Eurovision Uberthread

[Green Tribe]

:o yeah sorry Gerrit, forgot you are from Belgium :o :o But he was awful..... same in Ireland and Britain, it tends to destroy your career, or makes u lack creditability if u sing at eurovision so......doesn't happen
for the good ones

[mypost]

Morning Ireland this morning and they McCauls are on saying it's the voting system - the same lame excuse as the last three years about Eastern European countries voting for each other....

If that's the case, well how come all these fookin countries were in the bloody semi final in the first place? Surely they'd be voted through in the main event and the whole semi would be "western" countries.

Shít song, shít format to pick the song and the singers, but RTE make too much money out of it so not willing to go back to the old ways, and then use their "news" programmes to propogate the myth about voting. Afterall didn't seem to effect Israel too much last night.


The McCauls are a bunch of hypocrites for whinging about the voting system, after our similiar voting system got them the ticket to Kiev. Whinging about the voting system didn't stop Mickey Harte getting 13th in 2003, which qualified us directly for the 2004 Eurovision final.

We create our own problems in Eurovision. We still haven't learned the lessons we recieved from last year's thrashing in Turkey. We knew that Eastern countries were going to vote for each other, we knew that our song had to be decent this year, and we knew that our Eurovision representatives had to be able to sing, dance, dress appropriately for the occasion, and have a stage presence in order for us to do well, considering that we don't have the benefit of many neighbours to vote for us.

The McCauls appearance on stage was, in a word, awful. In Eurovision, you don't dress as if you are going to the local shop to buy milk. You are performing for a massive worldwide tv audience. Therefore you dress accordingly. You don't wear trainers, and as for Donna, I accept she's no oil painting, but when I saw her on stage, I thought, "Christ, where's the dress?" Even though the dress looked like it had been cut out of a magazine catalogue, it would have looked way, way better than trousers. (They always do). Almost all of the female singers wear skirts/dresses while performing in Eurovision, so why can't she? What's the point of bringing a dress to Eurovision, if you're not going to wear it? :mad: If she doesn't want to wear it, she shouldn't have entered the competition at all. You must make some effort when it comes to your appearance in Eurovision, female artists especially. In the final, we're going to see many, many, gorgeous, glamourous girls from around Europe who will show the RTE Eurovision Wardrobe Department, how you should dress for such a stage, in front of such a vast audience.

Our ESC representatives, couldn't dance. More worringly, Joseph couldn't sing! If that's the case, what's he there for? How many lyrics of the song did he sing alone? Not more than a couple, at most. If he can't sing, then he's effectively just a backing singer. If he can't dance to a pop song, he shouldn't be on the stage, period! Not good enough!

Last year's winner, was a professional composer, performer, and dancer, selected internally by the the Ukrainian state broadcaster NTU, who went on an extensive promotional campaign around Europe getting herself recognized, gaining publicity in order to gain votes and points. NTU put together an eye-catching performance on the night for the Eurovision viewers, and hey presto, they won! In contrast RTE use a corrupt selection process, which sends a bunch of time-wasters who have never performed in public before, to sing a crap song in front of a massive European TV audience, don't promote them or their song elsewhere, mess up the performance on the night, then stare in amazement when it all goes pear-shaped as the votes received for Ireland from other countries, are not enough to earn us enough points on the night.

The post-mortem regarding our disasterous Eurovision performance will continue long after the 2005 show is over. The Irish, and the Dutch are vehemently whinging about the voting system used. But that's the way it is, and as the state broadcasters around Europe need the money that the televoting system generates, that's the way it's going to stay.

Ultimately, whinging about the voting system used, even though it's crap, is a cop out. The truth is, if you don't do your homework beforehand, and don't prepare properly for the contest when you know what you're up against, then you can't complain when the result doesn't go your way. Until RTE learn their lessons from other Irish failures in recent contests, and take the contest seriously, it may be some time before we see Ireland in a Eurovision Grand Final again. :mad:

[Green Tribe]

ok, fcuking knackered, going to bed in two mins.. have to be up at 08:30 :eek:

greece won, wedgied a dancer, WTF? ok, hated the chorus, "you are my one,you're my number one :eek: " fcuk off! oh well, just glad did not have to sit through "love can make you cheat, love can make you lie, love can make you fly to the sky, love can make you pick your nose, love can make you scratch your arse" :rolleyes: from Ireland. :mad: wanted norway to win, or malta, switzerland or bosnia,n mais non!!


Merde!

Until Greece 2006, we say to Eurovision and those fcuking awful presenters au revoir................... :D

[mypost]

For the record, Ireland finished 14th in the semi-final, with 53 points.

Best song won this year's contest, for a change. Helena's song blew the competition away, beating Mary Harney, sorry Malta, by 38 points. :D The political songs from Ukraine, and Russia, failed to qualify for next year's final.

