IT has become somewhat traditional, over the years, that 1st May heralds some sort of announcement or event involving our own song contest.

This year shall be no different*.

1st May 2016. YOU know where to be.

* don't get TOO excited, it's not the T4 results show or E6 or anything like that. I suspect that Ronini may also be interested in it.

INTRODUCING my contribution to the #100 celebrations.

When we discussed some ideas for how to mark the 100th edition, an idea I originally proposed was some sort of flashback edition where we'd send two past songs, one from the first half of your participation history, and another from the second half.

I've overhauled that idea and changed it into something else, whilst keeping the same core idea in mind. So, with your support, I propose that we hold a team edition with a twist.

You will be paired with somebody, but you will not be choosing a new song together. Instead, each of you will be picking a song from your teammate's existing repertoire of songs from #1-#99. This may be a song of theirs that you particularly like, or one that you think perhaps deserved to do better. Your choice, but you will be expected to provide a brief explanation for why you picked the song when you submit it.

To bring a bit of 'excitement' and to add some curiosity to the proceedings, when the time comes, you won't know in advance what song of yours your partner has chosen. Obviously this requires your cooperation, but hopefully it will add some mystery to the proceedings. You will also not know who makes up the other teams, or what songs they chose, so it will be a quasi-anonymous edition.

The results will be presented in a live show when all songs and teams will be revealed, with live voting, much like in most recent E editions. It must take place on a Saturday, so we'll need to collaborate to decide on the most appropriate date where the majority can attend. Attendance won't be compulsory - those who can't be here for the live show can be told of the songs and vote in advance - but it does spoil it a bit if loads of people can't be here. So I urge you to try to make it and to contribute in the discussions when we try to organise a date. A provisional date of 9th July has been suggested.

To avoid two songs by the same team competing against each other, the edition will be split into two halves, so that each of the two songs representing a team end up in a different half. There will be two separate voting windows, so each participant will have two sets of 12, 10, 8-1 points, and everybody must vote in each half.

To simplify the scoring system, especially in view of a live edition, but also to increase fairness and transparency, points of both teammates will be added together, rather than combined. The points received by a team in both halves (i.e, for both songs represented in said team) will be added to form a grand total, and only the total of points received by a team from another team will be revealed during the actual results show. Each team will award 232 points in total, with 48 points being the maximum that any single team can theoretically be awarded from another team (12p for each song from both members of the team).

On the topic of voting, as I'd like the #100 celebrations to be as inclusive as possible, I propose giving Norman voting rights although he will not be able to be part of any team as he doesn't have any songs to choose from as yet. And he will 'only' have 116 points to dish out.

Now, the elephant in the room is the requirement for qualifying days. With the exception of CTP, those who wish to participate must establish the minimum 12 qualifying days by the time the event takes place. That is, however, not to say that you need to have 12 qualifying days to sign up. You just need to make sure you've achieved the minimum requirement by the time the event takes place.

The theme for the edition is Fly with us. There are limited seats on this special flight, which is never to be repeated, so if you want to participate, please reply to this thread.

I'm in for the 100 celebrations ofc

i'm in, now that I enjoy flying again

I'll also join in.

There will be a draw with an interactive element. Perhaps it can be overseen by Ronini for authenticity, since he won't be in a team of his own. I don't think it's fair for people to pick their own partners because nobody wants to be the kid left in the playground who nobody chooses.