Eurovision Uberthread

[mypost]

Stayed up to watch. Was slightly surprised with the russkis, were good, lighthearted and the crowd liked them. Jedward were blessed to get in, sounded poor, lots of energy and were gifted a "golden ticket", Iceland offered a good song, deserved to go through. The rest were purely regional based, the biggest shock was Albania - horrible song, horrible performance and fugly singer, but the pity vote worked. There was a skit last year on russian tv the night of the final, about how Albania are getting 12 and 10 points, heading for glory. Then a call from Tirana comes in, telling them they don't have the money to host it and the farce kicks in.

In pretty poor taste really. Albania didn't show their semi final because of a bus crash. They still got through.

This "golden ticket" is a pile of crap, just another way of extending the tedious voting procedure, and is not a reflection of where countries fared in the voting. Very surprised that Croatia failed to make it, Latvia had a good song that failed to make it too. Belgium and Holland both failed once again. Not that impressed with the Russians this year, with respect to the performers, they shouldn't be in Eurovision, or "singing" such a song.

Sweden have a decent song, but I would demand a refund of my €200 ticket fee if I was there watching 26 Loreen performances, where you can't see the performers. I think Cyprus and Greece will score well.

Don't see the lads from Lucan doing much in the final.

Jedward (god help us) should make the top 5.

Which is it?

They say it's their "last" Eurovision. For how long is probably up to RTE.

[Hibs4Ever]

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I think Cyprus and Greece will score well.

Well 12 points from each other is a dead cert anyway

[Spudulika]

I was surprised in a way that they qualified given their poor performance, but they've got that out of their system and the kiddies will be watching on Saturday - hence they'll score better (I think).

[Spudulika]

In pretty poor taste really. Albania didn't show their semi final because of a bus crash. They still got through.

This "golden ticket" is a pile of crap, just another way of extending the tedious voting procedure, and is not a reflection of where countries fared in the voting. Very surprised that Croatia failed to make it, Latvia had a good song that failed to make it too. Belgium and Holland both failed once again. Not that impressed with the Russians this year, with respect to the performers, they shouldn't be in Eurovision, or "singing" such a song.

Sweden have a decent song, but I would demand a refund of my €200 ticket fee if I was there watching 26 Loreen performances, where you can't see the performers. I think Cyprus and Greece will score well.





Which is it?

They say it's their "last" Eurovision. For how long is probably up to RTE.

I'm unsure as to say top-10 or top-5, but I think they'll surprise us with a higher than expected finish. Of course the bookies will have their odds artificially lower with the punters lumping on money just because they're Irish.

Mypost, you're right about most of the performances, they're not great, and the better songs/performances will be lost in the dross. But it's beyond a song contest now and almost solely visual. Geography plays the largest part of it, not just politics. How about Turkey get a high mark from Germany? It's going to be fun, here nobody expects (apart from the commentators) for the grannies to do well. A final appearance is a bonus, they have their commercial endorsements (Sprite and a local pancake mix) so they'll be happy. There were better acts than them, but the russkis always have a trick up their sleeve. As for Croatia, I was surprised Nina Badric qualified. She had a few biggies a few years back (and some were good) but she became quite the diva. At least it wasn't Severina again though!

[mypost]

Croatia didn't make it. Not the first time they've failed in recent years. Unlike here, they take failing in Eurovision seriously.

Politics is always part of Eurovision, but since the voting system was changed in 2008, it's become harder for the bloc countries to pile up the votes with minimum effort. Juries are influencing the verdicts too.

[Spudulika]

Croatia didn't make it. Not the first time they've failed in recent years. Unlike here, they take failing in Eurovision seriously.

Politics is always part of Eurovision, but since the voting system was changed in 2008, it's become harder for the bloc countries to pile up the votes with minimum effort. Juries are influencing the verdicts too.

From Croatia.....she was 3rd or 4th in the betting there, but her agent/manager was pulling out all the stops (she's also a card carrying SDP member).

