I can’t help but acknowledge the lack of excitement over Eurovision around here, which is presumably down to the assumption that Ukraine will walk it on a good will vote (even if that might make the staging of the 2023 final problematic). I’m not devoted enough to watch the qualifying rounds, which start tomorrow, but as usual we’ll be glued to the TV for the final on Saturday with scorecards, plenty of snacks and lashings of red wine.
My top tip for the hotly contested number 2 spot is Norway.
Astonishingly to me, I really loved last years contest with at least 4 or 5 entries getting my top mark of “really quite good”. I hope Ukraine win, though I haven’t heard any of this years entries, not out of sympathy but because they were robbed last year. Shum remains a family favourite around chez chilli.
Thanks Gatz. SubWoolfer are stupendously silly and just what I could do with right now.
I am now a Swedish citizen. Along with voting in the election, visiting the ABBA Museum and dancing round the maypole at Midsummer, one of my civic duties is watching Eurovision and voting for Norway. We Scandos must stick together.
Iceland have a girl band singing country and western in Icelandic. What can possibly go wrong?
Sounds very pleasant to my ears.
Sigur Ros meet First Aid Kit in Nashville?
Congrats on the citizenship, @kaisfatdad. I read today that Britain and Sweden have signed a mutual security deal, pledging support if either comes under attack. As I’m still a British citizen I assume that in the case of any attack, nuclear or verbal, you’ll stand in front of me and take the force of the blow.
Sweden have got bomb shelters. What have we got? Bus shelters. With trousers on the top.
Hope the best song wins actually. Everybody voting for the Ukraine is kind of nice, but I doubt Putin will pay much regard to the result of a song contest.
I agree.
But he DOES care about sports results. I’m sure he gets riled when Russian teams get defeated.
They should have let Russia enter. Them getting nil points and booed like fuck would have riled Vladolf more I reckon.
Or, replaced the Russian entry with a Village People-style troupe of mustachioed chaps in chaps singing a peace anthem to a banging disco beat in front of a giant rainbow.
He really doesn’t like the Village People.
How do you know these things, fentonsteve??
https://jimll.co.uk/products/village-people-putin-art-print
He really doesn’t like The Gays, does he?
All those pictures of him semi-naked on horseback. I fear he doth protest too much.
The Gays, are they are band? That’s a brave name, it might lead to confusion. Or not.
What Mrs F, with her funny foreign ways, refers to as “Homosexualists”. It’s much more fun not to correct her.
Anyway, even Timelords can be black and (possibly) gay nowadays. Putin really has lost control.
“Galifreyan Lives Matter!”
“Defund The Daleks!”
A bit football-esque (rather than Abba-esque – see what I did there?) maybe… but if one of them thar gays – that bare-chested Putin clearly isn’t, obviously – doesn’t don a mask of the ugly bastard, while wearing an all-in-one spandex number and going completely ape-shite over a Jedward tribute curtesy of the Latvian, or some such, entry… I’ll be seriously disappointed.
@gatz – thanks for starting a thread. Last year’s show was really enjoyable and Ukraine’s entry, Go-A by Shumm was the best song and I still play it regularly. I think it ended up 2nd or 3rd, so perhaps their entry will be there or thereabouts at the top anyway.
My prediction is that the UK entry will not get absolute zero again this year. It’s an OK song – sticks after a couple of listens and if the performance/staging is good, it might do well.
Genuinely, the show itself in recent years has been impressive at times. If the song ain’t too great, the staging can be quite amazing.
Sam Ryder has rather more chin than is strictly necessary, beneath that beard.
“The UK are going to win this year”
“Oh chinny reck-on….”
I prepared for all this by recording a couple of documentaries about the Grateful Dead last weekend.
You wouldn’t like Eurovision, it only lasts three hours.
Well it’s started. Pre-show guff going on. We’ve been introduced to the acts – massive cheer for Ukraine and, surprisingly, UK. Moldova look like they’re going to be a laugh.
I am encouraged by the memories of Jeux sans Frontiers back in the 70s. When it was hosted by Italy, it was always an expensive-looking and stylish nighttime production – featuring specially constructed elaborate sets and costumes by Gucci. In England, it was a grey daytime in Swanage with Stuart Hall, Eddie Wareing and the teams in their old PE kits throwing sponges into a bucket.
Norway. Give that Wolf a Banana.
Very amusing but will it warm the cold and cynical juries in the Central European plateau? That’s the question.
