Eurovision 2024. Malmö!
It has taken me a few days before I got to continue that Eurovision post I started on Sunday. Which is why I decided not to continue it, but rather start a new one for 2024.
This was a year with so many mixed emotions ... For starters, I was rather underwhelmed with the German pre-selection (didn't particularly like any of the entries, was very disappointed that Max Mutzke couldn't come up with a good song for his 20-year-anniversary entry, and was super puzzled that Isaak's song started with no lead up whatsoever and wasn't the style I had expected from the video clip scene I saw without sound, so I never managed to sort myself out and catch up with the here and now - but I did think he lacked stage presence). I read somewhere between then and the contest that there'd be adjustments to the arrangement of the song. To say it upfront: they improved the whole thing a great deal, and I could also tell that he worked very hard in the meantime, so the performances were a positive surprise for me.
But back to the emotions. I got extremely hyper in the days leading up to the contest week. There was a Eurovision highlights show with Riccardo Simonetti the Friday before, and that gave me the idea to look up some reaction videos of older Eurovision performances like Conchita Wurst and Loreen (as I had gotten a bit hooked on reactions by that time). I was totally in Eurovision mood and couldn't wait for the performances! I was particularly excited for the change they implemented regarding the Big 5: it was the first time they got to perform their whole song on stage in the semi-finals! Yeah, they were granted a spot, but I think it was an overdue move. It's just better if all songs get the same exposure.
I was still super excited up until Friday night when the news show after Let's Dance mentioned the protests against Israel and the (at that point still uncertain) developments around the Dutch entry Joost Klein. By Saturday afternoon, after the disqualification was announced, I was pretty gloomy. This year was really super overshadowed. I wasn't around in Malmö to judge or have an opinion of what happened between the delegations and with that production member who reported Joost to the police. I cannot condone booing a contestant based on her nationality, though, nor any booing every single time that country's song got points. It also felt very awkward to have a contestant disqualified during the contest for the first time ever (as far as I'm aware) and not have them mention it during the grand final in any way (not even when the Netherlands failed to present a spokesperson for the Dutch results - for understandable reasons). Luckily many commentators did the job instead (I'm saying "many" because I don't know if they all did, but the German one certainly did explain what was going on, and I heard of others).
That being said, I'll take a step back to comment on the semi-finals!
Semi-final 1. Man, was I wrong in my estimate. Let's just say that I couldn't for the life of me imagine that enough people would support Ireland. I consider myself open-minded, but this is still a song contest, and I didn't think it was a particularly good song with that amount of rather unmelodic whispering and shouting and so little melody in the vocals. Add to that the dark performance with that exorcism. It all seemed too much for Eurovision. So I had not put it on my list. I didn't think people would vote for that.
But that was my only miss this year. I was pretty wrong about several of my left-side picks, though (especially in the second semi-final). Here I thought at first that Hera Björk (the only one of the many returning artists in their respective national finals who made it all the way to the contest) had a good song for Iceland, but exchanged that with Azerbaijan (previously on my right side) when I listened to the recap. I liked the song from Azerbaijan with the chorus being in Azeri (which they've never done before). However, neither advanced. Slovenia advanced, though, which I only had in parantheses on my right side. Go figure. My dad likened her to Legolas and her dancers to a bunch of Gollums. LOL
It was clear to me that Cyprus, Serbia (liked that one, ooh, nice deep voice!), Lithuania (great dance track), Croatia (I certainly didn't like it to the extent so many did), Portugal and Luxembourg would advance. Yes, you read correctly: for the first time in three years, I counted on Portugal! In fact that was by far my favorite performance of the first show! Iolanda was cool. ;0) I also really enjoyed Luxembourg because the French verses sounded so cool wrapped in that style of the English chorus. I get it that the visuals turned a bit over the top at some point, but I was still surprised that it didn't finish higher in the grand final. I also moved Ukraine to the left side of my list at some point, but it didn't convince me instantly. The beginning was good, the ending (with that LED screen showing a bunch of women lying around and them joining) looked like a stunning painting, but I wasn't such a big fan of the rap and the shakiness they added to the visuals. It was one of the few songs that I could recall afterwards, though. Certainly an earworm.
