Eurovision

[150249]

Did anyone watch it this year? Which country do you think served us the best song?

I still think Estonia were by far the best this year.

Eurovision: Sweden's Loreen wins again, but UK's Mae Muller is second from last

Loreen is the first woman to win twice, but Mae Muller fails to replicate Sam Ryder's success.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sweden's Loreen has won the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time, with her soaring pop anthem Tattoo.
The star, who last won the competition in 2012, saw off competition from Finland's Käärijä in a nail-biting vote.
The UK's Mae Muller failed to replicate Sam Ryder's success last year, coming in 25th place - one above bottom.

 

[brad465]

The best "act" for me was Mel Giedroyc churning in the background halfway through, a reference to one of Poland's past acts.

 

[GusB]

The best "act" for me was Mel Giedroyc churning in the background halfway through, a reference to one of Poland's past acts.

That may have been entertaining, but Mel Giedroyc's commentary left a lot to be desired. If only we could bring back old Terry!

The whole thing was rather disappointing, if I'm being honest. While there were some good acts, there were very few that really stood out. Sweden's was probably the best and I think they deserved to win.

We could have done much better; our song was mediocre and I don't think it was performed very well on the night. At least we weren't last again.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The whole thing was rather disappointing, if I'm being honest. While there were some good acts, there were very few that really stood out. Sweden's was probably the best and I think they deserved to win.

Quite convenient / entirely coincidental that it'll now be Sweden hosting the event next year with it also being the 50th anniversary of ABBA's win back in 1974.

 

[birchesgreen]

Sad Finland didn't win, it would have been fun to see the human centipede again.

 

[johncrossley]

That may have been entertaining, but Mel Giedroyc's commentary left a lot to be desired. If only we could bring back old Terry!

I got fed up with Wogan towards the end to be honest as he was taking it too seriously, focussing excessively on neighbour and diaspora voting. Certainly I appreciate Norton better now after Giedroyc's poor performance. The UK is probably unusual in having non-UK nationals doing the commentary and hosting.

 

[150249]

That may have been entertaining, but Mel Giedroyc's commentary left a lot to be desired. If only we could bring back old Terry!

The whole thing was rather disappointing, if I'm being honest. While there were some good acts, there were very few that really stood out. Sweden's was probably the best and I think they deserved to win.

We could have done much better; our song was mediocre and I don't think it was performed very well on the night. At least we weren't last again.

Our song was nothing! Nothing there in vocals or in the song.

 

[JamesT]

I’m not sure quite what the jury was seeing in Sweden, it didn’t really stand out for me. The rest of the public mostly agreed, no country’s televote put Sweden in first place.
I didn’t think ours was bad, just didn’t really stand out amongst the other pop songs. There were a couple of others where the vocal performance wasn’t great either and they didn’t get punished for that.

 

[DoubleLemon]

180 million estimate viewers last night

 

[nw1]

I didn't watch it but heard it on the radio. Of the ones I heard (Austria, and Sweden onwards) rated Sweden and Finland highest so I guess I'm fairly typical.

The German one sounded "different", being a rock song, so I'm surprised it didn't do better.

What is it about UK entries these days? We don't seem to make so much effort for whatever reason. The song was pleasant enough but it didn't have that stand-out quality, and that seems to be our problem just about every year. We seemed to get it right in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s (arguably the UK's glory days in more ways than one, and certainly in pop music), but hardly ever seem to now. I guess this correlates with a wider problem in UK rock and pop music, which is not what it was.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I didn't watch it, really not my thing at all, but someone I know was in charge of all the audiovisual stuff for Eurovision and had therefore seen all the rehearsals. He told me to put a few quid on Israel for a top 3 place, which I did at 28/1, and woke up this morning a bit better off than I was last night

 

[JamesT]

I didn't watch it but heard it on the radio. Of the ones I heard (Austria, and Sweden onwards) rated Sweden and Finland highest so I guess I'm fairly typical.

The German one sounded "different", being a rock song, so I'm surprised it didn't do better.

What is it about UK entries these days? We don't seem to make so much effort for whatever reason. The song was pleasant enough but it didn't have that stand-out quality, and that seems to be our problem just about every year. We seemed to get it right in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s (arguably the UK's glory days in more ways than one, and certainly in pop music), but hardly ever seem to now. I guess this correlates with a wider problem in UK rock and pop music, which is not what it was.

I wonder how much of it is divergent musical tastes, the UK being more influenced by US styles?
Possibly it’s the vicious circle that our entries seem to die a death career-wise, so nobody with any credibility is willing to appear? Even Sam Ryder doesn’t seem to have troubled the charts much since appearing.
Reading https://www.euronews.com/culture/20...ed-the-most-listened-to-music-across-the-bloc we need to be persuading Harry Styles or Ed Sheeran to have a go.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Did anyone watch it this year? Which country do you think served us the best song?

In terms of music, the Czechs by a mile. Norway was a strong second, and the Israeli performance was really good too.

