[joeysteele]

Italy winning, France runner up, Switzerland 3rd.
3 of my favourite Countries.
Good result this was.

[arista]

[Calderyon]

Malta won SF1.
Switzerland won SF2.

SF1 top 10 ranked (both Jury & Tele):

Malta
Ukraine
Russia
Lithuania
Israel
Cyprus
Sweden
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Norway

SF2 top 10 ranked (both Jury & Tele):

Switzerland
Iceland
Bulgaria
Portugal
Finland
Greece
Moldova
Serbia
San Marino
Albania

[Braden]

It's weird because I get the appeal of Italy’s entry and understand why it won, but I'm pretty underwhelmed? I think it's because I was rooting for France towards the end, and it was pretty close between them.

[Calderyon]

Out of Italy and France, i am glad Italy won tbh.

[Liam-]

James did not deserve zero points, how the **** were we beaten by Germany?

Glad Italy won, it’s about time after all the times they’ve been robbed over the past couple of years

[LaLaLand]

I can't stop listening to Iceland's song. It's bloody brilliant! So much fun and so cheery!

[arista]

[Vanessa]

Switzerland thought they already won.
His face when Italy beat them

[Shaun]

I didn't get that at all Vanessa - he seemed like he knew it was coming and was resigned to defeat. There was no chance at all Switzerland would get 300+ televotes.

The only unhappy people I noticed were the Portuguese entry (although in a "oh **** this " way, not an actual strop) and Senhit from San Marino - she had every right to be stunned by just 13 televotes

I think the lesson from last night is that too many countries are trying to do the same thing. SO many of last night's entries were "extremely beautiful popstar in a silver sequined dress has a really basic Spotify-friendly hook for their dance-pop song"... Serbia, Cyprus, San Marino, Moldova, Malta, Israel, Azerbaijan... and don't get me wrong, I love some of them and sometimes they do well. But the majority of viewers and listeners want something unique and something that stands out. France did that, Italy did that, Ukraine and Iceland did that. Switzerland were the only male ballad of the night (ignoring the dreck from Spain). And they all finished as the top 5. Hell, Finland snatched 6th because they were the only hard-rock entry (I consider Italy's to be more glam-rock / contemporary, like Royal Blood) and they were considered to have no chance of winning at all.

It's hard to predict what the rest of Europe are going to do, in that respect, but the UK need to learn this: what Europe are not going to do is support a song that we won't even put in our own charts, let alone anyone else's. Absolutely nobody will have seen or heard 'Embers' and thought "...god, that was just... such a stand-out".

[Shaun]

Aside from the usual defending of our participation in this contest, I would say there still needs to be a cracking down on...shady behaviour. Moreso with the juries than the public vote, although I do think Moldova getting SO many votes in the semi-final (top points from 8 of the 20 voting countries... and this was against Iceland, Finland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Greece...) and then a paltry 62 in the final is an eyebrow-raiser

Maybe some of the juries aren't actually taking out-and-out bribes, but are instead voting tactically... notice how Italy and France didn't place each other highly at all?

We like to make fun of it for its predictability but there is a genuine frustration - you can even hear it in the arena every year, the boos for them - Cyprus/Greece, Russia/Azerbaijan/Georgia/Moldova, Serbia/Macedonia/Montenegro/Croatia... there are definitely a lot of countries taking part fairly but you have to ask what are the real reliability factors when it comes to the impartiality of a member of the Cypriot jury

[Captain.Remy]

The highlight of the night is that dude doing cocaine live
Really didn't expect to get runner-up with that song which tbh I'm not a fan of.
Congrats to Italy winning! Not my cup of it but has some appeal to it.
And the UK getting 0 points really is a punishment after Brexit, I feel like.

[bots]

what made me laugh was that the german entry got 3 more points than the uk

I don't think any country goes into the event taking it in any way seriously. Some parts of it like the partisan voting are very predictable by now and some of the rest is delightfully random

I hadn't heard the uk entry before last night, and for me it's the worst entry we ever submitted and there have been a few really bad ones in the past, so it shows how bad it was.