I wasn't too fond of Finland with its Windows95Man, so only had it on the right side. The artist's name had sounded so promising, but it was all about the show (which was funny, I admit that, what with the supposed naked butt until the pants came from the ceiling and all those little ideas they had to hide his genitals - which had been covered all the time after all, duh). His voice was rather nonexistent (thankfully he also had a supporting singer).
Also on my right side (but only in parantheses) were Moldova and Australia, which both didn't make it. Moldova had a nice melody in that non-lyrics part (does that count as the chorus?). I felt a bit bad for Australia that they got kicked out when they so proudly presented Aboriginal culture, but it sadly wasn't strong enough in comparison to other entries.
Poland was very bad unfortunately; it was so obvious that this chess game wouldn't have any winner. I wonder why so many people wondered why it didn't advance.
Of the set finalists, I enjoyed Sweden's performance (that was pretty cool, I liked the twins, but I could have done without the crazy colors towards the end that looked like a computer broke and spit out strange stuff). I thought Germany did well with that new, quiter arrangement that had a much less abrupt opening. Good to have live backing vocals and a strong lead vocalist. United Kingdom was a WTF moment. When I listen to the studio recording, it is actually quite nice, but boy did they manage to mess that song up live. At first every viewer is so busy trying to figure out which side of that room/box is up and which is down that you pay no attention to the song whatsoever, then the vocals weren't strong (I know there was an issue with his monitors in the first semi-final, but the grand final wasn't all that great, either), I was so put off by the outfit (more so by the rotten and torn shirt than by the jockstraps), and on top of everything the performance turns into a gay orgy at some point. Sigh. Way to ruin a song. (No surprise it got zero points from the audience vote in the grand final.)
I'm afraid the write-up is taking much longer than I thought, so I'm taking a break before commenting on the second set of songs.
I have already started with some overall impressions (see below), but I will continue here right after this very sentence. Tomorrow or whenever. :0)
Semi-final 2. There were more performances in the second semi-final which made me go wild than in the first one. I'll start with the songs that I've found convincing, but which didn't make it to the grand final. Malta seemed to be just what you always see succeed in Eurovision, so it surprised me that it wasn't picked. I also enjoyed Czechia's "Pedestal" a great deal, probably because it was rockier, but that argument scene (which, as I found out later, is also in the studio recording) was a bit strange. Maybe that's why?
My favorite performance BY FAR was France. Holy moly! And just for that off-mic moment alone! Like, seriously ... that guy just takes several steps away from the microphone and sings without a mic from the top of his lungs and fills the arena! Such a magical moment! Was it just me or were the lyrics tailored for French beginners? I mean, "je t'aime" and "est-ce que tu m'aimes ou pas?" isn't all that sophisticated and easy to understand.
Since I'm already talking Big 5: Italy was also good. It's funny that they wore entirely different costumes compared to the grand final, though. And I have to say that I don't quite get why it was above many other songs in the end. What I didn't get at all was the love for Spain. Everything about it was below average for me (and don't get me started on the topic of butt cheeks on a Eurovision stage, be it male or female ...).
My other two favorites were our southern neighbors Switzerland and Austria. I loved both songs, both performances, both spectacles. In Nemo's case, that was such a great use of the stage, the song was just as diverse as they were, and so full of highlights! Very interesting opening to the song, that rap part was CRAZY GOOD, and it just got better and better. That was a pretty physically demanding performance, too. That layback on the saucer towards the end? Dang! So awesome! And Austria: clear vocals, fantastic dancing, and a song that was so eurodance in a good way - with class. I effing loved it! It's a real shame that the signal froze in the grand final. I couldn't believe my eyes when she finished so far down in the standings; out of the three German-speaking countries, I've had those two far, far above Germany.
I really enjoyed Armenia (finally a performance with an ethnic European touch this year!). Georgia was strong with that "Firefighter" song (I loved it how people grouped her with Isaak because he brought the fire and she brought the firefighter). And Israel was also strong. I've had all these acts on my left side.
I moved the Netherlands from right to left over the course of the night. That song was a lot to take in, to be honest - so many references that were difficult to grasp at first listen and watch, particularly since the lyrics were mostly in Dutch. I've had a hard time following it. For example, I only noticed the reference to Stromae tonight. Anyway, that idea of having a song about Europe at Eurovision and dedicating it to his late parents was a sweet one. Funnily enough, I also moved Norway from right to left in the end, even though I only had it in parantheses (some countries I listed there with higher chances didn't advance). I think the Norwegian song took a while to pick up momentum. The passage they put into the recap was a good one because it was exciting. I think my initial parantheses may be an indication why the song didn't really succeed in the grand final and finished in last place. You don't have to understand why some other songs placed higher than this, though.
