This has become a Eurovision blog
May. 22nd, 2021 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12Tonight is the best night of the year, and my blog has been claimed by gyrating guys with saxophones, Ukrainian industrial folk witches, falsetto vampires stuck on pillars, etc.
To get you in the mood, a selection of my favourite songs from years past — specifically, songs that didn't win.
And who do I want to win this year? My heart belongs to the industrial folk witches.
Edited to add that Matthias is now saying that the Portuguese band is now the odds-on favourite to win, and if that happens, I will have to restrain myself from smashing things in frustration. (Please, please, please can we not have a repeat of Salvador 'I'm far too good for Eurovision and all of you are beneath me' Sobral? Please?)
To get you in the mood, a selection of my favourite songs from years past — specifically, songs that didn't win.
And who do I want to win this year? My heart belongs to the industrial folk witches.
Edited to add that Matthias is now saying that the Portuguese band is now the odds-on favourite to win, and if that happens, I will have to restrain myself from smashing things in frustration. (Please, please, please can we not have a repeat of Salvador 'I'm far too good for Eurovision and all of you are beneath me' Sobral? Please?)
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Date: 2021-05-22 04:32 pm (UTC)(does anyone like eurovision ballads? they're usually the least interesting songs...)
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Date: 2021-05-22 04:35 pm (UTC)I don't mind the really over the top power ballads, but what I can't stand are restrained, laid back songs. They don't belong in Eurovision, and it infuriates me when people vote for them!
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Date: 2021-05-22 05:41 pm (UTC)Please, please, please can we not have a repeat of Salvador 'I'm far too good for Eurovision and all of you are beneath me' Sobral?
Ikr? I don't mind eclectic contestants, but you can always tell when someone isn't genuinely participating. One of my least favourite things is discussion about "we should send [already internationally famous mainstream act] to Eurovision!" and it's like, no, they might be good music but they're not Eurovision.
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Date: 2021-05-23 12:06 pm (UTC)I don't mind eclectic contestants, but you can always tell when someone isn't genuinely participating.
Exactly so. I don't mind if a left-field style of music wins, but the performer has to be taking the whole thing seriously, rather than projecting an attitude of being far above it all.
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Date: 2021-05-22 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-23 12:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-23 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-23 12:08 pm (UTC)I think the last time my favourite song won was when it was Conchita for Austria.
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Date: 2021-05-23 09:15 am (UTC)i feel like the votes this year really showcased how the jury votes skew snobbish and the public vote skews, well, public. when ukraine got their public votes I was like SUCK ON THAT, JURIES. ugh. they deserved more imo. so did a lot of others. (ok i genuely think france's song was good - it was like an art piece, I'll never listen to it again but it was good. switzerland though. hmm. a bit boring. but it was in french, so french imperialism in eurovision strikes again...)
anyway i am still mad that keiino didn't win. they were ROBBED. fun story: that was the only year i ever bet money on eurovision and i placed two small bets: 50kr on norway to win and 50kr on iceland to place in the top ten. I got enough return on the second bet that minus the 100kr I placed that I had money left over to pay for takeaway, so yay. i love both of those songs. norway was robbed. (and i was really bored by the dutch entry, which of course went on to win....)
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Date: 2021-05-23 12:14 pm (UTC)My thoughts exactly! And people keep interviewing him and he keeps being snootily contemptuous of Eurovision, and I keep being infuriated!
There is always such a huge gulf between the jury and the public votes (it happened with KEiiNO as well, if I remember), but this year it was particularly stark. It's not so much that the public always votes for the same kind of music, but that they vote for performances with a bit of drama and an intense stage show, whereas the juries always give more points to acts that are stripped back and boring.
I liked the French song (it was so unbelievably French) and I wouldn't have been upset if it won, but I'm much happier with the eventual winner, given we couldn't get Ukraine.
And yes, KEiiNO were totally robbed, they were far better than the boring Dutch song, and I'm so sad that they didn't get through the Norwegian competition to be able to compete again this year. I love that you made money with your bets, though — the Icelandic band was great that year!
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Date: 2021-05-23 08:36 pm (UTC)"unbelievably french" sounds about right! i feel like the french really outfrenched themselves this year. it was kind of amazing, ngl.
I'm not much of a gambler! i don't like losing money for no good reason. so getting takeaway out of it was a win XD
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Date: 2021-05-23 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-24 12:26 pm (UTC)It was an absolute yawning chasm between the jury and public votes this year, making everything very dramatic, as you say.
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Date: 2021-05-23 08:45 pm (UTC)I really loved the French entry because, as you say, it was distilled essence of France. I have missed that kind of cultural difference sitting at home in my suburb.
And I take the two jury votes for Germany as genuinely an insult to the UK. Such a diabolical song, but even that got points. (Of course it *is* a genuine insult to the UK as well as reflecting a mediocre staging, but when Russia and Israel get moderate points it's, um, quite noticeable.) I'm afraid I also felt like there was really, really noticeable anti-Black voting, particularly for male singers. The Dutch song was lovely, and heartfelt, and didn't deserve its pasting. I want to love Eurovision, but it truly is a problematic fave.
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Date: 2021-05-24 12:30 pm (UTC)I noticed the same thing (and like you I thought the Dutch song was lovely). The Swedish song would, quite honestly, have won if it had been sung by a white person. Eurovision is definitely a problematic fave.
I really loved the French entry because, as you say, it was distilled essence of France.
My husband described it as 'so French that it's gone on strike for a retirement age of 53,' which just about sums it up.
As to the Italian winners, they brought exactly the kind of chaotic energy and excess that I like to see in Eurovision, so I'm quite happy that they won.
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Date: 2021-05-23 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-24 12:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-24 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-25 03:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-26 01:51 pm (UTC)I thought it was a really good Eurovision this year. The quality of the performances was high, and there were a good half dozen I would have been happy to see win. My only complaint is that some entrants deserved a lot more points than they got. (Was I the only one who liked Spain?)