World Hit Festival 61 | Rouen, N&P | OOC Thread [CLOSED]

[Normandy and Picardy]

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DRAFT THREAD - IC THREAD - PREVIOUS CONTEST
DISCORD SERVER

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Schedule for the 61st World Hit Festival | La programme du 61eme Festival International de la Chanson

Times are subject to change...
Draft Thread - 26th September 00:00 BST
Sign-ups close - 3rd October 22:59 BST
Closure of Draft - 20th October 22:59 BST (with the Live Draw following soon after, subject to change based on numbers)
Voting Open - 24th October 23:30 BST or earlier - 31st October 23:59 BST
Winner Known By - 3rd November

In the case of Semi-Finals, the Winner Known By date will be moved back to accommodate for extra voting/more days to prepare graphics...

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Welcome to Normandy and Picardy! | Bienvenue en Normandie et Picardie!

Je tiens tout d'abord à remercier mon prédécesseur au poste de superviseur, M. Guy Autriche. Je le remercie et le radiodiffuseur Britonique pour leur travail fantastique pour aider le festival à grandir de succès en succès, et je sais très bien que la barre est haute. Encore une fois, je suis heureux de pouvoir superviser le festival et j'ai hâte de réaliser la tâche. Peut-etre ma patrie, Normandie et Picardie, est le meilleur endroit pour commencer, le pays qui accueillera le festival pour la septième fois, et la troisième fois en cinq concours. Je suis impatient de travailler avec SRNP, pour lequel j'ai eu le plaisir de travailler pendant de nombreuses années, afin d'assurer le plus grand succès possible pour ce festival comme nos précédents, et j'espère que nous pourrons même rivaliser avec les réussites remarquables de M. Autriche et BVC le dernier festival à Aronyk. Merci encore une fois pour monter un grand spectacle commémoratif.

Pour l'instant, toutefois, les courants nous ont entraîné d'Aronyk à Rouen, la capitale des Deux Républiques, qui recevra enfin le plaisir d'accueillir le Festival International de la Chanson. En fait, ce festival « Courants » seront le thème officiel, une réflexion sur l'histoire de la ville de Rouen, des courants bien réels de la Seine sur laquelle il se trouve et vers la mer sur laquelle la Normandie et Picardie s’est fondée depuis si longtemps, aux courants artistiques présents dans, pour example, les célèbres peintures de Monet ayant pour thème la Cathédrale de Rouen, ou la carrière littéraire de Gustave Courbet, aux courants électriques par lesquels le monde moderne est alimenté tel qu'on le connaît, et aux courants et rythmes de la musique, la raison pour laquelle nous sommes tous ici. C'est un endroit idéal pour abriter le festival, et je souhaite la meilleure des chances à l’équipe de SRNP. J'attends avec l'impatience l'occasion pour démarrer et dire « Allons-y ! » Venez pour le voyage !

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Firstly, I would like to thank my predecessor as overseer, Guy Autriche. I thank him and the Britonish broadcaster for their great work in helping this contest grow from strength to strength, and I am very aware that these will be big shoes to fill. I am again grateful for the opportunity to oversee this contest and look forward to carrying out the task. There is perhaps no better place for me to start than my own home country, Normandy and Picardy, which will now host the contest for the seventh time, and the third time in five contests. I look forward to working with SRNP, whom I had the pleasure of working for for many years, to ensure that this contest can be as successful as our previous hostings, and I hope we may even be able to rival the great work of M. Autriche and BVC last contest in Aronyk. Thank you, once again, for putting on such a great anniversary edition.

Now, however, the currents have taken us from Aronyk to Rouen, the capital of the Two Republics which will finally get the pleasure of hosting the World Hit Festival, Currents, in fact, will also be the official theme of this contest, reflecting the history of the city of Rouen, from the very real currents of the river Seine on which it stands out to the sea on which Normandy and Picardy has so long relied; to artistic currents, as reflected, for example, in Monet's famous paintings of Rouen Cathedral, or the literary career of Gustave Courbet; to the currents of electricity that power the modern world as we know it; and the currents and beats of music, the reason we are all here. It is an ideal location to host the contest, and I wish the team at SRNP the very best of luck. I can't wait to be saying "Allons-y!" and getting everything underway; come along for the journey!

Christine Périault
World Hit Festival Overseer | Le Superviseur du Festival International de la Chanson

What is the World Hit Festival?
The World Hit Festival (WHF) is a multiversal song competition. Each nation shall enter 1 song and 1 artist, and it shall be 'performed' via roleplay. Most nations tend to use a real-life tune as a musical backing, but every entry submitted to the World Hit Festival is required to have original lyrics (ie. if you submit a tune, you must re-write the lyrics), so this does mean that instrumental entries are blocked from entering the contest.