I don't know how much juries influence things, it was as bad 20 years ago, and in some ways more corrupt with juries. I still remember Toto winning when Ireland had the better song but the Italians fiddled the voting at the end. I also remember a Bohs supporting friend of mine giving out heaps to an Italian chipper owner (van) up the road from us at the time.

[SkStu]

From Croatia.....she was 3rd or 4th in the betting there, but her agent/manager was pulling out all the stops (she's also a card carrying SDP member).

I don't know how much juries influence things, it was as bad 20 years ago, and in some ways more corrupt with juries. I still remember Toto winning when Ireland had the better song but the Italians fiddled the voting at the end. I also remember a Bohs supporting friend of mine giving out heaps to an Italian chipper owner (van) up the road from us at the time.

Haha class! Whether Bohs or not you gotta love the passion.

[Spudulika]

Haha class! Whether Bohs or not you gotta love the passion.

Simpler days they were, getting cheated by the eyeties was something not nice, and the eurovision meant something, even Austria threw up a pornstar for us to look at, and she was actually good.

So far so mad, decided against watching the russki version, watching rte online. Have backed Jedward e/w, think Russia might miss out and can't get sprite out of my head. Lithuanian lad was ok, Greek/Cypriot looked like a tranny, Englebert was good.

[Spudulika]

Ireland into 3rd at 10/1. Some good songs and performers, jedward were better tonight and since kiddies are up late tonight, and the two eejits did a big promo push, I'm edging to top 5. Moldova were fun but the juries will slam them. Serbia's singer just recycled his last song added some Irish but it sounded ok. Sweden wasn't impressive, Ukraine is just Shakira lite, Russia was a let down, Germany okay. And it's open for everyone now. All you need (like Malta, Cyprus and others) is to have a teenage disco shout out refrain and the kiddies will text like mad. Texts weren't accepted in Russia tonight, only phone calls.

[Hibs4Ever]

I still think Sweden will win. Took them at 7/4 a few days back, in to evens now.

Easy money

[nigel-harps1954]

Yet another pile of absolute horse manure.

[mypost]

I don't know how much juries influence things, it was as bad 20 years ago, and in some ways more corrupt with juries. I still remember Toto winning when Ireland had the better song but the Italians fiddled the voting at the end.

We had that in the bag in 1990 until we handed the Italians a big score near the end, and therefore lost it.

Moldova were fun but the juries will slam them. Serbia's singer just recycled his last song added some Irish but it sounded ok. Sweden wasn't impressive, Ukraine is just Shakira lite, Russia was a let down, Germany okay. And it's open for everyone now.

I liked Cyprus, and they finished halfway up the pack. Sweden was a strong song, but I don't think it was 100+ points better than the rest. Greece didn't give Germany a point the UK got what they deserved, again.

As for the Olympic Flame bearers, RTE got what they deserved too. A weak song, poor performers, and the result they arguably should have got last year too. As with Kavanagh 2 years ago, and Landrut last year, bringing back a singer from a previous contest doesn't mean lightning strikes twice.

Russia and Sweden won the semi-finals, while Ireland finished 6th in the semi-final. The juries have clearly affected the voting, as 3 of the last 4 winners have come from Western Europe, even though there are far too many countries voting, and the result is usually clear well before the end.

[Spudulika]

That's it mypost, nobody seems to remember the crap that evening in 1990. We gave Italy 10 or 12, they didn't even give us a vote - thus sealing the win for them. And then later in the summer that convict looking scumball with the same first name as the greaser who cheated us in Sarajevo. Never got over that.

Didn't like Sweden's effort, though it's been getting lots of airplay in Europe, same with Cyprus. Actual songs, power ballads, rock efforts, they get lost in the mix. Unless it's something to stimulate the emo's (like Lordi) then it's going to fall away.

[bennocelt]

Yet another pile of absolute horse manure.

i think that whoever came up with the idea in RTE that we should send Jedward every year was definitely onto something, please say this will be true...........