Some songs I put on my right side with possibly good chances to advance, even though I wasn't totally convinced, were from Greece (which did advance, and in the end it was an interesting addition for variety in this year, but it was a bit all over the place with that social media opening, the reggeaton(?) rhythm, the odd skirt, the Greek language and traditional dance and that interruption) and San Marino (which was actually a Spanish band, and I loved the pink and the graphics on the screen - but it wasn't enough in the end).
Latvia and Estonia, which both advanced, were only in parentheses on my right side. Estonia was too WTF for me (I got annoyed as soon as it almost started in the audience). As for Latvia, Dons' blue vest in the postcard had me laugh, only to then see an even worse blue stage outfit. (Sorry to be so shallow.) When the song started, I got curious, but I very quickly lost interest, so I actually didn't think it would get so many votes. (I'm even more surprised by the points in the grand final.)
I had also added Belgium and Denmark there in parantheses, but neither really convinced me. In the case of Denmark, the vocal live performance felt really weak. I think that task and that stage was a bit above her capability; she seemed a bit lost on that stage and didn't have the presence you'd expect.
I decided not to list Albania at all on either side because the song didn't have what it takes IMO. Plus that outfit with those boobs and the eye shadow. Not for me.
A few takes on the Grand Final.
For me it was great that I finally had two different countries again that I considered worth voting for! Which I then did, Switzerland and France. The previous two years it was really hard to decide if there was even one I'd want to spend money on. In that respect, 2024 was a move in the right direction.
Germany's placement was also a move in the right direction. Oh, before I forget: one of my favorite moments of the whole even was when the camera caught Isaak's backing vocalists running towards him and hugging him and going "JA MANN!!!" all happily after the performance when they went off the stage. :0) It's also crazy that his wife dyed his hair darker in their hotel room between the semi-final on Tuesday and the grand final on Saturday. LOL Anyway, despite all the positive feedback in the comments section of the semi-final performance, I didn't want to get my hopes up this time. After all, I read stuff like (paraphrased) "oh that's actually quite good, but it's Germany, so it's mandatory not to vote for it, to make sure it ends up in last place again." Hmpf. I myself considered the song rather average (yes, it grew on my because it had lots of radio presence here), and you know what happens to average: it's somewhere in the middle of the votings for every country, thus not in the top ten, so no points. I braced myself for that. You have no idea what a relief it was when the FIRST COUNTRY of the juries ALREADY AWARDED GERMANY POINTS! I couldn't believe my eyes and literally celebrated with shouting, "We have points! No zero points possible anymore!" LOL The juries were in favor of this. 99 points and 10th place from the juries was far more than I had hoped for. Well, the televote then put things into perspective ... hardly any points. By the way, why did they choose that section for the recap where it's all a big mess with the backing vocals doing the "run run na-ey" stuff and him doing the B part on top of it instead of just a plain chorus? That was a mess, no wonder you choose something else to vote for. But still 12th place overall, wheeeee! :0D It felt like a win! I saw many comments which stated that it should have been top ten or even higher. But I take what I can get. Last mention of Germany: how cool was his flag jacket in the flag parade?!
I've already commented a bit on the downsides above, so I won't repeat that. I felt a bit bad for Sweden. It's not their fault that everything was so shitty. They always pull off such amazing shows hosting Eurovision, but this was ao overshadowed. Petra Mede did her best cheering us up. Lynda Woodruff was fun again, too. I guess their best part was that Broadway musical about them loving Eurovision too much, in which they mocked Sweden and other European countries, just to introduce a possible Finnish interval act if Käärijä had won (including him, Moomins, and dancers in sauna towels). Brilliant!
I was very much looking forward to Alcazar (after the Swedish national final had already brought the A*Teens back on stage). It was crazy how I still remembered all the dance moves for that performance! Too bad it was cut short.
Loreen couldn't have chosen a more awkward way to perform again.