Who are we up against in the semis next year?? The usual crowd, consisting of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Turkey, Cyprus, Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia, who are relegated to the semi final for the first time. And we all know how those countries vote, don't we?

I think we have to fast forward to the 2007 Eurovision semi final already. :(

[CollegeTillIDie]

mypost

If next yearś Irish entry does not gö on a scmoozefest before the contest shaking hands and kissing babies in all these countries we can forget ever being in a final again. It is now like a European general election campaign.
Donna and Joe did not do this and therefore were ignored. Thats the sad fact of life. We should ask Tony Blairś campaign manager to organize the schmoozefest. :rolleyes:

[CollegeTillIDie]

my post

Just read your earlier comment about presentation. Spot on girl.
However if we are relying on having gorgeous looking singers with good dress sense then we are sean bhean bhocht... I mean come on we are Irish for christ sakes...do you know any singers who are even remotely gorgeous that would enter the thing? Apart from Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Enya , Andrea Corr and Samantha Mumba there are no gorgeous female singers in the country. This is Ireland we are talking about, letś get a reality check!

And none of the above would be seen dead at the Eurovision song Contest! :p



Who are we up against in the semis next year?? The usual crowd, consisting of Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Turkey, Cyprus, Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia, who are relegated to the semi final for the first time. And we all know how those countries vote, don't we?

I think we have to fast forward to the 2007 Eurovision semi final already. :(

According to what I can recall of the voting the Serbs came 7th how the heck are they still in the semis next year? :confused:

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ok all the Ex-Yugoslavia countries tend to vote for each other.
The trick is to counteract that... and here is the best possible way to do this.
1/ INvite a band from there to represent Ireland in next yearś contest!

Now you might ask how we could do this and who would they be ?

The best band in Serbia come from Belgrade and are called the Orthodox Celts. They play Irish folk music already and write original songs in the Irish folk music genre. They sing in English which is one of our official languages so thatś a problem solved. They are hugely popular in Slovenia, Croatia , Bosnia, Macedonia as well as Serbia /Montenegro. All those countries would vote for the Orthodox Celts instead of each other.
You would be guaranteed 12 points from all the Balkans ex-Yugoslavia states and a clear path to the final! ;)

[Green Tribe]

Sounds good CTID but maybe that group would not lower themselves to compete in the eurovision, afraid of destroying their career.... :rolleyes:

KT (shockingly hungover and just surviving on 3 hrs sleep :( :eek: :p )

P.s I am delighted for Norway, the nation of nil points, fair play to them for going for broke and risking it with a totally different song, I loved it and their dress, make-up was sooo funny. Germany came last, they were bad...

[Poor Student]

The best band in Serbia come from Belgrade and are called the Orthodox Celts. They play Irish folk music already and write original songs in the Irish folk music genre. They sing in English which is one of our official languages so thatś a problem solved. They are hugely popular in Slovenia, Croatia , Bosnia, Macedonia as well as Serbia /Montenegro. All those countries would vote for the Orthodox Celts instead of each other.
You would be guaranteed 12 points from all the Balkans ex-Yugoslavia states and a clear path to the final! ;)

I actually thought about us using someone from there too. But those lads? I saw them on Serbian TV one day (or possibly Montenegran) and they didn't seem too great. They look like something you'd expect to see in Frasiers in their Celtic tops and all! By the way the "Serbs" last night were actually Montenegran which I guess explains why the vote came from Podgorica this year and not Belgrade.

If you look at the last 3 years (never really watched before this as the gf got me watching it) the winners have kind of won on the sex appeal. Ok I myself don't think the Turk or Ruslana were attractive but they were pretty sexual acts and the Greek was quite leggy. With all due respect to our females posters here I don't know if Ireland could compete in this aspect anyway. :o

[Green Tribe]

I actually thought about us using someone from there too. But those lads? I saw them on Serbian TV one day (or possibly Montenegran) and they didn't seem too great. They look like something you'd expect to see in Frasiers in their Celtic tops and all! By the way the "Serbs" last night were actually Montenegran which I guess explains why the vote came from Podgorica this year and not Belgrade.

If you look at the last 3 years (never really watched before this as the gf got me watching it) the winners have kind of won on the sex appeal. Ok I myself don't think the Turk or Ruslana were attractive but they were pretty sexual acts and the Greek was quite leggy. With all due respect to our females posters here I don't know if Ireland could compete in this aspect anyway. :o

Yeah, the 50 year old Danish Olsen brothers were so sexy, that's why they won.... :rolleyes: :D

Yeah generally sex appeal always gets you the vote, even a male entrant did it well last year-the lovely Sakis from Greece :D Came third, but still good for a guy. You can't say that Ireland is at a disadvantage cos we don't have sexy women, like they only exist in the rest of Europe, who won Miss World last year? Rosanna Davidson was it not? Very pretty lady, wonder does she sing? The difference with Ireland is, they (usually ) put talent (musical) before looks etc, whereas most of the other countries will put looks first,as they know it is 80% presentation and face, arse etc. Even in the voting rounds, when visiting each country, all other countries had a really pretty young lady, dress etc, apart from maybe Poland, Germany(gay guy). But Ireland had Dana (old) UK had that ol hag from bucks fizz.

