Eurovision Uberthread

[mypost]

my post

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

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! 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!

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

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? ). Undoubtably in my opinion she had the best voice but I reckon the song itself was not that good.

The Maltese Lady got so many votes because Mediterranean European beauties turn into her after they marry and have kids . 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

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!

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 ) 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

[Green Tribe]

The Maltese Lady got so many votes because Mediterranean European beauties turn into her after they marry and have kids . 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

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

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

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?

[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.

[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.