poptimists | The Pop World Cup: GROUP E (Reply)

Rumour and disarray stalk Group E in the Pop World Cup! The Italian boss has been under fire in the press for his team selection, and comes out fighting with a controversial choice. The American team had pledged to play in an upfront pop style with silky R'n'B touches, and the manager hotly denies rumours that his coaching sessions have been in any way indie. And as for the Czechs, their manager failed to register a team at all, and a scratch squad has been put together at the last minute by FIPA. All this has left the Ghanaian team scratching their heads, and they must secretly feel that this could be their year.

You can find all PWC entries here (EDIT: The USA track is labelled "Portugal" but it is the right track - sorry). If you can't download or are having trouble let me know either in the comments box or at freakytrigger@gmail.com.

So are here the four Group E contenders, with exclusive team talks from their managers.

Czech Republic

Ilona Csakova - "Tornero": A FIPA representative had this to say - "After the disappearance of the Czech manager and team, we have put together a scratch team of Czechs after a rapid P2P-based audition. All we know about Ilona is that she's been a solo star since 1992, that she had a starring role in the musical Hair, and that the hopes of a nation travel with her. FIPA will be interviewing for the post of full-time Czech manager in the comments box."

Ghana

Obour - "Atentenben": Manager

julietk told us: "We're just pleased to be here, and playing our natural relaxed game. Too relaxed, some may say, but it's all part of the plan - chill the opposition out before revealing Obour's 'adventurous, daring and untouchable' nature. Apparently, his name means 'If you hit him with stick, run for your life because he would respond with a stone' so you can expect the emergence of an attacking game behind that hip-life groove.

He also runs a sports pub, a music production company, a charity supporting education for girls, a road safety campaign & soon to add a clothing line (see http://www.obour.com, or http://www.musicinghana.com/migsite/artist/index.php?artid=22 for a nice photo) - the multi-talented Ghana side is quietly confident of victory in the World Cup as well."

Italy

Convergence - "Strike The End": Under-fire gaffer

boyofbadgers told us - "After the team's poor performance in the last finals, we have opted for a major change in tactics. Abandoning our traditional defensive, disco based style of play, we will instead be playing a faster, harder, more physical game, of a type more usually seen in the arenas of our Northern European and American cousins. Even though the previous groups have shown there are no longer any easy games at this level of competition, we feel confident that our passion, aggression and abrupt changes of pace will see us through to the next round."

USA

Smoosh - "Rad": Confident supremo

alexmacpherson told us - "It is a well-known scientific FACT that a key ingredient of Great Pop is YOUTH. Smoosh back this up nicely. They are sisters Asya, 13, and Chloe, 11, and on 'Rad' Asya raps charmingly about how you should be a little happier and if you want to play then GO PLAY over insanely melodic electric piano. I am sure all Poptimists will take Smoosh to their hearts with no further prompting, but should you need further convincing here are some TEAM ANECDOTES: 1) While recording their album, relations between Chloe and the band's producer got so fractious that she had to be locked out of the studio, whereupon she scrawled "DO U WANT A FIGHT!" on a piece of paper and pressed it to the window; 2) They were once told by an over-excitable interviewer that they could be "as big as Led Zeppelin", to which they replied, "Is that big?"; 3) When I went to see them at Cargo a couple of months ago I got to the venue early to find them playing tag amidst all the bemused punters. CUTE!

PS: the referee informs me that the genre tags for this song have been unaccountably hit by a technical glitch, they should read 'Bubblegum Pop' or similar."

So how will matches be decided? HERE'S HOW.

You have 20 points to divide between the four teams, based on how much you enjoyed their tracks and on any other criteria you like.

No team can be given less than 1 point, no team can be given more than 10. If you fail to mark a team they will automatically get 5 points.

If that leaves a points total other than 20, or if you simply can't add up to 20, then the FIPA authorities will add or deduct points according to a highly complex system which can be explained in the pub by request.

Your votes should be in the following format:

"Czech Rep - 5. Ghana - 5. Italy - 5. USA - 5."

With the "5"s replaced by the points you allot to each team.

You can submit votes in one of two ways. In the poll below, or by email to freakytrigger@gmail.com if you can't vote in LJ polls. Any votes in the comments box will be disqualified. Voting closes at midnight GMT on Monday.

The top two tracks, decided on total points, will go through to the next round. In the event of a tie the votes from the first 10 ballots received will be used to determine positions.

[Poll #674164]

Initial match reports tomorrow! Get voting - and mind-gaming!