To sum up some general impressions:
Overall, there was a trend of lots of naked skin and/or skin-tight and see-though outfits. And dance breaks were still strong and maybe even worse than last year. The one from Cyprus was ... awkward. So many entries overdid it with the effects, too. I'm sure that a bunch of people got headaches from that or suffered from dizziness. Oh, and the attempts of 90's eurodance were also very apparent (Netherlands, Finland, Austria, ... ). I thought Austria pulled it off best! Very few ballads, very little traditional stuff, but something for everybody. The stage was very interesting with that cross design, yet hardly anyone made use of that. Most acts still had a fronted setup. The only ones I remember using it to their advantage were Ukraine and Switzerland, both coming up with a sophisticated stage and camera choreography (for lack of a better word) that had us viewers wonder where on stage they were facing each time. Very clever and well played!
Given what I said about my favorites and who I voted for, it won't be a big surprise for you that I was THRILLED with Switzerland winning! Yay, Nemo! Oh, their face during the press conference when somebody stated that they were the third Swiss winner after Lys Assia and Céline Dion and they realized they'd be forever be mentioned alongside Céline. Priceless!
I am so sick of the bemoaning that the fans' favorite hasn't won the second time in a row. Chill, people. I suppose most of those fans have never experienced the years where there was almost only block and ethnic voting taking place from the audience. Having professionals judging the songs isn't that bad. I do question the professional opinions at the same time. In many cases, the reasons for a placement from individual jury members appear to be just as subjective as the fans' choices. One professional considers different criteria for judging a song than the next. The results on the Eurovision website have gotten harder and harder to analyze, so I only skimmed through the German ones. It says a lot when one jury member puts Ireland in last place and another puts it in first place. How do you explain that from a professional standpoint? Taste is the only explanation in my opinion. And putting so much power in the hands of a few individual taste choices can indeed rub you the wrong way. (A final note on Ireland: while I could picture some people at home voting for this because of the sick performance, I fully expected the song to be ignored by the juries. I am shocked that the juries gave it even more points than the audience did! Why?!)
For me, Nemo is the justified winner. Croatia's song was a bit flat in terms of composition and lyrics compared to "The Code," as exciting as it may have come across to many. I'm not sure how to assess the televotes for Israel and Ukraine this year. Switzerland was behind that in 4th place, so definitely among the most popular ones among the audience members.
I suppose that was it for this year - unless I remember something I still want to comment on. In which case I'll add that.
Here's a recap video of the results:
This was a year with so many mixed emotions ... For starters, I was rather underwhelmed with the German pre-selection (didn't particularly like any of the entries, was very disappointed that Max Mutzke couldn't come up with a good song for his 20-year-anniversary entry, and was super puzzled that Isaak's song started with no lead up whatsoever and wasn't the style I had expected from the video clip scene I saw without sound, so I never managed to sort myself out and catch up with the here and now - but I did think he lacked stage presence). I read somewhere between then and the contest that there'd be adjustments to the arrangement of the song. To say it upfront: they improved the whole thing a great deal, and I could also tell that he worked very hard in the meantime, so the performances were a positive surprise for me.
But back to the emotions. I got extremely hyper in the days leading up to the contest week. There was a Eurovision highlights show with Riccardo Simonetti the Friday before, and that gave me the idea to look up some reaction videos of older Eurovision performances like Conchita Wurst and Loreen (as I had gotten a bit hooked on reactions by that time). I was totally in Eurovision mood and couldn't wait for the performances! I was particularly excited for the change they implemented regarding the Big 5: it was the first time they got to perform their whole song on stage in the semi-finals! Yeah, they were granted a spot, but I think it was an overdue move. It's just better if all songs get the same exposure.
I was still super excited up until Friday night when the news show after Let's Dance mentioned the protests against Israel and the (at that point still uncertain) developments around the Dutch entry Joost Klein. By Saturday afternoon, after the disqualification was announced, I was pretty gloomy. This year was really super overshadowed. I wasn't around in Malmö to judge or have an opinion of what happened between the delegations and with that production member who reported Joost to the police. I cannot condone booing a contestant based on her nationality, though, nor any booing every single time that country's song got points. It also felt very awkward to have a contestant disqualified during the contest for the first time ever (as far as I'm aware) and not have them mention it during the grand final in any way (not even when the Netherlands failed to present a spokesperson for the Dutch results - for understandable reasons). Luckily many commentators did the job instead (I'm saying "many" because I don't know if they all did, but the German one certainly did explain what was going on, and I heard of others).
