#I would understand it if the country was San Marino where the number of singers is very limited but like...it's Norway

[singtheskyandfightlikehell]

Eurovision 2019 Opinions

Well, the 26 countries that will be participating in the final are official now, so here’s my in depth thoughts about each entry, ranked from least favorite to favorite along with explanations and a 10 pt rating system. honestly i thought this year was solidly mediocre. a few i really like, about 3 i can’t stand, and the rest are all smack dab in the middle of “decent”. of course, these are just my opinions and I totally get that people will disagree with them. i don’t really care. yeah there’s a few i’ll judge you for, but frankly my opinion shouldn’t matter to you. i’m just posting it for my own record and for anyone who might be curious

26. Slovenia (0/10) I know a lot of people like this entry, but frankly, I cannot stand it. It’s boring. It’s awkward. It’s uncomfortable. If I wanted to watch an m/f couple - or, you know what, any couple - stand really close to each other and mumble for three minutes, I - I don’t actually know where I’d go, because I can’t conceptualize myself ever wanting to see that.

25. Denmark (0/10) Again, why? This entry annoys me a lot, and the only reason I didn’t put it last was because I appreciate the use of more than one language. It’s my least favorite parts of all kids shows combined coupled with a message that honestly I disagree with. It feels a bit like she’s judging me for being upset at injustice in the world when I should just shut up and be happy about what I have. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe it’s acceptable to ignore atrocities just because my life is filled with good things. I could imagine this song being the welcoming number in a musical staged in one of those “everything is perfect on the outside but inside it’s the creepiest shit you’ve ever seen” towns that’s used to hypnotize the protagonist into not noticing the creepy shit

24. Estonia (1/10) I don’t honestly dislike this song, but it does bore me. He’s a mediocre singer with a mediocre song. Also I can’t get past the fact that he rhymes “this” with “this”. It distracts me and ruins the whole thing.

23. Czech Republic (2/10) I really didn’t like this one at first. It was irritating and the lyrics were weird. However, I surprisingly enjoyed the live performance. The lead singer has some charisma on stage. Good for him.

22. San Marino (3/10) No idea how he got to the final (I know it’s bc he’s a meme, but still), but I don’t hate the song. I don’t think it should win, but honestly, I think it’s fun. His voice is ridiculous, but I can stand it for three minutes.

21. UK (4/10) I definitely feel like this is the kind of generic song I’ve heard many times before, but he does a good job with it, and ultimately it’s alright. His hair makes me think of Finn Shelby from Peaky Blinders, but that’s neither here nor there.

20. North Macedonia (4/10) Honestly, I feel like I should like this song more than I do. She has a good voice, and the song has a good message. Unfortunately, it’s just never clicked with me, and I often find myself tuning out while listening to it.

19. Israel (5/10) I like his voice. He sells the emotion. Not a gripping song, by any means, but not bad. Some of the rhymes feel a little forced, like the lyrics were written specifically so that they would rhyme, rather than because they have meaning.

18. Germany (5/10) This one gets stuck in my head sometimes, but I’m okay with that. Tbh, I quite like it. Plus, the whole “sisters (but I’d say girls in general) are taught to tear each other down but need to build each other up instead” theme is one I wholeheartedly support. I spent too many years hating everything associated with girls because society told me to.

17. Malta (5/10) I go back and forth on this one a lot. Parts of it I like, parts of it I don’t. It feels a bit different to me, but not like, in a revolutionary way. The singer is strong, and it definitely gets the award for most colorful performance, literally!

16. Serbia (5/10) I feel like I’ve heard this entry before, too, but specifically at Eurovision. Still, she does a good job with it, and I like her armor-inspired jewelry. Plus, it’s not in English!

15. Belarus (5/10) Another one I go back and forth on. I find this is very good study music - energetic and repetitive enough not to be distracting. I don’t love it (I’m even hesitant to say I like it lmao), but people really ought to stop hating on her so much. She’s sixteen. Let her have her fun.

14. Albania (6/10) I really liked Albania’s entry this year tbh. I didn’t feel she sang as strong in the semi-final as she did in the music video, but otherwise I thought it was a very powerful song. The staging was pretty cool, too!

13. Azerbaijan (6/10) I loved everything about this except the refrain. The “shut up about it” bit starts to get on my nerves by about the second refrain. But the verses sounded cool and the staging was awesome!