There are plenty of pretty sexy people in Ireland, talented as well, but the public or a jury will not send them...only Linda Martin, fair play, had the guts to say what was true, not nice but true; the McCauls have an image problem, they are not for eurovision, they and the RTE panel were offended by this but it was true, a brother and sister singing about love....not so easy on the eye either....nil points

There were plenty of good looking girls in the early stages of YAS but they were turned down by the panel or the public. joe and donna were picked by the panel after singing 'amazing grace' :rolleyes: hardly eurovision material...

[Poor Student]

You can't say that Ireland is at a disadvantage cos we don't have sexy women, like they only exist in the rest of Europe, who won Miss World last year? Rosanna Davidson was it not? Very pretty lady, wonder does she sing?

Desperately overrated imo. There's plenty of better looking girls in UCD let alone the country. When I was in Slovenia last summer there was a weekly programme on fellow EU states on the radio where they go through stereotypes and things. One of the stereotypes of the Irish was that we're ugly. :eek: Something I never knew. Hard as it may be to admit we may be challenged in the looks department. :p

[Green Tribe]

Desperately overrated imo. There's plenty of better looking girls in UCD let alone the country. When I was in Slovenia last summer there was a weekly programme on fellow EU states on the radio where they go through stereotypes and things. One of the stereotypes of the Irish was that we're ugly. :eek: Something I never knew. Hard as it may be to admit we may be challenged in the looks department. :p

That must be an east european thing, cos in Poland they have the belief that people from islands (eg ireland, britain etc) are ugly (they are generally talking about women, cos over there the woman has to be pretty, an ugly woman is real bad, man can be ugly but not woman. :rolleyes: If we believed stereotypes, then we'd be a narrow-minded people. Out of Ireland and Britain I think Scottish people are the most challenged in the looks dept.
Maybe you're just not too supportive of us Irish ladies cos you have a Slovenian chica yourself. Maybe she is really pretty, but I tell you, east european men i say nie, dziekuje! :eek: . I have a stereotype that east european women look and dress like hookers, and a lot of them do.

[Poor Student]

That must be an east european thing, cos in Poland they have the belief that people from islands (eg ireland, britain etc) are ugly (they are generally talking about women, cos over there the woman has to be pretty, an ugly woman is real bad, man can be ugly but not woman. :rolleyes: If we believed stereotypes, then we'd be a narrow-minded people. Out of Ireland and Britain I think Scottish people are the most challenged in the looks dept.
Maybe you're just not too supportive of us Irish ladies cos you have a Slovenian chica yourself. Maybe she is really pretty, but I tell you, east european men i say nie, dziekuje! :eek: . I have a stereotype that east european women look and dress like hookers, and a lot of them do.

God I hate to generalise but there are a lot of awful looking yokes around here. No offence to yourself or any other female posters here (and you're welcome to lynch me :D ) as there are decent looking women here too but I don't see many of a particularly stunning quality of say the one from Israel who could catch a continent. Actually she isn't Slovenian in ethnicity and I must say it was ironic to hear them call us ugly because they are an awful looking nation of people. I must say having been through a few countries on the continent the frequency of pretty women is greater there than Ireland and Britain.

nie, dziekuje=? :p Looks Polish. ;)

[Green Tribe]

God I hate to generalise but there are a lot of awful looking yokes around here. No offence to yourself or any other female posters here (and you're welcome to lynch me ) as there are decent looking women here too but I don't see many of a particularly stunning quality of say the one from Israel who could catch a continent. Actually she isn't Slovenian in ethnicity and I must say it was ironic to hear them call us ugly because they are an awful looking nation of people. I must say having been through a few countries on the continent the frequency of pretty women is greater there than Ireland and Britain.

nie, dziekuje=? :p Looks Polish. ;)

yes, is Polish :D well done.

i know what you're saying about the rest of europe, i think maybe they get more sun than us, which makes people 'look' healthy(when young) Sun, within reason is healthy, so i think their skin always seems nicer than ours. With the exception of Gerrit ;) most of us would agree a person with a light natural tan looks better. Not these sunbed eejits though, with their orange faces :rolleyes: Ok, the girl from Israel might not look as good without all that make-up and bronzer and her blonde hair dye, she looked very israeli to me, but typical eurovision, israeli's know what to send, not going to send a fat ugly one, which i am sure exists.... Brave of Malta to send a bigger lady, i was happy she did well, actually was she not second? so you can't say sex appeal was doing her good. She had an excellent voice and i am glad some people actually recognized.