It is surprisingly difficult to write a winning song because you cant follow a formula and know that it will be a winner. Sometimes it will win, other times it will come last depending on the mood on the street.

Anyway, i enjoyed it for what it was

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

I don't think any country goes into the event taking it in any way seriously.

The majority do. It's a huge prize for both the musicians themselves (getting a ton of European fans and being able to tour internationally as a result) and the countries participating (in normal times, anyway, as the Eurovision economy is a massive boost to tourism).

We have the luxury of having both of those in abundance already: UK acts that make it big are going to tour internationally regardless, whereas even an Italian or Spanish act is going to struggle to break through in the US/UK/Canada/Australia markets (which tend to dictate what's successful... I mean all of the "Best albums of the year", awards shows, etc, take place in America). And then on the tourism boon side of things we've never really had to worry about that.

In recent years I can only really think of Rosalia (from Spain) and Christine and the Queens (from France) who have broken through into critically-acclaimed music from Europe. That's only really because we can't be bothered to listen to non-English music, not because no one in Europe is making anything good.

[bots]

Originally Posted by Shaun

The majority do. It's a huge prize for both the musicians themselves (getting a ton of European fans and being able to tour internationally as a result) and the countries participating (in normal times, anyway, as the Eurovision economy is a massive boost to tourism).

We have the luxury of having both of those in abundance already: UK acts that make it big are going to tour internationally regardless, whereas even an Italian or Spanish act is going to struggle to break through in the US/UK/Canada/Australia markets (which tend to dictate what's successful... I mean all of the "Best albums of the year", awards shows, etc, take place in America). And then on the tourism boon side of things we've never really had to worry about that.

In recent years I can only really think of Rosalia (from Spain) and Christine and the Queens (from France) who have broken through into critically-acclaimed music from Europe. That's only really because we can't be bothered to listen to non-English music, not because no one in Europe is making anything good.

Maybe its just my perception of it has changed. I find it quite similar supporting Scotland in international football

Without eurovision, the phenomena that was Abba would never have happened, so i do get that

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

what made me laugh was that the german entry got 3 more points than the uk

I don't think any country goes into the event taking it in any way seriously. Some parts of it like the partisan voting are very predictable by now and some of the rest is delightfully random

I hadn't heard the uk entry before last night, and for me it's the worst entry we ever submitted and there have been a few really bad ones in the past, so it shows how bad it was.

It is surprisingly difficult to write a winning song because you cant follow a formula and know that it will be a winner. Sometimes it will win, other times it will come last depending on the mood on the street.

Anyway, i enjoyed it for what it was

yes, Portugal does (they don't care results wise, but they like promoting their music artists through this contest, and them to take this experience with them for their careers)

given they also made return to JESC for this year, despite bad results, promoting new child singers is also good for their music industry

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

what made me laugh was that the german entry got 3 more points than the uk

I don't think any country goes into the event taking it in any way seriously. Some parts of it like the partisan voting are very predictable by now and some of the rest is delightfully random

I hadn't heard the uk entry before last night, and for me it's the worst entry we ever submitted and there have been a few really bad ones in the past, so it shows how bad it was.

It is surprisingly difficult to write a winning song because you cant follow a formula and know that it will be a winner. Sometimes it will win, other times it will come last depending on the mood on the street.

Anyway, i enjoyed it for what it was

…those are very much words of someone from a country who just got 0 points……

[Ammi]

…i liked the presenters from the little bit I saw so well done them……I couldn’t help think though, Shaun….that your presentation really takes some beating…you definitely have the edge on Eurovision presenting….

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Captain.Remy

The highlight of the night is that dude doing cocaine live
Really didn't expect to get runner-up with that song which tbh I'm not a fan of.
Congrats to Italy winning! Not my cup of it but has some appeal to it.
And the UK getting 0 points really is a punishment after Brexit, I feel like.

