WorldVision Song Contest 71 | OOC | SIGNUPS CLOSED

[Estogium]

You're welcome for the vote

Anywho 01 pls thx

[WorldVision Committee]

Main Nation Ministry has opted for the SOFT deadline, though please do still aim to get your entry voting done by 20:00 UTC to avoid disqualification!

EDIT: In case you missed it, here's the link to the contest thread!

-Tobu

[These American States]

@WorldvisionSongContest
"These American States are BIGLY displeased by the lousy result. New York City is one of the FINEST places on the face of THIS Earth, but instead you YAHOOOS are goin to stay with the MURDEROUS, COMMUNIST, OPPRESSIVE, POLICE STATERS. UN-FRIGGIN-BUH-LEEV-ABLE" - Don JJ Trummmp III, President, These American States.



Quote from his fake friends account



Jehovah's Priests World Tour put on hold following Worldvision Bid Loss....

[Mister X]

I didn't want to have to do this, nor did I think I would have to, but the events of the last few hours have left me with little choice. Let me get the disclaimers out of the way first: this has nothing to do with the result of the committee election - reasons for this will become apparent throughout this piece. I also extend congratulations to Main Nation Ministry for winning the host voting, and to Besen, Ethane, Kalosia, Nekoni, and Darkmania for their election to the committee. If this piece gets me banned, then so be it. This had to be said, and I make no apologies for what you are about to read.

Three of the five members of the WV66-71 committee stood on promises to be more open and sentiments therein. This is not to say the other two stood on manifestos to be more secretive (indeed, one did not even submit a manifesto at all, just an intention to stand), but the committee has done nothing but become more secretive. This election has been nothing short of an omnishambles for several reasons, none of which were announced beforehand and introduced slyly. They were not even mentioned until I raised them in the Discord server, signalling that I see this as nothing short of a secret and closed-off committee. It has transpired that: the committee voting system was changed; committee candidates could not vote for themselves; the outgoing members are staying on for a further edition. These changes were never even announced. They were just imparted on us without any consultation or notice. I'll deal with one of them at at time, for the sake of clarity, although it should be said that every single one of these changes are linked.

The change to the voting system away from STV and towards this new points-ranking system was done without any consultation or even an announcement. On an issue as big as this, I feel it is not only in contempt of previous promises, but in contempt of the committee's obligations not to even tell us this was happening. In the post announcing voting was open, as per STV, which has been in place ever since WV41 (at the instigation of 36-41's committee: myself, Ekoz, and Yttribia), voters have been asked to rank the candidates. No scale has been provided, thereby implying that one is meant to rank them 1-7. (If that post is retrospectively edited, it would only further my points and would be nothing more than the committee covering up their mistakes.) So far, so good. Fast forward to the last few hours, and suddenly, they been turned into a Borda Count system. I don't want to get into arguments about the types of voting systems, but for the record my personal preference is FPTP for single-member elections and STV for multi-member elections. Such an important change needed to be announced AT LEAST, if not consulted upon. It has been made clear that the result would not have substantially changed under STV, thankfully, otherwise this would have been much, much, MUCH worse (and also, I hope goes some way to indicating that my gripes have nothing to do with coming last and are about the issues of conduct, which is far more important than where I finish). If the committee did not know how STV worked, all they needed to do was ask someone. This is surely not too difficult. I would have been happy to help, for one. As a student of politics, one of my areas of expertise is in psephology and elections!! How can the committee honestly say they fulfilled their pledges to be open and engage more with the rest of us? They didn't even consult, they didn't even announce, and they did not even seek advice about how the system worked and instead just introduced a new one on the fly. That is a disgrace.

The change for not allowing committee candidates to vote for themselves was done without any consultation or even an announcement too. I will admit I was one of the two candidates who did vote - and had I known that I would not have been allowed to vote for myself, I simply would not have voted at all - I adopt the same policy when I am standing for host, as I do not want to shoot myself in the foot by giving votes to my rivals and therefore away from myself, although that is an argument for another time. Again, in the post saying the vote was now open, this was never stated, and given that this was a change from previous elections, we were never, ever told about this. That is not the actions of an "open" committee, under any circumstances. If the committee tries to state this was always the case, they need only look at previous elections to prove it wasn't. That is the work of just a few minutes. It's not incredibly taxing.