[Poor Student]

i know what you're saying about the rest of europe, i think maybe they get more sun than us, which makes people 'look' healthy(when young) Sun, within reason is healthy, so i think their skin always seems nicer than ours. With the exception of Gerrit ;) most of us would agree a person with a light natural tan looks better. Not these sunbed eejits though, with their orange faces :rolleyes: Ok, the girl from Israel might not look as good without all that make-up and bronzer and her blonde hair dye, she looked very israeli to me, but typical eurovision, israeli's know what to send, not going to send a fat ugly one, which i am sure exists.... Brave of Malta to send a bigger lady, i was happy she did well, actually was she not second? so you can't say sex appeal was doing her good. She had an excellent voice and i am glad some people actually recognized.

I hate to say it but I think the Maltese lady's appearance was actually so off what people would usually send she caught the eye and that may have in facted helped her. She may have even gotten the sympathy vote for being large (I'm a cynical bassa aren't I? :eek: ). Undoubtably in my opinion she had the best voice but I reckon the song itself was not that good.

Also I am not so sure it's just the tan, never been to Scandinavia myself but I've heard people raving about Nordic beauties.

This has turned into the Euro totty thread. I blame you Kerr's Tribe. :eek: :D

[Green Tribe]

I hate to say it but I think the Maltese lady's appearance was actually so off what people would usually send she caught the eye and that may have in facted helped her. She may have even gotten the sympathy vote for being large (I'm a cynical bassa aren't I? :eek: ). Undoubtably in my opinion she had the best voice but I reckon the song itself was not that good.

Also I am not so sure it's just the tan, never been to Scandinavia myself but I've heard people raving about Nordic beauties.

This has turned into the Euro totty thread. I blame you Kerr's Tribe. :eek: :D

Is that not cos the rumour is that the Scandinavians are like rabbits :eek: :D ? I don't like blond hair, so going by the stereotype of them...no thanks

[Green Tribe]

Good idea (Ireland exempt as did not qualify from semi-final ha -ha ;) )

Based on looks.......
(Please note this is not a history list of conquests :D )

Spain 12 points
Greece 10 points
Italy 8 points
Portugal 6 points
Croatia 4 points
France 2 points(equal)
Germany 2 points(equal)


:eek: :o

Er.forgot what thread i was on, but never mind! :rolleyes:

[Poor Student]

Is that not cos the rumour is that the Scandinavians are like rabbits :eek: :D ? I don't like blond hair, so going by the stereotype of them...no thanks

You'll have this merged into your totty thread at this rate creating the biggest thread in internet history. ;)

[Poor Student]

Er.forgot what thread i was on, but never mind! :rolleyes:

That's quite ok, I should have known never to mention totty in your presence. I predict some of the other girls to get whiff of this thread and and 80 pages to ensue discussing the merits of European male totty. :D

[Green Tribe]

That's quite ok, I should have known never to mention totty in your presence. I predict some of the other girls to get whiff of this thread and and 80 pages to ensue discussing the merits of European male totty. :D

:D :eek: :D

[mypost]

my post

Just read your earlier comment about presentation. Spot on girl. :confused:


There were as expected, plenty of very beautiful women in this year's final, for us lads to admire, unlike last year. So who won Mypost's vote for Eurovision Beauty Queen 2005? There were so many contenders that it was like going into a sweet shop. How about Celo (Albania), Podalskaya (Russia), Paparizou (Greece), Maimon (Israel), Javine (UK), Gracia (Germany), Szilvia (Hungary), Ortal (France), or how about any of the 3 Bosnian girls? I think there were loads of blokes who wanted to call them, after their performance! :D I'd have to give it to Helena Paparizou from Greece this year. Best-looking girl, with the best song to boot. :)

Alternatively, Donna McCaul was a contender for the Barbara Dex award. But, believe it or not, there was a worse-dressed artist than her this year. Marian Van De Wal representing Andorra. How would you describe her outfit? So Andorra win something for a change! :rolleyes:

Back on topic, another major reason why we struggle in Eurovision these days, is because many of the Continentals don't like our music. Most of our famous music artists specialise in singing ballads, many of them cover versions. Most of our Eurovision entries in the past have been ballads. As a nation of balladeers, it was no surprise that we gave our 12 points to one of only 3 ballads in this year's Eurovision final, Latvia. The UK sent an R'n'B artist to Eurovision this year, the kind of music that sells well in Britain. The problem is, the continentals don't listen to that kind of music very often. Over there, they prefer to listen to pop songs, which get more airplay. So, those songs dominate the field at Eurovision. It appears that the low scores for the UK and Ireland in recent years at the contest, say more about the quality of music around today in those countries, than about the quality of music performed in Eurovision.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ok then given that R n B did not work for the British this year we can forget about sending Samantha Mumba even if she is the best looking woman in Ireland (when she is in the country).

