Eurovision Song Contest 2015

thelad95

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Depends on the effort they put in. Azerbaijan went all out and spent something like €50m on it.

To be fair, Azerbaijan had a lot to do what with building all the walls so the visitors don't see the poverty :cool: and they built a new arena pretty much from scratch. Kind of puts us holding it in a cow shed in 1993 to shame.

bpb101

thelad95 wrote: »

To be fair, Azerbaijan had a lot to do what with building all the walls so the visitors don't see the poverty :cool: and they built a new arena pretty much from scratch. Kind of puts us holding it in a cow shed in 1993 to shame.

was grand

yerwanthere123

Ah I think Millstreet put on a good show in fairness. And anyway, the competition has amplified in scale times ten since then, can hardly compare Eurovision now to Eurovision then.

It still seems surreal that it was held in Millstreet though. I don't remember it cause I was far too young, but I wouldn't be a stranger to the town cause I've got family living there. It really has got nothing about it, seems so bizarre that Eurovision was held there

BuilderPlumber

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

I don't think there are that many similarities between "We've Got the World" and "If My World Stopped Turning", TBH.

Other than the fact, of course, that they were both chosen on You're A Star, and also the fact that they both have "world" in their respective titles.

"Waterline" simply wasn't as good as "Lipstick".

Also, all eyes in 2012 were on Loreen - whereas in 2011 there was no obvious winner. (The bookies actually made France favourites...)

But the real reason is... RTE really don't want to host the thing again.

After all, having to host it four times in five years must have placed a pretty big strain on their finances...

Yes. True.

After listening to some of these again for the first time in ages: I think MJ Harte's song was stronger than C Doran's. Similar to an extent but not identical. Still, the relative success of the likes of Eamonn Toal, MJ Harte and Dawn Martin proves that relative unknowns can still do well in this contest. Dana was a total unknown at the time too and Johnny L and Linda Martin (the first times around) were relatively unknown too.

Agreed. Lipstick was a far better song and performance than Waterline. Perhaps too there was a bit of resting on one's laurels here: 2011 was the best result in years, just let it happen again! No promotion as much!

Some years have had a clear winner who everyone voted for. Lordi, Fairytale for Norway and Loreen all being examples not to mention the bearded one

RTE most certainly don't want to host it again. In recent years, I have seen them mess with the song between when it won to represent us and when it appeared in the final or semi final itself.

Would or could they go as far as influencing the Eurovision itself by making sure the vote never puts Ireland into the number one position? I doubt if they would go that far but who knows ...

yerwanthere123

Greece

Pretty dull, tbh. Although we'd know all about dull ballads this year

22/40 picked so far, with Australia to come later tonight. What are your favourite songs picked so far? Estonia and Spain are the only two I can say I properly like and seek out to listen.

yerwanthere123

Oh Australia have just announced their entry, it's Guy Sebastian. Not a bad pick. No song yet though.

MelanieC

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Oh Australia have just announced their entry, it's Guy Sebastian. Not a bad pick. No song yet though.

Who's Guy Sebastian?

Go Harvey Go

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Some years have had a clear winner who everyone voted for. Lordi, Fairytale for Norway and Loreen all being examples not to mention the bearded one

Conchita only ran away with it at the end, though - before that, he and the Netherlands were more or less neck and neck.

And there are several people on this thread who are still disappointed that the Dutch didn't win...

In recent years, I have seen [RTE] mess with the song between when it won to represent us and when it appeared in the final or semi final itself.

Kasey last year springs to mind...

MelanieC wrote: »

Who's Guy Sebastian?

This, er, guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N6O0xI3A2o

yerwanthere123

Germany

Pretty bland imo. All very weird in Germany tonight though, Andreas Kümmert actually won, and then announced he didn't want to take part, so instead runner up Ann Sophie would represent Germany instead. Weird

23/40 picked now, I must say I think the overall standard is very poor so far.