The biggest change of all, however, is that the outgoing committee members actually aren't leaving the committee after all. I had to prise this information out of the committee on Discord. It should not be up to Ethane to be ballsy enough to actually say what is happening. Users should not have to prise the announcements of important changes out of the committee. As with everything else, I had to raise these problems to actually start this discussion. It is indicative of what this committee has become: decadent, secretive, and covering their own backsides. Despite their promises to be open, the committee has made decisions behind closed doors when the rest of us were, as usual, excluded. Two candidates on the previous committee even stated, and I quote: "I will be encouraging any users in WV community to cooperate with the committee"; "engage discussions between committee members and regular players regarding WorldVision, and taking advice and criticisms". How can these people look us in the eye and say they have fulfilled these pledges? They cannot surely countenance such pledges with the actions they have taken in this disastrous, controversial, and dictatorial decision to have a transitional committee. There STILL isn't even an announcement about it in this thread. It should not be up to the rest of us to force the committee to reveal these important matters. Introduced with no fanfare, no consultation, and not even an announcement, we now have 8 committee members, which absolutely no one was aware of when making their decisions in the vote, and could potentially be as many as half of the users (not nations, there is a difference) in this edition. If 15 users all entered puppets, that's 30 nations - half of which would be controlled by the committee, and unlike when the committee was expanded to 5 users some 30 editions ago now, there was no consultation, no announcement, and we were left deliberately in the dark when casting our votes. That is a complete and utter disgrace. The motives for such a decision remain unclear - which is probably a good thing given the very few possible explanations. On the one hand, it could be an initiative by the incoming three members to ask them to hang on for an edition or two to learn the ropes, but given two members have been re-elected I find this wholly unlikely and unnecessary. At the other, more likely extreme, it could just be a distasteful power grab by those still in power, not willing to let go, like a military dictator. You don't get to cling on after you're voted out. Imagine this scenario if Kalosia or Darkmania had not been re-elected and "booted" out - would it seem democratic for them to still be holding on? Of course not. This major decision - unannounced, unconsulted, and unconsented, is the most disgraceful thing.

We can't go on like this. If the committee had announced these changes, we would have given feedback on them, and this argument would never have happened. I believe they have only done this because they know these changes are wrong, and so, like countless real life examples, they have tried to introduce these deeply unpopular changes as slyly and discreetly as possible. Regretfully, I am forced to declare I have no confidence in the WV66-71/72 committee and I implore the incoming members to shake it all up. The last committee has introduced a culture of secrecy, of decisions not even announced and just foistered upon us with not even any warning, and flies in the face of their pledges to be open and honest. If you don't think you can deliver on such major issues, you should resign, or at least make the effort to engage in fulfilling your pledges and show us what you at least have tried to do.

I did not want to have to write this, but I was left with no choice after tonight. Spare a thought for those reading this not in the Discord server. They are even more in the dark than the rest of us were.

[Todlichebujoku]

Hi hello so yes you've noted your position very passionately and vehemently on the Discord, but now I shall take a look at your crowning jewel of a complaint.

1. I'd like to note that yeah there was some confusion regarding the WVC roles on the Discord, as some of us thought that the roles were to be changed immediately and others thought that it was supposed to happen at the start of the following edition. So as a on-the-fly compromise, we thought that hey, having a transitional period would be a good idea. I personally thought that it was normal to turn the roles over immediately but also found the idea of having a transitional period as being quite interesting, so I let it go on. Clearly you feel quite differently, and honestly upon further review I do in fact agree that it is time to change the roles over.

2. The voting system change was never meant to be permanent, it was simply due to the fact that no one on the Committee:

a.) had remembered what the previous voting system was, with the last election with any sort of voting occurring in WV58 (a by-election), over a year ago in August 2017- the last full election with voting occurred in WV56, nearly 2 years ago.

b.) was familiar enough with STV to actually use it.

Thus, this voting system was used. After doing the results, I came up with a version of it that was more fair to candidates (taking the points total and dividing by the number of eligible voters for that candidate) and the result was that Mister X placed above Syrche. The same result was achieved when Kalosia went to collate the votes via STV by using a guide.
In light of this incident, I've suggested that the voting system be changed to one that all Committee members can understand and execute easily, but I have to stress that this has not been acted upon yet.

3. Yes, I agree that we as the Committee have to commit to providing more updates. We have been providing updates on the major events that had been decided by all Committee members, but decisions made by individuals or pairs when no one else is available should be included as well.

4. Oh also "deeply unpopular changes"?? At the moment it is only you who find it deeply terrible. Others have found the events perhaps unsatisfactory and confusing, but no one aside from you has been angry. Please stop thinking that your opinion is anyone else's but yours unless you have something to back it up.

5. Honey I lost faith in you when you kicked yourself out of the Committee because your policies weren't going through and getting the discussion/feedback you desired, THEN you had the gall to say you were "bullied" off the Committee when no such thing happened AND I literally asked you again and again to remain. I explicitly said that I respected your differing perspective and valued you as an eye to see things that other members might have missed. But no. You thought only of yourself and ditched. And now you use your position to rail on and on about how terrible things are.