That being said, I'll take a step back to comment on the semi-finals!
Semi-final 1. Man, was I wrong in my estimate. Let's just say that I couldn't for the life of me imagine that enough people would support Ireland. I consider myself open-minded, but this is still a song contest, and I didn't think it was a particularly good song with that amount of rather unmelodic whispering and shouting and so little melody in the vocals. Add to that the dark performance with that exorcism. It all seemed too much for Eurovision. So I had not put it on my list. I didn't think people would vote for that.
But that was my only miss this year. I was pretty wrong about several of my left-side picks, though (especially in the second semi-final). Here I thought at first that Hera Björk (the only one of the many returning artists in their respective national finals who made it all the way to the contest) had a good song for Iceland, but exchanged that with Azerbaijan (previously on my right side) when I listened to the recap. I liked the song from Azerbaijan with the chorus being in Azeri (which they've never done before). However, neither advanced. Slovenia advanced, though, which I only had in parantheses on my right side. Go figure. My dad likened her to Legolas and her dancers to a bunch of Gollums. LOL
It was clear to me that Cyprus, Serbia (liked that one, ooh, nice deep voice!), Lithuania (great dance track), Croatia (I certainly didn't like it to the extent so many did), Portugal and Luxembourg would advance. Yes, you read correctly: for the first time in three years, I counted on Portugal! In fact that was by far my favorite performance of the first show! Iolanda was cool. ;0) I also really enjoyed Luxembourg because the French verses sounded so cool wrapped in that style of the English chorus. I get it that the visuals turned a bit over the top at some point, but I was still surprised that it didn't finish higher in the grand final. I also moved Ukraine to the left side of my list at some point, but it didn't convince me instantly. The beginning was good, the ending (with that LED screen showing a bunch of women lying around and them joining) looked like a stunning painting, but I wasn't such a big fan of the rap and the shakiness they added to the visuals. It was one of the few songs that I could recall afterwards, though. Certainly an earworm.
I wasn't too fond of Finland with its Windows95Man, so only had it on the right side. The artist's name had sounded so promising, but it was all about the show (which was funny, I admit that, what with the supposed naked butt until the pants came from the ceiling and all those little ideas they had to hide his genitals - which had been covered all the time after all, duh). His voice was rather nonexistent (thankfully he also had a supporting singer).
Also on my right side (but only in parantheses) were Moldova and Australia, which both didn't make it. Moldova had a nice melody in that non-lyrics part (does that count as the chorus?). I felt a bit bad for Australia that they got kicked out when they so proudly presented Aboriginal culture, but it sadly wasn't strong enough in comparison to other entries.
Poland was very bad unfortunately; it was so obvious that this chess game wouldn't have any winner. I wonder why so many people wondered why it didn't advance.
Of the set finalists, I enjoyed Sweden's performance (that was pretty cool, I liked the twins, but I could have done without the crazy colors towards the end that looked like a computer broke and spit out strange stuff). I thought Germany did well with that new, quiter arrangement that had a much less abrupt opening. Good to have live backing vocals and a strong lead vocalist. United Kingdom was a WTF moment. When I listen to the studio recording, it is actually quite nice, but boy did they manage to mess that song up live. At first every viewer is so busy trying to figure out which side of that room/box is up and which is down that you pay no attention to the song whatsoever, then the vocals weren't strong (I know there was an issue with his monitors in the first semi-final, but the grand final wasn't all that great, either), I was so put off by the outfit (more so by the rotten and torn shirt than by the jockstraps), and on top of everything the performance turns into a gay orgy at some point. Sigh. Way to ruin a song. (No surprise it got zero points from the audience vote in the grand final.)
I'm afraid the write-up is taking much longer than I thought, so I'm taking a break before commenting on the second set of songs.
I have already started with some overall impressions (see below), but I will continue here right after this very sentence. Tomorrow or whenever. :0)
Semi-final 2. There were more performances in the second semi-final which made me go wild than in the first one. I'll start with the songs that I've found convincing, but which didn't make it to the grand final. Malta seemed to be just what you always see succeed in Eurovision, so it surprised me that it wasn't picked. I also enjoyed Czechia's "Pedestal" a great deal, probably because it was rockier, but that argument scene (which, as I found out later, is also in the studio recording) was a bit strange. Maybe that's why?