WHF operates with three threads, the OOC, Draft, and IC threads. The one you are seeing now is the OOC/Sign-ups thread, the main place for you to discuss the contest, reveal your entrant, etc. All OOC chatter goes here. The Draft Thread, opened by the host, is the second thread opened up during a WHF contest, and this draft thread is where nations will post and work on their entries until a deadline determined by the host. The IC thread, also opened by the host is the third and final thread attached to a WHF, and it is where the host will transfer your entries. In order to see how the whole thing works, feel free to explore the Draft Thread and IC Thread of the previous competition in Britonisea, which will also allow you to get a feel for the contest and what is required.

The World Hit Festival has had a very long history in NationStates, and a thread by the second overseer (Euskirribakondara) has been created to compile this long history. Click here for a thread with links to every OOC and IC thread of all World Hit Festivals so far (updated to WHF53). Click this for a statistical database of all WHF participants. For winners, click here to see a full list of all WHF winners with links to their entries.

*PLEASE NOTE:* Much of this data is currently outdated, and is set to be updated and consolidated into a single database alongside a new WHF nationstates-side hub, hopefully to be completed by the end of WHF62. OOCly, I welcome any assistance in helping me realise this project
*A SHOUT OUT* to Achaean Republic for compiling a Spotify playlist of the winners of the World Hit Festival, which can be found here

Below you can find the rules of the 61st World Hit Festival!

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Rules and Regulations...

ENTRIES

1. For an entry to be accepted, must have at least a tune and a complete set of lyrics but must meet Acceptable Entry Standards for the World Hit Festival in order for it to be accepted. This includes information about formatting and things the Host and Overseer will do to ensure your participation. ^*1
2. Reserved RL Tunes Nations must not send a reserved tune from this list. Songs that have been reserved are those that have placed in the quintile of any participating Festival, including Junior World Hit Festival. Songs that do not place in the top quintile are reserved for a year from the IC date of the Festival. You can find all information, and more, by browsing that link. The Overseer will be responsible for checking tunes, with the host double-checking before transferring the entry to the IC.
3. All or at least most of the written lyrics must be original. Should any user spot any concerns, don't hesitate to let the overseer or current host know.
4. In order for Semi-Finals to be initiated, there must be enough nations for there to be 13 nations per Semi Final. The number of participants before Semi Finals are initiated will be dependent on circumstances.
5. The maximum amount of nations that can participate without more than one automatic qualifier (ie the host) is 18 nations per Semi-Final. Once this number has been broken, the top 6 (including the host) will automatically qualify to reduce 18 nations to 15 in each Semi.

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CONTEST

1. A nation is allowed to submit 2 puppets maximum to the contest, meaning that a user can be controlled at most 3 nations in the contest.
2. Users must send a full ranking of all nations on the IC Thread to the host of the competition when the voting opens. If users usually split their rankings across multiple participating nations (master and at least one puppet), they are free to provide only one ranking - provided it directly aligns with how many points given out across the user's participating nations. Otherwise, the user must send a ranking per participating nation they own. Rankings should not be displayed by any given user until after the Festival has been completed.
3. The nation ranked first will receive 5 points, the nation ranked second will receive 4 points etc. Nations ranked 6th or below will not receive any points.
4. When participating with multiple nations, users can only give themselves 8 points maximum. Votes will not be accepted if users give themselves, through any of their nations, more than 8 points.
5. In the event of a tie, the countback system goes as follows: Amount of nations - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 6th places, 7th places etc.

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HOSTING

1. The winner of the competition will automatically be given the right to host the competition. The winner will have 72 hours (maximum) to announce their interest in hosting the Festival to the Overseer.
2. The host can reveal they will host the World Hit Festival after talks with the Overseer on when to do this.
3. If within the first 72 hours, the host either doesn't announce their interest in hosting the proceeding contest or declines hosting rights, the nation who came 2nd will be asked and so on until it reaches the Overseer. The Overseer can give hosting responsibilities to a user placed below them if they are willing to host.
4. If the host abandons their host duties, the World Hit Overseer will be responsible for what left needs to be done.
5. We would like to ensure all World Hit Festival hosts can host the competition to the best of their ability. If you have any concerns about hosting if given the opportunity to, don't hesitate to speak to the World Hit Overseer.

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Participating Nations at the 61st World Hit Festival | Des nations participantes au 61eme Festival International de la Chanson
Rouen, Normandy and Picardy

If you'd like to sign up, simply fill the form out below. Any extra requirements requested by the host will be found and explained in the form below too.