You did say that you want everyone to be as clear and forthright as you are, and so here we are.

Over the many years I've known you, and specifically over the nearly three years I've interacted with you on Discord, I've noticed a worrying pattern in your behavior. Everyone is not out to get you, despite what you constantly seem to think. People are not intrinsically malicious creatures. And please for God's sake stop dramatizing things to paint yourself as the victim. You are not always the victim. People make mistakes, and rules that used to be good ideas turn out to be impractical.

Llalta, Polkopia, and Kalosia have already said this, and I will say this again: Please calm down and stop making this a greater issue than it is.

Your points are valid, but seriously, your accusatory and self-victimizing language is not helpful to the conversation.

Thank you.

[Togonistan]

Despite their promises to be open, the committee has made decisions behind closed doors when the rest of us were, as usual, excluded. Two candidates on the previous committee even stated, and I quote: "I will be encouraging any users in WV community to cooperate with the committee"; "engage discussions between committee members and regular players regarding WorldVision, and taking advice and criticisms". How can these people look us in the eye and say they have fulfilled these pledges?

I wasn't planning to reply, then I saw this. First of all, thanks for putting in the time and effort to do your research and dig up my manifesto for elections, shows how you have actually put a lot of work into your complaint.

Now, to the part of fulfilling the pledges. Listening to people's complaints about people's actions in the Discord server and taking action when needed (One example also includes you). Looking through every single case of reported plagiarism, rule breaking etc. complaint. Giving assistance and advice RP-wise to IS countless of times. If this is not called ''cooperation,'' then I really do not know what it is. I'm really sorry if my manifesto sounded like I promised that every decision the committee takes would be thoroughly discussed with the WHOLE COMMUNITY... no, absolutely not. Sorry X, I can sleep just fine without the worry of having given any promises I couldn't fulfill.

WVC is a democratic entity that is elected through democratic elections. Until this very edition, we've had a long hiatus of extremely low interest on the community's behalf of what the committee is doing (which is easily reflected by the fact that last election, we had to literally beg for people to run). Hence, making the committee consist of individuals who agreed to take the job just because... no one else wanted to. Hands down, the last months have shown a downfall in the quality and organizing of committee's work, often having to do with multiple committee members having less and less time irl to dedicate on running the community. Looks like the mentality changed now though, which is good. Hopefully a change of blood that comes with the new committee can make things run smoother again.

[Mister X]

Now, to the part of fulfilling the pledges. Listening to people's complaints about people's actions in the Discord server and taking action when needed (One example also includes you). Looking through every single case of reported plagiarism, rule breaking etc. complaint. Giving assistance and advice RP-wise to IS countless of times. If this is not called ''cooperation,'' then I really do not know what it is. I'm really sorry if my manifesto sounded like I promised that every decision the committee takes would be thoroughly discussed with the WHOLE COMMUNITY... no, absolutely not. Sorry X, I can sleep just fine without the worry of having given any promises I couldn't fulfill.

It's a question of interpretation, admittedly. To my mind, to be open with the rest of us implies that things get announced, at the very least.

[Indo States]

I Have no Time for this WV71. I'll Foward to WV72 Soon. I'll Withdraw with Edeltia.

[Ethane]

THE VIEWFINDER

Recent rumours suggest that a famous Ethanian artist could be returning for WorldVision 71. While no names have been mentioned, The Viewfinder has managed to find out that this said artist is apparently well-known in Izmedu.

However, other than that information it remains shrouded in mystery who this artist actually is. This is a common trend with Ethane's entry this WorldVision, much of the information typically available this close to the contest still obscured from the public eye. We have to hope that Ethane is going to be coming in with a strong entry, especially with all the mystery surrounding it.

Keep an eye out for any further updates, but at the moment they seem to be few and far between so you might have to wait until the show itself.

[Syrche]

Syrche beseeches the committee to implement the following codified rules in response to the recent lack of transparency:

1. Any changes to the committee voting system may not transpire without an announcement beforehand.
2. Including but not limited to:
3. Election and Tenure of committee members
4. Systems of voting in the WorldVision Song Contest
5. Additionally, every attempt shall be made by the committee to ensure transparency and openness are made priority in regards to the WorldVision Song Contest.

[Edit:] Syrche would also like to call for all members involved in the so called "extended term" to immediately rescind their post, as an inroad to restore faith in ethical behavior on the part of our oversight.

[These American States]

The Freest and best country in the world will no longer choose to participate in this obviously CORRUPT contest anymore.