Maybe we should send a band of 4 men, who are over 40 with loud guitars and a boyish looking drummer .. could it possibly work? might be one way to defeat the bloc voting. After all they have topped the British Charts and the USA Charts, this would be a challenge for them :D


I hate to say it but I think the Maltese lady's appearance was actually so off what people would usually send she caught the eye and that may have in facted helped her. She may have even gotten the sympathy vote for being large (I'm a cynical bassa aren't I? :eek: ). Undoubtably in my opinion she had the best voice but I reckon the song itself was not that good. :eek: :D

The Maltese Lady got so many votes because Mediterranean European beauties turn into her after they marry and have kids . :p All the Mammas of Europe voted for one of their own. As regards the subject of Totti as he still plays for AS Roma it is still relevant to foot.ie :D


Donna McCaul was a contender for the Barbara Dex award. But, believe it or not, there was a worse-dressed artist than her this year. Marian Van De Wal representing Andorra. How would you describe her outfit? So Andorra win something for a change! :rolleyes:

Back on topic, another major reason why we struggle in Eurovision these days, is because many of the Continentals don't like our music. Most of our famous music artists specialise in singing ballads, many of them cover versions. Most of our Eurovision entries in the past have been ballads. As a nation of balladeers, it was no surprise that we gave our 12 points to one of only 3 ballads in this year's Eurovision final, Latvia. The UK sent an R'n'B artist to Eurovision this year, the kind of music that sells well in Britain. The problem is, the continentals don't listen to that kind of music very often. Over there, they prefer to listen to pop songs, which get more airplay. So, those songs dominate the field at Eurovision. It appears that the low scores for the UK and Ireland in recent years at the contest, say more about the quality of music around today in those countries, than about the quality of music performed in Eurovision.

In terms of physical appearance if Donna had those teeth of hers sorted out (orthodontically) she would be semi-decent looking.

I think the time has come that we should go ethnic. The Henry Girls would have done better performing something that was folkey or folk derived.
As Gaeilge would help with the authenticity too. And the Irish dancing was a good idea, next year they should re-hire Jean Butler!


God I hate to generalise but there are a lot of awful looking yokes around here. No offence to yourself or any other female posters here (and you're welcome to lynch me :D ) as there are decent looking women here too but I don't see many of a particularly stunning quality of say the one from Israel who could catch a continent.......... I must say having been through a few countries on the continent the frequency of pretty women is greater there than Ireland and Britain.

Agree with you comepletely fellow UCD fan. Our cities song...Molly Malone
" In Dublin´s fair city where the girls are so pretty..." We are having a laugh these days. Foreign imports excepted of course :D

[Green Tribe]

The Maltese Lady got so many votes because Mediterranean European beauties turn into her after they marry and have kids . :p All the Mammas of Europe voted for one of their own. As regards the subject of Totti as he still plays for AS Roma it is still relevant to foot.ie :D

I did nominate Totti on the Totty Watch thread some time back, beat ya to the joke!! :D


In terms of physical appearance if Donna had those teeth of hers sorted out (orthodontically) she would be semi-decent looking.

I think the time has come that we should go ethnic. The Henry Girls would have done better performing something that was folkey or folk derived.
As Gaeilge would help with the authenticity too. And the Irish dancing was a good idea, next year they should re-hire Jean Butler!

thank you, someone agrees with me at last. yes my original choice of the henry girls would have done a much better job, at least qualified for the final. LInda martin was the only person to realise this on RTE

[mypost]

I think the time has come that we should go ethnic. The Henry Girls would have done better performing something that was folkey or folk derived.
As Gaeilge would help with the authenticity too. And the Irish dancing was a good idea, next year they should re-hire Jean Butler!

Well, we had an ethnic entry when Eimear Quinn won easily in '96. There were juries then. Problem is it wouldn't work nowadays with televoting. The Eastern countries wouldn't pay any attention to a Western country performing an ethnic entry.

D&J were bad but the Henry Girls were even worse. I could see the rest of Europe falling over themselves laughing at us thinking, "is that the best they can do?". It wouldn't be very funny. Result: Nul Points.

I think following this year's result, that YAS is not the answer. What we need is to take the emphasis away from our ESC contenders, and focus more on the song. With respect, our songs' lyrics this year, sounded as though they were written by a 4-year old, for 4-year olds. The winning song was written carefully by a professional songwriter, every lyric rhymed with the next, the lyrics perfectly fitted the tune, and struck a powerful chord. There were no gimmicks, just a carefully choreographed, polished, professional performance by people who knew what they were doing. Ireland's song this year, was not in the same league, which is a shame and embarrassment to the many talented songwriters, and music performers in this country. :(

[Pauro 76]

didnt catch the voting, but how many points did we give the UK?

