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Jonnas

Eurovision 2018

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Hello Ladies and Gents, it's that time of the year again. Normally, I wouldn't be making this thread, but Portugal's hosting this year! :grin: It's only right I do the same courtesy here. First semi-final will be on Tuesday (8th), second semi-final on Thursday (10th), and the finals on Saturday (12th).

We're looking to have an elegant, cost-effective show this year, and our interval acts will feature a duet with Fado icons Mariza and Ana Moura (first-time ever, so it's a legit hallmark of Portuguese music), some African rhythms with DJ Branko (just in case the audience forgets we can also do fast-paced music), and last year's winner Salvador Sobral will be performing alongside Brazillian musical legend Caetano Veloso.

...

Oh, and several European countries will be performing songs of their own in some sort of competition :heh: So far, this year's favourites seem to be Israel and Czech Republic:

Spoiler

Clearly a reference to the #MeToo movement, but IMO, the song itself is a tad too... Avant-Garde to win the whole thing. Chicken noises are a bit too much, if you ask me.

Spoiler

Catchy, but sounds hard to perform on a live stage. In fact, the performer actually injured his back when rehearsing it! We'll see if he can pull off a good performance regardless.

Two potential dark horses are Estonia and Norway:

Spoiler

They're singing in Italian, of all languages! If the singer's performance is as strong as in this video, I think she has a legitimate shot at winning.

Spoiler

The winner from 2009 goes with something cheery and kinda silly. I actually like it a lot.

And Portugal's actual entry is a melancholic piece about sorrow and the pain of loss, as sung by an Anime girl.

So yeah, any entry that caught your eye? Any particular country you're rooting for this year? Are we putting on a good show? Let's get this show going.

Edited by Jonnas
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Yesssss, Eurovision! :D

We watch it every year! We have a Eurovision tradition now where we get a Chinese takeaway for the finals and some cider. Looking forward to it!
Will be watching the semi-finals as well of course. I haven't heard any of the songs yet this year, so will be going into it with no expectations. :)

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I simply can't wait for Poland's entry. I don't know what it is...maybe it's the language, or the key changes, or the...I don't know, I just can't quite put my finger on it.

 

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I've never been a fan (its bad music but spread out over what feels like two weeks...) but my friend is hosting a party and I want to socialise so I guess I'll see it this year.  

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I love to watch Eurovision so I was looking forward to it this year but unfortunately it clashes with the first leg of Coventry's League Two playoff match so my attention will definitely be split for the first hour and a half. I tend not to listen to the tracks ahead of time, I like to go in fresh for the semis or final but I did have a dream that the UK won it this year.

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Eurovision is still a thing? And it's still a thing people get excited about? Who'da thunk it! Still, have fun!

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Well, that was a very disappointing semi-final.  Not that it was Portugal's fault, but I thought the result was terrible.

 

Belgium was my favourite entry, with really beautiful music to it.  I also thought the woman from the Switzerland duo was very attractive and gave a great performance.  I'm gutted that neither got through - might not even set up my sound bar for Saturday (which has been a tradition in recent years).

 

On a positive note, last year's contestants singing Salvador's song was very moving.  Hopefully some good songs from Thursday will go through, but I felt today the winners were the ones with the biggest, most impactful gimmicks rather than the best musically.

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God, I can't believe Herman José did a David Attenborough bit. I knew hosting the contest would come with risks, but this...

Anyway, I'm legit shocked Belgium didn't qualify. That was the sort of quality song that can nevertheless do well in these contests. Still, I'm happy for Ireland, Lithuania and Estonia, which were the other ones I enjoyed the most.

Also, I could swear we were going to have interval acts during the semi-finals. If we had one, I missed it.

55 minutes ago, Grazza said:

Well, that was a very disappointing semi-final.  Not that it was Portugal's fault, but I thought the result was terrible.

Grievances about results will not be taken personally :heh:

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A bit biased here, but I'm honestly surprised that Belgium didn't go through. Not sure why it didn't. I didn't think it was a winning entry, but I thought it could make the top 10 at least.

Quite fancy Bulgaria's entry to win it.

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10 hours ago, Jonnas said:

God, I can't believe Herman José did a David Attenborough bit. I knew hosting the contest would come with risks, but this...

 

I did wonder. :p

 

10 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Also, I could swear we were going to have interval acts during the semi-finals. If we had one, I missed it.

 

Well, we did have last year's winning song, but nothing on stage.  That's the thing I didn't like about the presentation this year, actually - it was too "video".  I really didn't like the video effects on our TV screens, as I like to see exactly what happens on stage as though I'm there.

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On 09/05/2018 at 10:51 AM, Grazza said:

Well, we did have last year's winning song, but nothing on stage.  That's the thing I didn't like about the presentation this year, actually - it was too "video".  I really didn't like the video effects on our TV screens, as I like to see exactly what happens on stage as though I'm there.

I'm thinking this might have to do with the desire to have a cost-efficient event. Stage props like fireworks, etc. have been reduced in comparison to previous years, so I'm guessing certain acts try to make up for it with editing tricks.

On 09/05/2018 at 10:51 AM, Grazza said:

I did wonder. :p

Speaking of that bit, I heard some rumours that the British commentators took issue with that sketch, but I'm finding no proof. Was that an actual thing that happened during transmission?

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2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'm thinking this might have to do with the desire to have a cost-efficient event. Stage props like fireworks, etc. have been reduced in comparison to previous years, so I'm guessing certain acts try to make up for it with editing tricks.