We don't like Commies
We don't like Cronies
and we really can't stand your music!
and your women are ugly, like hideous.... even on the inside...

This is over now...

I, Don JJ Trummmp, am taking the executive action that These American States hereby withdraw from Worldvision Song Contest.

[Ethane]

Syrche beseeches the committee to implement the following codified rules in response to the recent lack of transparency:

1. Any changes to the committee voting system may not transpire without an announcement beforehand.
2. Including but not limited to:
3. Election and Tenure of committee members
4. Systems of voting in the WorldVision Song Contest
5. Additionally, every attempt shall be made by the committee to ensure transparency and openness are made priority in regards to the WorldVision Song Contest.

[Edit:] Syrche would also like to call for all members involved in the so called "extended term" to immediately rescind their post, as an inroad to restore faith in ethical behavior on the part of our oversight.

Okay so the ''extended term'' members are gone. The committee is the 5 elected in this thread. Don't worry about that.
And we will discuss your proposals in the committee channel on discord.

Thank you for your suggestions.

(Image)

The Freest and best country in the world will no longer choose to participate in this obviously CORRUPT contest anymore.


We don't like Commies
We don't like Cronies
and we really can't stand your music!
and your women are ugly, like hideous.... even on the inside...

This is over now...

I, Don JJ Trummmp, am taking the executive action that These American States hereby withdraw from Worldvision Song Contest.

awww but your entries were so fun

[Britonisea]

BVC MUSIC
Brityunik Vefecosoin Cairkovoin

---

Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019 SF2 Acts 1-4 have been REVEALED!

Find out the first 4 participants of VM2019 SF2!

Tonight in Junterapten, BVC revealed the next four artists that will participate at Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019. We now know the names of half of the participants in Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019 and we are set to find out even more tomorrow. Among the four more acts, we have Zedan Sykes - who will return to the competition after his first try in 2016 and Zoe Wilkinson with a song partly in Spanish!

[Todlichebujoku]

@ Syrche

Yeah that whole thing was solved when everyone on the Committee finally got online with one another and looked through precedents, which resulted in the reinstatement of the immediate turnover of members. As mentioned earlier, I suggested that the voting system be changed to one more easily executed by anyone on the committee.

It's been literally too long without an election with more than the minimum 5 candidates (nearly 2 years)

I think it's been so long that we've gotten a bit fatigued, so it's great to have a turnover of members in the Committee. I'm really happy that we've had more candidates this round. Hopefully this keeps up in elections to come!

---

hilariously, in hindsight, i could have stopped part of this shitstorm from occurring if I had been less transparent and chose not to reveal the method of voting, only the results, and let mrx et al assume that there was no change to the system

But while this situation has caused passions to rise, ultimately it is good, as hopefully my suggestion will yield a more practical solution to the voting system the next time we have elections!

[Britonisea]

BITC ANNOUNCEMENT
This is an official announcement by Britonisea's International Television Company [BITC]

> He finally gets his chance! Younes Wright-Harel to represent Britonisea at 40th anniversary since WorldVision debut!

It has been announced that Britonisea's 32nd participant in to the WorldVision Song Contest will be Younes Wright-Harel, who has been rumoured to represent Britonisea for quite some time now. Younes, 29, will be singing the song "Where is He?" in Bright Falls, Main Nation Ministry.

After a long wait, we can officially announce that Younes Wright-Harel has been internally selected to represent Britonisea at the 71st WorldVision Song Contest - making him the nation's 32nd representative over the last 40 editions Britonisea has participated. Younes Wright-Harel has been rumoured to represent Britonisea at either the WorldVision Song Contest or the World Hit Festival where his name has frequented wish-lists and rumours which travel through fans of the two contests. Younes representing Britonisea in a large-scale music festival was heightened after his appearance as a spokesperson at the 40th World Hit Festival over on BVC which took place in Izmedu. While it might have been more expected that Younes would have participated at the World Hit Festival, he had indeed chosen the WorldVision Song Contest instead with his song, "Where Is He?"

His song, "Where Is He?" is a 3 and a half minute track which is "rather vague" in the words of Younes. He says that the words in his song "might mean different things to different people" but speaks about where this mystery He is. The song talks about how Younes asked for the help from this He but after years Younes still hasn't received any help - relinquishing any hope he has. This pop gospel-esque ballad represents the first time that a male from Britonisea has sung a ballad since the 61st WorldVision Song Contest where Mathias Bexley-Durand placed 9th with 60 points - which kickstarted the nation's management by our broadcaster and successive run of Top 10 placings.

