Eurovision 2020 (now featuring Eurovision 2021)

New acts but artists invited back? Sounds contradictory

this is really dumb, it's a song contest not a performer contest, should have found a way to move it online

Xpost obviously not all this years acts will want to do it again next year

As compensation to the Dutch organisers, Afrojack and DJ Tiesto to remix all songs for next year.

Is this certain? The Eurovision account itself hasn’t tweeted anything. The cancellation wouldn’t surprise me but the idea that the same artists with new songs will compete next year is a bit strange.

I think we could have some good fun with an online-only contest, come on now

I imagine something like plug.fm, with dancing bears avatars.

I think it's more like the artists are not banned from entering again, but the songs each year have to be written the year of the contest, so even if they enter the same artist it can't be the same song. Some of you seem to be reading it as mandatory that the same artists appear, which isn't what the tweet says. (NB I could be wrong myself, but this is how I read it.)

I don't know what "supertv" is, but there's no official report about it being cancelled.

(yet, I s'pose)

It's off officially now btw

were there going to be any good songs this year?

Of the ones I‘ve heard (admittedly, not a whole lot) I liked Iceland, Switzerland, and Ukraine most.
Bulgaria had a credible Billie Eilish facsimile, but forgot to bring in the Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares choir as backing vocalists to make it truly special. Also have a soft spot for the Czech entry.

Relistening to these now, I’m giving my 12 points to Ukraine, no question (plus a bonus point for reminding me of Die Wilde Jagd’s “2000 Elefanten” with that flute motif).

You’ll probably be able to hear snippets of the entries (hopefully all 41 of them!) during this placeholder event on 16 May: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision:_Europe_Shine_a_Light

Portugal should have chosen this one instead of the insipid ballad it chose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5znBj_mg10

Ukraine performance on Youtube has massive Eurovision Bingo energy. Good song too.

The way she pronounces "Like CleopatRRRRRa" is pretty cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0VzBCvO1Wk

Q. Is Denmark's "entry" as hatefully smug as every year? [except for the walking Viking dudes, they were fine]
A. Why yes it is

That Ukrainian entry is a hacked and stitched together weird beast of things which don't fit at all, and I love it.

thanks to this revive I've become totally smitten with Switzerland's francophone operatic ballad. I already posted a link to the studio version, this is him singing it live with just piano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWeARr2M3M
Gjon's Tears • Répondez-moi (Acoustic Version)

A solid dix points from me.

Happy Eurovision day :(

To keep me company I made a playlist of my own favourites over the years, if you too agree that "I Love You Mi Vida" and "Lost and Forgotten" are all-time classics you may find something to enjoy here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL17189D58E7546917

good list!

watching this warming-up show from last December - the amazingness of “Fuego” (at the end, just before the “Euphoria” finale, but upstaging Loreen) remains undiminished.

it hurts not to have the real thing this year...

oops, here’s the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHOezYTDpEY

anyone watching?

Yes. 30 seconds per song and it still takes 2 hours.

“former Eurovision participants offer their thoughts on coronavirus” is not the absolute pinnacle of entertainment but I guess I’ll take what I can get

Prison
Release Me
My Last Breath
Still Breathing

"In these difficult times" performed by a continent's worth of artists.

Still I guess it'll do. Now they're teasing ABBA too

It's either Benny or Bjorn.

"They don't show up much these days" -- I think Björn shows up whenever anyone asks. He could've given us some news about the new ABBA tracks at least!

Benny has been on TV a lot in the last few years as well.

I wish they'd explain why there's not Eurovision this year

Graham Norton's either been stockpiling fake tan or he's got a sunbed in his lockdown house.

Release Me sounds like that Sheryl Crow Bond theme with Portishead Live in NYC backing

(Belgium)

Had a joint watching party over FB but we hadn't realised the TV show wasn't going to be the actual songs, had to hurriedly move to youtube. Ukraine won our 12 points, but Azerbaijan were really close behind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIvaeu6Oxzc

I'm team finland

UK Eurovision 2021 news: Same guy as last year. New song. No you can't hear it yet. No-one cares.

From the still I was expecting Finland to be proper metal, not crabcore revival. Not particularly into it, but it is fun.

Ukraine are also entering the same act again, I think last year's song was a bit better but I don't see any other country topping this for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDeMfL8Ib9A

love this

«Шум» is great, didn’t know it was another Eurovision entry! “Solovey” was my favourite last year.

"Solovey" was great, this is decent, don't think I could make it through a full Go_A album though

I’m all in for this one as well. imagine this mashing (and moshing!) up the place in a live situation - that wail at the end takes it next level

won’t get thru the semis probably tho. the Solovey love wasn’t very wide-spread last year

You reckon? Difficult for me to tell as everyone I know adored that one, but I realise my friends probably do not make up the bulk of the Eurovision audience.

