#now when I've seen just how selective they are in what they post about Ukraine

[swamp-cats-den]

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#so I've just gone through the blog of that dostoyevsky person #and while I used to think they were yet another westerner who majored in russian/Eastern Eur (which in many unies also means russ studies) #hence the interest in russia with the sprinkle of russophilia #and the typical attitude of the russian liberals #'yes putin bad but Ukraine not good too and us russians are poor things' #now when I've seen just how selective they are in what they post about Ukraine #that is reblogs about an instance of questionable treatment of rus pows or racism in Ukraine #or Zelenskyy saying smth about missiles landing in Poland before it was determined how it happened and therefore 'escalating' #info which is mostly true but actually cherry-picked and not representative of a bigger picture #which also skews the perspective on the war a lot #that all makes me think that they are one of these people really dangerous for us #even to think of their post about the Kyiv Rus inheritance claims #smth that is so irrelevant in the Ukr spaces #but presented as the issue on par with imperialistic wars of conquest #it's very deliberate #shouldn't have engaged with that post at all #a waste of time

[aijamisespava]

My Eurovision 2024 Unpopular (?) Opinions

Hello everyone! And welcome to what's probably an anticipated post (which could get long), the part of the season where I put together my unpopular opinions (which could be popular, but also may be hot takes) and share them for y'all to disagree (or agree) with me passionately!

To begin, I have a couple of disclaimers. For one, I'm going to try and stay positive, but there is at least one that is going to sound negative (which I will get out of the way first). And second, I noticed that while I have a couple of opinions about the Eurovision songs, this may lean more toward National Final territory as I have some opinions about that. So let's get to it!

*The Negative One*: I didn't get the hype for "My AI" or "KABOOM!!!!" - As I was listening through the national final songs and looking at other people's rankings, one BIG contrast is that I would have ranked the two songs mentioned lower than others have. I don't know what it was, but those songs were not for me. However, I'm glad that people did like them.

Serbia NF: "Duga je noć" > "Novi Plan Drugi San" - Don't get me wrong, I liked NPDS (Filip Baloš' NF song last year). It's a very catchy bop that made #33 on my Wrapped last year. But I don't know what it is but I really REALLY liked Duga je noć. As in it was flip-flopping with "Ramonda" for my top spot in this year's NF ranking. Was it the hype I was feeling that Filip was going to give us another banger this year? I doubt it because the effects would have worn off by now and it...hasn't. Come to think of it, I also liked Konstrakta's song AND Zorja's song this year more than their previous songs...

I...don't think Croatia's going to win. As much as I've caught onto the "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" hype and would not be opposed to Baby Lasagna winning in May, I'm not entirely sure if that's going to happen. I'm just really worried about how the juries are going to treat him. Especially with a few jury friendly songs potentially in the mix. I see him getting a good finish though, maybe even getting close to or surpassing Croatia's best finish (with some help from televoting!).

San Marino SLAPPED this year! If you read my first impression of San Marino's song this year, you may have seen this coming. While I am worried about their qualification chances, even understanding that they may not qualify, I'm not letting that rain on the fact that I LOVE "11:11." The song is chaotic in the best way possible, and I also just love the rock elements!

"The Tower" > "Witch-er Tarohoro" - Okay, now I've heard both of them and feel I should add this. The Tower just clicked with me more, although both songs would have great staging potential either way. *side note: this was an internal selection...and we were still ticked about it...? just something I wanted to get off my chest thank you moving on*

Spain had the best NF. While I can see arguments for a few other countries, I'm still set on Spain having the best National Final this year. I liked all the songs, and even if my least favorite won, I would still be like "ooh yes that's a good one!" Basically, if someone played the Benidorm Fest playlist when handed the aux cord, I'd let them play!

Semi Final 2 is the bloodbath. This probably toddles the line between unpopular opinion and not, but there are so many great songs that were put in Semi Final 2. I mean we have Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Estonia, Norway, Netherlands, Armenia, Denmark, along with others that I've seen ranked higher than others. Someone in that list is going to shock NQ, and we will likely be talking about that on May 9 after the Second Semi is done. Of the hard-hitters in Semi Final 1, we have Croatia, Slovenia, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Serbia, and Ireland. We may have a shock Q in that list (are these lists biased? Maybe a little. Apologies...).

As for my Shock NQ and Shock Q: I feel like the shock Q will be...Moldova. I just have a gut feeling about that one. I would say Luxembourg here, but I have the feeling people are going to be voting HARD for "Fighter" to welcome them back (which isn't a bad thing at all!). My Shock NQ is...Denmark. It pains me to say it as I like "Sand," but being right after "We Will Rave" which is a fan favorite, and then the super fun piece "Jako" coming right after, I worry that it could get lost in the mix. I've seen people worried about Estonia for some odd reason, but I don't see it. The only thing that could hinder their chances is going after "Before The Party's Over" (which reverse situation for why I'm worried about Belgium NQ'ing). IMO, both songs will qualify rather safely.

For my final one (9 is my lucky number): This year is ranking really high in my list of Eurovision years...like 2015 close. For those new here, 2015 is my favorite Eurovision year. I liked all the songs, even down to my least favorite. And funny enough, Belgium was also my winner that year, which then led to Belgium's representative becoming one of my favorite artists (if anyone has any Mustii song recs PLEASE DROP THEM! I heard "It's Happening Now" and am welcome to dive deeper!)! This year is so stacked with great songs where I could probably come up with a nice thing to say about each entry! Maybe I should try that sometime...

#eurovision song contest #esc #eurovision #esc2024 #eurovision 2024