[OFF TOPIC] Eurovision Song Contest 2023

[Vektor 3,326]

18 minutes ago, Belle said:

If you think Stefania won the televoting because it’s popular then you are very naive. 

 

The point is that people complained last year too even if the the winner of televoting won the contest 

It was the most popular song of that year, but the war obviously helped. It would have won the televote even without the war, just by not that wide of margin. I mean, we just saw this year how a much weaker song from Ukraine performed in the televote, they can't win the televote with any song they submit. Stefania won because it was also the most memorable song among the favorites, more unique than the by the numbers songs from Great Britain and Spain that only managed to be on the podium in 2022 because of their live vocals and dance choreography. 

 

I was just traveling by train two days ago in Hungary and heard people listening to Stefania. It will be remembered far more than Tattoo or some of the lesser winners of the modern era. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Vektor

[Belle 1,046]

2 minutes ago, Vektor said:

It was the most popular song of that year, but the war obviously helped. It would have won the televote even without the war, just by not that wide of margin. I mean, we just saw this year how a much weaker song from Ukraine performed in the televote, they can win the televote with any song they submit. Stefania won because it was also the most memorable song among the favorites, more unique than the by the numbers songs from Great Britain and Spain that only managed to be on the podium in 2022 because of their live vocals and dance choreography. 

 

I was just traveling by train two days ago in Hungary and heard people listening to Stefania. It will be remembered far more than Tattoo or some of the lesser winners of the modern era. 

And still Tattoo is #46 in the Spotify global chart now. 

[Olympian1010 8,301]

1 hour ago, Belle said:

Or the juries actually know quality?  

Yeah, that definitely isn’t it.

 

The jury votes seem less objective to me than the public. They almost always go for neighbors, geopolitical allies, or language cousins. 
 

I feel like they’ve been an annual nuisance since I started following the contest in 2019.

[Olympian1010 8,301]

1 hour ago, Vektor said:

This isn't the Grammy Awards, it's not about quality.

I don’t really feel like those are either 

 

Maybe most clout, or best studio financing. They tend to reward the popular and radio friendly (and English), more than the technically brilliant (in my opinion). 

[Vektor 3,326]

3 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Yeah, that definitely isn’t it.

 

The jury votes seem less objective to me than the public. They almost always go for neighbors, geopolitical allies, or language cousins. 
 

I feel like they’ve been an annual nuisance since I started following the contest in 2019.

The biggest issue with the jury is that they don't have an identity. It's not like the Oscars where, for better or worse, the Academy and its members have been around to vote on films for almost a century, you know who they are and what they vote for. You also know by now what the European public supposedly likes in Eurovision. But the jury... they are sort of just this random group of people who were added to the contest because EBU wanted to solve the diaspora voting issue. The jury isn't selected via an Academy of sorts for excellence in music, like how you get membership to vote for the Grammys or the Oscars. EBU clearly has zero quality control over the jury which is why last year the juries cheated in the semi-finals. 

 

So you got these individuals who may or may not be controlled by their national TV to vote in a certain way, and they may or may not have any kind of clue on what makes an Eurovision act good or bad. At the very least when the Grammys do something stupid you can blame the Academy for being out of touch, but in this case you can't even blame EBU. 

 

It's just... who are these jury members and why they are more important than the people who watch and support the show? Especially in an age of reality competition shows where the public almost always 100% decides the winner.

[Belle 1,046]

26 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Yeah, that definitely isn’t it.

 

The jury votes seem less objective to me than the public. They almost always go for neighbors, geopolitical allies, or language cousins. 
 

I feel like they’ve been an annual nuisance since I started following the contest in 2019.

Eh really? If anything televoting is reflected by diaspora, sympathy votes, tactics and politics. Let’s remember it is a coincidence that Finland was the only country to not give Sweden televoting points? Not really . 

[Belle 1,046]

Now this is real bad behavior from the Finns 

 

https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/a/0Qkyzg/finska-kommentatorn-uppmanade-finland-rosta-taktiskt-nollade-sverige

[prso1000 738]

28 minutes ago, Belle said:

Eh really? If anything televoting is reflected by diaspora, sympathy votes, tactics and politics. Let’s remember it is a coincidence that Finland was the only country to not give Sweden televoting points? Not really . 

If Finland wanted to cheat as you say, then why their jury gave you 12 points. 

And yes it is somehow strange that Finish televote did not give you any points, but there is only one conclusion to me: 

Finland is the only European country with good music taste  

[Belle 1,046]

@Olympian1010 Tattoo has debuted as #50 in U.S. iTunes top songs. 

 

https://kworb.net/charts/itunes/us.html

[AsensioWillemsen 176]

On 5/14/2023 at 1:15 AM, Olympian1010 said:

I don’t know if it is…

 

People keep saying it sounds Arabic, and it’s not like Europeans on the best terms with that region. Europe is a continent defined by cultural homogeneity (whether it be clashes over differences, or bonding over similarities), so it’s not shocking “foreign” sounding entries struggle to garner votes (Albania and Spain as good examples).

It springs from Moorish tradition, so it doesn't just 'sound' Arabic.

I reckon Albania also had an entry with music that springs from some Islamic tradition, seeing it is a traditional song sung by 

I think it is just a bit too traditional for European listeners. Wasn't my favourite either. However, it appeals to me that they are different.

 

I just have enough of the generic popsong sung by a good-looking girl (or a not-so-good looking girl in the case of  ). Juries seem to be favoring these entries by quite a mile. That, for me, is the actual problem. Sweden won fair and square by current standards.