Eurovision 2016

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

You're about a minute or so behind.

Serbia's one was *excellent*

It was ok.

Sergey Lazarev nailed it. I'm still sceptical he will win but he couldn't really have done any more.

i'm on a delay, just saw the Russian one. wow @ that staging

Yeah, how did they do it?

Also, is this the year for Georgian indie? Y/N

wish i liked the ukranian riposte more, but i don't think it's so good

Hmm the UK one's pretty good except for the David Cameron/Simply Red quote

is this armenia in the bob mackie esque outfit?

Call me a curmudgeon but hugely successful American pop acts should not be allowed to be involved

I feel that as he has always worked with Swedish producers and has been ripped off by at least eight entrants per contest over the last ten years he has earned his place.

^fair

voted serbia

That's the worst Max Martin song in recent memory though, lol.

Best half-time ever

yeah srs

Jury votes are so dodgy. Four of them haven't placed Russia or Australia at all.

whaaaat

my top 6 was fwiw serbia, azerbaijan, russia, latvia, armenia, australia

not sure what the political ramifications of liking both azerbaijan and armenia are

so are there two sets of results, for jury and for audience?

Yes, it is designed to make it more dramatic but it only serves to highlight how ridiculous the juries are.

agh