Newfoundfreedom

It actually did. If ever further proof were needed that the voting is tactical and political, it was proven this year beyond any shadow of a doubt. Ukraine could have walked on, kicked over a microphone, then left and they'd still have won. England coming second was also, at least in part, political. As they are seen across most of Europe as spearheading the support for Ukraine, which bought them a boat load of temporary good will. Although it's only speculation and there's no way of proving it, I highly suspect that in 'normal times' the UK wouldn't have come anywhere near the top 3. Although in fairness, it didn't hurt that they actually entered a credible act for a change.

To be fair, I think "nice enough voice" is a bit of an understatement. His voice is pretty outstanding. Unlike most of the has beens, or never were's that the UK usually pumps out for Eurovision, he already had a massive following. He was in fact the biggest UK music artist on TikTok up until very recently, when he was overtaken by Ed Sheeran. Don't get me wrong. I can't stand Eurovision, and I absolutely loathe TikTok, but it's definitely the social media platform of the future. He was shared by several top tier, high profile artists on their own pages after covering their songs. So he already had a pretty large global profile even before Eurovision. I have to begrudgingly respect that the guy has, at the very least, put the work in and built a huge following off his own back.

Kyiv has been in my to do list for a few years now, both for a city break and the launch point for the Chernobyl excursion. I'm actually closer to the Ukrainian border than London is to the Scottish border. Wouldn't it be wonderful if things were settled enough for them to actually host it next year? Sadly I can't see it happening. ☹️

That doesn't even make sense. I meant scratch plate. Or is that the same thing? 😆

Only the tort ones.

They could have submitted a recording of a dog farting and they still would have won. Just goes to prove once again that Eurovision is an absolute joke which has nothing to do with talent, and everything to do with politics. A hollow victory at best, and a shame for any musicians that enter and think they have any kind of chance of winning.

Which brings me on to another gem. Sold as seen. Aka kn#ckered!

A good friend of mine is the drummer in a punk band (System of Hate) and he absolutely loves playing Rebellion. I've seen lots of pictures and videos he's posted over the years, and for a Punk festival it really does look rather civilised.

Pah! Physics. 🙄 Mi lugs tell me it's nonsense sithee. 😆

I lived in Lincolnshire for several years, and still occasionally see ads from over that way. One of their favourite phrases is "Need gone" Like that's some incentive to buy. Then they wonder why they get lowball offers. Strange folk in that part of the world. They also say brought when they mean bought which used to absolutely boil my p#ss! Anyway........ Deep breath........ Don't live there any more. 😆

Some people really aren't getting the rules of this are they? 😆

I've always thought the whole tone wood thing was a bit silly to be honest. Possibly justifiable in an acoustic instrument, but as far as I'm concerned makes absolutely no difference in fully electric instruments. It's all a bit emperor's new clothes.

It depends really. There's some logic to that, but if / when it comes to resale, an upgraded cheap bass will still be a cheap bass, whereas a high quality bass may eventually be worth even more than you paid for it. If it's just a tool for the job and you're not worried about value down the line, then upgrading a cheapy is a perfectly viable option as far as I'm concerned. Especially considering the quality of "budget" instruments these days by the likes of Harley Benton and co.

Pick playing definitely has it's place, but I find I can be much more articulate with finger playing. Some of the faster songs I totally like to angle my hand straight down towards the frets and dig in to get that nice clicky clacky sound that I absolutely love. But in some of the slower or more chilled songs, I can almost pluck the strings for that lovely smoothe deep full tone. I just can't get anything like that amount of control with a pick.

I'm not sure what the Ukraine entry is, but it should probably be this. They'd get my vote. https://youtu.be/lu8m5FA2nL8

At least they had a sunroof.

Reasonably safe bet I would imagine, given how political the voting has always been. The reason the Eurovision is such a joke is because it has absolutely nothing to do with talent. Kind of like a continent wide X Factor.

If Klingons played bass.......

(Goes off to Google Laurence Fox) Nope. No idea.

Even I'd have voted for it if I thought it would save the embarrassment of Eurovision. 😆

I'm not sure why the UK even bother to enter any more, considering the voting seems to be tactical and they're pretty much universally loathed by the rest of Europe. (Can't think why).

No need to hammer home the point.