yoshi

Lol I know the Gabba is iconic - I can't deny that a small part of my thought that a bigger stadium could be better comes from a desire to turn the telly on one November evening in the 2030s to see Jimmy Anderson (let's be honest, it'll still be him) opening the bowling at the first Ashes Test in front of a wall of 80k baying Queenslanders I guess though if you're haven't got a site like the Lea Valley near the middle crying out to be an Olympic complex, then a rebuild of something that's there makes sense. I'm also quite surprised that 50k is considered plenty for Brisbane, when you look at what other Aussie cities have. Might be a useful message to send for the IOC though, easier to find uses for 50k than 80.

I know it's not our business from thousands of miles away but I still don't really get why they seem ok with what looks to me like such a poor return on their investment - a billion dollars for a renovation that'll only have 50k seats max - for an Olympics and being the main stadium in Australia's third city? I looked up the Perth stadium, that "only" cost 820 million, yet it's 60k+ for oval, and 65k for rectangular - in a smaller city? Maybe there genuinely aren't any other options, I don't know Brisbane, but it strikes as strange.

Steve Harmison (More seriously, it's Queensland - it's got to be a swimmer or surfer)

Hmm. Maybe that says more about the IOC than anything else. Feels recently like 90% of Olympic opening ceremony content is mandated by the IOC in service of Tommy's bid for the Nobel Prize I mean the tradition of the Games. There's always the traditional bits which mark an Olympics out but there seems to be less and less wriggle room now. I think Paris will shake things up though

There was a Eurovision theme to the Reykjavik music. The national language of Kenya is Swahili. You might think Swahili has never been heard at Eurovision. You'd be wrong, this was robbed in the semis in 2011: Welcome to the place where the Olympic Stadium would be if this comp ever became real, the Moi International Sports Centre! Hopefully this is where the 2027 or 29 World Athletics Championships will finally arrive in Africa. For now though, we're unveiling our winner. And we have someone very special to do it. Taking time out from a UN summit to be with us for this, it's the 44th President of the USA and the world's most famous Kenyan, Barack Obama! Barack: Good evening friends. It is a huge honour to be here to launch the long-awaited & much overdue first Olympic Games in Africa. This is a part of the world where my wife & I have done a great deal of work on education & development, and so it is a great pride for me that this is the place for such a momentous... I NYOOOOOO IT! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU! AH, THIS IS YUUUUUUGE SO YUUUUGE THE COVFEFE IS YUUUUGE THIS IS OFF THE CHART SO BIG SO BIG BIGGER THAN MY *bundled off stage by security* Barack: As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by The Thing - it is my pleasure to announce that the winner of the 16th gamesbids.com Summer Olympic logo comp is... GLACIB! Yoshi: Thank you Mr President, apologies for the interruption. It went the distance but we got there in the end, with the final result being A: 6. B: 7. In the last round, it went to the wire all the way to the very end, but that one vote margin means we do have an outright winner at last & that winner is @Glacib! Congrats on your second summer title in a row. Thank you to all entrants and voters, especially to @JDCLauronwho came so close. It has once again been wonderful to see such interest, both submission and voters - you've all made this comp successful despite the lack of Olympic interest Obviously, once again the biggest thanks go to the wombat king @Sir Rols for the grids, the Photoshop pics of Barack and Greta, part of the presidential intro tonight, the advice and generally you know, making it all possible. Congratulations to @Glacib & @Bear , our 2023 champions - if we do the 17th comp in the same way next winter, we will hopefully see you all again then. Until then, the comp sleeps tonight...

BONG Big Ben strikes 10, and the vote is now CLOSED. Please proceed to the stadium for the announcement.

This is is the last time I'll be bumping the thread for this comp. Vote now because it's all to play for!

25 hours and a few minutes left for you to decide our newest winner. One way or another, this ends tomorrow!

This was going to be saved for the announcement, but it works better for our arrival in the big city: The urban sound tells us, the logos tell us, the tower blocks tell us we've arrived in one of the biggest & fastest growing cities in Africa, Kenya's capital, our Olympic city - we made it to Nairobi! The centre of the buzzing metropolis is the ideal location for the final battle to determine our champion - once we look at how we got here: A: 2. B: 4. C: 5. It's a close one, but there's no majority, meaning that we must have a one-on-one between the top 2 to determine our winner. We must say goodbye to @Aussie bum/Davey - better luck next year. For @JDCLauron & @Glacib, welcome to the final! The rules: This voting round will be open for (approximately) 48 hours - it will close at 10pm UK time, Wednesday 18 January. This is the final. There are only two candidates. Most votes wins, simple. Vote in the poll for your favourite logo. You have ONE vote, so make it count. Your vote is public and can be seen by all. Entrants MAY vote for their own logo. For transparency, I will not vote unless required to break a tie. Votes are valid if cast by members of GamesBids as of January 1 2023 with a bona fide posting record. I will rule on the validity of any suspicious or disputed votes, or who constitutes a bona fide voting member. I will not vote in this round. However, if a tie-breaker vote is needed, I will reserve my right to vote in order to break it. Be fair and sportsmanlike, this is meant to be fun and the entrants all deserve RESPECT. Whatever happens, we will see each other again on Wednesday in the national stadium, to announce our winner. Until then, good luck, and may the best logo win!

BONG Voting closed, the final will start imminently.

One last bump to get any remaining votes

24 (well nearly 25 really) hours to go! Vote to have your say!

There's a local flavour coming, Nairobi will shine - when we get there (I've always been slightly amused by how FIFA emphasised the first World Cup in Africa, made a song literally called This Time For Africa.... and then got that legendary African star of music... Shakira to do it )

Shakira, what is the time? It is indeed time for Africa, just like the Colombian (!) says - so where better to be than the very heart of East Africa, Lake Victoria. It borders 3 countries, including Kenya, where we find Kisumu! Looks like a very pleasant place for a game of cricket, and a third round logo comp vote! Here's the outcome of Round 2: A: 1. B: 5. C: 3. D: 4. A rare chance to do an exhaustive ballot properly, knocking out one and only one. It means it's goodbye to @fatixxx, better luck next year. For the other 3, it's Round 3! Rules: This voting round will be open for (approximately) 48 hours - it will close at 10pm UK time, Monday 16 January. Voting will now be conducted in rounds until one entry has an absolute majority and is declared the winner. In this and following rounds, the logo with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated at the close of the poll. Vote in the poll for your favourite logo. You have ONE vote, so make it count. Your vote is public and can be seen by all. Entrants MAY vote for their own logo. For transparency, I will not vote unless required to break a tie. Votes are valid if cast by members of GamesBids as of January 1 2023 with a bona fide posting record. I will rule on the validity of any suspicious or disputed votes, or who constitutes a bona fide voting member. I will not vote in this, or any subsequent rounds. However, if a tie-breaker vote is needed, I will reserve my right to vote in order to break it. Be fair and sportsmanlike, this is meant to be fun and the entrants all deserve RESPECT. We will see each other again on Monday in the capital city, either for the final or the winner. Until then, good luck, and may the best logo win!

BONG Voting is closed - we move on to Round III!