Hahahahaha!

Back to last year's contest- the song that stayed longer than any other on my playlist was Italy. I placed it at #7 last year at the time of contest, definitely deserved better.

As for this year, I finished previewing all the songs the other day, and the general impression is very bad.

First of all, way too many songs in English: 29 are in English only (or predominately), 4 are a mixture of English and another language and only 4 are in non-English. So boring.

"Producers will once again decide the running order for the semi-finals and final, rather than staging a random draw." -> f**k that.

As for the entries, none really impressed me, but these are the ones I was okay with:




It seems Croatian TV will only broadcast the final this year. Given my disappointment with the entries, it's possible I'll skip the semi-finals too.

It's crazy how unprepared I am for Eurovision this year. I guess I've been keeping pretty busy and am very tired, but usually I get the first spidey-tingle at the new year (which did happen this Jan) and start counting down around March. This year finals week is upon us and I'm almost totally unprepared!

I don't know if following Eurovision on Twitter throughout the year has contributed to diminishing the annual carnival feel of it, or if it's the legacy of a lacklustre 2013. Probably the latter. In previous years I've been compelled enough to buy the DVD. 2013 was never in consideration.

I watched a bit of the San Remo Song Contest, but not much. They show it in Italian here with no sub-titles, so it usually devolves into silliness pretty quick. Where I come from, when a man in a trenchcoat stalks a woman in a legless dancer's outfit. Well, that's not fun and games.


None of the songs stayed with me into 2014. I'm ashamed to admit, when I started the thread and was trying to remember last year's winner, I couldn't think of any of the songs. Then I had a Raiden-style vision of Cezar and felt a lot better about things. He must win.



In contrast, I'm still listening to songs from... I guess 2009+. I've lost count.
Euphoria still comes to mind often. Italy's 2011 entry should have won. Satellite shows up on my iPod and I enjoy remembering it. Some of the old semi/finalists I liked I still hum. Ovo Je Balkan is stupid and fun, Sunstroke Project was on repeat here long before the "sax guy" meme, Estonia 2010, I've been obsessed with Carry Me In Your Dreams since '09 (I'd cover this song if I had my shit together). At some point, everyone needs to get up and dance to an Eastern European kind of funk. Poupee de cire, poupee de son was not from the last few years. I'll stop listing songs, I've brought enough shame upon myself.

(I'm listening to It's My Life right now, though. So good.)


Ughhhhh. Doesn't sound very promising. I really don't like the way the last few years have been trending. Eurovision can be many things, but bland should never be one of them.

We've got the customary Friday/Saturday/Sunday line-up for the 2 Semis and the Final. Hoping I'll get to watch them all, but I'm not sure if I've got the hours. I'll be doing my usual spoiler avoiding, just in case. Will probably have to unfollow @Eurovision, which always makes me feel like a heel. It's just for the week, you guys. We're totally cool.

I think one of the things I'm most looking forward to seeing is the votes for Russia. For all the wrong reasons. We don't wanna put in, man.

Much better variety of acts than last year, but it still feels like things are trending toward an all together more sensible Eurovision Song Contest. Which just isn't as fun as excess absurdity.

Iceland kicked things into an appropriate ESC gear and I really enjoyed their song. Portugal took it to a whole new level with a great song and spectacle. Azerbaijan didn't stand out, but had a solid safe entry. Hungary didn't have a lot of identity, but was a song I liked. Moldova was solid. Sweden did what they needed.

Like last year, nothing in Semi Final 1 stood out so strong to make me think it would be a winner. The quality of Hungary's entry stood out, but I'm not so sure this is the winning sound (or subject). Portugal stood out, but almost certainly didn't have a winning sound. San Marino might get it for the horrible winner I don't understand.



Post-Results Comment:

Nostalgia songs...



Loved it, was my favorite that year by far, glad it won!



I remember that entry. It was the year Italy came back to ESC after not being part of it for many years. I agree it's a quality song (it was my friend's favorite that year too), but I liked rock/pop entry from Bulgaria that year the best. They failed to qualify for the final though. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
As for Italy, I liked their 2012 & 2013 entries more (finished #2 and #7 on my list, respectively).



Catchy song! Can't say it's one of my all time faves, but I like it and I'm glad it won. Can't remember any other songs from that year (2010).



Now this one is terrible lol. As for Serbia their 2007 winning entry was extremely strong and deservedly won, however their 2004 entry (back then Serbia & Montenegro, but the singer is from Serbia) is my fave from them and definitely one of my all-time favorites in ESC, a masterpiece! Can't believe it lost to Ukraine's Ruslana "Wild Dances".



I don't remember this entry, the sax parts are great, the rest forgettable. :p



Don't remember it, but not bad, not bad. As for Estonia, my fave from the country would be their entry from 2009. Should have won. So much better than Norway's "Fairytale".



LOL this too is from 2009. Not my cup of tea. :p Bosnia & Herz. was my #2 in 2009.
I liked Albania's rock entry last year though, and their 2012 entry was memorable.



