Eurovision Song Contest 2021

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Rhys Benjamin
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Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

HUGELY looking forward to this after no contest in 2020. There are contingencies in place in case participants get you-know-what and/or are not allowed to travel to Rotterdam.

I'm delighted to say I have no idea who's going to win...! San Marino (feat. Flo Rida!!), Malta, Switzerland all doing well with the bookies. UK better than usual and should be in the top half but I'm not sure it can win outright, there's too many songs similar to it.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Here's how I personally rank them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo1gcYfDMeo
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:36 pm Here's how I personally rank them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo1gcYfDMeo
Nothing better than a personal rank.
Jonathan Ross can confirm this.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

I'd say the contest is absolutely stacked this year too, especially in Semi Final 1; there are at least 12 songs I like there and only really North Macedonia I can fairly confidently say won't qualify.

Found Tix's new music video particularly good, the original video of just the performance doesn't really explain the meaning of the song.

Really struggling to pick a favourite myself, pretty much just have two good and bad piles :lol: Greece I reckon are underrated by the bookies
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I think the 10 qualifiers for SF1 are almost set in stone, agree it's very heavily stacked in SF1 this year. There may be one or two surprises, but they would equally be big shocks that others don't qualify if you see what I mean.

My favourite, of course, is linked above. Give me the clicks...!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

A question for the mathsy / statistically minded types among you...

I am trying to arrange a televote for a preview party this coming weekend (voting link here btw, and still looking for as many votes as possible, plz don't be shy! https://scorewiz.eu/rsvp/383995/xKpL5Em3NwH )

I want the televote and jury vote to carry equal weight... 50/50.

There are 10 jury groups, so the maximum score any one song can receive is 120pts (aka 12x10). However the total pool of votes available from the jury is 580pts (aka 120+100+80+70+60+50+40+30+20+10)


If there were e.g. 50 voters in the televote, then the top score any one song could receive would be 600pts (aka 12x50) and the total pool of votes available would be 2900pts (aka 600+500+400+350+300+250+200+150+100+50)

------------------------

So which is the better way to calibrate each televote score:-

METHOD #1. Divide each country's total score by 600 and multiply by 120.
METHOD #2. Divide each country's total score by 2900 and multiply by 580.


Any tips and / or condescending jeers* gratefully received.

------------------------
*Condescending jeers possible, because I feel that there may be glaring mathematical flaws in one or both of the methods listed... but I just cannot spot them. I am sure some of ye will.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

They're both just dividing by 5, so either's fine.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 7:09 am They're both just dividing by 5, so either's fine.
OMG... It would be great if I had some lame justification for why I didn't see that (drunk / rapture of the deep etc.), but no. I actually just am that dumb. I put this 'quandary' to my sister this morning, and she was like 'just divide the scores by 5...' then we quickly realised that both of my convoluted proposals were just that. Oops.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Well, this first semi final (tomorrow, 8pm UK time, BBC Four in the UK) is, for me, a little easy to predict. Any of these not qualifying would be a shock.

Predictions:
- Lithuania
- Russia
- Sweden
- Cyprus
- Norway
- Croatia
- Romania
- Azerbaijan
- Ukraine
- Malta
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Neither of Sweden or Croatia are nailed on here... and by all accounts Roxen is tanking at rehearsals, so Romania a possible shock NQ.
Australia one of the few who was vocally strong in the SF1 dress rehearsal thing.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

I'd agree on those 10, but can see Sweden, Norway and Romania missing out (not all of them at once!)

