Eurovision Song Contest 2017

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Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by Tube Geek »

YES i'ts not until March, but You Decide is THIs SATURDAY!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by Sarnian »

Should be in mid-May...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

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Cue a pedantic war of words ...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

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Sarnian wrote:Should be in mid-May...
Tube Geek wrote:but You Decide is THIS SATURDAY!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by jamesthegill »

When the betting markets open, I'm going to stick a few quid on nul points.

We've not done well lately, and since our political future seems to be two fingers up at our cousins across the Channel, I can't imagine we'll be all that popular.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by tubeguru »

We are SO finishing last this year because of Brexit. But that's the Tories for you - hell bent on ruining everything at the moment.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by crypto »

Maybe we get lots of votes from Russia and nationalists? Not really a win, but still.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by greatkingrat »

If we finish last, it might have something to do with the song being crap like usual.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

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Let's take a look at the results of the last 14 years (2003 to 2016) and compare them to the previous 14 years (1989 to 2002).

Between 1989 and 2002 the UK's average finishing position was just a smidge over 7th place, which isn't too bad. Between 2003 and 2016 our average finishing position has been exactly 20th, which is rubbish.

Do you mean to tell me that ALL the songs we've sent to Eurovision since 2003 have been really crap? Yes, Jemini were abysmal, but even big names like Engelbert Humperdink and Bonnie Tyler couldn't drag us out of the bottom few in consecutive years.

So to my mind there are two things happening - yes we have kind of lost interest in the thing as a "competition" - we've always seen it as a national joke since the 90s (and maybe even earlier), whereas other countries in Europe take it much more seriously and for a good reason (which is the second thing). The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 suddenly re-created many former independent states across Europe, who eventually joined the EBU and Eurovision. For them, their outlook was freedom from a colonial oppressor. And guess which country has form in that area - yes, it's us! And we're so arrogant as a nation - politicians are always talking about "leading the world" and "showing the way". Who the hell ARE we? A smal island nation who somehow managed to take over half the world at one point. Our self-importance and conceitedness is staggering, and Europe sees it.

Watching us side with the USA in the bombing of Iraq was a turning point in how a lot of Europeans see this country, and they made us aware of it whenever they could. And they do so every year at Eurovision. True, Jade Ewen's 5th place in 2009 was a blip on the radar, but since Tony Blair sided with Bush we've been nowhere - also-rans. I believe that the countries who take it seriously know that we think it's a joke and treat it as one, so they punish us for that too. "Stop ruining our celebration of freedom and unity you stupid British nobheads".

And now we have Brexit - a foolhardy course that this country will take, give that the Tories seem to think that a vote to leave meant a vote to leave EVERYTHING to do with Europe and shut us off from the world. They are literally going to destroy this country in the way Thatcher did in the '80s, believing that "the people" gave them a mandate to do so. So congratulations to those of you on here who voted Leave. You'll doubtless enjoy paying for Trump's NHS services one day soon.

There is NO WAY that our dismal performances in the last 14 years have been solely down to poor songs. Politics is alive and well in Europe, and they will never let us forget our past, even if the only way to do it is to give us no points in May. We deserve it, to be honest.

And no, I will NOT be entering into any political arguments with Rhys over this, so any reply from him will be pointless. I think even he knows, deep down, that his beloved Tories are ruining this country bit by bit.

Rant over. Here's to last place in May!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by Tube Geek »

... Defo. Have you seen who we picked? Dull as anything. Probably nul points. No, 5 (few from Ireland and Malta)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by greatkingrat »

Engelbert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler may have been big names 30 years ago, but they are not big names now, certainly not amongst the sort of people who actually take part in these phone votes. None of our entries in recent years has made any impact in the UK Singles Chart, so if we aren't interested in our own song it is hardly surprising that other countries aren't either.

Another reason for our poor performance was until 1998 you had to sing in your own language. So our song in English was understood by a much greater percentage of the audience than the competitors which were in Norwegian or Polish etc. Now most songs are in English so we don't have that advantage any more.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by hopeful traveller »

I actually actively dislike our entry (zzzzz) which means it will probably do well. Mind you, the Eurofans abroad seem to like our song.