12. Sweden (6/10) Not the most exciting song in the world, but he sounds good, the ladies sound great, and there’s nothing I dislike about the song or staging.

11. Cyprus (6/10) Not as good as the music video, sadly, but still catchy and fun. I didn’t really like it the first time I heard it, but it’s grown on me since. I felt bad for her being put on the spot with that one “are you mad about Cyprus losing last year” question.

10. Greece (6/10) Definitely grew on me. I tuned out of it the first time I heard it. Prior to the semi finals I thought it was alright. But she really gave us the lesbian dream, huh? Ladies with neat clothes and swords, plus a garden? What more can you ask for lmao

9. France (7/10) Feels kinda standard to me, but not in the worst way possible. Sometimes I get really into it, other times it’s just a nice song. I’ve been liking it a little bit more each time I hear it, though.

8. Netherlands (7/10) The favorite to win, and I’d be okay if it did. Not my favorite this year, but a solidly good song. I have to be in the right mood to want to listen to it, but when I am? Fucking amazing. Also, considering he never left the piano (and didn’t light it on fire), he gave a pretty good performance.

7. Spain (8/10) This song is so much fun, and it’s definitely going to end the competition on a high note. I’m also really curious to see the full version to know more about the life-size dollhouse and animatronic thing they’ve got going

6. Switzerland (8/10) I loved the music video more than the live performance, but regardless I thought this song was also really fun and, idk, snazzy? Love dancing to it while I fold laundry.

5. Australia (9/10) Australia’s staging was everything! I had them in the upper middle rankings until the semi-final, but honestly that looked cool as all fuck!! Her song is weird, but in a way that I can dig. Plus seeing her soar around like Glinda in space with two fellow witches is one of the highlights of Eurovision this year

4. Russia (10/10) Sergey is back and just like in 2016, I absolutely love him and his performance. I’ll admit, the shower thing was a bit weird, but the song sounded great live! Plus, he had a leg-up for me by going with fairy tale imagery in the music video.

3. Norway (10/10) Initially, I only liked the joiking. The other two singers have grown on me, though. This song is fun, the staging is cool, the singers are great, and then it gets quiet and the joik part comes in, and it’s so fucking cool!! Love it, love it, love it!

2. Italy (10/10) My favorite for a long time, only bumped out because I made the fortuitous mistake of watching Iceland’s interviews. I love the song. I love the message. The thing that impressed me most, though, was that this song is about something that isn’t even remotely close to anything that’s happened in my life. I do not relate to it at all. But despite having no personal connection to the topic, I could feel the emotion in it. For a brief three minutes, I could feel something that isn’t my reality but is the reality of many other people. And an artist who can do that is powerful indeed.

1. Iceland (10/10) If you couldn’t tell from the everything about my blog, I have firmly joined the camp of Hatari stans. It may surprise you, but I didn’t really like this song the first time I heard it. Then, I found out the meaning behind it and gave it another chance. Lo and behold, I liked it! It rose in my rankings from lower-middle to the number one spot between listening to it multiple times and watching all the Hatari content I could get my hands on. I totally understand the music being too far for some people, but as a metalhead during the not-Eurovision parts of the year, Hatari isn’t too far of a leap for me. I love the song. I love the staging. I love the costumes. I love the message. I love the band. I love how they interact with each other and everyone else. I love the bits on Iceland Music News. I love their trolling and sarcasm in the interviews. I love the anti-capitalism. I love their websites (seriously, check them out. they put a lot of effort into them). I love the way they approach issues that are important to them. I love the fact that they aren’t afraid of the tough subjects. I especially love that they aren’t trying to walk the popularity line (you see it all the time - for example, queerbaiting, where a tv show wants to appeal to all sides of an issue, so they make characters nearly lgbtqia+ but then throw in enough straightness to please conservatives). Hatari picks their side in each issue instead of trying to cater to everyone, and I respect that a lot. My reactions and emotions aren’t usually prominent or even necessarily visible, but there’s a chance I might actually cheer if they win.