Italy have done a My Lovely Horse, I think. I don’t think they’ll be hosting next year.
This Italy entry is dire. It encapsulates all that is wrong with the modern world.
Everything’s perked up for Spain though.
She’ll catch her death.
Ukraine now. Not a patch on last year’s one. In any other year, this would not be a contender.
Hmm. Not a great song. Not even a good song.
We like it! Joint second with Serbia (and after Norway) for us.
Mrs Paws tells me that Spain, Norway and the Netherlands are good Eurovision songs (she’s a bit of an expert about this sort of thing). I liked Portugal, but I felt that Serbia had a horrible nationalist vibe to it.
It’s all nonsense though, innit.
Does the Greek woman think she’s Lorde?
Icelandic country? It’s a bloody KFD thread brought to life.
I like it, though. Looks like we got us a convoy.
Icelandic Corrs.
TMFTL
Oh those Moldovans…
Too many big, earnest, whining ballads. In general.
God help me but I like the UK song. Best one so far….
Serbia is like Abba from hell, which is not so bad.
Marvellous with subtitles.
The song not so much.
It seems so long ago when it started, I was young then.
That’s simply Propaganda.
Sorry for laughing.*
*because Propaganda (the band) did a song called Sorry for Laughing.
As Bob Hope once said, “If the joke needs explainin’…you got a doozy “
Watch out for that first step!
Danelectro longhorn bass (or copy) the best bit of Manneskin, and I think they are one of the ugliest guitars in existence.
What’s going on? Just switched this on and UK are currently at the top! Could it be…?
“It’s not a TED talk”
Ukraine for the win! A massive public vote gets them well clear of the UK..
Points about the points – Lovely France, Austria and Belgium gave the UK 12 points. Portugal gave Spain 12 points – Spain gave Portugal zero. Australia gave the UK zero.
Germany nearly got the Lennon specs double O that the UK achieved last year but 6 votes from the public just avoided it.
Can’t wait for next year’s show in Kyiv!
I hope this will put an end to the annual “Europe hates us” whine, when it’s now proven (again) that if you send a decent song, Europe will vote for you, only if you send the “this’ll do for Europe” material that you’ve plucked out of the garbage can, we will give you nil points.
No absolute stand out song this year (no absolute stinkers either, but lots of mediocrity on display), but the ones that made me smile were Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Serbia. Sweden’s song was fine, but I’m sick of it after hearing it on the radio at least three times a day for months…
I’m surprised that Spain got so many votes, and not just from the public votes. Can anyone remember what it sounded like?
I agree. A good song will get the points. I’m not sure most of Europe cares enough to give us a bloody nose over Brexit.
I was educated by a German friend and QI I think about our “famous” rivalry with Germany in football. From their side, there isn’t one.
The “They all hate us” stuff is wishful thinking on the part of those people who want justification for their own hate.
There were several artists that a strong impression on me.
S10 from the Netherlands was superb. Major style points from me for singing in Dutch.
Maro from Portugal also, had a gorgeously under-stated song: Saudade saudade.
This unplugged version is lovely.
Mrs KFD took a shine to Marius Bear from Switzerland. He got very few points.
Just watched at least a bit of all of the videos.
The Moldovan one is definitely my favourite – captures the fun spirit of the Eurovision and brings a nostalgic hit of 3Mustaphas3. Albania my next – for powerful rhythmic vocals and a really physical performance – what a diva. Then Malta for giving a jolly, rousing song, Romania and Israel camp it up superbly.
Georgia is a weird one, in a good way – prog funk? Estonia go all spaghetti western – and why not? Credit to Slovenia for sticking to their own language for a rather nice loungey- pop song. Netherlands had the singer hiding in the fridge – is that a joke at Johnson? San Marino was channeling Transvision Vamp, and not in a good way. Latvia was too much in love with its own cleverness.
Other than that there were a lot of self-obsessed whiners, as far as I could tell, (though Denmark and Czech Republic at least switch up a gear for the second half of their offerings).
I rather enjoyed those fridge-sitting, self-obsessed winers, With 25 songs in a row, it can all be a rather overpowering, So a little gentle plinking and plonking can be very welcome.
Sweden isn’t the only country with a memorable ESC win under their belts. Or with an enthusiastic audience. The crowd in Turin were wonderfully enthusiastic.
I am a big fan of both Laura Pausini and Domenico Modugno. So when she and the audience sung Volare unaccompanied, I got goosebumps.
Here’s the original from 1958.