Eurovision Song Contest 2014

BuilderPlumber

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Couldn't agree more with them in relation to our entry. Only had a chance to listen to that much. I especially agree with what the Finn had to add. It's a nice song but it's very repetitive and gets boring quickly. Also the fact that were forcing the celtic hooks so much so that it's over the top and borderline stereotypical. They have their opinions spot on really. I don't think we'll get bottom 3 like they were suspecting but we'll definitely be on the right hand side of the board.

Going on most of the last 13 years, bottom 3 looks to be where Ireland is destined. The song is certainly ok and not the worst but Ireland has lost its midas touch for sure in this competition. I get the feeling that there is a prejudice about and stereotype about our songs in people's minds before ever they get to hear it and automatically we are placed last or near it subconciously.

BuilderPlumber

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

No disrespect, BuilderPlumber, but "All Kinds of Everything" really wasn't country and western...

If it had been, then there would be a case for considering Dana as a C&W singer. But I don't think I've come across anyone who does consider her that...

It's worth pointing out that Niamh actually didn't run away with it in '93 - another redhead, Sonia, led for the UK throughout the middle stages of the voting.

And of course, there were only 11 points between them when the Maltese jury were called back after technical difficulties prevented them from being reached the first time round...






Merseyside journalist Jamie McLoughlin was understandably apoplectic when Malta awarded those 12 points to Niamh - so it's no surprise that he was even more apoplectic when Messrs Harrington and McGettigan completed the Irish hat-trick...

http://boombangablog.merseyblogs.co.uk/2009/12/eurovision-1994-the-interval-a.html

(Seriously, one should read this blog of his. It's absolutely brilliant.)

And, like "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", "The Voice" was written by Brendan Graham.

It wasn't the most popular winning song, though - not just with the aforementioned Mr McLoughlin, but with just about everyone who wasn't from Ireland.

And I don't think it went down too well with the RTE accountants, either...

Gina G's "Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit" was considerably more popular, even though it only finished 8th.

The very next year, in fact, when he finished second but a full 70 points behind Katrina and the Waves.

All kinds of everything was never marketed as a country ballad of course but essentially that's the style it was. Hardly surprising for a girl from Derry. I do recall that Dana actually did an album of country standards in the 2000s as well. Dana does consider herself most frequently a religious artists nowadays and was a Eurovision artist at the time. Of course, her 1970 entry was stylistically country but you can't go marketing that in Europe can you?

No, Niamh did not run away with it all by herself but she was always a contender throughout and it was clear by the end she probably was and was the winner.

Gina G's song was of course extremely popular at the time and a massive hit. Like Cliff Richard's Congratulations and so much more in the competition, the winner does not always end up the biggest hit or most famous song!

gavmcg92

Ruth Lorenzo's eurovision mashup. She has a great cover of euphoria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE621F_2oy4

Mr.Nice Guy

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I think that is a very accurate prediction. More than likely, we will see a repeat of the Ryan Dolan situation. We will come out of the semis, then do poorly as predicted above in the final. Bottom 5 as per usual surely?

Yeah I think best case scenario is that we challenge for a top ten spot. For this to happen though I think Kasey needs to put in a strong performance and the presentation needs to be well laid out. I'd say worst case scenario is that we finish bottom 5. We need to see what the stage plan is in order to know which side of the scale we're on but at the moment I'm leaning towards the bottom end of the scale unless they have great ideas up their sleeves.

gavmcg92

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Yeah I think best case scenario is that we challenge for a top ten spot. For this to happen though I think Kasey needs to put in a strong performance and the presentation needs to be well laid out. I'd say worst case scenario is that we finish bottom 5. We need to see what the stage plan is in order to know which side of the scale we're on but at the moment I'm leaning towards the bottom end of the scale unless they have great ideas up their sleeves.

Well we know the Irish dancers are still there... so more likely going to be bottom 5 :P

gavmcg92

Just finished working my way through semi final 2. I think I like semi final 1 better if I'm honest. They're close enough but I feel like there are a lot less in this that I like. Some of my overall favourites are here; namely Israel, Malta and Norway, but over all I like the first semi more.

Semi Final 2
1. Norway
2. Israel
3. Malta
4. Austria
5. Greece
6. Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Finland
9. Romania
10. Macedonia

---

final cut
11. Belarus
12. Slovenia
13. Poland
14. Georgia
15. Lithuania

I guess what I can take from my top from semi 1 and semi 2 is that I'm not overly fond of Balkan and Eastern European tastes in music.

Also, I might be a little biased with my position of the Irish entry, I'm not entirely sure. But, what I can say is it's definitely above Macedonia in my list and no better than Greece so make of that as you wish. After listening to all the entries and trying to be as unbiased as possible, I do think it deserves to qualify.