Finally, the honorable mentions, aka countries that didn’t make it to the final but that I would’ve loved to see:

Hungary (in my original top 10) - loved him last time, loved him this time. Beautiful song, beautiful voice, beautiful staging

Georgia - my hopes weren’t high but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. There’s nothing quite like a good dramatic song, and this was as dramatic as they come

Portugal/Poland - the two most people were really miffed about in the first semi-final; I think they’d’ve been alright in the semi-final, but both depend entirely on my mood. sometimes I love, sometimes I hate

Croatia - the song was ‘meh’, the singer was fantastic, and the staging was Eurovision in all the right ways

Armenia - one of my early favorites. could’ve used some other people on stage, but otherwise I thought she did wonderfully

Romania - what can I say that hasn’t been said already? she brought everything! that was an experience and an amazing one at that. so disappointed she didn’t make it

and of course,

Ukraine - catchy, badass, wacky, and wlw? sign me the fuck up. So sad to hear what happened to her. I know people are saying this is why politics should be kept out of music, but that’s ridiculous. The real issue is when the issue/message isn’t coming from the artist. It should always be up to the artist’s discretion what they do or do not promote. Propaganda and censorship go hand in hand, which is why I am so bothered by the blanket statements I hear thrown around about Ukraine’s fiasco this year

And that’s all! I think I’ll be happy with anyone scoring a 7 or higher for me winning on Saturday. I wouldn’t be upset about a 6 winning either, I suppose.

Anyways, off to bed so I can make my snacks tomorrow lmao!

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Eurovision 2018 is many Eurovisions being called back to in one

2005

Just a reminder that a Hellenic banger has won that year (and Eleni Foureira is an Albanian-born Greek whereas Helena Paparizou is a Swedish-born Greek :ooooooo could this mean Albania will do mediocre in the final just like Sweden 2005???), and there was at least a rock act that... at least finished 10th? Could this repeat

2006

Of course because of the harder rock entry that was sent to Eurovision, Hungary. And somehow bookies love us this year, so there’s a possible potential of this scenario repeating too if we believe in coincidences actually repeating themselves. I propose Ukraine 2nd because of a man emerging from piano as opposed to a ballerina, Sweden 5th because... you know... and since Montenegro didn’t qualify, there’s no way a token Balkan ballad will finish 3rd, sorry guys. :’(

2008

But then again, Cyprus is hailed to be having “the new Ani Lorak”, and wouldn’t it be just the tea if she ends like... 3rd or something? Ukraine could get 2nd again just for the trolololololo, or even 1st because... Mélovin’s a Slav, and that year a Slav with a... rather interesting way of singing words in English has won. Worth noting he was barefoot though, so this opens up to have Lithuania and Hungary getting ready for something...

2010

You know the elephant in the room. Hungary might be as well 2nd (and might be as well last for all we care and tied with someone for qualification) or even end up like Teräsbetoni (which, as you all know, were somehow a bit too underrated. I hope it has nothing to do with the fact they sang rock music in their beautiful Finno-Ugric mothertongues, just like AWS). All possibly thanks to jury (hey they did have maNga lower than quite an amount of acts, but still in the top 10 I assure you!!) Also the Danish entry being a Melodifestivalen reject. Too bad Sweden still qualified :’( >:)

2011

A rollercoaster in every aspects of itself. No one knows where juries and televote will be geared towards. Will the diaspora votes prevail now that a large part of ex-Soviets are missing out of the final and there are at least some in that could snatch (that being Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and Estonia. My personal pick is Moldova because Kirkorov himself says that a vote for Moldova is a vote for Russia as well xD). As the Turkish diaspora was gearing towards Azerbaijan now that Turks were out of the semi. And since Italy is now underestimated thanks to being drawn after a banger, their emerging would be a surprise.

2012

Oh IDK I just had a feeling to mention a lot of ties between the past Albanian entrant and the current one because of the current one indeed covering Suus. Top 5 is, however, a wishful thinking because “Mall” isn’t a headscratcher song that sounds sorrowful but is not understood because of the waaaaaaailing (sorry but I had to bring Hungary on to this as well, no one understands what’s it about because of the language, a bit of a headscratcher because of the screeeaaaaaming and a song about... actual death??? Wouldn’t you want to scream after losing someone too, through tears at least?), “Mall” is mostly longing for hope and the close one to come back because (s)he can. And it sounds rather... cheerful, which is why I love it so much to the levels of Naviband’s one. Speaking of which, it’s a year my #1 was predicted not to qualify by a lot of authorities, but it FUCKING did and was announced late-ish, so of course I was happy for Malta 2012 and Albania 2018 qualifying against all the odds! ^^