Code: Select all

[box][b]Nation:[/b]
[b]Broadcaster:[/b]

[b]Song Title:[/b]
[b]Artist:[/b]
[b]Language(s):[/b]
[b]Title Transcription (if required):[/b]
[b]Title Translation (if required):[/b]
[b]Tune:[/b]

[i]Host's Required Info[/i]
[align=center][i]Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.[/i][/align]

[b]Pick a number between 1 and 30 from [url=https://www.nationstates.net/nation=normandy_and_picardy/detail=factbook/id=1592335]HERE[/url]:[/b]
[b]Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language:[/b]

[b]Official Trigramme:[/b]
[b]Name of Head of Delegation:[/b][/box]

Nation: Normandy and Picardy (name of your nation goes here)
Broadcaster: SRNP (name of your broadcaster goes here, and this is usually your national broadcaster that would broadcast the WHF. For a real-life comparison, think of the BBC in the UK.)

Song Title: "On commencera encore le matin" (name of your song)
Artist: Marianne Vidal, Anne-Marie Paquet (the name of the artist(s) that will 'perform' the song in your roleplay.)
Language(s): Normand French (the language(s) that your lyrics will be performed in)
Title Transcription (if required): (if your song's language utilizes another script, you would put the romanization of that title here. In this example, it is not required, but were your entry for example in Cyrillic, let's say, По, Дај Ми Любавте, give the transliteration as Po, Daj Mi Ljubavte here. Otherwise, this part can be omitted.)
Title Translation (if required): We will start again in the morning (the translation of your song's title to English. If your song is in English already, this part can also be omitted.)
Tune: Often, WHF entries will have tunes attached to them, such as this entry using Emma and Alessandra Amoroso's Pezzo di Cuore. Provide a link to the tune in this form.

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 12
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: "Communauté"

Official Trigramme: NPR
Name of Head of Delegation: Simone Derrida

Participating Nations (17)
Last updated: 25/09/2021, 22:25 BST

Achaean Republic (AS1): Katherine Guardiola - Quizás El Viento Sople
Adab (ABC): TBC
Axuva (TPNB-X): LINDIGA - The End
Azab Indosiar: Pocong - Suara Hati Pocong
Beepee (BONC): Norma Deen - Impatient
Britonisea (BVC): TBC
Carrelie (Radio Dourie/CarrelieOne): Marie Losienne - Memories

• New Douria (NDBC): Aime - They

Filshia (TVF): TBC
Kalosia (RTVK): TBC

• Fromulya: TBC
• Skanden: TBC

Kuala Lumpia: Paguyuban Ibu-Ibu RT 05 RW 27 - Gairah Cinta Malam Minggu
Moorland: TBC
Normandy and Picardy (SRNP): Sophie Muret - Un Jour Viendra
Pemecutan (UBC): Arisatya - Dimana Itu Cinta?
Samudera Darussalam (BPS): The Pambudi Sisters - Selamat Datang

MISIA - Aitatuke Ima (Achaean Republic)
Upin - Ipin coba eta terangkanlah (Azab Indosair)
Helen Fischer - Herzbeben (Beepee)
ABBA - I Still Have Faith In You (Carrelie)
Beach Bunny (ft. Teagan and Sara) - Cloud 9
Fiuk - Minneapolis (Kalosia)
SDN48 - Ai, Chuseyo (Kuala Lumpia)
Barbara Pravi - Le jour se lève (Normandy and Picardy)
Judika - Apakah ini Cinta (Pemecutan)
Dakara Hitori Ja Nai (Samudera Darussalam)

[Normandy and Picardy]

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Bienvenue en Normandie et Picardie | Welcome to Normandy and Picardy
Welcome, and for many of the competing nations this contest welcome back, to Normandy and Picardy. Following Anne-Marie Paquet and Marianne Vidal's fantastic win last contest, SRNP have decided to take up the honour of hosting nations from across the multiverse to our little country of around 5 million which has had an oversized impact on the contest throughout its history. From our debut at WHF 15, people from Les Deux Républiques, as they are known in French, have grown to love the contest, and we hope that we can share that love, plus a healthy dose of traditional Normand and Picard hospitality, once more. Drawing on our experience with hosting the contest, we hope to deliver an efficient, enjoyable, and exciting show, and who knows, we may even top our previous achievements too. We have also drawn, as we have done in the past, on the rich history and heritage of our small coastal nature, and are proud to present the official theme of this contest, #courants (#currents). Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on currents. Facing La Manche, with the River Seine running through the heart of the country, and home to many great explorers and adventurers of times gone by, alongside the more humble sailors and fisherman who have depended upon our waters throughout our history, this theme reflects one of the great constants of Normand life, but a constant that within is constantly changing, bringing new opportunities and challenges. It also has served as our connection to the wider world, just as electrical currents in the modern age now allow for connection via shows like this, bringing together millions of people watching from near and far, and have transformed the way we live, changes that Normandy and Picardy has been at the forefront of. Looking forward but in touch with our roots, and reaching out and saying a hearty Bonjour, that is the Normandy and Picardy we know and love. This is all also reflected in the official logo of the contest, which you can see at the top of this OOC thread, and which shows a circle, representing the world, and the shifting currents within. Bienvenue!



