Eurovision 2022

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, Woodinblack said:

 

The BBC is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, so it has to be them.

Top knowledge!

[mcnach]

My two favourite ones did very poorly, not sure what says about my taste

 

(Czech Republic and Norway)

[nekomatic]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

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. ☹️

I imagine the planning process for mounting such a gargantuan event starts pretty much the second the winner’s name leaves the presenters’ lips, so I imagine there are a lot of people at the EBU having absolute kittens right now. After all, they can’t possibly show a lack of faith in Ukraine by entertaining the possibility of an alternative host being necessary…

[TrevorR]

10 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Would the UK have won if all those sympathy votes hadn't gone to the Ukraine? Wouldn't Spain and/or Sweden have picked them up?

A look at the public vote from Saturday suggests probably not…

 

• Spain : 228
• Sweden: 180
• UK: 183

Suggests that, if the 439 votes which went to Ukraine were pro-rata divided along the distribution of the other overall televotes, Sweden would have more or less maintained its 30 point gap to the UK and  Spain would have drawn closer but probably not have had enough votes to make up the 50 vote deficit… 

[TrevorR]

Insert profound thought here: [… …]

Edited May 16, 2022 by TrevorR

[TrevorR]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

My two favourite ones did very poorly, not sure what says about my taste

 

(Czech Republic and Norway)

 

Sounds like you need a conciliatory banana!

 

When they came on I thought, “Oh, this is going to be some sort of super cool Daft Punky thing… oh how I laughed!

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by TrevorR

[dave_bass5]

Ive just watched it all (as much as i could) on replay. GF wanted to watch it. 

Tell me this, were there more than a few artists playing? It seemed to us it was the same 2 or 3 groups doing costume changes most of the time 😂

[NickA]

25 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Ive just watched it all (as much as i could) on replay. GF wanted to watch it. 

Tell me this, were there more than a few artists playing? It seemed to us it was the same 2 or 3 groups doing costume changes most of the time 😂

It was indeed very samey.  Norway and Moldova were the only ones I remember as standing out in any way from the generic pretty person in fancy robes wailing in a language that was probably english.  Oh and Iceland who had a version of the Coors.

 

Our Sam had pretty hair, expensive looking white teeth and a nice enough voice, but I can't recall what his song sounded like.  Kind of air guitar bit at the end? Played by a good session player who will get no credit I guess.

[Newfoundfreedom]

7 hours ago, NickA said:

It was indeed very samey.  Norway and Moldova were the only ones I remember as standing out in any way from the generic pretty person in fancy robes wailing in a language that was probably english.  Oh and Iceland who had a version of the Coors.

 

Our Sam had pretty hair, expensive looking white teeth and a nice enough voice, but I can't recall what his song sounded like.  Kind of air guitar bit at the end? Played by a good session player who will get no credit I guess.

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Newfoundfreedom

[Mykesbass]

On 10/05/2022 at 21:53, Newfoundfreedom said:

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).

This aged well 😏

[Newfoundfreedom]

50 minutes ago, Mykesbass said:

This aged well 😏

 

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. 

[Greg Edwards69]

15 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

The BBC is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, so it has to be them.

According to wikipedia, ITV, STV and S4C are also members under the UKIB umbrella.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Broadcasting_Union#Members

Edited May 17, 2022 by Greg Edwards69

[Greg Edwards69]

17 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

That is down to you not checking, they have actually done really well, have a new album, single and tour out.

 

Personally I am looking forward to next years Eurovision final in Kyiv

 

Allegedly, Zelensky wants to hold it in Mariupol next year.  That would be a humbling spectacle if they could pull it off.

[dave_bass5]

59 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Allegedly, Zelensky wants to hold it in Mariupol next year.  That would be a humbling spectacle if they could pull it off.

I wonder who will win🤔

[Doctor J]

It's gas to see so many who dismiss it as a joke, avoid it, don't like it and haven't listened to the music, still weighing in with their insightful interpretation of the event they didn't watch, simmering with outrage at how unfair it all is 😂

 