2013

Lots. I was a 13-year-old who foolishly believed in the victory of Sweden with deeply knowing that “yeah Denmark’s gonna win this, it’s the bookies fav, what’d you expect?!” and therefore there’s no chance for a host victory. That’s not the same I feel about Cláudia Pascoal, and I even wonder WHY people think this could also be a surprise winner! No. Instead I want my 4th place to win and I know it won’t because there are now bigger cheers for other few songs?!  A dance song from the radio already tanked this year (Cascada kind of underperformed and sorry not sorry but the dress was ugly imo, Lukas Meijer kind of recreated the bad vocal vibes he had in the national NF and esp. in second chorus). Hungary doing at least a “Kedvesem” type of result would be just great enough, because oddly enough, AWS were placing 4th in jury’s result for to make A Dal’s superfinal and so was ByeAlex. Bizarrculous? 0_0 There might also be a theory for me to have Albania 2018 and Lithuania 2013 attached (more like Hungary 2018 could relate to Lithuania 2013 because the lead singer of the former was shown drinking a lot while the latter looked like he was already drunk) because... we had to have a token chill guy with a rock-sounding song through and they could also do really badly. For this one, don’t mind me.

2014

The odds were different before rehearsals, so they are this year as well. Austria and The Netherlands rushed up to the to-o-op (i x my heart haha lol) after rehearsals and during the heat of dress rehearsals, and so does Cyprus, Lithuania, Ireland (can you BELIEVE Ireland was 3rd in the odds after being 17th in the QUALIFICATION odds?! Yeah, things bizarre. #gaypower), Moldova... etc etc. No token Sammarinese qualification unfortunately. And Lea Sirk had to do something with qualification of her nation, sweet.

2015

Guess a fellow hero who got drawn 13th in semi 2... >:) Yeah, believe it or not but apparently the name Örs (the name of the AWS frontman) has to do something with the word “hero” in Hungarian, or so I was told by a friend, but that also could be a quite skewered meaning of that word because the actual meaning of that word in Hungarian is “hős”, so it’s not an exact meaning of the name but somewhere up there (also might mean “man”). Fun fact, according to one Hungarian chronicler, one of the seven chieftains of Hungary was bearing that name (the other chronicler of the name Anonymus (I shit you not) thinks it was Ond). Also, Italy is drawn last and gets quite the following on Tumblr, so if they don’t win, that will mean that some will definitely regard this song as the true winner of 2018, just like they’re doing it to Il Volo (and some doing the same to Sergey in 2016 and Francesco in 2017). Token rock act, this time again from a Finno-Ugric nation, except that this one smelled like a delibarate failure because the song is short, there’s no melodic singer per se and the band was made up of mentally disabled middle-aged men who’re already a cult in their homeland. Not to mention that their 3 letter acronym, PKN, always had the same meaning ever since creation, but there’s a whole more lot you can do with AWS and the number of it keeps on growing, and even the band itself acknowledges it. There’s a wheelchair girl from a Slavic country too, but she got impacted in an accident while Yulia had that disease somewhat since childhood. Montenegrin balkan ballad. And a song titled “goodbye” (in another language and also did way better than this year’s “goodbye” title that was sole, the other one has another word in it so yeah). San Marino sent an almost delibarate failure (as Switzerland were the actual last placers in semi) by pairing two people. I thought I could think of more but my mind is dry

2016

Guess who else just got the 21st draw in the final~ okay I need to cut this more often. Israel was also hailed as divisive, and even if their momentum has faded, maybe they will win afterall? Except that it is more positively divisive than negatively. Also, lots of Bergendahlizations (well not that many but Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina were finally out of the final for at least a year, and Greece can add a second year out while Czech Republic can add a second year in! Will this be the new Finland-Cyprus?).

2017

Madame Monsieur/Metamoro are the new Salvador Sobral maybe (with their acronym letters being similar like MM MM SS)? Netta is the new Francesco Gabbani? Sennek is the new Blanche during rehearsals, yeah that’s for sure, except that Sennek flopped and Blanche’s fragility was rewarded by televoters en masse. Also, Macedonia got a good modern song whose chances was smashed by the poor performance and the draw 3rd wasn’t so cursed afterall, at least in semi 1! ^^ Another Maltese try-hard artist in their NF finally went to Eurovision and failed to qualify. Guess that’s all I can think of at the moment? (Also a country with red-green colors on flag won last year, but there’s a drill that their coat of arms is on their flag too, which has yellow on it... :’) )

#eurovision 2018 #strange conspiracies #what is this even aaahhh #ayy lmao #mmmm yeah #haha :))))