A quick look at that logo will have also revealed the identity of the host city, in case you didn't recognise the image at the top of this post (don't worry, we won't judge you!). Rouen, "La coeur des Deux Républiques" (The Heart of the Two Republics), is the ideal location to host the contest - in fairness, it's a wonder why we didn't do it before. Where Amiens represented the Picard identity, and Le Havre represented a modern Normand identity, Rouen is the melting pot of them both. Although within the bounds of Normandy and a traditionally Normand city, having been the capital of the region for many years before the creation of the Two Republics, it nowadays serves as the Federal Capital and has become a melting pot, and a perfect representation of the sort of country Normandy and Picardy is, one comfortable both embracing the new but also tradition, an open, liberal and welcoming country, home to many influences, many rythmns, many currents. Home to 663,000, making it the biggest city in Normandy and Picardy, the city sits on a bend of the River Seine, in an area that has been inhabited at least since the Gauls. Beginning from the Roman period, it has always been important in various ways, the seat of a bishopric from the 5th century, the capital of the Duchy of Normandy granted to Rollo from 912 onwards, and a major city throughout the Middle Ages, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. It is especially famous for its Cathedral, noted for its "Butter Tower", and later immortalised in a series of paintings by Claude Monet. Home to figures like Monet and Coubert, Norman dukes and French kings, and the site of Joan of Arc's trial and execution, it has certainly seen its fair share of famous figures; no pressure on the acts coming for the contest! The city nowadays remains as vibrant as in the Middle Ages, despite, like so many cities in the country, having suffered from the ravages of the Second World War. It has rebuilt itself and flourishes once more, a center of the Normand music industry (especially for the more indie scene, as well as Normand house), home to a major inland port, and home to the federal government, many of SRNP's offices, many major companies, and many different people. So let the currents bring you, you won't regret it.

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La Salle de Concert | The Venue

Run by the Métropole of Rouen and funded by the Federal Government, the Stade Métropole will be the host venue of the 57th World Hit Festival. The arena has a capacity of 12,000 people, allowing for a large audience of fans from all over the world to watch the shows live, though of course we encourage people to come and experience Rouen and the wider array of events we will be putting on too. Whilst 6,000 seats will be reserved for locals, a requirement due to SRNP's regulations and the agreement made with the Métropole as part of the conditions of running the show, this still means there will still be plenty of seats available for Festivaliers. As aforementioned, there were will also be a wider series of events throughout the city to engage a wider fan base who we hope will come to take in the contest. The venue is to the south of the city, part of the large Parc Exposition de Rouen, which will be utilised for the contest; one of the exhibition halls will be used as the press centre, and a range of concerts by local artists and acts performing in the contest, alongside other events, will take place in the surrounding area. The arena itself, opened in 2001, and easily accessible by public transport, has a long experience of hosting major musical acts and large scale productions; pretty much every major Normand and Picard artist has performed here. It has also been home to many major live productions including award festivals, including the annual Normand Music Awards, and televised live performances, and so it is well suited to hosting an event like the World Hit Festival. We hope to turn the entirity of Rouen into a World Hit City for the duration of the contest, with a whole roster of cultural events which those who come to visit the city will be able to enjoy, and the Stade Métropole will be the beating heart of it all, just as Rouen is the heart of Normandy and Picardy.