Belgium are storming up the odds after a good few days (apparently Geike now smiling in the performance made a big difference?) and I think Australia and Israel will do well in the juries (barring politics...). Ireland's staging pretty unique too, so I don't think it's *that* clear cut

Idk how having to perform twice for juries will affect Romania, Ukraine and Malta yday - performing twice near the end may mean they're on the juries mind, or the juries may just stick with first impressions (the issue for Romania was particularly bad)

Edit: After all the performances, I'd say Romania vs Belgium vs Israel is probably the only question
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

8/10 for me. Absolutely gutted Croatia didn’t make it.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Tom S »

Croatia was one of the best tonight for me!
My ranking of the overall packages tonight:
1. Malta
2. Australia (gutted! was a great song!)
3. Croatia
4. Israel
5. Cyprus
6. Azerbaijan
7. North Macedonia (biggest grower tonight)
8. Ireland (strong song- sadly vocals let her down a bit, though it was a challenging routine)
9. Sweden (not expecting their usual success this year)
10. Belgium (liked the song, was a bit disinterested by the performance though)
11. Lithuania (feel guilty for putting out of the top 10!)
12. Romania
13. Ukraine
14. Russia
15. Norway
16. Slovenia
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

So yesterday was the best semi final, and tomorrow might be the most interesting semi final.

Easy to predict the first 6:
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Iceland (should easily overcome the "severe disadvantage" [as Montaigne put it] of video performance; everyone already loves them)
Finland
Greece (dark horse for the whole thing due to staging)
San Marino

Can be pretty confident (but not 100%) on 2 more:
Portugal
Serbia

Then it gets tricky.
Bookies currently saying Albania and Moldova.
I'm going Austria (big jury score in the bag) and Denmark (high energy, eurovisiony). I also really like the changes to the song Benny Cristo's done in rehearsals

Looking forward to the jury show!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

My 10 for tomorrow:

- San Marino
- Greece
- Moldova
- Iceland
- Serbia
- Albania
- Finland
- Bulgaria
- Switzerland
- Denmark

SMR, GRE, MOL, ISL, SRB, BUL, CHE dead certs for me. The other three are difficult to predict but I've gone for Finland, Albania, and Denmark.

Can't see Portugal making it, Austria will get sunk by televote, and whilst I love Omaga, it's looked dreadful in rehearsals. Since Albania made it in 2019 I think they'll make it this time as well.

Dead certs: San Marino, Greece, Moldova, Iceland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Switzerland
Probable qualifiers: Finland
Yeah I guess: Albania, Denmark
Could make it: Estonia, Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal
No chance: Poland, Georgia, Latvia
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

My SEMI 2 qualifiers
(in decreasing order of likelihood)

#1. BULGARIA
#2. SWITZERLAND
#3. DENMARK
#4. GREECE
#5. MOLDOVA
#6. ICELAND
#7. FINLAND
#8. AUSTRIA
#9. SAN MARINO
#10. LATVIA

It is very hard to call... there are 3 more that I can see possibly making it instead of some of those, and they would be PORTUGAL, SERBIA, ALBANIA.

The remaining four countries [ESTONIA, CZECHIA, POLAND, & GEORGIA] are certain NQs.

---------------------------

This is before seeing any of the final performances. I will publish a more fully formed version on my fb after all songs have aired 2moro evening.

---------------------------

btw, Tom - agree on AUSTRALIA! Great tune...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

The bookies were spot on. Didn't think Moldova did enough tonight!

Would favour Croatia over quite a few of those, a shame how the semis draw came out. Still, Saturday will be epic :)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

9/10 - only Portugal for Denmark. That Portugal song is abysmal, how on earth did it make it!?

I gave all my votes to San Marino, and when they weren't called early I was worried for a moment...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

Surprised Cyprus are opening the show. I expected them to throw the UK into the fire instead!

Closing with Flo Rida probably less surprising. France and Italy in good winning spots.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Not keen on that running order, it's really imbalanced by having Albania, Belgium, and Portugal so early on. You've then got three big uptempo numbers Serbia-United Kingdom-Greece, whilst you have three walls of noise at the end in Italy, Sweden, and San Marino...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Image

Quite a few of the major players in the first half.
CYPRUS will be an excellent opener, and once SM drew second half, they were always gonna close out the show with Flo Rida!
.
The following countries have been deliberately thrown under the bus by the producers:-
~ALBANIA
~ISRAEL
~BELGIUM
~MOLDOVA
~GERMANY (which is looking a very good bet for last place now!)
.
Also, it looks like ICELAND and SWITZERLAND have finished very well in their semi final. Perhaps SF2 was the stronger after all.
.
The following big favourites may be hampered by their early starting positions:-
~CYPRUS
~RUSSIA
~MALTA

-------------------------------

However, the MOST interesting thing to note is what happens between songs 17-20 as compared to what happens between songs 22-25. The 17-20 segment is chock-a block full of massive favourites BG/LT/UA/FR, and then you have the next set of four songs 22-25 NO/NL/IT/SE... aka ITALY padded on both sides by no-hopers.