As been explained time and time again, the calibre of the act doesn't matter, but it is a *song* contest. The song is the most important factor. Cascada were, and I would argue, still are huge, yet somehow finished below Bonnie Tyler in 2013.

Looks like we're heading back to Sweden though, Melodifestivalen's first semi final had some real gems. And we've only heard 7 of the 28 songs up for selection. They've also got Loreen in SF4 (2012 winner, you know, "Euphoooooriaaaa") and her song, "Statements", should be decent.

Whilst I'll steer away from the politics about it, purely thinking in terms of Eurovision, if you think Brexit will have an effect on the voting then I seriously think you're hiding under a rock. Of the 43 countries that have entered this year, 17, excluding the UK, aren't in the EU. The contest's top 3 last year were all non-EU countries, 5 of the last 10 editions have been won by non-EU countries, and of course, you're forgetting the fact that half of the votes now come from professional juries. Although if CeCe Sammy, the head UK juror in 2016 and one of the panellists on You Decide (the annoying one), is anything to go by... (FYI, she voted for the two heavy rock numbers last year).

I'm glad the contest under Jon Ola Sand has become more transparent since 2014 by revealing the voting results of every single juror as well as the televoting results of every country, but the changes for last year with the new voting system are not to my taste. For a start, they force a "fake" televoting result on San Marino (who, since their phone lines are Italian, cannot physically have a televote), which is unfair on San Marino if you ask me as they're not being represented properly. I dived into Excel to work out the differences in the voting system and picked up three major points when compared with the 2013-15 rules: 1) the previous system was very good at weeding out bloc votes, and large disparities between juries and televoting normally resulted in nul points from a particular country - UK in 2014 being the best example (full televoting marks went to Poland, but the juries ranked this last and thus it received 0 from the UK); 2) from a completely biased and British perspective, the old system would have given us another 4 or 5 places, thanks mostly to not diluting the Sanmarinese jury who gave us 8 points; 3) last year was the only time since 2009 (when juries were reintroduced) that this new system actually changed the winner compared to the old systems (2009-2012 used a different method of doing the 50:50 split). On a more aesthetic note, the new system is confusing to viewers. I lost count of the number of times I had to tell people that the first half was just the jury votes, particularly when Malta gave us 12.

Anyway, I think it's one of those songs which will either be top 5 or bottom 5.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by Tube Geek »

hopeful traveller wrote: (2012 winner, you know, "Euphoooooriaaaa") and her song, "Statements", should be decent.
I do, not sure how many others do though
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by hopeful traveller »

Montenegro. That is all.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Post by Soup Dragon »

I shall be running a Fantasy Eurovision Competition for anyone who is interested in entering.

Stage 1 will be to predict the 10 qualifiers from each semi-final, please also add the order you think the top 10 will be in each semi.
2 points will be awarded for each qualifier, plus 5 bonus points if you manage to get all 10 correct in either semi. (50 points available)
When the full positions are known in each semi-final, 1 bonus point will be awarded for each correct prediction (20 points available)
Finally please add your predicted overall winner of the contest (before either semi-final takes place), a correct prediction will gain 10 bonus points.
You can either PM me your predictions or simply enter them in this topic!

Stage 2 will involve predictions for the final, once all the finalists are know.

Semi Final 1 (09 MAY)
01 Sweden
02 Georgia
03 Australia
04 Albania
05 Belgium
06 Montenegro
07 Finland
08 Azerbaijan
09 Portugal
10 Greece
11 Poland
12 Moldova
13 Iceland
14 Czech Republic
15 Cyprus
16 Armenia
17 Slovenia
18 Latvia

Semi Final 2 (11 MAY)
01 Serbia
02 Austria
03 Macedonia
04 Malta
05 Romania
06 Netherlands
07 Hungary
08 Denmark
09 Ireland
10 San Marino
11 Croatia
12 Norway
13 Switzerland
14 Belarus
15 Bulgaria
16 Lithuania
17 Estonia
18 Israel
Last edited by Soup Dragon on 25 Apr 2017, 16:16, edited 1 time in total.
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