The voting, Ukraine aside, was, if anything, less geographically motivated than usual and certainly anything but political. The UK won the jury voting, Ukraine came fourth, behind Spain and Sweden. The juries consist of music industry types and musicians. If there was a grand political vote at play, surely it would be seen in the public voting? However, the UK came 5th in the public vote, even behind Serbia, whose stance on the Ukraine invasion is, at best, lamentable. Boris and Truss have made a lot of noise recent weeks but the UK's reluctance to take in refugees has not been forgotten. Still, surely the UK would at least be ahead of Serbia in public opinion if there was a political slant to the public voting? What has Spain done, politically, to get public votes other than send an attractive, scantily clad lady with a very well choreographed and performed song (whether it is to your tastes or not, it's the kind of thing the young people seem to like) for three minutes of well executed light entertainment? Moldova's bar-room punk polka didn't go anywhere with the juries but the crowd on both Tuesday and Saturday absolutley loved it, so it's no surprise the public voted for it. Serbia's quirky effort was very memorable and well done, for what it was. It's worth mentioning that, even if you didn't like Ukraine's song (if you even heard it), the mixing of traditional and modern music styles, including hip-hop and electronic music, is quite popular in the East. Quite a few former Soviet states are reasserting their cultural history, after years of oppression, and mixing it with modern music. It's a big thing, just listen to Shum by Go_A from last year. Ukraine's song was not without merit.

 

This year, the UK sent a very likeable guy with a great voice and a massive social media following, along with a song which people seemed to enjoy listening to. I mean, it's possible people voted for him because Boris visited Kyiv long after the Premiers of  Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had done the same thing but, let's be honest, it's very, very unlikely. It's a Saturday night light-entertainment show. Occasionally, one must trust Occam's Razor. This is one of them 😉

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

It's gas to see so many who dismiss it as a joke, avoid it, don't like it and haven't listened to the music, still weighing in with their insightful interpretation of the event they didn't watch, simmering with outrage at how unfair it all is 😂

😉

You are acquainted with Internet forums, no? 🤣

[Doctor J]

Indeed 😂

 

Please excuse me, I'm off to let everyone know where Chelsea United went wrong on Saturday in the FA World Championship Final 

[ezbass]

15 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Indeed 😂

 

Please excuse me, I'm off to let everyone know where Chelsea United went wrong on Saturday in the FA World Championship Final 

They selected the wrong bats, anyone who knows nothing could see that, not that I did.

[BassTractor]

4 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

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. 

FWIW, the response in Norway to the British song was one of relief : one was happy that you guys again delivered a potential winner, and one expressed how you were missed after having been so dependable before.
Similar sentiments were reported from Holland.

The "ganging up against us" idea may indeed have been driven by some media as was said, and I'm convinced that that bit at any rate is happening only in your head(s) - not in "Europe".

FWIW2, of the songs I've heard, the British song was second on my list - behind Sweden.

[bassace]

Are double basses out of favour recently. Only one this year - Ukraine - but I’ve seen as many as six in previous years. Only props, I know.

[skankdelvar]

4 hours ago, BassTractor said:

The "ganging up against us" idea may indeed have been driven by some media as was said, and I'm convinced that that bit at any rate is happening only in your head(s) - not in "Europe".

 

Quite so. Rather than assume that everyone's out to do down the UK entry, the British public are usually more likely to concede that certain geographically, linguistically, culturally or politically proximate countries will stick together and scratch each others backs, this while one hand washes the other. Indeed, observation of this fairly harmless tendency was encouraged by the late Mr Terry Wogan, the BBC's Eurovision presenter of choice and an Irishman by birth and upbringing.

 

Mr Wogan's light-hearted reflections on the ins-and-outs of European affinities were taken up by his successor Mr Graham Norton (also an Irishman), though where Mr Wogan would have chuckled quietly when Monaco snuggled up to France it was usually the case that Mr Norton emitted a sound like a steam locomotive's whistle in the fleeting seconds before a tragic collision.

 

No, it's an enduring paradox that the only Brits who truly believe that Europeans hate them are members of two tiny, extremist minorities whose entrenched opinions in respect of European geo-politics and constitutional formation are so diametrically at variance that they actually cancel each other out.
 

Edited May 17, 2022 by skankdelvar
millinery disaster

[mowf]

I admit I really enjoy Eurovision, in past years we’ve had the scoresheets and everything. This year I was working away in Germany so had to watch it on my own, although the people next door to my Airbnb were obviously enjoying it too. Managed to get the YouTube live stream synchronised with the Radio 2 Ken Bruce feed so it wasn’t too bad. I’d heard the UK song a few times and thought it was a bit “meh”, not to mention the fact he says “if I was” when it should be “If I were”. ( I mean come on, we’re one of the few countries singing in our first language, we should at least get it right)…

anyhoo, I had low expectations on the night but Sam’s performance blew me away. I genuinely felt he stole the show and deserved the win, regardless of geopolitics and all the rest, so I was delighted when he won the jury vote. And he seems like a genuinely lovely bloke to boot. Bastard.