What we have learned from this is that EBU are aching for Italy to finally get the win that has seemed to be imminent since they rejoined the fold in 2011. Also, a credible song such as "Zitti e buoni" would do wonders to encourage other broadcasters to take risks with national languages, and with alternative genres.

-------------------------------

BUT... as we all all know ITALY, for all the hype and the acclaim, is way too shit to win, so what will?

In my opinion, the winner now can only come from one of these:-
~MALTA
~GREECE
~ICELAND
~FINLAND
~UKRAINE
(I'd almost include FRANCE... but it is a bit too, erm, 'French' for want of a better word.)

All other entrants just there to make up the numbers now.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

I guess Albania, Israel, Belgium and Moldova were all probably 8th-10th in the semis so were never gonna get prime spots.

I like the order tbh, Germany being followed by Finland is pretty funny and they've gone all out with the Tix & Efendi stuff.

It's a really fun one being so hard to predict... I definitely won't be ruling out Italy! Could've won in 2017-19 though, idk if there's something there... meanwhile Portugal actually rose from nowhere to 9th in the odds yesterday, they're not gonna win but that's pretty huge from being borderline qualifiers a few days ago and unlikely qualifiers a week ago. The staging is good and they really upped it a level last night.

16th-20th is the strongest run-in... ever?
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Tom S »

Dave Robjohns wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 12:36 pm I guess Albania, Israel, Belgium and Moldova were all probably 8th-10th in the semis so were never gonna get prime spots.

I like the order tbh, Germany being followed by Finland is pretty funny and they've gone all out with the Tix & Efendi stuff.

It's a really fun one being so hard to predict... I definitely won't be ruling out Italy! Could've won in 2017-19 though, idk if there's something there... meanwhile Portugal actually rose from nowhere to 9th in the odds yesterday, they're not gonna win but that's pretty huge from being borderline qualifiers a few days ago and unlikely qualifiers a week ago. The staging is good and they really upped it a level last night.

16th-20th is the strongest run-in... ever?
Apparently, the producers don't actually know the results beforehand- only the EBU. Perhaps we're all sleeping on Portugal though! https://esctracker.com/
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Tom S wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 3:56 pm Perhaps we're all sleeping on Portugal though! https://esctracker.com/
Nah we're not.
there's always last minute hype about a plucky qualifier.
Expect it to finish a worthy 15th place.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

Did a simulation tonight with 12 mates (using music videos), and ended up with the following top 5:

1st - Iceland - 204
2nd - UK - 145
3rd - Germany - 120
4th - Lithuania - 85
5th= - Netherlands - 84
5th= - Norway - 84

So we have the three favourites to come last in our top 5. Clearly a very accurate subset to represent european culture!

(Italy 10th, France 26th, Malta 14th, Switzerland 19th, Ukraine 11th as we go through the bookies favourites...)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

San Marino?
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

13th - actually lower than last year surprisingly (we had Iceland, Russia, Lithuania top 3 in 2020)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

OK, here's my prediction for the final:

1 Italy
2 San Marino
3 Switzerland
4 France
5 Malta
6 Iceland
7 Bulgaria
8 Ukraine
9 Cyprus
10 Russia
11 Lithuania
12 Azerbaijan
13 Serbia
14 Norway
15 Greece
16 Finland
17 Sweden
18 Israel
19 Portugal
20 United Kingdom
21 Moldova
22 The Netherlands
23 Albania
24 Spain
25 Belgium
26 Germany

