Any fans here of this “ahem” unique event? It is being held in Liverpool this year, as last year’s winners Ukraine are currently busy with other issues.
For me, it’s always fun, even when (particularly when) you find yourself sitting through a really bad song. Then there’s the tremendously obvious nationalist voting between some nations who either love or loathe each other.
How bad will the presenters’ joke be? Have they made an effort with the interval act? Which country will shamelessly Xerox last year’s winner, despite it never having worked in the past?
How many drinks will I have got outside by the time plucky Malta’s initially promising vote count begins to plummet?
All this and more will be revealed on Saturday!
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Eurovision is great because it allows all of Europe to go to war with each other without actually killing anyone. Everybody wins.
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I can only remember one Eurovision song I enjoyed. And it lost.
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This was the winner in 2006.
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Yes, but did they declare that they were the winners as their song entry? I rest my case.
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Sadly, these guys were not chosen by Estonia to represent them at the final.
They chose Birgit instead, and finished 20th.
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I’ve gotten interested only a few times, but I should do it more often. The diversity makes it entertaining, even if some individual songs falter. I especially like when we hear a great vocalist, a super-catchy tune, and/or get a big dose of, well, bizarre or crazy. But there are dozens of songs each year. I rarely hear them all.
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Neil Innes is always tops in my book:
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I love Eurovision so much! I haven’t watched the past couple of years (combination of busy with other things and it becoming more difficult to view the show now that Americans know about it). Two of my favorites come from Ukraine. They are some of my favorites for different reasons.
Ruslana won in 2004.
Verka Serduchka got second place in 2007.
I’m an American and rooting for Germany. Only because I’ve been a fan of Lord of the Lost for a while and want them to get the recognition they deserve.
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On another online forum, I’ve drawn Belgium in a Eurovision sweepstake. It’s a bit of a banger and even if it doesn’t win, it’ll almost certainly be filling holiday dancefloors this summer.
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Well, the final has come and gone. Without revealing the winners, one of my “funnest” favorites came in #2 . (YES!!) The one that got stuck in my head the longest despite not being the earworm whose video (and song) I loved, got a huge audience boost (third-highest televote). (I thought that stuck-longest was powerful but same-y somehow. Yet top 5~!) The fun “earworm video” of course wasn’t seen on stage, so not nearly as fun, got pretty low on votes. And one I thought was good but a little too “pop” for me, blew the effing doors off and took first (!!).
Others: Channeling DC’s Cyborg: OMG! (plus a few native verses). One of my “best overall song” choices got effing robbed. (Disco hips! Non??)
Above songs revealed if you click the little disclosure triangle on the left !!SPOILERS!! etc.
#2: Finland (“Cha Cha Cha”) – one of “funnest”
(OMG he just threw his partner to the other male dancer!)
Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha | Finland 🇫🇮 | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#5: Norway (“Queen of Kings”) – “stuck in head” like, forever. and ever.
Alessandra - Queen Of Kings | Norway 🇳🇴 | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#15: Austria (“Who The Hell Is Edgar?” – “video (and song) I loved”
[Fwiw: “$0.003” royalty is how artists don’t get rich on Spotify.]
Teya & Salena - Who The Hell Is Edgar? | Austria 🇦🇹 | Official Music Video | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#1: Sweden (“Tattoo”) – honestly, congrats Loreen! [lor-EE-en]
Loreen - Tattoo | Sweden 🇸🇪 | Official Music Video | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#6: Ukraine (“Heart of Steel”) – sadly only the finale performance has “cyborg” video
(at 1:50:20 on U.S.s Peacock “Watch with Johnny Weir”, fyi.)
TVORCHI - Heart Of Steel (Eurovision Version) | Ukraine 🇺🇦 | Official Music Video | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#16: France (“Évidemment”) – “my best overall song” – Please enable the subtitles si vous ne parlez pas français.
La Zarra - Évidemment | France 🇫🇷 | Official Music Video | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#18: Moldova (“Soarele și Luna”) [“The Sun and the Moon”]) – OMG I love this performance.
(Simpler lyrics but remember the subtitles.)
(… Why, yes, I *did* read the Wonder Woman Historia comics, fwiw.)
Pasha Parfeni - Soarele şi Luna | Moldova 🇲🇩 | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023 - YouTube
#3: Israel (“Unicorn”) – Oh, I have fallen in love yet again this night.
Noa Kirel - Unicorn- Eurovision Performance 2023 - YouTube
It’s weird that Morocco and Israel are in Eurovision. That’s weird, right?
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Eurovision is a broadcasting corporation, part of the European Broadcasting Union, and both countries are members.
If you’ve ever watched an event like the Olympics when they are held in Europe, a lot of the time your country’s broadcaster is providing its own commentary over the licensed speech-free Eurovision/EBU AV feeds.
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I’m perfectly fine if Little Big actually wins something besides having the most viewed performance on the Eurovision youtube channel for this gem, or frankly any of their videos.: Little Big - Uno - Russia 🇷🇺 - Official Music Video - Eurovision 2020 - YouTube
Am I the only one who never knew about this existing until the RHCP drummer and the Kim Cattrall to my Crow made a movie?
I was sad that Germany didn’t get more love. I also liked Croatia, especially after reading this article:
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A story making the rounds this week: Was Sweden “given” the win this year?
(TL;DR: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”)
The claim is that Sweden was pre-selected to be the winner (and next year’s host country) due to next year being the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s win of Eurovision 1974, with their song Waterloo, which launched the group’s globally phenomenal musical career.
The reasoning seems to be that despite Finland being a clear fan-favorite over 2nd-place Sweden (+54% in the finals and +30% in their semi-final group), the industry-professional “jury” (half the total points) awarded Sweden nearly twice as many points (+92%) as any other nation. (Note: nations cannot vote for their own entrant.)
FWIW, of the 8 songs I mentioned previously, I wouldn’t put Sweden’s in my “Top 7”. But I probably wouldn’t put Finland’s in my “Top 4”, either.
Wouldn’t Sweden have won next year if it was fixed?