Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (Mod warning, see OP updated 10/05 and post #3477 11/05)

Finland, Latvia and Italy* all choose their entries this weekend.

*Sanremo isn't the Italian selection as such, it predated Eurovision and continued when Italy wasn't going to the contest. However, the winner of Sanremo has first refusal on the ticket to Eurovision.

Finland doing a Dadi Freyr! 😲

Awful from Finland, but in a televote only semi final it will probably qualify.

It came last with the juries in their selection tonight, mad that it won.

No, Dadi Freyr is talented.

I fear the 2000s are calling...

It wasn't the best song, but it was an awful lot better than the song that came second (and won 60% of the televote.) I'm not a fan of Mahmood, but I thought his song was very good, and probably the one that would have done best at Eurovision. But then, Sanremo is all about finding a song to win Sanremo, not a song to win Eurovision, because it's not really a national final as such.

Finland is a horror show (and not in a Lordi way.) It's exactly the kind of thing that would have done very well around 2007, but I'd hoped the contest had moved on from that. Having a 75% televote/25% jury was a disaster, and it's just not right that the song that finished last with the juries was allowed to go to the top on televotes. The fans on social media who were screaming for the abolishment of the juries after their favourite Käärijä didn't win last year are very quiet today...

Unfortunately, Finland will easily qualify with this. They'll probably then end up with zero from the juries in the grand final, and a televote score of 298 points.

Latvia might actually be very clever with their choice. It's the sort of song that juries tend to go for, and with so many songs this year clearly aimed at televoters, the small number of songs that appeal to the juries could clean up with the grand final jury votes. The task for Latvia is making the final, but if they do just enough to appeal to the semi-final televoters, then they could do well in the final, similar to Estonia last year.

You just know this will be the clip that the British media will use to take that tired ‘Oh, those crazy Europeans!’ angle.

Rest assured it will be viewed on both ‘Gogglebox’ and ‘Have I Got News For You’.

I'm ok with novelty entries as long as they're done well. Finland's entry isn't.

Moldova choosing their song tomorrow night.

Don’t let us down, Moldova! 😄

Yes, it wasn't exactly a stellar lineup of songs to begin with, but they had a shot at a top 10 finish with Ryk. With so few ballads this year and plenty of eccentric entries, Ryk could have cleaned up with the jury vote in the grand final. Instead, Germany is possibly looking at a double zero. This song will get completely lost.

It's been a bad NF season for returning artists so far, with Keiino, Max Mutzke and Mélovin all denied a second shot at Eurovision. I wonder how The Roop will do tonight - I haven't heard their song but the online fandom isn't too keen on it.

EDIT: forgot that Natalia Barbu (ESC 2007) is going in tonight's Moldova selection.

Lithuania has chosen;

Silvester Belt - Luktelk