In terms of entertainment, Finland should have won by a mile. The crowd loved it, the public vote loved it, Käärijä is a public relations dream in terms of his willingness to interact with people. I suspect the juries were heavily swayed by the EBU and national broadcasters wanting an ABBA festival/celebration next year.

 

[12LDA28C]

Was it just me, but did Mel Giedroyc totally misunderstand what happened at the end of the contest? Blue and yellow lights lit up the venue which she described as being for Ukraine, despite it clearly being for the winning country of Sweden. As the camera panned to happy Swedish supporters waving their national flag, Giedroyc again said that they (Ukraine?) were clearly pleased with the show the UK had put on for them... just bizarre.

 

[Herefordian]

Australia, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Cyprus and Slovenia for me.

Quite liked Austria's too, to be fair.

Didn't rate ours, I'm afraid. Sweden deserved winners.

 

[johncrossley]

I suspect the juries were heavily swayed by the EBU and national broadcasters wanting an ABBA festival/celebration next year.

However Sweden didn't do badly in the public vote either. Second in the public vote and first in the jury vote isn't bad going.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Mrs H watched it but I went out to escape it. Went to my local only to find it on the big screen! So having watched it Norway was my favourite.
As an observation the songs don’t seem to be catchy anymore. Think of some famous ones from years ago like Abba,Bucks Fizz or Brotherhood of Man and they have all stood the test of time. These modern Eurovision tunes all seem similar and forgettable.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Quite convenient / entirely coincidental that it'll now be Sweden hosting the event next year with it also being the 50th anniversary of ABBA's win back in 1974.

I think Finland is getting ready to enact NATO Article 5 against our neighbour this morning. I think Norway and Estonia will happily join in too.

Let's see what happens when the nation's collective hangover subsides on Monday morning.

 

[PTR 444]

Did anyone watch it this year? Which country do you think served us the best song?

I still think Estonia were by far the best this year.

Top 5 for me were Austria, Czechia, Finland, Belgium and Israel.

It is interesting to note that this year’s winners, Sweden, have not only won the contest three times within an eleven year period, but Loreen has become only the second performer in Eurovision history to win on two separate occasions (2012 and 2023). The first being Johnny Logan of Ireland (1980 and 1987), a nation that went on to win a further four times in the ‘90s and secure the most wins of any country that has participated in the contest. As of yesterday, that title is now jointly held with Sweden

 

[D821]

Top 5 for me were Austria, Czechia, Finland, Belgium and Israel.

It is interesting to note that this year’s winners, Sweden, have not only won the contest three times within an eleven year period, but Loreen has become only the second performer in Eurovision history to win on two separate occasions (2012 and 2023). The first being Johnny Logan of Ireland (1980 and 1987), a nation that went on to win a further four times in the ‘90s and secure the most wins of any country that has participated in the contest.

I was amazed at the stat that Luxembourg have won it 5 times despite not taking part in it since 1993.

 

[Ted633]

Personally really didn't get the hype over Sweden's entry. Wasn't bad at all, but also wasn't great. Finland were best for me, followed by Norway. The crowd seemed to much prefer Finland as well!!!

 

[Whistler40145]

To me it was like X Factor International

 

[Snow1964]

Saw all three TV shows, and the Thursday afternoon semi-final rehearsal in the arena.

I thought Estonia was good, but didn't score that well. Finland was very strong, as were Norway and Israel, but the Swedish winner wasn't in my top 5 (even if juries gave it so many 12 points no one else could get near).

The UK entry was outclassed, and had we been in a semi-final probably wouldn't have got through. The lyrics too complicated and the pop art imagery too distant for anyone to appreciate it in max 3 minutes.

 

[Whistler40145]

I get bored with all the dancing

 

[Mike395]

Was lucky enough to be in the arena for the SF2 preview on Wednesday evening - the atmosphere in the arena was amazing, and great to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff like the insanely quick set changes whilst the cameras aren't focusing on the stage. The lighting looked fantastic in person too.

Personally, whilst I was rooting for a Finland win, Loreen was a worthy winner - not the catchiest of this year's entries but a decent song beautifully executed.

 

[150249]

I thought Norway were poor but then again I judge them based on my own taste. The Norway one had really weak vocals in my opinion. I also thought Israel was way too generic. Finland was great in my opinion, only beaten by Estonia. Estonia had amazing vocals and a great song. Sweden were good but not great. I thought Loreen's vocals were weaker in the final than the semi final. Also, what's the deal with all the singers performing without shoes?

 

[GusB]

I was amazed at the stat that Luxembourg have won it 5 times despite not taking part in it since 1993.

I didn't even notice Luxembourg's absence until it was mentioned last night. I normally only watch the final and up until now I had just assumed that they were being knocked out earlier in the competition.

 

[Trainguy34]

I found that it turned into a dance contest by the end of it

 

[Scotrail12]

Croatia were the best act and I loved Mel Giedroyc's commentary.

 

[Trainguy34]

Croatia were the best act and I loved Mel Giedroyc's commentary.

Glad it's not just me