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Women's Floor Exercise - Akane Hidaka
Athletics - Women's 20km Walk - Tajana Ilic
Canoeing (Sprint) - Women's C-1 200m - Tara Joshi
Canoeing (Sprint) - Women's K-1 500m - Ora Hubert
Wrestling - Men's Freestyle 97kg - Andrej Babic
Fencing - Women's Sabre Team - Team Balearica Island
Shooting - Men's Trap - Kobus Kappel
Rowing - Men's Lightweight Double Sculls - McGee/De Angelis
Aquatics (Swimming) - Women's 400m Freestyle - Maude Moray
Boxing - Men's 80kg - Bernard Tunison
Sailing - Women's Windsurfer (IQFoil) - Miriam Ahmad

Silver medals:
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Floor Exercise - Demir Nikolovski
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Pommel Horse - Walter Royceston
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Individual All-Around - Pietro Cassano
Judo - Women's 52kg - Marcia Bellamy
Fencing - Men's Sabre Team - Team Balearica Island
Football - Men's Tournament - Team Balearica Island
Aquatics (Swimming) - Women's 200m Butterfly - Doris Davidovic
Cycling - Women's Mountain Bike - Janet Samuels
Boxing - Women's 60kg - Antonela Nikolić

Bronze medals:
Fencing - Men's Foil Team - Team Balearica Island
Fencing - Women's Épée Team - Team Balearica Island
Rowing - Men's Coxless Pairs - Desrosiers/Ayton

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island has the power of the beast (NSC 231)

Artemas brought a great result back to , with a great result in the semi, and a 4th place in the final. I knew "I Like The Way You Kiss Me" was popular, but I didn't think that would work in NSC, since I know many are here to discover new music. But it did, and I am very happy about getting my first PQ result since the win in 214.

Sometimes I stumble across songs that leave an instant mark (Artemas was also in that category), and if I hadn't already decided on Artemas when I discovered this, I would have sent it last edition (it was my backup entry tho, in case Artemas was already taken). Eurobeat powermetal, that's a mix I haven't really heard before. I've had some discussions about "Blind And Frozen", a different Beast In Black song that was sent to NSC 168 by Kamandé, which some claim is even more eurobeat, but I'm not hearing it. It's definitely a great song, but I wouldn't say it's eurobeat. "Power Of The Beast" however, the way I hear it, it's basically eurobeat with guitars and drums. And that is something I need to be a part of the history.

No idea what to expect resultwise. The initial hope when I decided on this was to reach another final, but that has already been taken care of, thanks to Artemas. So now the question is, can it break the PQ curse? No PQ entry so far has reached the top 20. The best result is 21st, the rest have all been between 24th and 29th. has never finished 22nd in a final, so should the top 20 fail yet again, then 22nd is acceptable too, but I really want to reach the top 20. Can "Power Of The Beast" do that? It remains to be seen.

In the WLSC, "One vs Ferrari" finished 17th, so not a great result. Due to real life, I unfortunately had to stay out of WLSC 275, but I should be back in 276.

 

[Ana Raquel]

You picking this while I am speed-writing my dissertation was a cruel, evil move

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island enters the race (NSC 232)
Re: Balearica Island makes a wish (NSC 233)

I've had way too much going on in this scary place called real life lately, and it's really been a battle to meet all the deadlines. Can't say I've caught up with everything yet, but at least I've found time to finally update this thread.

Power of the Beast got an awesome result! Not only did it manage to become our first PQ entry to reach the top 20, it ALSO became the first entry to reach 15th place. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect result tbh.

I had already pretty much decided on my entry for NSC 232, which was supposed to be a remix of a newly released song, but I noticed some of the other remixes of that song had gotten copyright takedowns, so I decided to wait a bit with this, as I don't want my entries to vanish from the Internet (even tho I know there are no guarantees for any of them really). And that left me on scratch. There's no shortage of songs I can send to NSC, but it's still hard to decide at times. And I was struggling a bit, until I discovered one on my list that was PERFECT for the F1 Grand Prix theme. And that track was Timmy Trumpet & Vini Vici & Sub Zero Project - The Race:

I have some mixed feelings about this track tho, mostly because of Sub Zero Project. They were the ones who started the trend of making hardstyle songs that sounds like complete chaos (and I don't mean in a good way). It's like they had a few different ideas for how to make the song, but instead of picking one of them, they just threw it all in. Great if you have the attention span of a goldfish, absolutely awful if you're trying to dance to it, as the tempo keeps changing. Unfortunately, it caught on, it feels like nearly everyone is doing this now, and I don't go to a lot of hardstyle events anymore because of this trend. So I'm not a fan of SZP. I am however a fan of both Timmy Trumpet and Vini Vici, and SZP didn't ruin the track (but the most replayed part from 3:50 to about 4:20 is something they could have made, and it's my least favorite part of the track, as it doesn't really fit the rest of the track). So I didn't really think this would happen, but SZP is officially a representative in NSC.

Also, Vini Vici being Israeli doesn't really help either these days, but as a big fan of psytrance, I just can't boycott Israel 100%. The Supernova festival that was attacked by Hamas on October 7th last year was a psytrance festival, so if there is ONE thing Israeli I can still support, it is the Israeli psytrance scene (Skazi making a track called "IDF" a while ago was a bit over the top for me tho).

The result in NSC was pretty poor tho, with a last place in the semi, which didn't come as a massive shock. The most disappointing thing was however that I wasn't in the semi with 27 entries, meaning I couldn't at least cross a semi 27th off my bucket list. But maybe two bucket list results in a row would have been too much to ask anyway.

And if I'm honest, I'm not expecting much better for my next entry, which popped up in a group chat on Messenger (and I decided instantly that this would be my next entry). It's a full-length trance mashup by Bizarre Hazar of Metta & Glyde's "11:11" and Robin Williams's speech from the movie "Jack". I've sent trance several times before, and these entries usually fail to reach the semi top 20. This might get some extra Robin Williams points, but I doubt it's going to make much of a difference. Do I care? Not very much, no. My entries are based on whether I like them, not whether they'll score points or not.

Ok then, on to WLSC. After skipping WLSC 275, picking an entry for 276 turned out to be real easy. During the summer vacation that was the reason I skipped 275, I heard one of Julie Bergan's new songs on the radio, and it's an interpolation of Peaches' "Rosa Helikopter", which was sent to NSC 91 by Adamsburg (who failed to vote in the semi, along with 5 others). Maybe it would have been allowed in NSC, the rules aren't totally clear on this, but I decided to play it safe with the cover police, and sent it to WLSC instead. And it also got a great result, finishing in 5th place. The song is called "Eternity Tonight":

Joining WLSC 277 was maybe a bit of a mistake, due to lack of time, but I did manage to get all my duties done within the deadlines. My choice for this was a bootleg remix of Madonna's "Hung Up", originally sent to NSC 40 by Kuki-Q, where it was close to qualifying to the final. Found a few decent remixes, but for once there was one that stood out from the rest, made by China based Russian producer Alex Up. The result tho, was poor. In an edition with just 16 entries, only 5 gave it any points (got a double 12 tho), and it was a last place, just like "The Race" in NSC.

Will need to skip WLSC 278, as I need my stress levels to lower a bit, but I hope to be back for 279.