 

Ah, I see.  Fair enough.

 

2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Speaking of that bit, I heard some rumours that the British commentators took issue with that sketch, but I'm finding no proof. Was that an actual thing that happened during transmission?

 

Nah.  Brits are probably the most irreverent people on the planet.  We have programmes like Gogglebox and Harry Hill's TV Burp, which take the mickey out of everything on screen, including the good and the great!

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I still laugh every time I realise that Australia love Eurovision so much and are now taking part in it. Love it. Quite like their entry, too! They probably take it more seriously than the UK does. :laughing:

PS: Does anyone know what time Pakistan's entry is on?

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I thought the second semi-final was a lot weaker than the first one. I think the only one that kind of stood out to me today was Australia.

Annoyed that Belgium didn't get through. I thought our song was pretty good (had it in my head all day yesterday), but it lacked interesting visuals during the show. Wasn't really captivating on screen. Sadly, that is still what people want/expect when watching Eurovision.

Not sure who will win this year, I don't have a favourite yet myself. There are some decent songs, but then also ones which are just quite... meh. :p

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Well, that was a lot better!

 

Like @Eenuh though, I am still disappointed about Belgium, as I've not been able to stop singing that one myself.  It's probably my favourite out of all the tunes I've heard this year.

 

Tonight, I really enjoyed Latvia, how it was just good singing with no gimmicks - it's a shame she didn't get through.  However, although country is not my style, Netherlands is always high quality, and as for Ukraine, he can really sing.  My personal favourites though were Norway and Sweden - both funky pop songs, and it was nice to see Norway's 2009 contestant back, as I really loved those days.

 

Looking forward to the contest, and I'm backing Norway or Sweden.

 

PS - Rylan has been a brilliant presenter.

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I'm miffed that Latvia and Georgia didn't qualify, as I legitimately enjoyed these songs. And I'm personally not feeling either Ukraine's or Australia's. Other than that, I have no qualms about the results, as I think I enjoyed all of the other qualifiers in one way or another.

And I noticed a good chunk of "native-language singers" qualified, which is a significant plus. Including the Slovenian singer who switched to Portuguese lyrics near the end of her song (and I fell for it because I'm easy to please).

2 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

PS: Does anyone know what time Pakistan's entry is on?

After Brazil's.

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9 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'm miffed that Latvia and Georgia didn't qualify, as I legitimately enjoyed these songs. And I'm personally not feeling either Ukraine's or Australia's. Other than that, I have no qualms about the results, as I think I enjoyed all of the other qualifiers in one way or another.

 

Yes, I am miffed about Latvia myself, and I didn't personally get Ukraine's or Australia's, despite thinking that Ukraine's is objectively good.

 

I found an article backing up what you were saying about the video screens:

 

Quote

Norway had clearly heard the news about the lack of LED screen and decided they weren’t going to stand for it. Instead, Norway’s Alexander Rybak — you may remember him because he has actually won Eurovision before, in 2009 — interacted with complicated graphics, including musical notes and punctuation marks, which were overlaid onto the feed of his performance on our own screens. Italy are using the same trick, but with brightly designed subtitles spelling out the lyrics to their song, ‎"‎Non mi avete fatto niente‎”.

 

It’s a neat way to get around the rule, but perhaps goes against the spirit of it. It’s a little disappointing that some countries have just found another way of achieving a similar effect to the LED screen, rather than taking the opportunity to be more creative with their staging.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/music/eurovision-2018-semi-final-two-results-dancing-robots-creepy-lookalikes-and-russia’s-shock-exit/ar-AAx5pe5?ocid=spartandhp

 

Not sure why they picked on those two, as lots of them are using video effects, but still...

 

9 hours ago, Jonnas said:

And I noticed a good chunk of "native-language singers" qualified, which is a significant plus. Including the Slovenian singer who switched to Portuguese lyrics near the end of her song (and I fell for it because I'm easy to please).

 

Yep, I always respect the native language ones, not least Armenia, who produced what I think is one of the all-time greatest - Inga & Anush's Nor Par/Jan-Jan.  As Salvador Sobral said, "music is feeling, not fireworks".  It's more important to get the feeling of a song than it is to understand the lyrics.

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Looking forward to tonight.  I'm definitely backing Sweden, as the bass line has been in my head ever since I heard it.  Going to turn the subwoofer up to max!

 

Now if Portugal can just get Hadise to perform Dum Tek-Tek again, it'll be my perfect show!

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I do like some good old corny euro music. Will probably watch a bit and wait for the inevitable reaction of "Europe hates the UK, it's the only explanation"

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Lisbeth Salander has some lungs on her. Good dancing too.

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Every time Lithuania's entry pauses, she looks like she's about to burst out laughing.

Good range though.

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I want a rave dress. I want one now. I would totally wear it on the Underground. No shame.

Wow, that's a great name for a song, Norway. Insult everyone while you're at it. Bonus points for having the chorus lyrics be the song equivalent of this.

d6d.jpg

Edited by Glen-i
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Holy crap, did someone really just raid the stage and grab the mic from Surie?

Poor form there. She carried on like a pro though. Kudos.

Edited by Glen-i
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Wow, that's some rude interruption on the British song. She handled it pretty well, all things considered.

I remember that happening once with a Spanish entry, and they let them repeat their song at the end. I hope the same happens here.

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UK singer did well to carry on going. That should get us a few extra points. :p

(don't like the song, though)

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