XxMCRxBabyxX

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Germany

Pretty bland imo. All very weird in Germany tonight though, Andreas Kümmert actually won, and then announced he didn't want to take part, so instead runner up Ann Sophie would represent Germany instead. Weird

23/40 picked now, I must say I think the overall standard is very poor so far.

He'd waited until he'd won to pull out? Any reason given?

yerwanthere123

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

He'd waited until he'd won to pull out? Any reason given?

From Wiwibloggs

But Andreas then dropped a bombshell, announcing that he did not want to represent the country after all, effectively removing himself from the competition and giving the victory to Ann Sophie. The crowd were not happy with Andreas, but gave Ann Sophie a well deserved ovation following her “winning” reprise.

Oh dear!

jimmythedivil

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Yes... it is indeed that time of year once again.

I think it came round well before Friday night, TBH.




But should Niamh Kavanagh's fellow redhead, Sonia, have won in '93?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_tOw6lfIY

She led during the middle stages of the voting, before Niamh went back in front when the UK (funnily enough, but unsurprisingly) gave her their douze points.

And then, of course, with 11 points between the two and all the other countries having given their votes, the Maltese jury had to be called back following technical difficulties...







The winning act was still part-Irish, though.




Marc Roberts' 2nd place to Katrina and the Waves in '97 remains Ireland's most recent top-five finish.

In '98, Dawn Martin (no relation to Linda, AFAIK) came 9th, but stood no chance against Dana International. And in '99, the Mullans got the first 12 of the night (from Lithuania) but not much else besides, and finished 17th.

Mickey Joe Harte really couldn't have beaten Sertab Erener in '03, and no-one could have beaten Lordi in '06.

No-one could have beaten Loreen in '12, either - and I think even John and Edward would agree there.

Wasn't there some controversy in 1995 about our entry Dreaming? The tune was supposedly identical to an old pop song called Moondance, there was talk of it being thrown out at one stage!

I also remember the song that won that year for Norway was pretty much an instrumental by an Irish violinist, apparently there is or was some regulation stating that a song had to have a certain amount of singing in it to be considered suitable for Eurovision and that this particular tune broke the rules!

The Mullans getting the first 12 points from Lithuania still must be one of our stranger Eurovision moments.

95 and 96 are still my favourite Eurovision winning songs. I don't think anything in the last ten years has even come close to them.

BuilderPlumber

jimmythedivil wrote: »

Wasn't there some controversy in 1995 about our entry Dreaming? The tune was supposedly identical to an old pop song called Moondance, there was talk of it being thrown out at one stage!

Yes, and the melody went even further back ... to an obscure 1958 song called My Love.

I also remember the song that won that year for Norway was pretty much an instrumental by an Irish violinist, apparently there is or was some regulation stating that a song had to have a certain amount of singing in it to be considered suitable for Eurovision and that this particular tune broke the rules!

Have to listen to that entry again. There was singing on it but how much I am not sure. Remember it was not at all unlike Ireland's The Voice from the next year. Celtic mystic style.

The Mullans getting the first 12 points from Lithuania still must be one of our stranger Eurovision moments.

95 and 96 are still my favourite Eurovision winning songs. I don't think anything in the last ten years has even come close to them.

How many times did we see getting 12 at first and then it did not work out as well after? Albeit we did do ok enough in most situations. The Celtic styled 95 and 96 winners were overall good and whether they'd win now I am unsure. But generally I always prefer a Eurovision song that mixes some ethnic musical heritage into the mix. Regardless of whether they win or not.

Been catching up on the entries I hadn't listened to yet.

Belarus - The violins are nice. Everything else about it is not. Non-qualifier I reckon.

Slovenia - It might be a grower; it's got a very simple and catchy chorus and she's got an interesting voice, reminds me of Duffy only less squeaky. They need to fix the staging 'cause it looks very amateur at the moment but I'd be surprised if it didn't make the final though.

