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Post by Squad 51 on May 17, 2020 9:58:44 GMT -5
There was a great show with a spirit from the ESC yesterday. Was cool to see the final with "Shine a light" by Katrina & the Waves. And also former ESC stars made their appearance. Saw Björn from ABBA and all. Was really nice that Europe can still be one!
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on May 17, 2020 10:53:01 GMT -5
I saw that and the come together one before the UK broadcasted with people voting Abba's Waterloo the best Eurovision song ever which my mum somome who grew up with the group and is a fan of like you Jana agreed with that of course.
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Post by Tim on May 17, 2020 11:27:07 GMT -5
Didn't see it.
Of course, I'm not in Europe
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Post by Squad 51 on May 19, 2020 10:39:48 GMT -5
Yeah, that I saw too with Waterloo winning that contest. Nice was that Agnetha and Björn's son Christian came to that show and took the prize.
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Post by Tim on May 19, 2020 23:33:34 GMT -5
Cool.
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Post by evermorerose on May 20, 2020 23:00:07 GMT -5
Hooverphonic (Belgium 2020) snubbed the "Europe Shine A Light" programme. Then again, I wouldn't mind. Their entry isn't so stellar in the first place anyway, and they're not that special as a musical act to be honest. At least they knew better than to turn their country into a laughingstock at Eurovision by opting out of the programme.
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Post by Tim on May 20, 2020 23:16:12 GMT -5
Ah well, these things happen.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on May 22, 2021 17:53:09 GMT -5
Well that's Eurovision over for another year. Mum and I were back 15 minutes in when song number 2 played so we saw the rest of the show. It was a strong one this year with varied selections from different countries. Quite a lot of artists who would've participated last year if the pandemic hadn't been around were here this year but with a new song as part of the rules. Our top picks and what we voted for were as follows. Malta
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbbc2yKnv0MDestiny was our favourite female vocalist which you'll see when watching this video. The song's catchy as are her vocals also. Switzerland
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jznH_fltcYAWhat can I say about this song? From the vocals to the meaning of the song when you view the music video is astounding to listen to. Gjon was our favourite male vocalist and the second person we voted for. And finally going on from male and female artists the top pick for our best group and the third country we voted for was. Serbia
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1lkpIqf7a4All three women here were on point vocally. The song's catchy and the ladies infectious to watch been why they got our vote. This was the first time two French songs done really well and received 12 points from many jurors though the eventual winner was Switzerland with 267 before the public vote afterwards. Unfortunately the UK got not votes with either the jury or public votes which was no surprise then. Italy won the contest on 524 votes with a heavy metal song www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVH5dn1cxAQ but the shock of the night was how so many countries got low viewing scores when they should've done better of course. The top 5 countries following on were. 2) France with 499 points. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unj9WbeLzRU3) Switzerland with 432 points. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpM6o6UiBIw4) Iceland with 378 points. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMhu-PrLME5) Ukraine with 364. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqvzDkgok_g
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Post by Tim on May 22, 2021 18:40:14 GMT -5
Looked up Destiny. She's only 18.
Her father is Nigerian and her mother is Maltese.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on May 23, 2021 2:22:41 GMT -5
Yes she is 18 and won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and so was tipped to do well here as one of the favourites.
Destiny had appeared on Britain's Got Talent also previously.
Of course the ESC isn't about the best song or vocals on the night otherwise Switzerland, France or Malta would've won but they impressed the jurors who are music professionals so winning that side was good for them as Gjon's Tears said.
What stumped him and Destiny was the fact they were drawn in the first half meaning they were easily forgotten with viewers which didn't help but not with mum and I of course.
Our participant for the UK wasn't fazed he got nil points because he came with no expectations and had a good time dancing and drinking.
Of course in the past when there were live orchestras and no televoting with the participants having to sing in their own language Ireland and England done better because our language is universal and understandable so when the rules changed in 1998 it's natural more countries would sing in English doing better.
Ireland still hold the record with 7 wins followed by Sweden on 6.
A recent rule which also came in was artists could have backing vocals on their tracks as apposed to live singing even with the lead singer/singers which helped some of them get into that, that certain people thought was cheating.
Many people on YouTube wondered why some of the top 5 countries who plough money into the ESC participate if their goanna do badly like the UK, Spain, and Germany did and just protest by not entering but then there would be no ESC without their contributions towards lighting, staging, and other things which help obviously.
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Post by nimue on May 23, 2021 4:54:13 GMT -5
I'm happy that France came in second (Barbara Pravi wasn't my favorite but France hasn't been in the top ten in decades!), but not too happy about Italy winning... There weren't any this year I really cared for, except maybe for Greece, Belgium or Finland... It was sad to see the UK get nothing, I wonder if that has to do with Brexit? They wasn't anything particularly special about them, but zero points?? that wasn't very fair...
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Post by Tim on May 23, 2021 11:08:50 GMT -5
Congrats to France.
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Post by Squad 51 on May 23, 2021 11:30:34 GMT -5
Italy now won three times. The other two were in 1964 and 1990. The winner song from 1990 I actually like very much. Tuto Cutogno "Unite Europe" - appropriate for that time - 1990, just after the wall came down.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on May 23, 2021 14:12:15 GMT -5
France was good yes. Barbara did well in her performance which was nice for the country and their best result in ages obviously.
With her and Gjon's Tears, you didn't need high-tech staging or pyrotechnics just their voices which made them I think.
Barbara's performance felt like me sitting in a Parisian cafe drinking tea or coffee whilst eating cake and listening to someone sing. I was angry slightly with the audience cheering when Switzerland was on because it ruined the experience of me just wanting to hear his voice and the song which was amazing how Gjon hit those high notes the same as in the music video.
For me the reason his song was my favourite entry was even though I don't fully understand French language the song just moved me in a way that gave me goose bumps along with Gjon's voice. That falsetto and the way the music video took the viewer on a journey so you understood what was happening despite not knowing the English translation to the lyrics was helpful proving music truly is a universal language in it's own right then.
Gjon's Albanian by birth but has Swiss citizenship being why he represented the country although Albanian's apparently have great voices so I understand why he did well then.
He's also appeared on Albania's Got Talent and The Voice France which I viewed his performances of earlier wanting to hear more of his work which by the looks of things he can sing anything from the playbook it seems.
I went back and also viewed Gjon's entry last year Repondez Moi which surprisingly I hadn't listened to a lot but he did a live version of that along with an acoustic version which like Tout L'univers was exquisite.
People have compared him to Sam Smith or Dimash although the second person I've heard of but not listened to any of his songs of course.
I can see why he and Barbara did well with the Jury but not the televoters who have different tastes in music otherwise as I mentioned previously it was a strong contest which any 10 countries could've won.
Only a few other acts have touched me like Switzerland's entry did including Riverdance 1994 Ireland's 1996 entry The Voice with Eimer Quinn the French song from 2001 Je n'ai que mon ame (All I Have Is My Soul) sung by Natasha St Pier, Conchita Wurst (Rise Like A Phoenix), and Dami Im Australia 2016 (Sound Of Silence).
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Post by Squad 51 on May 23, 2021 16:45:34 GMT -5
Yeah, well, Germany was not good again at the ESC. That's why I still prefer the old times, mainly the 1980ies. Who could beat Johnny Logan here? Even some of our entries were good at that time, especially Nicole, our first winner, with "A little peace" (original "Ein bißchen Frieden"). Right song at the right time in 1982. With all the rockets and nuclear bombs. I have to admit that I lost interest at the ESC nowadays. Maybe I'm waiting for new retro-wave here.
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