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August 5

Football before the Olympics

Why were there two days worth of football before the opening of the Olympics this year? †Dismas†|^(talk) 01:36, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In part because there is not enough time or venues to get all of the matches played in the days between the opening and closing ceremonies. This is not a unique situation. Many of the Olympic games in the last decade or so have had events that were started before the opening ceremonies. MarnetteD|Talk 01:58, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If you read Football at the Summer Olympics you'll learn a lot about the event. If you follow links from there to individual tournaments in past Olympiads, you can confirm what MarnetteD has speculated on; at the past several Olympics, the tournaments have begun before the opening ceremonies. See 2012_Summer_Olympics#Calendar, 2008_Summer_Olympics#Calendar etc. The football tournament has traditionally started two days early. --Jayron 32 02:55, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2014 Winter Olympics#Calendar, also some events the day before the opening. And in some past years the hockey started before the opening. All to accommodate the crowded schedule. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:06, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Elite football teams always have at least three days between matches to give the players resting time. The Olympic tournament has six matches for the semifinalists and wouldn't fit after the opening unless all teams only had matches on day 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 (until knocked out). It's far better for television to spread out the matches but this requires more days (more than three matches between some matches must also be popular for the players). They probably want the opening ceremony on a Friday for viewer interest but don't want to extend the whole Olympics by a week or decreasse the number of football teams/matches. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:53, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Note that it isn't just football. According to [1], some archery rounds were also held before the opening ceremony. In fact a world record was set before the ceremony [2]. It depends on the demands on the venues, rest time required etc. I think the only requirement is that no medals are awarded before the opening ceremony. In the past at least, this was also the case for the Commonwealth games. Nil Einne (talk) 18:23, 7 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Olympic Charter, Bye-law to Rule 32 [3]: "The duration of the competitions of the Olympic Games shall not exceed sixteen days unless otherwise approved by the relevant IF and the IOC Executive Board, in which case some competitions and preliminaries may be organised prior to the Opening Ceremony." The Winter Olympics were only 13 days until 1988, but some ice hockey matches were before the opening ceremony. [4] The 1992 charter said "The duration of the Games of the Olympiad and of the Olympic Winter Games shall not exceed sixteen days, including the day of the opening ceremony. If no competition is scheduled for Sundays or public holidays, the duration of the Olympic Games may, with the approval of the IOC Executive Board, be extended accordingly." Nevertheless the 1992 Summer Olympics#Calendar was 17 days, with football the day before the opening ceremony, which was on a Saturday. jnestorius^(talk) 23:18, 8 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Defining additional vocals

What defines additional vocals in music? I think it just means vocals from another vocalist(s) in addition to vocals from main vocalist. Planet Star 04:02, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See Backing vocalist, which is a synonym. --Jayron 32 13:21, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]