Hungary - This one is frustrating: the melody is lovely, the vocals are lovely but the lyrics are pure shcmaltz. I'd like it much more if it was in Hungarian and I didn't know what they were singing about! Will probably qualify but can see it getting more jury support than public.

Denmark - One McFly is (more than) enough, thank you very much. On the plus side, it's nowhere near as awful as what they sent last year.

Greece - Zzzzzz......

Moldova - No. Just no.

Germany - It's not terrible but not particularly memorable either. Can't imagine many people rushing to vote for it.

Italy - It isn't bad, I suppose, but it's really not my cup of tea at all. Regardless I don't see it as a winner.

Serbia - Meh, Eurovision by numbers really. Strong voice though, and she gets a bonus point for not singing in English.

Switzerland - Something very disjointed about this. Needs a stronger chorus. Don't see it making much impact.

If I had to pick a top 5 so far (not including Ireland which, going by the standard thus far, is actually one of the better songs this year imo!), I'd probably go with Latvia, Finland, Spain, Slovenia and.....Estonia, I suppose. Am hoping the best is yet to come but probably shouldn't be too optimistic.

Mr.Nice Guy

It took me a while to get on the Estonia bandwagon but I'm now on board. Really like that song now.

Welsh Megaman

Alexandra Burke?

Sam Bailey?

Toni Di Bart?

Sean Maguire?

John Alford? :pac:

Welsh Megaman

Electro wha?

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-07/electro-velvet-to-represent-uk-at-eurovision-song-contest-2015

T0001

Wtf??? Now UK, you're not taking it seriously ;P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eniaB0xchTY

Un Croissant

I'm going to go against every YouTube comment and say that I actually like the song.

It is the Eurovision remember.

Welsh Megaman

T0001 wrote: »

Wtf??? Now UK, you're not taking it seriously ;P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eniaB0xchTY

Gotta get my zoot suit cleaned and pressed for May!

To me, sounds like Cora Emerald given an EDM 'vibe', as da kids say

My first reaction to the UK entry can be summed up thusly:



I'm still not sure whether to like or hate it tbh, it's a rather ridiculous entry but at least it's injecting a much needed bit of life into proceedings. I can see it possibly becoming a song that I'll end up humming along to, against my better judgement.

Mysteriouschic

I don't know what to make of the UK entry I don't love it or hate it on the fence more of a ugh what is this?
It's not a song you'd like for your first listen , weird song choice.

T0001

Deleted User wrote: »

My first reaction to the UK entry can be summed up thusly:



I'm still not sure whether to like or hate it tbh, it's a rather ridiculous entry but at least it's injecting a much needed bit of life into proceedings. I can see it possibly becoming a song that I'll end up humming along to, against my better judgement.

Its possibly the most annoying UK entry ever, even beating that confounded Flying the Flag crap of '07

sting60

The most corrupt music comp ever outside x- factor.Louie and co are so corrupt people believe that the best song is chosen.Fools or Louie heads .

bpb101

1:12-1:20 wdf
1:52:-2:05 wdf

I really dont know!!!
Something else ill right

Mysteriouschic

The uk song sounds like it's for an advert I thought it was for a few seconds .

shinny

ItsChecoTime

Not sure what to think of the UK entry, it's certainly different, I think I kind of like it.. Still think it's going to break into 'bear necessities' in bits

Mr.Nice Guy

I know what I think of it - it's woeful!

This is their Alex Saint song.

It reminds me of the soundtrack you'd hear on that prank show that used to be on BBC -was it Just For Laughs? - it sounds like that but with lyrics attached. Lyrics that are pure gibberish.

I'd put that up there with their Flying the Flag entry a few years back for sheer awfulness.

Really disappointed at that. Looks like they're doing what we did when we sent Dustin and are sticking two fingers up at it. Ugh.

yerwanthere123

UK

This should be a big contender on the night.......


...for 27th place. Horrible.

Portugal

Not horrible, but difficult to get excited about either.

25/40.