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La Scène | The Stage

Alternative View 1 | Alternative View 2

Now, it is time for what is perhaps the most important part as far as you, the acts, and indeed anyone is concerned. It's no good having a contest without a stage on which to perform, and we're not just going to have them perform in the middle of an empty arena. Indeed, the stage above, designed by reknowned Normand designer and Rouen native Phillipe Martel, will serve as the backdrop. Martel's design is bold, daring and innovative, whilst remaining also refined and efficient, a perfect fit for Rouen as a city, and for our vision of the show. The stage is built around a central 'catwalk', or as we have taken to calling it, "The River", representing the Seine that flows through the city (though notably, perhaps, without its bend), with the central stage area in the centre representing the city of Rouen itself. One feature you certainly won't have missed are the large pairs of square LED lighting panels found along the stage. These represent a number of different features. They recall the columns and interior dimensions, the large grand design of the Cathedral, whilst also evoking, perhaps more prosaically, the container carriers and cranes of the seaport. They are, again turning to our past, also, along with "the river" meant to evoke a boat and its sails; from the longboats that brought the Vikings who ravaged and later settled and gave Normandy its name, to the trading ships and caravels, and the journies of the Age of Exploration, ships have again unsurprisingly been a constant feature of Normand and Rouennais life; indeed, the city is still home to one of the world's largest boating festivals every six years. Another unusual feature of this stage design is the location of the greenroom for the artists, which as you may have noticed is positioned around the stage, between the stage and the audience - don't worry, we will ensure maximum security and there will be a division between the greenroom and the main crowd. We wanted to ensure the artists remained centre stage, could support each other up close, and frankly they simply have better flag etiquette and are less likely to interfere with our shots. Otherwise, there are a series of LED panels at the back of the stage; the groups of five on each side can be moved up and down, as shown in the different pictures provided. The stage also has all the usual features that you might need, namely pyrotechnics, water, smoke, wind machines, and other effects; if you have any questions, feel free to ask the delegation and we'll try to accomodate you as well as possible.

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Above: a mock-up of the Normand votes in the first round of voting, based on last contest
Le Spectacle | The Show

Much of the general structure of the show will remain the same as per usual, nothing unusual there. There will be an opening section, beginning with a prerecorded introduction "Les Courants de la Vie" (The Currents of Life), and a live performance in the stadium about which we'll keep our mouths shut for now; we promise, however, it will definitely be a show-opener (we'll try not to make it a show-stopper too, we promise!) Then, we will turn to our host for the evening, who you can in fact see in the voting graphic above - not that that is helpful, given the above image shows the previous two Normand hosts of the contest. But no, Marie de l'Abre,, Normand TV Presenter, veteran Normand spokesperson, and the host of the 58th World Hit Festival in Le Havre, will take on the role once again, using her knowledge of the role to help steer the show along. The show will be, as has become famous now of Normand hostings, hosted bilingually in French and English; all broadcasting carried out by SRNP usually by law has to be in Normand Standard French or a local dialect, but SRNP have again been given a special dispensation by the Federal Government to host the show in French and English for this contest. Don't worry, we'll make sure everyone can understand what is going on, and if nothing else, the commentators will pick up our slack no doubt - this can again be seen in the graphic above.

In fact, let's talk some more about this graphic. It is a mock-up of the graphics from one of the most important parts of the show, the voting. As per usual, there will be two rounds of voting, one half in which the votes from 4-1 from each country will be given, as per above (here, for example, Normandy and Picardy is giving its votes), and the other will be the distribution of the all important 5 points from each country. The general design here will help give you a feel for the general vibe of the graphics this contest. The main scoreboard graphics will be based on those used in Le Havre. However, this will not be seen until the second half of voting. In a change to the usual way these work, in the first half, Marie will speak to all of the various spokespeople who will deliver their 4-1 points, and they will be displayed as thus. You will note alongside the points given, there is a running tally of the number of points each country has. Whilst it will be possible to keep track of how countries are doing through this, the whole scoreboard, which will reveal exactly where each nation is, will only be revealed at the end of the first round of voting, although the current top 5 will be shown half way through. Then, in the second round, following the giving out of the now-traditional WHF Awards, in order to allow people to catch their breath, Marie will deliver the five points on behalf of each country, until our winner is found.

[Britonisea]

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR EX-OVERSEER:

Hello everyone, I just wanted to send you all a message as you may now know – by the fact I have not set up the new World Hit Festival OOC – that I am no longer the Overseer of the World Hit Festival as this role has been bestowed upon Normandy and Picardy who, I’m sure, will look after the World Hit Festival very well, maintaining what has been done to get it to the position it is by all of the previous World Hit Festival Overseers, but also mould the festival in a way that is unique to him – a right that all Overseers have. At the last elections, I felt the necessity to put out a manifesto for my own peace of mind and I thought that it would give everyone a fairer chance to decide who they’d like to see overseeing the festival in the months (and perhaps years) to come. I needed to clear things up, which I believe I did but wanted to make very clear that I would be happy to see a new overseer, and I was willing to pass the baton to the next person in charge and both candidates (Norm and Ach) were definitely two people that I thought fit the role of the Overseer of the World Hit Festival. The result has made me happy and excited for the future of the Festival but also, it is almost a weight off my shoulders (not in a bad way, I did enjoy being the Overseer!) as I felt as though I had done enough and now I can sit back and enjoy the past three years of which I was the Overseer.