My favorite performance BY FAR was France. Holy moly! And just for that off-mic moment alone! Like, seriously ... that guy just takes several steps away from the microphone and sings without a mic from the top of his lungs and fills the arena! Such a magical moment! Was it just me or were the lyrics tailored for French beginners? I mean, "je t'aime" and "est-ce que tu m'aimes ou pas?" isn't all that sophisticated and easy to understand.
Since I'm already talking Big 5: Italy was also good. It's funny that they wore entirely different costumes compared to the grand final, though. And I have to say that I don't quite get why it was above many other songs in the end. What I didn't get at all was the love for Spain. Everything about it was below average for me (and don't get me started on the topic of butt cheeks on a Eurovision stage, be it male or female ...).
My other two favorites were our southern neighbors Switzerland and Austria. I loved both songs, both performances, both spectacles. In Nemo's case, that was such a great use of the stage, the song was just as diverse as they were, and so full of highlights! Very interesting opening to the song, that rap part was CRAZY GOOD, and it just got better and better. That was a pretty physically demanding performance, too. That layback on the saucer towards the end? Dang! So awesome! And Austria: clear vocals, fantastic dancing, and a song that was so eurodance in a good way - with class. I effing loved it! It's a real shame that the signal froze in the grand final. I couldn't believe my eyes when she finished so far down in the standings; out of the three German-speaking countries, I've had those two far, far above Germany.
I really enjoyed Armenia (finally a performance with an ethnic European touch this year!). Georgia was strong with that "Firefighter" song (I loved it how people grouped her with Isaak because he brought the fire and she brought the firefighter). And Israel was also strong. I've had all these acts on my left side.
I moved the Netherlands from right to left over the course of the night. That song was a lot to take in, to be honest - so many references that were difficult to grasp at first listen and watch, particularly since the lyrics were mostly in Dutch. I've had a hard time following it. For example, I only noticed the reference to Stromae tonight. Anyway, that idea of having a song about Europe at Eurovision and dedicating it to his late parents was a sweet one. Funnily enough, I also moved Norway from right to left in the end, even though I only had it in parantheses (some countries I listed there with higher chances didn't advance). I think the Norwegian song took a while to pick up momentum. The passage they put into the recap was a good one because it was exciting. I think my initial parantheses may be an indication why the song didn't really succeed in the grand final and finished in last place. You don't have to understand why some other songs placed higher than this, though.
Some songs I put on my right side with possibly good chances to advance, even though I wasn't totally convinced, were from Greece (which did advance, and in the end it was an interesting addition for variety in this year, but it was a bit all over the place with that social media opening, the reggeaton(?) rhythm, the odd skirt, the Greek language and traditional dance and that interruption) and San Marino (which was actually a Spanish band, and I loved the pink and the graphics on the screen - but it wasn't enough in the end).
Latvia and Estonia, which both advanced, were only in parentheses on my right side. Estonia was too WTF for me (I got annoyed as soon as it almost started in the audience). As for Latvia, Dons' blue vest in the postcard had me laugh, only to then see an even worse blue stage outfit. (Sorry to be so shallow.) When the song started, I got curious, but I very quickly lost interest, so I actually didn't think it would get so many votes. (I'm even more surprised by the points in the grand final.)
I had also added Belgium and Denmark there in parantheses, but neither really convinced me. In the case of Denmark, the vocal live performance felt really weak. I think that task and that stage was a bit above her capability; she seemed a bit lost on that stage and didn't have the presence you'd expect.
I decided not to list Albania at all on either side because the song didn't have what it takes IMO. Plus that outfit with those boobs and the eye shadow. Not for me.
A few takes on the Grand Final.
For me it was great that I finally had two different countries again that I considered worth voting for! Which I then did, Switzerland and France. The previous two years it was really hard to decide if there was even one I'd want to spend money on. In that respect, 2024 was a move in the right direction.