[Poor Student]

didnt catch the voting, but how many points did we give the UK?

8. Over half their points.

[mypost]

Romania "won" this year's semi-final, with 235 points, of which 8 came from Ireland. Latvia finshed 10th, and claimed the last qualifying spot for the final with 85 points. Poland were the unlucky 11th-placed country, 4 points further back, followed by Slovenia and Belarus, then Ireland in 14th with 53 points, level with Holland in 15th.

As a nation of ballad lovers, we gave our 12 points in the semi final to Denmark, who finished 3rd. People who whinge about political voting, won't be surprised to hear that we got 12 points from only one country, (guess who?) UK, however, we got 10 from Hungary, the similiar-themed choreography being presumably the reason why.

Lithuania ended the semi-final in 25th and last place, receiving just 17 points, of which 5 came from Ireland.

[Poor Student]

Romania "won" this year's semi-final, with 235 points, of which 8 came from Ireland. Latvia finshed 10th, and claimed the last qualifying spot for the final with 85 points. Poland were the unlucky 11th-placed country, 4 points further back, followed by Slovenia and Belarus, then Ireland in 14th with 53 points, level with Holland in 15th.

As a nation of ballad lovers, we gave our 12 points in the semi final to Denmark, who finished 3rd. People who whinge about political voting, won't be surprised to hear that we got 12 points from only one country, (guess who?) UK, however, we got 10 from Hungary, the similiar-themed choreography being presumably the reason why.

Lithuania ended the semi-final in 25th and last place, receiving just 17 points, of which 5 came from Ireland.

You don't think the thousands of Latvians and the many Romanians here did not influence our voting at all?

[Partizan]

College is right...

Orthodox Celts is the way to go. 12 points from Serbia :D

hvala druza

[mypost]

The next issue on the agenda, is to provide a suitable venue in Greece to stage the contest next year. It probably will be staged in Athens, but some Greek politicians want it held in Salonika instead, as they feel that Athens has had enough exposure after the recent Olympic Games, and want another Greek city to have a share of the limelight. A team from the EBU is due to visit Greece soon, with the aim of coming up with a selection of suitable venues to stage the contest.

Hopefully, ERT will be able to host the contest next year, without great financial difficulty. It should help that they are an EU member, but even though the EBU puts up half the cost of staging the contest these days, one would fear that the contest may be held outside of Greece because the country is currently in a deep recession, after the extraordinary amount of money found to build venues for the Olympics, created an enormous hole in the Greek domestic budget. So one wonders if ERT will look at RTE's example, and come up with a Millstreet-type solution to the problem. Hopefully not!

[omril]

Well, it has been a while since Israel sent a decent song to the contest, but "Hasheket Shenishar", by Shiri Maimon, was definitely a good one, IMO.

Anyway, i don't think that greece should have won it, and UK and france should have finished in the top 15. Latvia shuldn't have qualified.

Am I the only one who thinks that the crazy frog could have won that contest aswell, had it participated? :p

[mypost]

The 50th Eurovision anniversary show in Copenhagen in October this year, will feature Johnny Logan performing his Eurovision winning songs from 1980, "What's Another Year", and from 1987, "Hold Me Now". 10 of the songs to be performed during the show, were chosen in an Internet Poll. The BBC have decided to not broadcast the show, but RTE will. Following our poor result at Eurovision this year, there is no word from RTE at the moment, if they will commission another series of YAS in order to select our Eurovision entrant for next year's contest in Greece.

The DVD of this year's Eurovision was released at the beginning of June. Those who got it last year, will be familiar with the layout. Complete coverage of this year's contest, of both the semi and final, together with backstage footage, and an Interview with the winner.

Austria have, according to local media, decided to withdraw their participation from next year's Eurovision. As it's not part of the "Balkan Bloc", the reasons why are fairly obvious. One of the oldest Eurovision participants, Austria have won the contest on just one occasion, in 1966.

[mypost]

Austria have withdrawn from Eurovision 2006. Holland will consider whether they will compete in the contest after the 2006 event.

Athens has been chosen as the city to host Eurovision next year however, a venue has not been chosen at the moment. Unlike the past few years, the EBU will be spoiled for choice logistically, as they can choose from a large amount of venues, many of which have remained idle since the recent Olympic games. Last year, there was concern from the organizers over the alarmingly short amount of hotels in Kiev. There should be no worries on that front, for next year's contest either.

As in Ireland in 2003, Moldova's votes awarded in the final came from a back-up jury there, instead of the televoting system. Moldova's televoters gave Romania 12 points, but a problem with the system, meant that the result was annulled, and the emergency back-up jury was used in Moldova, who promptly gave the Romanians only 7 points in the final, and awarded 12 to Latvia instead.

Another reason for scrapping the predictable televoting procedure. :rolleyes: :)

[Lionel Ritchie]

Austria have withdrawn from Eurovision 2006. Holland will consider whether they will compete in the contest after the 2006 event.