Looking back to the 26th of July 2018, it still shocks me to this day that I was elected as the Overseer of the World Hit Festival 40-50 over an impressive lineup of users that I believed would have been voted ahead of me. I had applied for the 30th World Hit Festival Overseership but finished in third (behind Izmedu and Norm) and so it did take some time to evaluate whether it was worth applying for Overseer at the 40th World Hit Festival. I would say winning and hosting (twice) had sold the deal for me and I put in an app to see how far I would get. The application saw half of those who voted for me put me as their top which I am very grateful for and I hope for certain oomfs that voted for me fourth…I proved to them that they had absolutely nothing to worry about and I would protect the life of the Festival, which I believe I have. Proving a point is always something I felt I had to do, both on NS and in my day-to-day life. A real-life example; I was told by my languages teacher when I was 13 (who was Spanish) to drop French and just stick to Spanish for GCSE because she didn’t believe I could succeed in it – which we now know today definitely isn’t the case. I use this as an example because the Festival has given me an opportunity to be more interested in French, obviously reading French lyrics (courtesy of Norm, of course!) and also due to how WHF is seen in the community, it also gave me the confidence to submit songs with French lyrics in them, including my WHF56 entry which I am incredibly proud of. Using NS example, after my rather rocky start in a couple of the subforums (which, I hope, people understand was because I was really young compared to everyone who probably was in their late teens/twenties), I felt as though I could use the Overseership as a platform to show that I wasn’t as bad as people thought I was and I that I did want to contribute positively to the wider NS Community. Throughout my time as Overseer, I have endeavoured to make people feel comfortable, be open to new ideas and made them my own:

• Being the first person to bring a televote to a contest, JWHF6. There was a lot of deliberation behind how to go about this, but I insisted that voting for people that you couldn’t initially vote for would make the Festival much more interesting and the voting reveals more entertaining as now any one nation could award up to EIGHT nations. The intense televoting worked the best at the 9th JWHF when everyone was sure the Jury top 3 was going to win.
• Orchestral themed edition, WHF46, WHF56 - which I hope is kept for future editions because I think it’s such a wonderful celebration of live instrumentation and all entries, especially in WHF56 were fantastic.
• Off the back of suggestions and a trial… at the 55th World Hit Festival (I think!?!) I made sure the Awards became a permanent part of the Festival.

Overseeing two Semi-Final editions and hosting one of them was a massive highlight of my time as Overseer. I felt a real sense of community and the fact so many users participated at the 53rd WHF which I hosted (more than the corresponding WorldVision, could you believe it?!) made me feel very appreciated and I can’t thank everyone enough for your support there. I always enjoyed hosting even if it did come around a lot more often than I would have. I also loved doing the radio show, A Hit For The World – and sure as you can tell from the final product, I was rushing ((A LOT)) but I had to see the bright side of it…it was widely entertaining and so many people joined the listenalong for that…it really meant a whole load…another one will come soon! Another major, major highlight of my time being Overseer and probably my biggest highlight (maybe second to hosting 53…hmmm) was seeing the Junior World Hit Festival grow. I really enjoyed working with Besen, Achaen Republic, Natanya and (Northern!) Beepee on their first hostings and I sure hope that, for at least the three of them who are still around, we see many more hostings from them…..and maybe possible Overseer manifestoes?!?!

But after 23 editions of the Junior and Adult World Hit Festival, the show must go on but no longer in Britonisea! I wish Normandy the best of luck overseeing the Festival. I know the community has faith in you to do well and so do I. If you need any help whatsoever, remember my DMs are always open. Being The Overseer won’t be easy as all the weight lays on your shoulders, but I truly believe you can cope with the pressure – it’s good pressure!

Thank you all for a wonderful, wonderful three years as Overseer and I wish you all the best of luck at the 61st World Hit Festival in Normandy and Picardy!

