Eurovision 2016

this is very Belgian

Macedonia/Ukraine/Bulgaria for me.

Bulgaria best by miles.

Latvia and FYROM both reasonably entertaining.

lol UK

Georgia? is a surprise

Denmark going out is a shock. A delightful shock.

such sweet defeat

Russia now 8/13, which is ridiculous.

Australia second at 5/1.

Australia's tune was okay, but I thought it was ridiculous how "sound of silence" was repeated three times in the chorus:

Now my heart awakes to the sound of silence
And it beats to the sound of siiileeennce
And it beats to the sound of siiileeennce

Did the lyricist run out of words to use? Or couldn't s/he figure out any word that'd rhyme with silence?

Ukraine and Bulgaria were my favourite from last night's semi. I loved how Ukraine's tune seemed like it was heading for Eurovisiony bombast and melodrama, but then it kept things quite restrained, both musically and lyrically. As for Bulgaria's entry, the local host said the "if love as a crime" chorus could be read as a gay rights statement, which would still be kinda shocking in that country... I didn't really get that vibe from the rest of the lyrics, but it was a very catchy dance pop tune with a nice energetic performance anyway.

Yes, that bothered me about Australia too.

Ukraine had lots of quite interesting elements but it never coalesced into a song memorable.

I think the "if love was a crime" theme is pretty explicit, and was referenced by Mans in the show, though it is unlikely to be particularly shocking to a country that entered Azis in 2006:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azis

Or even a memorable song.

Belgium went through. Apparently it's pretty good. Wouldn't know since I haven't watched this in ages. Maybe I should.

Belgium was okay, but IMO the tune was a bit too obvious 80s Michael Jackson pastiche... And it had a nice a groove, but the chorus was not that memorable.

I think the "if love was a crime" theme is pretty explicit, and was referenced by Mans in the show, though it is unlikely to be particularly shocking to a country that entered Azis in 2006

Oh, I'd totally forgotten about Azis! Anyway, I thought the lyrics to "If Love Was a Crime" were a bit too individualistic to be explicitly about a social issue, it felt "crime" was used more like a metaphor of the hardships this particular couple has to face, a la "Living on a Prayer". And it failed to mentioned the fact Måns pointed out, that it actually is still a crime in many countries.

Ukraine had lots of quite interesting elements but it never coalesced into a song memorable.

Yeah, I guess this can be hold against it, but IMO it worked nicely as a mood piece, without banalizing the heavy subject matter. And I think mood pieces can work in the Eurovision context, if they're done with taste and restraint. A lot of people still remember fondly that winner from the 90s that was basically just a solo sello piece with some vocals added, even though it was hardly something you could hum to yourself at work the next day.

Oh, I guess I misremembered, it was a violin and not cello.

Also, kinda funny that Ireland won the contest four times in five years, and the one time they didn't win, the most memorable part of the winning tune was by an Irish violinist.

THe Australian song is so repetitive buut Dami has done well to bring it to almost life by free-wheeling it a bit. I got on camera between 20:49 and 20:52 on the official Youtube stream. Yay, I think?

Bulgaria is the best pop song in the contest by miles but a no hoper on the scoreboard I fear. I'd be fine with a Ukraine win, and Sweden doubling up would pay for my next three trips to Europe so.

Vote Bulgaria!

also Poland is a cockfarmer

Yeah, I was surpised he made it to the final! The lyrics of that song alone were like every conceivable cliche rolled into one:

When loneliness – is knocking on your door
Everything you loved – just disappears
And when you feel – that everything is lost
You need to know – there's no life without tears

O -O – O – O - tell me black or white
What color is your life
O – O – O –O - try to ask your heart
Who you really are

No one is – forever beautiful and young
Everything you know – just disappears
Fame and gold are nothing – you can be sure
When there is no love in your heart
The choice is yours – who you really want to be
Don't be afraid – of your destiny
So when you feel – that everything is lost
You need to know – there's no life without fear

O -O – O – O - tell me black or white
What color is your life
O – O – O –O - try to ask your heart
Who you really are

Every day – we must fight with the wind
We have to live
All these things are just empty desire
'Cause ther's no smoke without fire

O -O – O – O - tell me black or white
What color is your life
O – O – O –O - try to ask your heart
Who you really are

O – O – O –O - try to ask your heart
What color is your life

Unless the some of the big countries' tunes in the final will completely floor me, I think I'll vote for Bulgaria, yeah.

ps hey Tuomas I'm popping back into Helsinki mid-next week. Anything going on?

If "Colour of Your Life" does better than SLAVIC GIRLS I am going to fuck shit up.

