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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 17:42:31 GMT
Everybody knows that the British are irrational about silly subjects. That's one of the things that endears them to us. I was following some of the Twitter posts last night (but not all two million of them -- every time I looked away for 10 seconds, my computer said "125 new posts"). When Portugal sang, there were a number of (trying to be funny) posts along the lines of "what country was that? I fell asleep before the end." In any case, the European Broadcasting Union has nothing to do with the EU, so I don't see how Brexit could affect it. Countries like Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have been members since 1950 when of course. Morocco even participated once. Jeez, even Libya was a member at one time. imageshack.com/a/img924/7048/cZUOOg.gifMeanwhile, I was quite glad that very few voters were aware why Salvador Sobral who represented Portugal sang so softly and quietly, and just voted for the quality of the performance. He is urgently awaiting a heart transplant and received special permission to arrive in Kiev a week later than the other contestants because of his condition. He was even replaced by his sister at two of the rehearsal sessions.
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Post by amboseli on May 14, 2017 22:06:20 GMT
Wow, I didn't know about the physical condition of the Portuguese performer. I heard the song just once because I stopped watching the show since the televoting system has started ... many moons ago.
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Post by patricklondon on May 15, 2017 8:28:57 GMT
Yes, it's just too bloated. Since they long ago gave up any pretence at not having any prior promotion or knowledge of the songs to come, I don't see why they don't do some series of preliminary elimination rounds, based on videos, and cut down the grand final live show to 12-15 songs. My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2017 8:34:51 GMT
Are you trying to take us back to the 20th century? I was heartened this year by the fact that a half dozen songs were not sung in English. And now that Portugal has proved for the first time in 10 years that you can win in your native language, perhaps things will be a bit different next year.
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Post by patricklondon on May 15, 2017 8:47:31 GMT
I think you can take it there will be an upswing of sensitive young soloists breathing wistfully into the microphone. My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2017 16:11:14 GMT
Just for the record, here is the actual performance by Salvador Sobral on the night of the final.
Here are the lyrics of the song in English:
Love for the both of us
If one day someone asks about me Say that I lived just to love you Before you, I only existed Tired and without a thing to offer
My dear, listen to my prayers I ask you to come back, that you come back to love me I know we can't love alone Maybe little by little you can learn again
My dear, listen to my prayers I ask you to come back, that you come back to love me I know we can't love alone Maybe little by little you can learn again
If your heart doesn't wish to do so To feel the passion, If it doesn't want to suffer Without making plans about what will happen My heart can love for the both of us.
His sister wrote the song, knowing that he is dying of heart disease.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2017 6:05:02 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 27, 2018 23:02:33 GMT
France chose its Eurovision song tonight after three rounds of voting. It is about a migrant baby who was born on a boat trying to reach Europe.
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Post by patricklondon on Jan 29, 2018 14:24:53 GMT
Powerful as a video, not sure how it would go over as one more in a long list of staged songs (if they were to allow each entry to have its own staging or video backing that might be another matter). And interesting to see how voters in the Visegrad countries will react!
Our entry will be chosen by viewers after a live show on 7 February, apparently.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 29, 2018 18:42:57 GMT
I try to avoid Eurovision. OH sometimes watches some of it...and our son Russ watches it in the UK whilst his GF Sofia watches it in Finland...they skype at the same time and score the songs neither of them would give it the time of day under normal circumstnces but enjoy watching something together (apart)
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 2, 2018 23:54:49 GMT
ENGLISH LYRICS
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Post by patricklondon on Feb 8, 2018 19:46:38 GMT
Our selection show was last night. Thank goodness I recorded it - by zipping through the presenter's lame gags, the biographical intros for each act, the judges' panel discussions and of course the voting interval acts, I cut a 90 minute show down to half an hour of just the numbers. Some unmemorable pounding dance numbers with vague and meaningless lyrics, only one soulful young man, and a sort of Spice Girls wannabe act; but the obvious and eventual winner, for a singalong non-denominational feelgood number that is bound to headline at Pride this year but may well sink without trace in Lisbon (will she be allowed a choral backing track?), was this: My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 9, 2018 15:17:22 GMT
Well, from my own point of view, the British entry has not hit the spot either, but I know there is always room for surprise. These entries have about 4 months to hone their wares, and sometimes the final product isn't bad at all. Even though very few of the songs dare not to be sung in English, even the last two French entries have made a point of including some English language verses in the final product. I would be surprised if this year's French entry does not do the same.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 25, 2018 17:52:35 GMT
Yes, I know the excitement is building in all of you as the fateful date of 12 May approaches. Returning to the French entry (which will not win, I assure you), I still really like the new video underlining the migrant crisis across Europe. Also, news crews went looking for the real baby Mercy and found her -- she and her mother are still confined in a refugee camp in Sicily. At least they have health care and are not going hungry. If the Eurovision song contest does one good thing, it will be to help them get out of there.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 25, 2018 18:07:07 GMT
Every time I start researching this subject, I am obliged to try and dig up some of the weirdest new entries. I don't think that Armenia is planning to make it out of the semi-finals. (The song doesn't actually start until 1:35 since no song can last longer than 3 minutes.)