Brit

[Carrelie]

Nation: Carrelie
Broadcaster: Radio Dourie/CarrelieOne

Song Title: Memories
Artist: Marie Loisenne
Language(s): English
Tune: ABBA - I Still Have Faith in You

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 9
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Lïbèrtïe

Official Trigramme: CLE
Name of Head of Delegation: Çélèstïe Roúfétèrfe

[Samudera Darussalam]

Nation: Samudera Darussalam
Broadcaster: BPS

Song Title: Selamat Datang
Artist: The Pambudi Sisters
Language(s): Samuderan Malay
Title Transcription (if required):
Title Translation (if required): Welcome
Tune: Dakara, Hitori Ja Nai

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 4
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Hubungan

Official Trigramme: SDR
Name of Head of Delegation: Imaniar Kencana

[Achaean Republic]

Nation: Achaean Republic
Broadcaster: AS1

Song Title: Quizás El Viento Sople
Artist: Katherine Guardiola
Language(s): Spanish
Title Transcription (if required): N/A
Title Translation (if required): Maybe the Wind Will Blow
Tune: MISIA - 逢いたくていま (Aitatuke Ima)

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 17
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Fe

Official Trigramme: ACH
Name of Head of Delegation:Tamar de Andrade

[Pemecutan]

Nation: Pemecutan
Broadcaster: UBC (Kanal-E)

Song Title: Dimana Itu Cinta?
Artist: Arisatya
Language(s): Indonesian
Title Transcription (if required): N/A
Title Translation (if required): Where is Love?
Tune: Judika - Apakah ini Cinta

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 8
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Kebebasan

Official Trigramme: PCU
Name of Head of Delegation: Aristya Laksmi

[Kalosia]

Kalosia signs up with the tune Minneapolis — Fiuk.

Pre-confirming Fromulya and Skanden.

[Antahbrantahstan]

Sadly Antahbrantahstan withdraws..

[Kuala Lumpia]

Sadly Antahbrantahstan withdraws..

But Kuala Lumpia joins!

Paguyuban Ibu-Ibu RT 05 RW 27 will sing "Gairah Cinta Malam Minggu" (Saturday Night Lust) in tune to "SDN48 - Ai, Chuseyo"

[Beepee]

Nation: Beepee
Broadcaster: Beepeean Occasional News Corporation (BONC)

Song Title: Impatient
Artist:  Norma Deen
Language(s): English
Tune:  "Herzbeben" - Helen Fischer

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 29
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: corroboree

Official Trigramme: BPE
Name of Head of Delegation: Ms Fanny Golightly

[Axuva]

Welcome to TOPSTAR! This national final is the final where YOU decide who will be Axuva's next representative at the 61st World Hit Festial! Now, lets look into the rules & regulations.

Here are the singers and their songs which are competing to represent Axuva in the 61st World Hit Festival from Semi-Final one of TOPSTAR.

Once Semi-Final one concludes, Semi-Final two will commence. Thank you for participating!

TOPSTAR Semi-Final One Playlist

[Azab Indosiar]

Nation: Azab Indosiar
Broadcaster: ITCR (Institut Televisi Citra Rajawali)

Song Title: Suara Hati Pocong
Artist: Pocong
Language(s): Indonesian
Title Transcription (if required):
Title Translation (if required): Pocong's Inner Voice
Tune: Eta Terangkanlah

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 20
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Imajinasi

Official Trigramme: CAI
Name of Head of Delegation:
Mandor Kejam

[Normandy and Picardy]

Participating Nations (12)
Last updated: 23/09/2021, 13:45 BST

Achaean Republic (AS1): Katherine Guardiola - Quizás El Viento Sople
Axuva (ATN): National Final
Azab Indosiar: Pocong - Suara Hati Pocong
Beepee (BONC): Norma Deen - Impatient
Carrelie (Radio Dourie/CarrelieOne): Marie Losienne - Memories
Kalosia (RTVK): TBC

• Fromulya: TBC
• Skanden: TBC

Kuala Lumpia: Paguyuban Ibu-Ibu RT 05 RW 27 - Gairah Cinta Malam Minggu
Normandy and Picardy (SRNP): Sophie Muret - Un Jour Viendra
Pemecutan (UBC): Arisatya - Dimana Itu Cinta?
Samudera Darussalam (BPS): The Pambudi Sisters - Selamat Datang

Confirming that all of the above nations have been confirmed, and so 12 nations are currently signed up for the contest in Rouen. Would definitely be nice to have some more though! Just a reminder of some of the upcoming important dates:

Draft Thread opens - 26th September 00:00 BST
Sign-ups close - 3rd October 22:59 BST

[New Douria]

Nation: New Douria
Broadcaster: NDBC

Song Title: They
Artist: Aime
Language(s): English
Tune: Beach Bunny (ft. Teagan and Sara) - Cloud 9

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 1
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Treftadaeth

Official Trigramme: NWD
Name of Head of Delegation: Jack Evelitt

[Filshia]

Nation: Filshia
Broadcaster: TVF

Song Title: ???
Artist: ???
Language(s): Filshian, English
Title Translation (if required): ???
Tune: ???

