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

I love the Swiss song. It's like the song I wanted Olly to bring. Dizzy is so boring, sorry!

Instead of the normal GN show tonight! :-(

Followed by The Big Eurovision Party

https://entertainment.ie/tv/bbc-one-ni/?date=01-03-2024&time=evening-night

Shows not showing on Virgin Media tomorrow

That UK song is very bland, similar kind of blandness we've been sending in past number of years. They have been on a good roll but that's very poor. Ah well

The UK entry is disappointing. It's not bad as such, it's just utterly forgettable. It sounds like a filler track on an album.

If his vocals are poor on the night (which I believe they sometimes can be) I suspect another bottom 5 finish.

I'm struggling to get excited by most of the songs this year.

Croatia is the only one I love so far. I quite like Italy, Denmark & Cyprus too.

Even as jokey/novelty songs go I think The Netherlands entry is awful!

This was actually discussed by the panel during Eurosong, that a perfectly competent 'radio friendly song' just won't cut the mustard in Eurovision any more. I think a lot of countries have copped this on this year, including ourselves.

Regarding the running order, I think Bambie is absolutely safe from being first on. The producers are not going to open the show with something that could alienate viewers, they'll go for the most conventional, radio-friendly choice available. From here, it gets a little riskier, but I think second is still too early for an act like Bambie. Plus second tends to be the "ballad slot", but not always of course.

I suspect they'll slot Bambie in third or fourth, which I think is fine. Third in a 26-country final would be awful, not in a 16-country semi. Third also seems to be where the producers have put the "offbeat" entries in recent years - Serbia went third in their semis in both 2022 and 2023 with their quirky entries, and both qualified. Honestly, I'd rather Bambie was third than the first act on after a commercial break - that's always a bad slot, and I assume they'll be a break before song six.

It was a random draw up until 2012. Since 2013, it's been decided by the producers, mainly to keep the same types of songs apart, i.e., no one wants a run of five ballads in a row. While it's never been said, I imagine Engelbert Humperdinck opening the grand final in 2012 with a dreary ballad was another reason.

There is still an element of randomness in the order because there is a draw to determine which half of each show countries will perform in, but the exact order is decided upon by the show producers. For the semi-finals, the order is normally announced around late March IIRC.

Only just listened to Olly’s song for the first time. 😊

I agree with previous posters, it is very underwhelming - early 90’s Pet Shop Boys/Erasure vibe.

Can’t really see a ‘left hand side of the table’ finish tbh.

Spot on, Andy - as I mentioned earlier in the thread, it seems some of the BBC heads have been clouded by the ‘they’ve already sold records in Europe, so everybody will vote for them’ mentality.

As been proven time and time again, this never counts for anything - it’s all about the song at the end of the day.

We've been drawn in the first half of a very strong semi, but we won't know our actual position for a few weeks yet.

All the best entries in our semi are in the first half, it's a real shame the way it has panned out.

The allocation draw couldn't have gone worse for Bambie. Had they been drawn in the second semi-final, I'd expect an easy qualification. Even the second half of the first semi would have been better. As things are, I'm worried they might miss out. Such a shame.

Nearly always first half too.

I think based on song quality all seven songs in the first half (maybe bar Cyprus) should qualify, but of course thats highly unlikely.

Bambie is unlike anything else in the entire Contest though - there is not a single act out of the 37 who is remotely similar to the artist (and the song is very different to everything else too). If an artist and song like that can't qualify from a 15 song televoting semi final, RTE can throw their hat at it.