Suspect the UK will hoover up a lot of jury votes (50 or 60) but a poor televote based on its position in the running order. I expect San Marino to win the televote and Switzerland or France to win the jury vote.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

I'll go for:

1st - Italy
2nd - France
3rd - Iceland
4th - Ukraine
5th - Russia
6th - Switzerland
7th - Malta
8th - Lithuania
9th - Finland
10th - Greece
11th - San Marino
12th - Portugal
13th - Bulgaria
14th - Norway
15th - Cyprus
16th - Serbia
17th - Sweden
18th - Belgium
19th - Albania
20th - Israel
21st - Azerbaijan
22nd - Germany
23rd - Spain
24th - Moldova
25th - Netherlands
26th - United Kingdom

But it's bloody hard to call.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I cannot see the UK finishing last. There's too much crap from Belgium, Germany, etc. for it to be there.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

I just don't think it stands out enough, and it hasn't sounded as good vocally in rehearsals as in the studio version. I do like the song, but then Germany is super energetic, Belgium has a pretty unique sound and seem to be moving up, Moldova has that long note and Spain has the highest note by a male vocalist this year (+ jury points), so currently I think the UK will end up in 'The Wrong Place'. Will very gladly be proved wrong :)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by James Laverty »

Happy Eurovision Day people. Amazingly, I have succeeded in my plan to not listen to a single song by any of the finalists before the event, and only listened to the ones who were knocked out on Tuesday/Thursday, so I can't make a "prediction". For the record, I think Croatia and Latvia's songs are the best that didn't qualify, will have to see later tonight how I would have ranked them differently. Possibly think Australia would have qualified if they could have performed live on the night.

I have Bulgaria in a sweepstake. Not sure if that is going to give me a chance of winning, but their "entry" last year was one of my favourites and I see it's the same performer.
Definitely not Jamie McNeill or Schrodinger's Cat....
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

A last minute change of heart: I'm going France to win. Big jury score guaranteed. The rest stays the same.

Bulgaria are similar to last year (though maybe a little lower in the reckoning due to the overall quality of the whole comp). Could definitely be up there
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Marc Meakin »

Prediction Iceland to Win
Btw not heard any songs
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Marc Meakin wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:02 pm Prediction Iceland to Win
Btw not heard any songs
Are they favourite? Me too then.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Marc Meakin »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:31 pm
Marc Meakin wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:02 pm Prediction Iceland to Win
Btw not heard any songs
Are they favourite? Me too then.
Not sure i think because they cant perform live because of Covid it would be ironic.
Malta sounded good
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Marc Meakin wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:48 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:31 pm
Marc Meakin wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 7:02 pm Prediction Iceland to Win
Btw not heard any songs
Are they favourite? Me too then.
Not sure i think because they cant perform live because of Covid it would be ironic.
Malta sounded good
I'll go with Liechtenstein then.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dan Byrom »

I have not been watching Eurovision at all until the final, but I ranked them as I went along tonight based on my favourites after a single listen, so here they are! Biggest surprise for me was finding out Italy were the bookies' favourites... I had them in my bottom three, and thought the song was really quite dreadful - even worse than the Germans' kids song.

1. Switzerland
2. France
.
.
.
.
.
3. UK
4. Iceland
5. Finland
6. Malta
7. Portugal
8. Ukraine
9. Belgium
10. Bulgaria
11. Sweden
12. Israel
13. Norway
14. Netherlands
15. Greece
16. Lithuania
17. Russia
18. Albania
19. San Marino
20. Cyprus
21. Germany
22. Azerbaijan
23. Serbia
24. Italy
25. Moldova
26. Spain
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dan Byrom »

Not gonna lie. Despite not being previously invested, I find it incredibly disappointing that two incredibly moving and beautiful pieces of music were beaten by the noise Italy came out with. It makes the whole thing feel quite farcical.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Sam Cappleman-Lynes »