LOL. I don't remember this either. Although fun, it's not what I would vote for to win.



Ooooo... I love me some ESC oldies!

Italy 1958 - Arguably the most famous song to ever come out of ESC. What A CLASSIC! (Finished 3rd)

Yugoslavia1968 - one of my fave Croatian entries ever. Love it, love, love it! So authentic. <3 (Finished 7th)

Luxembourg 1972 - winner!

Luxembourg 1973 - another winner! Even better than '72 imo.

Yugoslavia1983 - If all ex-Yu countries would vote which one was the best Yugoslavian entry in ESC, I'm pretty sure this one would win. Everyone knows this song in these areas and it actually had some international success as well (Brazil, Germany,... ) The guy is from Montenegro. (Finished 4th)

Italy 1987 - My favorite ESC song ever in terms of lyrics and possibly my favorite overall. (Finished 3rd)

Norway 1995 - Winner! Either this one or Italy '87 would be my all-time #1. What a masterpiece!

It's only appropriate to end the nostalgia run with Nostalgia - Croatia 1995. Like the song, love the vocal finish. Finished 6th.

... ... ...



Anyway, I missed both semi-finals, but will watch the final tonight.

I should be excited for this. Eurovision is seen as a high point of gay culture, at least in Denmark... and the event is in Denmark this year! But I simply couldn't care less...

Good luck to the contestants though.

Voting is currently going on.

Bleh. Watched Semi Final 2 away from the Motherboxxx.
Right now I'm feeling much like I did the last couple of years, without the saving grace of Cezar, or the obvious domination of Euphoria. It's all getting a little too middle road. I don't expect the Big 5 to save the day. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Based on the previews, I think the 2014 winner is probably in one of these Semi Finals. Nobody stands out and demands victory, though. I'd like to see Iceland finish in the top quarter. Hungary could probably be a top 3 quality wise, but I don't see it winning. Armenia and Sweden might get up there. Malta wouldn't upset me. Norway would be nice enough. I'm surprised to say it, but I think Austria is probably a legit contender.

Generally, though, nothing bowled me over in the Semis. Wish I was gonna be watching Portugal in the final. Liked that sound. Colourful, joyous stage show. I think that's the song I'll remember from this year.

My final standings:





As for the final outcome:

I was dying. The whole time I kept thinking of this. An entire continent just got trolled.

Could have shaved the beard but whatever, she deserved to win for what was, without a doubt, the best song.

Weirdy beardy!

This may have been the best possible result for establishing a precedent moving forward. Solid, genuine song attempt. Ridiculous visual gimmick. I hope this reignites an arms race in 2015 for ridiculous stage elements, but also some nice music to go with them.

Of course, there's such a thing as too much ridiculous. Frankly, I don't think France was even trying. I'm not sure they've been trying for the last few years. I liked Germany's entry much more than I expected. Not a lot to say about the other Big 5 entries.

Portugal my 2014 winner, tbqh.

Ugh. Less circus please.





I loved France last year and in 2011 (finished as my runner-up both times).


Just for the sake of keeping up with the tradition, a "forced" Top 10 for this year:

01. The Netherlands [Welcome to my playlist.]
02. Slovenia
03. Switzerland
04. Italy
05. Denmark
06. Sweden
07. Iceland
08. Armenia
09. Finland
10. France

Honorable mentions: Hungary, Norway & United Kingdom.

Overall, a very disappointing year...

More! More! Fireworks, creepy faceless dancers, magic keyboards, thrusting saxophonists, giant fluorescent staplers, streams of water, levitating singers, giant dressers, concealed dancers, big hats, costume changes! ALL OF IT!! BEARDS ON BEARDS!

Last couple of years have been really tough to do a Top 10. I'll try this time:

1, Portugal
2. Malta
3. Hungary
4. Germany
5. Iceland
6. Norway
7. Azerbaijan
8. Sweden
9. Romania
10. Poland
11. Romania 2013

I will probably crumble and abandon my picks under any level of scrutiny.
I can at least say I remember these songs, so that helps.

The Netherlands vs Austria on the charts:

German singles charts:
NED debuts at #3 --- AUT at #5

UK singles charts:
NED rises from #95 to #9 --- AUT debuts at #17

United world charts:
NED debuts at #28 --- AUT not in Top 50

Portugal, man. Portugal.

Meanwhile, I've been seeing pieces of the Sanremo Music Festival every weekend for the past month or more. Saw Raphael Gualazzi and "The Bleeding Beetroots" today. I never see the same thing twice, so I'm having a lot of trouble discerning exactly how long the event went.

Using empirical logic, I've deduced the Sanremo contest is a 128 musician tournament taking place continuously over several months. Differentiating itself from Eurovision further, rules require acts survive on limited supplies throughout the enduro event. This also explains why Rasputin was playing guitar during one of the acts, as ordinary men often die four times over before the contest is through. Plus, he shreds a mean bass, and I think the Italians really respond to his reputation as Russia's favourite love machine.