Kudos to Austria.

[mypost]

As Western countries begin to pull out of Eurovision, a stronger wind from the East blows in. Armenia and Georgia, have just become two new members of the EBU, and are looking to participate in the contest already. There is an unwritten rule that only 40 countries may be in the event in any given year. If they come in next year, and if there are no other drop-outs, it will complete the list of 40.

Meanwhile, closer to home, RTE have decided to keep YAS for another series, but not use it to select our Eurovision entrant next year. No decision has been made, regarding how they will select it, but it will most likely revert back to the national song contest like it was until
Gary O' Shaughnessy's 6-point disaster in 2001, which led to our relegation from the 2002 event.

YAS gets another series, but it will be effectively RTE's version of Pop Idol from now on.

[Gerrit]

What if Azerbaijan also wants to join ? They're in Europe as well...

[sligoman]

TV3 news said that Your A Star will not be used to pick the Irish entrant to the Eurovision anymore. RTE have not yet decided the layout the new selection will take but it will be televised. Your A Star will also continue with the winner being offered a record deal and cash prize instead of the Eurovision place.

[Lionel Ritchie]

TV3 news said that Your A Star will not be used to pick the Irish entrant to the Eurovision anymore. RTE have not yet decided the layout the new selection will take but it will be televised. Your A Star will also continue with the winner being offered a record deal and cash prize instead of the Eurovision place.

Have to say I'm genuinely disappointed in this as it's probably bad news for all of us who don't want Ireland anywhere near competetive in Eurovision muck.

Hated YAS from the off but the penny finally dropped with me this year with that victorian freak show "we" sent that it was the mechanism I'd always dreamed of for ensuring "we" never win the damn thing again.

It's not decided by objective or even subjective people.

It's driven by the same urge that drives people to enter tidy towns competitions -namely the desire to see and hear their neck of the woods mentioned on the news without being preceeded by something like "Intel have announced that 350 jobs are to go in the town of ........"

[mypost]

What if Azerbaijan also wants to join ? They're in Europe as well...

Their state broadcaster has to be a member of the EBU, to take part in the contest, as the EBU are responsible for the whole show. According to the EBU scrutineer, only 40 countries can participate in the contest in any given year. This year, there were 39 countries, of which one withdrew from next year's event. If Armenia, and Georgia decide to participate from 2006, that will complete the list of 40 participants, for Athens. It's unlikely new countries will be added to that amount for next year.

One thing you have to ask though is what will happen to these countries, if any of them win it? Most of the Eastern countries are poor, and don't have the financial resources to host the next year's one, even with the EBU's help. Because of that, Ukraine almost lost the right to host the 2005 event. They won at just their second attempt, having only entered the contest in 2003.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Their state broadcaster has to be a member of the EBU, to take part in the contest, as the EBU are responsible for the whole show. According to the EBU scrutineer, only 40 countries can participate in the contest in any given year. This year, there were 39 countries, of which one withdrew from next year's event. If Armenia, and Georgia decide to participate from 2006, that will complete the list of 40 participants, for Athens. It's unlikely new countries will be added to that amount for next year.

One thing you have to ask though is what will happen to these countries, if any of them win it? Most of the Eastern countries are poor, and don't have the financial resources to host the next year's one, even with the EBU's help. Because of that, Ukraine almost lost the right to host the 2005 event. They won at just their second attempt, having only entered the contest in 2003.
The drill is that if the winning country cannot afford to host it , then the country that came second are offered it.

[mypost]

The drill is that if the winning country cannot afford to host it , then the country that came second are offered it.

True, initial concern over Ukraine's ability to host the 2005 contest, meant that at one stage, the countries who finished second (Serbia) and third (Greece) in 2004, were offered the opportunity to host it in 2005. But both refused.

[Green Tribe]

Nobody told me MY thread had been resurrected! ;) Shame for wee Austria, I thought they actually produced a good song this year. Not good that more eastern countries are coming in, they are going to go OTT with the drums and the leaping about like mad eejits! :eek: Thank God YAS has been axed for the Eurovision. Shall be interesting next year!

:D

[CollegeTillIDie]

True, initial concern over Ukraine's ability to host the 2005 contest, meant that at one stage, the countries who finished second (Serbia) and third (Greece) in 2004, were offered the opportunity to host it in 2005. But both refused.

Had Ukraine been unable under the above circumstances... The EBU would have gone looking for willing member states to host the damn thing! :D
In 1971 Monaco won the contest in Dublin... they had no venue large enough and capable of hosting all the broadcasting equipment necessary to host it.

It was awarded to Britain who nominated Edinburgh in 1972 if the memory serves.