BuilderPlumber

Another thing I was thinking: I wonder does the placing of the entry for Ireland (or any country) in the running order of the songs on the night make a difference. I have to do some research and see are they trends like: Ireland did best when it was featured in the last 5 songs or first 5 songs but tended to do poorly if it was scheduled in the middle.

gavmcg92

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Another thing I was thinking: I wonder does the placing of the entry for Ireland (or any country) in the running order of the songs on the night make a difference. I have to do some research and see are they trends like: Ireland did best when it was featured in the last 5 songs or first 5 songs but tended to do poorly if it was scheduled in the middle.

Well I think first and foremost it depends on the quality of the song. I think middle of the line songs benefit from being placed closer to the end to keep them fresh in peoples minds. But I think strong songs are going to perform well in the results regardless of where they are positioned.

gavmcg92

Just looking at the official Austrian video for this year's contest. Didn't expect to see such vile comments. You'd think for a competition like eurovision that people would be accepting of people who don't fit into a "normal" profile.

ShaneMc2012

I know a lot of people here are doubting the Irish entry and I myself have no idea how I think it will fare in May however the popular Eurovision website Wiwiblogs.com just released their review of it and as you can see, it fared very well!
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/20/ireland-jury-reviews-can-linn-heartbeat/44556/
Out of the 20 reviewed so far its by far the highest result.
http://wiwibloggs.com/eurovision-previews-reviews-all-songs/

Also, If their poll is anything to go by we're currently 2nd place. Should we be expecting a surprise victory in May? :Phttp://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/19/will-win-eurovision-2014-update-2/47064/

gavmcg92

ShaneMc2012 wrote: »

Also, If their poll is anything to go by we're currently 2nd place. Should we be expecting a surprise victory in May?

I wish! :pac:

Their polls aren't any help to us to be honest. Quite a large Irish contingent on that page. Best poll to go by, I think, is the OGAE. Not all countries have submitted their results yet but you can see the results here.

We're currently in 13th position with 18 points and 13 countries having submitted their votes.

Galvasean

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Just looking at the official Austrian video for this year's contest. Didn't expect to see such vile comments. You'd think for a competition like eurovision that people would be accepting of people who don't fit into a "normal" profile.

Bigots will always be bigots unfortunately and will go out of their way to post such nasty crap - sad really.

ShaneMc2012 wrote: »

I know a lot of people here are doubting the Irish entry and I myself have no idea how I think it will fare in May however the popular Eurovision website Wiwiblogs.com just released their review of it and as you can see, it fared very well!
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/20/ireland-jury-reviews-can-linn-heartbeat/44556/
Out of the 20 reviewed so far its by far the highest result.
http://wiwibloggs.com/eurovision-previews-reviews-all-songs/

Also, If their poll is anything to go by we're currently 2nd place. Should we be expecting a surprise victory in May? :Phttp://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/19/will-win-eurovision-2014-update-2/47064/

Hmm, I wouldn't be overly concerned with the WiWi polls. They've been inconsistent at best. An act can generally place well in them by posting a link to the poll up on their social media platforms.

The reviews fill me with more optimism though. The minimum score was 7/10 (highest 10/10) and a weighted average of 8.06. That's encouraging. Although it'd be interesting to see what nations the jur members hailed from for a bit of perspective.

ShaneMc2012

Galvasean wrote: »

Although it'd be interesting to see what nations the jur members hailed from for a bit of perspective.

I wondered about that too and I found this, a good sign maybe?

Our jury consists of 19 jurors who hail from Albania, Austria, Australia, Britain, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and the United States. We are truly international

gavmcg92

Has anyone's favourite song changed over the last week or so? I find I'm listening to the Israeli song more than the rest of them. Still like the Norwegian, Maltese and British entry with Austria getting a good bit of air time too, but the Israeli entry this year takes the lead. Swedish song has completely lost any appeal that it had for me. I've grown bored of the song. (That doesn't matter for the competition but I don't really care now if it doesn't win)

Mr.Nice Guy

I must say the French song has become a guilty pleasure of mine. It's goofy and normally I wouldn't like that kind of music but there's something about it I find catchy. I also like the Polish one more and more. That has my favourite lyrics of the year:

'We're Slavic girls; we know how to use our charm and beauty. Now shake what your momma gave you. Clap your hands to this music.'

That always makes me laugh. Not sure I have an outright favourite at the moment though.

aramush

Had a listen to some of the songs, really like the Finnish song!

Go Harvey Go

aramush wrote: »

Had a listen to some of the songs, really like the Finnish song!