Only listened to one song, the British one which was bloody decent, and looked at the voting - and waited then to hear what won - a joke of a song, already forgotten

See Simon Cowel is planning to set up his own version of a eurovision - as bad as his stuff is it isnt worse than cheesy euro pop, russian grannies and fake goths

[BonnieShels]

That's it mypost, nobody seems to remember the crap that evening in 1990. We gave Italy 10 or 12, they didn't even give us a vote - thus sealing the win for them. And then later in the summer that convict looking scumball with the same first name as the greaser who cheated us in Sarajevo. Never got over that.

Didn't like Sweden's effort, though it's been getting lots of airplay in Europe, same with Cyprus. Actual songs, power ballads, rock efforts, they get lost in the mix. Unless it's something to stimulate the emo's (like Lordi) then it's going to fall away.

I don't think as Irish people we can look back at the early 90's with any sense of annoyance. We were kings.

Was in the Front Lounge on Friday night and it is remarkable just how good and catchy "In Your Eyes" is. I still remember the words all these years later. And I was 9!!!

I don't get the over critical nature of the comments against Jedward. I thought they were great. I thought the song was standard EV fare.

I thought Sweden was gash.

[OwlsFan]

Marty Whelan always totally overrates our songs. I remember he had us favourites to win one year and I think we ended up with a single figure vote. I thought our entry this year was bland with very little going for it. Some say it was catchy and I've heard 4 or 5 times but I can't remember it at all. To win there must be some selling point (i.e something different) and not the same thing the whole way through the song. That said there is the Eastern block cartel going on which wasn't around when we won the 7 times but if we get the right song, it is still possible.

I think the best Eurovision song ever was the Norwegian one a few years back: the guy with the violin/fiddle who believed in fairy-tales. I think it got the highest vote ever.

[OwlsFan]

Marty Whelan always totally overrates our songs. I remember he had us favourites to win one year and I think we ended up with a single figure vote. I thought our entry this year was bland with very little going for it. Some say it was catchy and I've heard 4 or 5 times but I can't remember it at all. To win there must be some selling point (i.e something different) and not the same thing the whole way through the song. That said there is the Eastern block cartel going on which wasn't around when we won the 7 times but if we get the right song, it is still possible.

I think the best Eurovision song ever was the Norwegian one a few years back: the guy with the violin/fiddle who believed in fairy-tales. I think it got the highest vote ever.

The voting was interesting. Australia won the jury votes by some distance from Ukraine with Russia further back. However, in the popular vote, Australia suffered as it didn't exactly have a host of neighbours participating in the voting so fell back to 3rd place. We were then left with Ukraine, with a song called 1944 bemoaning the deportation of the Tartars from Crimea in 1944 by Stalin (presumably for co-operating with the Nazis against the Soviet Union), and Russia. Political stuff at its best especially when you consider the current situation in the two. The Ukraine got a lot of votes presumably from fellow sufferers of Stalinist policies but Russia still came top in the overall popular vote but not enough to beat Ukraine's dirge.

You've got to love the Eurovision if only for the voting alone.

[BonnieShels]

The new voting system is a work of genius. Loved it.

Australia's ongoing success seemed a bit odd. Thought the song was useless. On the night it was all about Spain for me.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Didn't watch the songs as they invariably suck. The voting was intriguing mind and I have to give credit where it's due -the interval piece 'love love peace peace' showed an ability to take the **** out of itself for which Eurovison is less than reknowned I would say. It was as much South Park as Riverdance. kudos.

[DeLorean]

Australia's ongoing success seemed a bit odd. Thought the song was useless. On the night it was all about Spain for me.

Never saw this thread before, kind of astonishing and a little refreshing that the competition is actually being discussed and not derided by people who are just too cool for it. It's interesting to see you have had no time for the Sweden winner 'Euprhia' or the Australian song this time around. I thought both of those songs were a class above the majority of Eurovision winners in recent years, let alone entries. Amazing what sounds great to one person can be pure noise pollution to another.

Ukraine's winning song was forgettable I think, but I suppose it was the content that did it for them. The standard last year was much higher overall I thought, when there were five or six songs that I really liked.