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 29, 2018 20:18:34 GMT
Two weeks to countdown. According to the bookmakers, Israel is #1 at the moment. I find this hard to believe. I have nothing against full formed women, but I draw a line between authenticity and parody.
#2 for the bookmakers is Bulgaria. The song is not unpleasant, but I find nothing original about it.
#3 is France. Wasn't expecting that.
#4 is Czechia. The song has a certain pizzazz (I have never before used that term in my life.).
#5 is Australia, our newest European country. This is a piece of crap as far as I'm concerned. Send her to American Idol.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 29, 2018 22:06:48 GMT
Okay, I will admit that I only ever open this thread to get rid of the "new" icon. Sorry. Now it has made me hate both Patrick and Kerouac a little bit since I succumbed to curiosity and actually listened to at least part of most of the videos. What I mainly got out of it is the corroboration of my belief that an enormous amount of production time & money goes into turning out music that has nothing new nor even cheerfully listenable to offer. Too many performers, both men and women, with that same range of breathy voices, but without the spark of artistry to take that talent somewhere out of the ordinary. That said, I do like Lie to Me a bunch.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 6, 2018 16:50:01 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2018 11:47:37 GMT
The Czech song is growing on me more and more. They qualified for the final last night, and I must admit that one of the most interesting things about these songs is the staging and the choreography of the live performances. Wearing a backpack was a brilliant stroke of madness.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2018 11:53:10 GMT
Ireland also qualified with a very nice song whose staging was clearly intended to piss off countries like Russia.
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Post by bjd on May 9, 2018 15:10:15 GMT
Are the performances for the final contest the same or do they change anything?
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2018 15:32:02 GMT
They can retouch them, I'm sure, but any of the countries that get to the semi finals and make it to the finals are probably very happy with what they did. As for the "Big Five" -- England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain -- they can probably do whatever they want since they are automatically qualified for every contest since they are the biggest contributiors to the European Broadcasting Union.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2018 15:46:48 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2018 15:53:42 GMT
One interesting thing about this year's contest is that there are quite a few more countries singing in their own language or at least not in English, due to the surprise win of Salvador Sobral last year in spite of all of those detestable English language Europop songs that usually win. I have to confess that the main reason that I want to watch the final this year is that Salvador Sobral will be present in spite of his heart transplant operation last December. I hope that his condition will be good enough to allow him to sing again.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 10, 2018 20:33:21 GMT
The second round of semi finals was appalling. This example from the Netherlands says it all.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 10, 2018 20:39:41 GMT
I have to admit, though, that I have a soft spot for the singer from Russia. She was supposed to participate last year, but Russia decided to pull out because it was in the despised country of Ukraine. The singer is in a wheelchair due to a debilitating disease, and her condition continues to worsen. I nevertheless find it inadmissible that a country like Russia does not sing in its own language.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 10, 2018 21:13:29 GMT
The song from Italy (automatically qualified as a member of the Big Five) is excellent and just as topical as the French song about migrants. Very happy to see Italy singing in Italian again.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 12, 2018 14:15:22 GMT
Aha, finally some controversy! The EBU has blacked out China for the broadcast tonight because they censored the Irish song during the semi finals. And now Ireland is the dark horse of the competition.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 12, 2018 22:53:36 GMT
And so Israel won in the end, with its full-formed singer and its #MeToo song. I suppose it was appropriate. If I am not mistaken, this is Israel's 3rd victory over the years.
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Post by patricklondon on May 13, 2018 16:26:14 GMT
Who would have thought enough people would favour a "Björk meets Hello Kitty meets Captain Mainwaring" mashup? One has to wonder what next year's copycats are going to do. (But at least it's unlikely we'll be treated to any more thrash metal in Hungarian. Or any other language, one hopes. I'll spare you the video). And full marks to the UK's singer for the right way to deal with a nitwit stage invader. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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