Italy's entry was a very enjoyable piece of music for me. When Finland were revealed to have scored over 200 from the public with what was a very bland piece, it was clear that Italy would be the ones to beat.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Tom S »

Gutted for James, but he took it like a pro. At the end of the day, no one voted against us, but the overall package was simply not enough for us to scrape into each country's Top 10. And whilst many accept at the end of the day that the song was decent, the standard was much higher than a typical Eurovision. BBC needs to up their game (and try and stage uptempo songs in a more energetic manner!)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dan Byrom »

Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 11:23 pm Italy's entry was a very enjoyable piece of music for me. When Finland were revealed to have scored over 200 from the public with what was a very bland piece, it was clear that Italy would be the ones to beat.
Hmmm I actually quite liked the Finnish piece. Of the two, I'd say that that was the interesting one and Italy's the bland/generic one (as is clear by my rankings!). But clearly I'm in the minority.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Silver lining: we were 23rd in the televote thanks to the tie break rule...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Marc Meakin »

All in all a very high standard of sobgs this, year
France was by far the best sung song
Vut Italy had a lot of energy
Thought we would be bortom 3 but i never saw nil point coming what with Ireland and Australia voting
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Paul Anderson »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 2:29 am I cannot see the UK finishing last. There's too much crap from Belgium, Germany, etc. for it to be there.
Last place was nailed on, regardless of how good your song was.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

Pretty chuffed with those predictions, only got San Marino and Moldova more than 4 places off and 14 of them bang on/within 1. As Sam says, was disappointingly obvious that Italy would win as soon as Finland's televote came out, was expecting a more tense finish :( Our UK performance wasn't bad and definitely better than many in recent years, but in a strong year you've got to stand out more to reach many top 10s. 18(!) different countries received 12 points somewhere along the line, which really shows the strength this year.

Italy, Ukraine and France all received televote points from EVERY country, with Finland only missing 1 and Switzerland and Iceland missing a handful, so most televote lists already only had 4 spaces left!

Really interesting seeing the Semi Final results now... Croatia were top 10 in both televote and jury vote but missed out combined, while Romania actually flopped in the televote but not jury when most expected the opposite. Israel 5th in the semis also quite a surprise, and at the time would never have guessed San Marino were 9th in the semis!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Tom S »

Think the UK needs to be edgier next year- perhaps send something like an indie act, or even send a song in Welsh or Gaelic perhaps?...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Unfortunately I was otherwise disposed last night and only caught the last couple of songs. I have just listened to some of them on YouTube though - the top 6 plus Germany and UK for a laugh.

I don't generally expect much from Eurovision, but even so I was a bit disappointed with what I heard. Italy had no business winning. It wasn't even the best rock effort - Finland was far better. It just wasn't very good. Of those I heard, I'd say Finland and maybe France also had a sort of "X-Factor" (by Eurovision standards though obviously). But most of them were basically meh.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Mark James »

I hope your man tests positive for cocaine and gets extra points.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Tom S »

Mark James wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 8:44 pm I hope your man tests positive for cocaine and gets extra points.
I'd be shocked if that was the case! ;)https://twitter.com/teodora_here/status ... 02/photo/1

On another note, the band have clearly done well for themselves since forming in 2016. From starting off as buskers to winning the Italian X Factor, having several platinum hits in Italy and then winning Eurovision, I should imagine that their win will increase their popularity internationally...
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L'oisleatch McGraw
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Paul Anderson wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 2:40 pm Last place was nailed on, regardless of how good your song was.
Typical voice of someone who does not have the first clue about how Eurovision works.
Any country can win. Good songs do well, regardless of the politics of the country sending it.
That is the beauty of the contest. It unites.
Last edited by L'oisleatch McGraw on Mon May 24, 2021 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Dave Robjohns »

There were 8 groups (3 or more) this year. All 8 made it to the final (7 of which came through the semis), and in fact they all finished in the Top 20, with 5 in the top 8. The only duo almost made it, too.