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 26
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Kulturu

Official Trigramme: FLS
Name of Head of Delegation: Pitru Šiviruš

[Britonisea]

Britonisea confirms its intention to participate at the 61st World Hit Festival.

[Normandy and Picardy]

Firstly, confirming that everyone who signed up above has been added.

The World Hit Festival 61 Draft Thread is now OPEN
Sign ups remain open until October 3rd, Midnight BST. The Draft Thread closes 10th October, Midnight BST
Find the Draft Thread here

[Adab]

Nation: Adab
Broadcaster: Adab Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Song Title: To be announced
Artist: To be announced
Language(s): English
Tune: Ricky Martin - Livin' la Vida Loca

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 15
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language: Tarikh

Official Trigramme: ADB
Name of Head of Delegation: Mehmet Bahri

[Caribou Island]

Nation: Moorland
Broadcaster: TBD

Song Title: TBD
Artist: TBD
Language(s): TBD
Title Transcription (if required): TBD
Title Translation (if required): TBD
Tune: TBD

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from HERE: 23
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language:

[b]Official Trigramme: MOO
Name of Head of Delegation: Deidre Farahsdoter

[Axuva]

Nation: Axuva
Broadcaster: TPNB-X

Song Title: The End
Artist: LINDIGA
Language(s): English, Korean
Title Transcription (if required):
Title Translation (if required):
Tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqMtWGm_dvE

Host's Required Info

Normandy and Picardy is a nation built on many different sorts of currents, and the postcards this contest will explore the places, the people, and the values that make the Two Republics the place that it is. They will, however, also, seek to bring viewers from across the multiverse, and the different competing countries, into the postcards as well, as we believe many of the values we share are universal, and can unite us all. We ask you simply to choose a number between 1 and 30 below, which will be associated with a location or activity in Normandy and Picardy which we will invite your act to visit or partake in for the postcard. You will note that each number is also associated with a word; we ask the delegations to translate the word associated with their choice into a national language of their country.

Pick a number between 1 and 30 from 6:
Translation of the chosen word/phrase into a national language:

Official Trigramme: AXU
Name of Head of Delegation: Myung Rhee

[Normandy and Picardy]

Confirming that sign-ups are now closed. The draft thread will remain open until midnight BST on Sunday (though keep your eyes out for a possible extension as my life is a bit hectic atm). The link is available in the OOC

[Normandy and Picardy]

Sorry to double post but there we are...

Right folks. As both the overseer and host, I want to make sure this contest can be as good as possible. When I was sorting out the deadlines for this contest I may have forgotten about the fact I would be moving back to uni. This has in fact happened and naturally I have been extremely busy this week. Further, I also note the number of entries in the draft thread is probably below where we ideally would be, and having had private conversations with people it is clear that timing is awkward at the moment in general. Therefore, I will be moving some of the deadlines around. The new deadlines will be as follows:

Closure of Draft - 20th October 22:59 BST (with the Live Draw following soon after, subject to change based on numbers)
Voting Open - 22nd October 22:59 BST or earlier - 29th October 22:59 BST
Winner Known By - 31st October

Thank you for your understanding, and let's make this a great contest!

[Normandy and Picardy]

Announcement

The IC Thread is now up (minus the postcards and some other cosmetic issues) and voting can now officially begin! More details can be found here. Voting will close on Sunday, 31st October, 23:59 PM GMT. Bonne chance!

[Normandy and Picardy]

Announcement

Voting is now closed (and has been for a number of hours, since you all remembered to vote, which is nice). In any case, it is now time for me to do the honour of revealing the results. Below is the timetable for this (IRL pressures notwithstanding), and an explanation of each stage:

Stage One | 1st November, 11:00pm GMT
Stage one will see the reveal of the votes from 1-4. Each country will be presented with their cumulative total from these votes, from least to most. At this stage the breakdown won't be given, as this will be provided in the next stage.

Stage Two | 2nd and 3rd November, 11:00pm GMT
Stage Two will see a spokesperson from each country deliver their 5 points, which will be added to the cumulative totals, going through each country in a producer selected order until we have the final result. This will be split across two nights, the split being as below:

Night One (2nd November)

• Normandy and Picardy
• Adab
• Samudera Darussalam
• Britonisea
• Pemecutan
• Kalosia
• Filshia

Night Two (3rd November)

• Azab Indosiar
• New Douria
• Achaean Republic
• Beepee
• Kuala Lumpia
• Carrelie
• Moorland

Bonne chance à tous!
Norm