[mypost]

Sandra Kim will perform her winning song, "J'aime la vie", at the Eurovision 50th anniversary show in Copenhagen in October. Sandra Kim was the youngest ever winner of Eurovision, having won it when 13 years old for Belgium in Oslo in 1986.

This year's winner, Helena Paparizou, has had more success since the contest. "My Number One" went gold in Greece, and Sweden, where it topped the charts for 4 weeks. Her latest album went Platinum in Greece. The McCauls however, seem to have disappeared completely from the music radar since the contest.

Moving back home, YAS takes a different twist in August, as celebrities take part in a charity version of the show, over two weeks. The celebrities will donate the proceeds from the show to various charities around the country. If you thought there were amateurs in the original YAS, they are music veterans compared to the following "celebrities":

Geri Maye, Alan Shortt,
Amanda Brunker, Sile Seoige,
Liam McCormack, David Mitchell,
Natasha O' Garvey, and ahem.....Finian McGrath TD. :confused:

The viewers will vote out one contestant each night. Louis Walsh and Linda Martin return to the YAS judging panel for the show. Quite what they'll make of the music quality, or distinct lack of it, of the "celebrities", remains to be seen.

[mypost]

Soap actor David Molloy won the YAS Charity Special, beating Finian McGrath, in the final. Predictably, the judges slaughtered the celebrities, some of them using language, while doing so. :eek: The show raised 300,000 Euro for various charities around Ireland.

The run-up to Athens begins next month, when some countries begin their selection process to find a performer for next year's Eurovision. About two thirds of participants will be selected through national talent shows, others will be chosen by their state broadcaster, and a few will be chosen through a national final, as is likely to be case with RTE, even if they haven't officially confirmed it yet.

All competing countries must select a performer for Athens before, or at the HOD meeting in Athens next March. A few countries will choose before Christmas, however most will after it. Ireland, UK, Sweden, and Germany are traditionally among the last countries to choose an artist for the event every year, and will be so again next year.

[mypost]

The 50th anniversary show will take place in Copenhagen on 22nd October. Johnny Logan's two Eurovision-winning songs will be among the 14 songs performed during the show, to decide which is the best Eurovision song ever. Former winners, Linda Martin, Charlie Mc Gettigan, and Eimear Quinn, complete the Irish party at the show. Also there will be the contest's first winner Lys Assia, youngest winner Sandra Kim, and latest winner Helena Paparizou. RTE will show the two-and-a-half hour contest, but 2 of the Big 4 countries, France and the UK won't.

Austria withdrew from Athens next year, and they have been joined by Czech Republic, and Georgia. Among the doubtfuls for next year are Armenia, Bulgaria, and the UK. Despite the 2005 contest attracting 8 million viewers, massive job cuts recently made by the BBC, together with the UK's constant poor results in the contest, have led to rumours going around that the station have questioned whether they should send a performer to next year's contest. They will continue to fund the contest nevertheless, of which they contribute 30% of it, although how long their contribution would last without being involved in the show, is open to debate. How the contest can go ahead without the financial contribution of the Big 4 is a nightmare scenario potentially facing the EBU. Have we heard the last of Wogan at the contest?? :eek:

[Green Tribe]

I would miss Wogan and his hilarious digs. Please let him stay ...

[mypost]

I would miss Wogan and his hilarious digs. Please let him stay ...

It was Wogan's digs that initially de-valued the contest. :rolleyes: He is partly responsible for the contest's negative image over here, which is hardly surprising, as he openly admits to hating the event.


Abba's Waterloo won the 50th anniversary show in Copenhagen. It was a show with a difference, not so much of a contest, but more of a spectacle. Johnny Logan's winning songs were performed, and Hold Me Now qualified in the top 5, and was voted as the 3rd best song of all time in the contest. :) He also performed another ballad later on. However, the show was overshadowed when Ronan Keating turned up to s(h)ing a
s(h)ong, the organisers would have been better off re-scheduling one of the show's numerous ad breaks at that point! :rolleyes: He was joined by Eimear Quinn, Charlie McGettigan, and Linda Martin who all performed part of their winning entries too.

Orchestras, and juries returned to the event. The only singer to perform their song in it's entirity, was the current champion Helena Paparizou, whose song also made the final 5. In Israel, commercial breaks overran, and their winning song from 1979, "Hallelujah" was not seen there, until the repeat showing of the event. There was only going to be one winner; Abba, of course. As usual, they didn't appear at the event, but Bjorn & Co. accepted their award a few days later.

[Green Tribe]

It was Wogan's digs that initially de-valued the contest. :rolleyes: He is partly responsible for the contest's negative image over here, which is hardly surprising, as he openly admits to hating the event.


.

Er...no, his comments actually make some people watch it. :rolleyes:

[sligoman]

Er...no, his comments actually make some people watch it. :rolleyes:and I'm one of them:o. If I was watching it at all it would be on BBC that I'd watch it cos of Wogan's witty comments:D