Germany's placement was also a move in the right direction. Oh, before I forget: one of my favorite moments of the whole even was when the camera caught Isaak's backing vocalists running towards him and hugging him and going "JA MANN!!!" all happily after the performance when they went off the stage. :0) It's also crazy that his wife dyed his hair darker in their hotel room between the semi-final on Tuesday and the grand final on Saturday. LOL Anyway, despite all the positive feedback in the comments section of the semi-final performance, I didn't want to get my hopes up this time. After all, I read stuff like (paraphrased) "oh that's actually quite good, but it's Germany, so it's mandatory not to vote for it, to make sure it ends up in last place again." Hmpf. I myself considered the song rather average (yes, it grew on my because it had lots of radio presence here), and you know what happens to average: it's somewhere in the middle of the votings for every country, thus not in the top ten, so no points. I braced myself for that. You have no idea what a relief it was when the FIRST COUNTRY of the juries ALREADY AWARDED GERMANY POINTS! I couldn't believe my eyes and literally celebrated with shouting, "We have points! No zero points possible anymore!" LOL The juries were in favor of this. 99 points and 10th place from the juries was far more than I had hoped for. Well, the televote then put things into perspective ... hardly any points. By the way, why did they choose that section for the recap where it's all a big mess with the backing vocals doing the "run run na-ey" stuff and him doing the B part on top of it instead of just a plain chorus? That was a mess, no wonder you choose something else to vote for. But still 12th place overall, wheeeee! :0D It felt like a win! I saw many comments which stated that it should have been top ten or even higher. But I take what I can get. Last mention of Germany: how cool was his flag jacket in the flag parade?!
I've already commented a bit on the downsides above, so I won't repeat that. I felt a bit bad for Sweden. It's not their fault that everything was so shitty. They always pull off such amazing shows hosting Eurovision, but this was ao overshadowed. Petra Mede did her best cheering us up. Lynda Woodruff was fun again, too. I guess their best part was that Broadway musical about them loving Eurovision too much, in which they mocked Sweden and other European countries, just to introduce a possible Finnish interval act if Käärijä had won (including him, Moomins, and dancers in sauna towels). Brilliant!
I was very much looking forward to Alcazar (after the Swedish national final had already brought the A*Teens back on stage). It was crazy how I still remembered all the dance moves for that performance! Too bad it was cut short.
Loreen couldn't have chosen a more awkward way to perform again.
To sum up some general impressions:
Overall, there was a trend of lots of naked skin and/or skin-tight and see-though outfits. And dance breaks were still strong and maybe even worse than last year. The one from Cyprus was ... awkward. So many entries overdid it with the effects, too. I'm sure that a bunch of people got headaches from that or suffered from dizziness. Oh, and the attempts of 90's eurodance were also very apparent (Netherlands, Finland, Austria, ... ). I thought Austria pulled it off best! Very few ballads, very little traditional stuff, but something for everybody. The stage was very interesting with that cross design, yet hardly anyone made use of that. Most acts still had a fronted setup. The only ones I remember using it to their advantage were Ukraine and Switzerland, both coming up with a sophisticated stage and camera choreography (for lack of a better word) that had us viewers wonder where on stage they were facing each time. Very clever and well played!
Given what I said about my favorites and who I voted for, it won't be a big surprise for you that I was THRILLED with Switzerland winning! Yay, Nemo! Oh, their face during the press conference when somebody stated that they were the third Swiss winner after Lys Assia and Céline Dion and they realized they'd be forever be mentioned alongside Céline. Priceless!
I am so sick of the bemoaning that the fans' favorite hasn't won the second time in a row. Chill, people. I suppose most of those fans have never experienced the years where there was almost only block and ethnic voting taking place from the audience. Having professionals judging the songs isn't that bad. I do question the professional opinions at the same time. In many cases, the reasons for a placement from individual jury members appear to be just as subjective as the fans' choices. One professional considers different criteria for judging a song than the next. The results on the Eurovision website have gotten harder and harder to analyze, so I only skimmed through the German ones. It says a lot when one jury member puts Ireland in last place and another puts it in first place. How do you explain that from a professional standpoint? Taste is the only explanation in my opinion. And putting so much power in the hands of a few individual taste choices can indeed rub you the wrong way. (A final note on Ireland: while I could picture some people at home voting for this because of the sick performance, I fully expected the song to be ignored by the juries. I am shocked that the juries gave it even more points than the audience did! Why?!)
For me, Nemo is the justified winner. Croatia's song was a bit flat in terms of composition and lyrics compared to "The Code," as exciting as it may have come across to many. I'm not sure how to assess the televotes for Israel and Ukraine this year. Switzerland was behind that in 4th place, so definitely among the most popular ones among the audience members.
I suppose that was it for this year - unless I remember something I still want to comment on. In which case I'll add that.
Here's a recap video of the results:
Click to view