Well, the Finns have clearly decided to take this year a bit more seriously than last year...

gavmcg92

Official Swedish Video is up. Clever strategy. Upload live footage and wait until everyone else has theirs up before they put up a produced one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMMqIIpMjyQ

Galvasean

As far as growers go, that damn 'Cheesecake' song is starting to grow on me

Interestingly, Ireland is still #1 according to the WiWi Bloggs jury at the halfway point. Obviously, that doesn't mean anything in terms of Eurovision votes, but it's encouraging to read nonetheless.
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/23/wiwi-jury-half-time-reviews/47530/

gavmcg92

Galvasean wrote: »

Interestingly, Ireland is still #1 according to the WiWi Bloggs jury at the halfway point. Obviously, that doesn't mean anything in terms of Eurovision votes, but it's encouraging to read nonetheless.
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/23/wiwi-jury-half-time-reviews/47530/

Noticed that we were second on that last year! Definitely not something to look too closely into.

gavmcg92

In other news, the Irish OGAE results have been uploaded. How do they compare to your favourites?

OGAE Ireland
12 points go to… Spain
10 points go to… the United Kingdom
8 points go to… Sweden
7 points go to… Norway
6 points go to… Malta
5 points go to… Israel
4 points go to… Denmark
3 points go to… Austria
2 points go to… Hungary
1 point goes to… Montenegro

Great to see Malta up there so high. Also surprised that Spain is top. Just would have assumed that the Swedish entry would have gotten 12. Also delighted for Norway.

BuilderPlumber

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Noticed that we were second on that last year! Definitely not something to look too closely into.

I have a feeling we will be having the usual post Eurovision discussion here in Ireland after a few weeks. Some country like Armenia could run away with it followed by 4-5 other either East Europeans, ex-USSR or Scandinavian countries. Ireland will be in the bottom few and we will all be talking about block voting, our type of song being out of sync with the modern Eurovision, etc.

gavmcg92

Eurovision stage in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9EjTa7LZkA

BuilderPlumber

What is left for Ireland to try? Maybe some of these:

A soccer related novelty? True, most of Europe are massive soccer nations. But we perform as poorly at the moment in international soccer events like the World and European cups as we do at the Eurovision! So, no it would not be convincing coming from Ireland.

I got it! A rugby related novelty, then? True, we have a world class rugby team. Unfortunately, most of Europe are not into rugby thus meaning the song would only appeal in the UK, France and Italy.

How about an out and out country or folk song then? Well, conceptwise, it would be interesting. Unfortunately, we'd end up with some 'boyfolk' singer like the godawful Mike Denver doing it. Besides, I think Germany already tried this and came nowhere.

How about the Rubberbandits then? Well, if they were singing 'Uh ah up the RA', it may not appeal in the UK very much. Besides, to Europeans, they may see another Dustin here!!!!

On a serious note, other Irish acts have all been mentioned as possible future Eurovision reps. Johnny Logan again, Crystal Swing, etc. All good at what they do and I have the feeling they don't want to enter it for career reasons. Look at poor Jedward? I can't see Christy Moore or Johnny Mc Evoy ever representing us either: they probably would not want to be in it for artistic reasons.

So, now we have a competition many don't want to enter and we have tried almost everything and it does not work? Maybe ask Gay Byrne and see what he'd advise!

gavmcg92

I hope we never send a novelty act again!

Go Harvey Go

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I have a feeling we will be having the usual post Eurovision discussion here in Ireland after a few weeks. Some country like Armenia could run away with it followed by 4-5 other either East Europeans, ex-USSR or Scandinavian countries. Ireland will be in the bottom few and we will all be talking about block voting, our type of song being out of sync with the modern Eurovision, etc.

This - and more, in the unlikely event that Kasey and Can-Linn fail to make it out of the semi...

Galvasean

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Noticed that we were second on that last year! Definitely not something to look too closely into.

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Also surprised that Spain is top.

Well, Lorenzo probably has fans left over from her X factor days so that could it explain it.

gavmcg92

Galvasean wrote: »

Well, Lorenzo probably has fans left over from her X factor days so that could it explain it.

That could explain it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Just had a look at the latest odds. Ukraine are 14/1 which is the same as Romania and the UK. Wha? Ukraine? I think it's a very cheap, hollow song. I can't see that being amongst the contenders.

Sweden are 2/1 second favourites. I think they were a longer price a few weeks ago so I should have had a bet.

In terms of outsiders, Poland and France at 80/1 are tempting. If Poland can give a strong stage act - think Russia and the grannies a few years ago - then the novelty aspect could pay off.

The big question is will the singers hold up well; but the song has a lot of attitude and it should carry a good amount of buzz. Don't think it will be a winner but it wouldn't amaze me to see this song give the others a challenge.

Go Harvey Go

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Sweden are 2/1 second favourites. I think they were a longer price a few weeks ago so I should have had a bet.

For the record, Armenia are currently 6/4 with Paddy Power, William Hill and Coral, and 7/4 with Ladbrokes.