Eurovision Song Contest

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

1 hour ago, Romão said:

My wife watches this with the interest and zeal I watch a World Cup final

 

I have equal interest and zeal for both - none.  Although Eurovision can be a lot of fun with a larger group of friends.

[Brónach 1,302]

it's not the same without Daði

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

Despite being (apparently) the target audience (gays! - joke, kinda), it's never really been my thing but I've watched several finals on TV with my partner and friends in the last few years and can appreciate it for a bit of fun, although I would struggle to pick most of the songs out of a lineup. Funnily enough, I'd probably enjoy Eurovision from, say, 20 or more years ago as most of the entries seem to be (over)produced in a very similar way that makes them less distinctive than they might be. I can't say the winner especially blew me away, I would have either picked Belgium (Boy George wants his hat back) or Finland (puffy sleeves Cha Cha Cha!).

 

Aside from the UK pissing off its European neighbours quite often (sorry everyone), our entries are always just a bit too safe, we never send anyone ridiculous (OK, so maybe not Croatia ridiculous ;-) nor does our entry ever have any kind of folk element that many other countries do (not sure if British folk music would work in a modern pop song but still).

 

I enjoyed the interval act (usually the best bit) although it didn't match Mika last year and some of the choices for the Liverpool song book were odd to say the least... and no Ferry 'Cross the Mersey. It might be cheesy but it's about the most Liverpudlian song ever.

 

Given that next year will be in Sweden and it coincides with ABBA's win being 50 years ago, I'm guessing Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid's agents have already been contacted...

[Thor 7,521]

Skipped the songs themselves, and just watched the points between midnight and 1, while in bed. To be fair, if I'd been in Oslo and there had been a Eurovision party to attend, I would probably have watched the whole thing, but I wasn't. Great public jump for Norway there after failing with most of the juries. It's an OK song -- vikingpop with a hint of pirate music a la Zimmer's Jack Sparrow theme. The winner song didn't do much for me.

[Jurassic Shark 12,091]

I've only heard about 70% or the songs, but among them I think it was a deserved win.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

I read a comparison with Norway and the PotC theme somewhere else, and tbh, I don't hear it. I like the song - very catchy.

 

I was extremely disappointed that we didn't do better, but I think a lot of songs this year were memorable and we just got a bit lost. Plus, something I casually noticed but didn't realise others had too, is that Muller's microphone was set very low such that we could barely hear her voice. I also think our staging was utter pants, and that matters a lot.

 

My top favourites after a bit of reflection are Estonia, Iceland, Poland, Israel and Norway. Armenia's is sort of nice. Honourable mention to Georgia.

 

Loreen's song was ok but I don't think it deserved to win any more than ours did.

[Jurassic Shark 12,091]

2 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Given that next year will be in Sweden and it coincides with ABBA's win being 50 years ago, I'm guessing Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid's agents have already been contacted...

 

I'm sure their avatars will make an appearance. 

 

Perhaps Bjørn will make a new song that's actually good?

[GerateWohl 4,373]

There were a few good songs in recent years, but they always lose.

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

2 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

I read a comparison with Norway and the PotC theme somewhere else, and tbh, I don't hear it. I like the song - very catchy.

I actually thought the opening phrase of the chorus of the Norwegian song sounded like Giacchino's Dr Strange theme before segueing into something else that I can't quite put my finger on. It only sounds like POTC in the sense that it's that kind of syncopated/hornpipe type music, but not much beyond that. I did quite enjoy it though, definitely in the top 5.

 

2 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

 

I was extremely disappointed that we didn't do better, but I think a lot of songs this year were memorable and we just got a bit lost. Plus, something I casually noticed but didn't realise others had too, is that Muller's microphone was set very low such that we could barely hear her voice. I also think our staging was utter pants, and that matters a lot.

 

Loreen's song was ok but I don't think it deserved to win any more than ours did.

 

Agreed about the British entry's mic being quite low. I'm sure our entries have had higher instances of technical problems (like the singers who were horribly out of tune because they couldn't hear the backing track) than other countries and generally uninteresting staging, as it was this year. It boils down to my earlier comment that we don't go for ridiculous so ours looks kinda tame and boring compared to everyone else - the winning song's staging wasn't exactly the most exciting, but you still remember the waffle iron (as Mel Giedroyc amusingly described it) and her writhing around underneath - we were just hoping the rigging would hold to be fair. However, agree that it wasn't a super memorable song over and above any of the others. I got the feeling that the live audience were willing the Finnish to win, but because the professional votes for Sweden were so much higher so the audience vote wasn't enough to sway it.

 

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I'm sure their avatars will make an appearance. 

 

Perhaps Bjørn will make a new song that's actually good?

They probably will! ABBAtars.

 

My other half really likes their new album but it hasn't really grabbed me, although some of the songs are pretty good. Then again, many of the less well known ABBA songs are actually pretty mediocre and take the cheese level to whole new heights. We have the boxed set of all of their original albums but I still mostly listen to ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold curated as playlists (with a few songs swapped out compared to the actual Gold albums). Then again, one of my favourite ABBA songs is I Am the City, which remained unreleased until years later.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

This year's crop is out. I'm finding bits to like in San Marino (sort of), Norway and Austria. Don't like ours at all, but we're generally rubbish at this.

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

This year's crop is out. I'm finding bits to like in San Marino (sort of), Norway and Austria. Don't like ours at all, but we're generally rubbish at this.

 

 

If only they could have got Morrissey to do it (before he turned into a massive bellend).

 

I can’t say I like Eurovision much (unusual amongst my people, the gays…) but the U.K. never does well as it doesn’t embrace the cheese or over the topness enough.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

The UK is uniquely shit at choosing good songs most of the time, as you say finding neither the cheesiness nor the zaniness.

 

I don't really watch the show unless there are significant numbers of songs that I really like (such as last year). But it's still a nice way to get a curated window into current music on the continent and I've gone on to buy full albums from a handful of artists I've discovered.