Is this a coincidence? (yeah, probably...)
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Matt Morrison »

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:01 pm That is the beauty of the contest. It unites.
Unlike Countdown, apparently.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Gavin Chipper »

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:01 pm
Paul Anderson wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 2:40 pm Last place was nailed on, regardless of how good your song was.
Typical voice of someone who does not have the first clue about how Eurovision works.
Any country can win. Good songs do well, regardless of the politics of the country sending it.
That is the beauty of the contest. It unites.
I don't think you can discount politics completely. On the other hand there's no way last place was nailed on. Let's not forget that Israel came 17th.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Mark James »

Tom S wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 9:05 pm
Mark James wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 8:44 pm I hope your man tests positive for cocaine and gets extra points.
I'd be shocked if that was the case! ;)https://twitter.com/teodora_here/status ... 02/photo/1

On another note, the band have clearly done well for themselves since forming in 2016. From starting off as buskers to winning the Italian X Factor, having several platinum hits in Italy and then winning Eurovision, I should imagine that their win will increase their popularity internationally...
https://mobile.twitter.com/RachaelKrish ... 2404627456

I like this debunking. Disappointing though. People should be doing cocaine and more at Eurovision.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

It's not rocket science: UK entries have not reached the top 40 in the UK chart since 2014, and we are ALWAYS beaten by other entries in the charts. Most other countries make it to #1 way before the contest in their own countries. So if we can't back our songs, why would anyone else?

The BBC have had Eurovision in the wrong department for years, the light entertainment department (Radio 2, BBC One) for years. They need the selection to be something you could hear on Radio 1 rather than Radio 2, and subsequently trouble the top 10 in the charts. Then, and only then, will we get anywhere.
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Matt Morrison wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:54 pm
L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:01 pm That is the beauty of the contest. It unites.
Unlike Countdown, apparently.
Ah now Matt! :o How very statistician of you!
You just couldn't resist the not so subtle dig about how Paul Anderson is trying to drive a wedge into the already fragile Irish CD fan scene.
It's utterly irrelevant to the thread, and isn't something that should really be discussed publicly, especially as it is likely the petty feud will get resolved very soon anyway.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 8:29 am I don't think you can discount politics completely. On the other hand there's no way last place was nailed on. Let's not forget that Israel came 17th.
Agreed. Politics (in a very broad sense of the term) cannot be discounted. It impacts the voting (a bit). It does not affect the winner. Anyone can win. But it does impact the SF qualifiers and lower finishing positions greatly. e.g. Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Serbia & Armenia will never come last in the ESC final, the current televote set-up does not allow for that.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Mark James »

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 1:02 am
Matt Morrison wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:54 pm
L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 11:01 pm That is the beauty of the contest. It unites.
Unlike Countdown, apparently.
Ah now Matt! :o How very statistician of you!
You just couldn't resist the not so subtle dig about how Paul Anderson is trying to drive a wedge into the already fragile Irish CD fan scene.
It's utterly irrelevant to the thread, and isn't something that should really be discussed publicly, especially as it is likely the petty feud will get resolved very soon anyway.
Please do discuss publicly. I have no idea what this is about. What fragility? What's going on?
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Post by Ian Volante »

Dan Byrom wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 11:46 pm
Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 11:23 pm Italy's entry was a very enjoyable piece of music for me. When Finland were revealed to have scored over 200 from the public with what was a very bland piece, it was clear that Italy would be the ones to beat.
Hmmm I actually quite liked the Finnish piece. Of the two, I'd say that that was the interesting one and Italy's the bland/generic one (as is clear by my rankings!). But clearly I'm in the minority.
Meh, twenty years out of date I thought. Linkin Park were doing that stuff, and better, at the start of the century. Italy at least had a very strong guitarist, and the band worked up an excellent groove, even if I'd put the track down as album filler for a group like Them Crooked Vultures.

As for the UK piece, someone else said it well above, having songs which fit with the blander end of the Radio 2 playlist is no way to succeed, and probably never has been. Just because that's where we now hear Brotherhood of Man get played isn't really a valid sentiment.
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