Also, I'm guessing the plan is for Eurovision proper to go ahead this year? Most places seem to be doing better than the UK and even we seem to be managing to roll out vaccinations, so I guess it may be doable?

it will def go ahead, but most likely scenario will be performances without audience, either in Rotterdam or (more likely) beamed in from all the participating countries.

https://eurovision.tv/story/eurovision-2021-determined-yet-realistic-plans-for-may

(this was early Feb, but the socially-distanced audience option is going to be ditched sooner or later)

Thanks, bc.

out of the rest of the entries that are out now I like Israel’s “Set Me Free” by Eden Alene best - it’s one of several Duannabees (who’d have thunk?):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opmTs9uvENI

favourite line so far: “there ain’t no Apocalypse as long as you’re here on my lips” (© Benny Cristo, Czech Republic, 2021)

worst by some considerable distance is the German entry, which pre-emptively out-Danishes the Danes with the offensively twee “I Don’t Feel Hate” (good for you, I do). it’s probably all very wink-wink ironic, which makes it all the more punchable. here’s hoping the Danes will withdraw in admiration. they couldn’t possibly bottom this.

the portuguese song had more of a guitar solo (= unusually much of a guitar solo in this context) (but not in a horrible "the darkness" way) (i did not take the portuguese song to be camp and retro-winky btw)

there's no good reason to like graham continuity-wogan in this role obv but his irritating repeat joke abt metal as "angry music" was especially smug and dullardish (i enjoyed how crestfallen and disgusted he was at the outcome for the UK, it quite took the joy out of his perky-cheeky shtick lol) (good)

Norton sounding crushed was almost as fun as the Swiss lad looking crushed

swiss lad had a genuinely gorgeous impressive voice spoiled by an over-fey (tho probably sincere) performance and a not-great song gussied by by production melodramatics

probably unrepeatable but the points reversals as the popular vote came in were genuinely amazing theatre (as well as a sustained passage of rubbing salt into the uk wound lol lol lol)

i'd like to think if you could vote for your own nation the UK would still have finished nul point

there are 39 juries and 39 countries of popular vote. That means that in 78 different races, the UK didn't manage to score 10th place or better in any of those. That's actually quite an achievement.

xpost Waiting for the first negative points entry from them.

the uk entry had colossal entireled and yet half-assed will-this-do energy

this is why it was so much worse than the german entry, which was skilled and laser-focused trolling (and knowingly achieved its intention)

that's right

yes, but I would prefer to watch something half-arsed, bland and crap than be trolled with some of the most deliberately awful music / visuals I've ever encountered.

https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/article20658489.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_2.jpg

this is my favourite post-mortem take, if we really want to display our contempt to Europe let's have JHB take over next year.

https://i.imgur.com/7ztJK9e.png

hangover or still pissed? you decide

germany got its points from juries [2 from austria, 1 from romania] which is to say from professional game-recognise-game acknowledgment of the deliberate deliver of the intended effect

televoters agreed across the board with camaraderie ("it may be a skill but fvck it it offends me")

I suspect the Austrian / Romanian judges may have thought "hey this isn't for me but it's the kind of shit the idiotic public seem to like" -whereas

yes, but I would prefer to watch something half-arsed, bland and crap than be trolled with some of the most deliberately awful music / visuals I've ever encountered.

― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length)

Nah. I hated Germany with a passion but not as much as I hated Portugal.

UK needs to go drill or go home, imo.

Closest UK came to a point was Polish jury (11th). Managed to clock up twenty-one 25th+26th finishes across the 78 polls. EVERY juror on the Israel panel placed UK last, as did the Israel public vote.

Two points from Austrian jury for Germany mostly because of "Juror A" (is that you, Arnie?) and their lunatic 5th-place vote.

We need a deep dive on how the various juries are made up -- i'm guessing it's approached differently by different countries -- but if they do vote so as to prdict and accord with the popular voter then they are not doing their jobs IMO. The divergence is a strength: it amplifies and dramatises the gulf between how those within the craft (music-biz ppl including musicians) assess music and how the general public asssesses it.

also divergence makes the reversals of the final stretch super-exciting

UK panel on Lithuania: 22nd, 13th, 21st, 20th, 25th. UK televote: 1st.

👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

lithuania was one of my faves.
i always enjoy the switcheroo with the public votes, it looked worryingly like that wasn't going to happen last night at the start

Lithuania was the best but I'm not shocked Gary Barlow didn't get it

Lithuania overdid the quirky but the song was good.

Don't have strong feelings about Italy either way, but if feels like one of the least catchy winners in recent memory? I can hum a line or two of pretty much every song that won in the past 15 years (ok maybe not Jamala) but yeah I have nothing for "Zitti e Buoni".

“1944” has a strong hook tho:

Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım

(this is not snark btw)

'1944' is an awesome song, didn't remember it being unpopular on here?

yes, it is awesome

it is awesome! I just couldn't remember how it goes

Nah. I hated Germany with a passion but not as much as I hated Portugal.

https://scandipop.co.uk/norways-eurovision-2022-song-subwoolfer-give-wolf-banana/

We have a new thread!

Eurovision Song Contest 2022

ah, ty