In 2006, in tandem with the FIFA World Cup, the Poptimists community on LiveJournal ran the Pop World Cup game, and a great success it was too.
This year, of course, it’s Euro 2008. I have just been reading up on the two mascots, Trix and Flix, and on the official Euro 2008 Slogan, “Expect Emotions”. So clearly it’s time to do it all over again with Europop 2008, which this time will run on Freaky Trigger – meaning Poptimists won’t be clogged up with posts about the game and meaning we might get an even wider voting and playing base. Our slogan? EXPECT EMO.
But just what is this game, anyway? It’s very simple:
There are 16 players. Each of them is given a country to ‘manage’ and has to find music from that country (some kind of Irish granny rule will no doubt apply). You the reader then vote on the music they find, which will be streamed on the FT server. The format of the game will be roughly the same as the Euro 2008 football tournament.
If you would like to be a player, this post is your chance to sign up (in the comments box). You will be required to supply me with between 3 and 6 (depending on how far your team progresses) MP3s and short (c.50 word) blurbs. Only one at a time though – and not right away! The game will take place between mid-March and the end of June so if you’re going on holiday for a big chunk of that time you might be better off not playing.
Also let me know what your ideal team would be – if you don’t have one, but still want to play, I will allot one randomly. You won’t necessarily get your ideal team – I’ll draw lots if there’s a clash, so don’t worry if someone else has mentioned a team beforehand. The countries you can choose from are:
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland, Holland, Italy, Romania, France, Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY’S MUSIC TO PICK THEM. If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a bit of expertise in Romanian pop, now is your chance!
Tournament schedule and list of players to be announced next week. (Ask any questions you might have in the comments box too!)
NB to Googlers: Very obviously this is not an official Euro 2008 tie-in and we have no connection whatsoever with anyone involved with Euro 2008, which we urge you to watch and enjoy and consume lots of the sponsors’ products while yr at it.