…hush up you……I feel for the almost half of us who voted not to Brexit, we’ve been wrongly imprisoned …

[Ammi]

….well done though, Remy…France did excellently I hear….…I watched a movie so didn’t see that much of it but I watched some of the results at the end and heard the winning song….well done, Vanessa…you must be thrilled……

[Nicky91]

i'm happy with my two main faves middle of table


The Black Mamba, Hurricane both really got good careers to come, new experience gained here, both slayed



i am happy with Ukraine higher than overrated bribe nation Malta (karma for that bribing and playback, lol destiny)



nice non-english top 3 too



as for my nation, well i am proud of Jeangu i love his song myself and that is what is more important




my personal winner of my own top 2 is Hurricane, Loco Loco what a bop, and damn how they are better live than studio



UK sorry not sorry but James was crap live, also out of breath after walking around a bit if u want dance song u need someone who can actually perform and sell it live

[Nicky91]

for Serbia 15th is a decent result (higher than in 2018, 2019 and also for Sanja (dark hair) 3 places up too for herself compared her solo entry in 2016, for Ksenija (red hair) 2 places below her father's result for Montenegro in 2015 (Knez - Adio) which came 13th


Hurricane basically got a huge regional hit with the entry too (so yeah decent esc result, and hopefully next mission is to be next balkan superstars)

also nice fun fact how they were formed on island of Sint-Maarten, after devastating hurricane Irma, as a charity project at first but ended up being that popular, that they are one of their nation's mainstream acts now (which was nice on its own to see Serbia send something really current from their music scene)



Portugal: The Black Mamba always said they weren't in it for the competition but more to have fun, share their work with a wider audience, they already performed in America, UK, but they just needed a bigger audience to perform to, and this entry of theirs will be on their new upcoming album ''Night in Amsterdam''




San Marino: a shame it didn't get best result to date, cuz i found them better than Serhat for sure, also still on bright side, loved how Flo Rida was enjoying every single moment of the shows



Belgium: 19th is great for Hooverphonic, whom also never were in it for competition, but as Geike said ''a chance to perform for live audience again, which happens to have some points''

[Shaun]

I don't have time to analyse the results as much as I'd like to (I'm curious to know which jury member put the UK the highest ) (those figures might not be released yet, I don't know) but I did have some thoughts on the other results...

Ukraine finished 2nd in the televote I had a feeling it would beat France but didn't think it'd be 2nd. Shame the juries gave it lukewarm praise, because it could've been a real contender for the title.

The most disappointing results are obviously San Marino (but then... Flo Rida hasn't had a hit since 2015, so it's to be expected... plus performing last is always a massive handicap. Everyone's already tired and wanting the thing to get over with )... I really hoped the Netherlands would get a little bit more than 11pts in total just because the song was so political and powerful... just maybe a little too ploddy and in amongst some of the big favourites so was drowned out.

The one I really underestimated was Finland... I really don't get what the appeal was there I know I said before that it's very unique and stands out... but as a song in and of itself, it was pretty weak IMO.

Otherwise I'm really happy with the final order. Top ten spots for Ukraine, Switzerland, Lithuania and Iceland... top half spot for Portugal... Cyprus deserved better than 16th but again, had the bookend position and therefore suffered from being forgotten by the end.

[Nicky91]

Serbia biggest voting difference

21st Juries but 9th in televote


hurray and respect to televoters not being a bunch of nitpicking moaners


i think it is fab on its own if you can sing/dance that well at same time, also very technically demanding, and how fast paced that song also was (but for juries to destroy that, well i'm done with juries now)




but what did you guys think of our interval acts?


music binds us was real nice, bit of orchestra again and our own international name, DJ Afrojack

rock the roof was nice either, Teach-In (ding a dong) original formation, they got very old but so joyful still with that song

my city's Lenny Kuhr de troubadour bop


Lordi still sound and look fab

[arista]