As this will be 40 editions since Britonisea has participated in the contest (among 30 editions since the nation's first win, first hosting and 20 editions since the nation's second win), BITC and Younes Wright-Harel have been working as hard as possible to make sure that we receive a fantastic result in Bright Falls, Main Nation Ministry.

"Where is He?" is available on all popular streaming services and of course, YouTube.

Nation Name: Britonisea
Official Broadcaster: BITC (Britonisea's International Television Company)
Song Title: Where is He?
Artist(s) Name(s): Younes Wright-Harel

Tune: Irama - La ragazza con il cuore di latta

---

BVC MUSIC
Brityunik Vefecosoin Cairkovoin

---

Semi Final 2 is now complete - we now know 16 Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019 Participants!


The first 16: We only have nine to go before we know all of the participants of Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019!

With only 5 weeks until the launch of the 4th edition of Vha Mehlodhivestoile, the artist announcements are coming out thick and fast! Today, four more were released and among the acts that were released, we have a returnee (Eleanora Buckingham) and a former WorldVision Song Contest star (Stacey Lekker) who once represented Togonistan in the WorldVision Song Contest and came 4th place! We also have two songs that feature languages other than English! It's a very interesting end to the second Semi Final!

[Besen]

Cana dor Besein will continue. BC1's previous statement will be retracted.

[Main Nation Ministry]

A Reminder that the deadline for entries at are February 18th. While you don't need to have songs posted immediately, you should get a spot in the IC Thread, where you can work on it later before the deadline ends.

[Mister X]

A Reminder that the deadline for entries at are February 18th. While you don't need to have songs posted immediately, you should get a spot in the IC Thread, where you can work on it later before the deadline ends.

I don't particularly like reservation posts...

[Britonisea]

K.

[Belgaam]

TBS has confirmed that the Beglish national selection for WorldVision, "Tariña'o Melodi" will return for WorldVision 72, however instead of just a final consisting of 3 songs, there will be 2 semi finals each consisting of 6 songs. The top 3 from each semi-final will qualify for the final and the winner of the final will represent Belgaam in WorldVision 72. That's how the next Beglish WorldVision selection will work.

[Britonisea]

BVC MUSIC
Brityunik Vefecosoin Cairkovoin

---

Here are your 25 Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019 Acts!


Finally we know everyone: Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019's artists have all been revealed. As speculated, neither Mya Richardson nor Petre Lemetre are amongst this year's Semi-Finalists.

With just under a month left until Vha Mehlodhivestoile gets kicked off in Telm City, BVC has finally finished announcing the 25 acts that will participate in one of the most anticipated music events in both Britonisea and abroad. With there being four returnees in the Semi-Finals and Giselles automatically going to the Grand Finals in the city of Machievelihe, we can expect a fresh Vha Mehlodhivestoile ahead of the 2020 edition which expected to be a bonanza says the rumour mill. Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019 will start to reveal the songs nationwide as of next week before revealing them to the Multiverse on the week before the first Semi-Final. Watch Britonish media who will be sure to analyse each act's songs as of next week and have a look at the odds which could dramatically change between now and the 16th of March.

The new and improved voting system is set to be announced tomorrow alongside the new Britonish voting areas. As Vha Mehlodhivestoile is still a developing format, BVC are trying to find the right formula before sticking to just one. In the meantime, check out the last four acts and more information!

Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2019: Semi Final 3 (Acts 5-8!)

This edition, you will get to visit the 98th performance ever since Tonio Xian graced the stage in Eaux City in 2016 as performer #1.

[Mister X]

Full Mister X ranking:

(16 Mister X)
____
ace
great
17 Normandy and Picardy 12
good
20 Nekoni 10
21 Kalosia 8
23 Adab 7
08 Belgaam 6
07 Besen 5
24 Todlichebujoku 4
18 Saviera 3
meh
15 Proluvia 2
10 Llalta 1
01 Estogium
11 Polkopia
04 Missus X
06 Izmedu
22 Main Nation Ministry
crap
03 Antenovaria
05 Syrche
09 Vartugia
02 Axuva
25 Ethane
12 Antahbrantahstan
13 Mercedini
19 Britonisea

[Main Nation Ministry]

Announcement for WV71 Deadline!

While the WV71 has a soft deadline, the official deadline will be pushed a little bit for February 25th UTC 11PM/PST 3PM. Make sure that all participating nations have voted in the contest thread of WV71. It's important that you vote before the deadline end. -MNM

[Main Nation Ministry]

Deadline is finished! The Votes shall be revealed in IC in a few short moments!

[Britonisea]

K so thanks for the votes for those who voted for Britonisea. Scoreboard breaking coming from me whenever I can be bothered.