Russia & Australia currently seriously overvalued, Ukraine too, but worth a punt on France, Sweden & Spain at current odds IMO

France was a leading contender early on but the clip in the interval of the first semi-final indicated that his vocals are weak. I think Sweden is worth an e/w at 14/1, as is Malta at 40/1. Bulgaria has drifted to 125/1.

It's interesting that the odds on Ukraine winning have gone from 4/1 ahead of the semi-final to 8/1 now, despite a strong vocal / visual performance.

has anyone ever failed to win with odds like russia?

I don't think i've ever seen odds of less than evens. Russia is now 1/2.

For comparison, Sweden last year was 9/4 and that was a very strong favourite. Given how many of the juries voted politically against Gagarina last time, it seems very risky.

iirc Switzerland was 2/1 ahead of the semi-finals one year and failed to qualify.

Russia is using a bot to place bets and keep the odds low. Presumably to create an aura of inevitability. Betting 1500 euros at a time. Wouldn't be surprised if same bot is laying Ukraine on Betfair.

given that my betting strategy this year was to manoeuvre so I was green on Ukraine, Sweden, Australia and a few other outsiders (before the draw, Netherlands, before the staging, Serbia) and lay Sweden when it went below 15 again, I may be doomed.

er, about that bulgarian entry...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJcQKJaAb0

idgi?

Also not sure why Tuomas has a problem with a lyric being repeated in the chorus... that's kind of what lyrics do, and I think better to repeat a portentous line than shoehorn in a rhyme that dilutes the message, solely because you think you should have a rhyme.

I had a problem with it, more to do with Simon and Garfunkel though.

just that to me they sound like identical songs

i also don't really have a problem with the australian entry and the repeating lyrics.

(xpost)

IDK, I think it's expected that if you have line where you describe something metaphorically, and then in the next line your describing something else, to come up with a new metaphor for that other thing? Like, what if that Aretha tune had gone like this?

You make me feel like a natural woman
And my heart beats like a natural woman

Well, she's describing a process. My heart wakes up, there's silence, it beats, there's silence, it keeps beating, but there's still only silence. It's about yearning, it's about silence permeating her life because her loved one is not there. So it makes perfect sense that the phrase would be repeated, because she's expressing that the state is continuous and unending.

I mean, the natural woman thing wouldn't scan and iirc it doesn't move on to a different metaphor in the chorus anyway? It stands alone, because being made to feel like a natural woman is like a turning point/revelation. Although she obviously does continue feeling like a natural woman, the crux point of the song is the transformation from unhappiness to happiness, so it wouldn't make sense to be all "and I still feel like a natural woman now, and tomorrow I will too".

In fact, "you make me feel like a natural woman" is a terrible example, because not only are those the only lyrics in the chorus, guess what? It repeats lyrics -- it repeats three times the "you make me feel" bit before saying what it is that you make her feel. Because it's amping up to the important info, it's her saying that you've given her feeling initially, and then pinpointing what that is. So like the Oz entry, it's using repetition of bits of info to portray the mood of the song. It just does it differently because the mood is different.

Spain now at 200/1 at skybet, not sure if this due to their long history of fucking it up, but reckon it's worth a punt

Ukrainian entry is now explicitly campaigning for votes on contemporary political basis, something which I thought could get you thrown out of the competition.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/13/eurovision-2016-ukraine-singer-urges-vote-for-crimean-ballad

I know the article has many serious points, but I couldn't help laughing at this: Lazarev – who was formerly one half of a Russian boy band and runs a business that makes cakes and pastries for pets called Poodle-Strudel

The Bulgarian song and that Antique song sound bugger all like each other. I had forgotten that Antique had songs sung by the bloke as all the ones I like were sung by Elena.

Anyway I just got back from the jury final. Not too much has changed. Jamala wasn't quite as strong as last two nights. Dami was possibly even better tonight, really amazing how she's taken that repetitive chorus and made something good out of it, can't even listen to the studio version now as it is just so sterile and dull. Russia just seemed desperate and empty. Can't even judge Sweden but the reception to it was massive. Ditto Austria, France, Spain, and definitely Australia. Crowd did not give a shit about Poland and Azerbaijan, even less than Georgia.

Uh, here we go...

Graham Norton has just explained that the UK's points announcer wonk is Richard Osman - otherwise known as the co-presenter of BBC Quiz 'Pointless' - appropriate...

holland are an embarrassment

azeri competence here though

France at 16/1 would have been a decent e/w. He is actually pretty good and the song is strong.

yeah France was good, our announcers are predictably going nuts. they'll light up again for Austria

Competent but dull so far. Polish guy's jacket the closest we've got to anything weird.

im not sure if the stream i'm watching is actually live. there's a woman in a gigantic dress singing off key rn