ESC 2019 General Discussion Thread

[Ezio]

Too late for love > Nobody but you, because John 1) Actually appears to have a personality beyond "smug overdog" 2) his act is way more personable than whatever "Nobody but you"'s was supposed to be.

They are both hot af. Austrians are generally very smug. #metoo But I hate it.

 

[BorisBubbles]

Apparently people really love black guys that are dressed up like my mom's aerobics instructor rather than singers. Okay then. :shrug.

 

[Ezio]

I'll just take that as random sh-t people say on the Internet. OK then bye

 

[aef]

Posts like these from fellow Austrians make me cringe so hard. "Too late for love" is my most listened song so far of these season, I even listen to it at work. And I can't have these jealousy exuding comments at all. I hope John wins, and only John and no one else. And honestly, it rather sounds like an upgraded version of "Nobody but you". Lyrics are a bit basic, but musically it has much more impact and is extremely enjoyable.

First of all.. your opinion - my opinion - So there's no need to find my comment cringy...

And then let me say that John doesn't have the better vocal abilities, the better staging or the better song! In fact the choir thing is so predictable and bland to a certain point. Cesar decided to avoid that and went in a totally different direction with his song and it was the better one by no doubt...

Apparently people really love black guys that are dressed up like my mom's aerobics instructor rather than singers. Okay then. :shrug.

Oh gosh that comment is so immature that I don't really wanna continue this discussion

 

[BorisBubbles]

Oh gosh that comment is so immature that I don't really wanna continue this discussion

Tssk, Tssk, Tssk. Now my immature ass has no choice to continue the discussion and bash your precious Austria. How unfortunate, how sad.

Look, I could have conducted myself more diplomatically so it doesn't offend your precious home entries, but I really, really did not like Cesár's act last year, at all. It was a crock of shit. In my humble opinion, staging should match the song it is based around. It should have the same vibe, the same message and the same tempo. The glove has to fit, you know? "Nobody but you" lacked this and it severely tarnished my opinion of it.

Like, you have what is on the basis a fun, unassuming, well-composed gospel song. Why is the singer on elevated platform, performing insipid handmimes? Why isn't he just given a mic and a gospel choir? The only explanation I can find is that the Austrian delegation was strapped for ideas and just tried *something* in order to stand out. Evidently it worked, but I don't have to like it. I thought it was pretentious and very uncreative, as opposed to impressive.

I'm sure there's some long-winded explanation as to why Cesár's staging was the way it was. I doesn't matter to me what the explanation is though; Good staging is always self-explanatory. Take one look at Moldova's staging and you immediately know what the song is about. Take a look at Estonia's staging and it's the same. Austria's staging doesn't add to the song. It distracts from it, which is puzzling because "Nobody but you" is an excellent composition in its own right. The song doesn't need much.


What should the staging have looked like? Well, yes, like Lundvik's. I liked "Too Late For Love" less upon first listen than I did "Nobody but you", from a song perspective, but I prefer the former to the latter. Live Performance always beats song. Always. Otherwise there would be no point of hosting Eurovision, because the winner would be determined at the start. Lundvik's staging plays to the strengths to his song and that's why I now strongly prefer his song over Cesár's.

Now, I realize this makes it sound as though I disliked "Nobody but you", but I don't. It's perfectly fine. I put it somewhere in the middle on my ranking, which might be a tad low according to some, but I think is a fair spot given its strengths and its weaknesses. If you want my detailed thoughts, feel free to check it out here. (LINK)

And now I'll peace out, before this post takes up too much of my precious UMK time.

 

[Realest]

Praying for Keiino, Hatari, Conan, Che-MD and Look away xcrossed

x12sx12sx12sx12sx12sx12s

 

[JonnyWest]

I've noticed that the 1st semifinal has a lot of male acts and the 2nd semifinal many female acts

 

[EscGeek]

So far, only 3 NF outcomes made me truly happy. ()

That's the same amount as on March 3rd 2018 alone ()

 

[FilipFromSweden]

Apparently people really love black guys that are dressed up like my mom's aerobics instructor rather than singers. Okay then. :shrug.

In what way did Caesar Samspon and John Lundvik dress differently than Måns Zelmerlöw or Sergey Lazarev? It's kind of narrow-minded of you to say that a singer has to dress in one way or another, not sure what their skin color has to do with anything either?

 

[ag89]

This year looks significant to me because more than ever we see this north-south gap where southerns tend to play much riskier (Portugal, Italy,) while northerners tend to focus on creating an appealing mainstream product (Norway, Estonia, Finland, somehow Lithuania and I am sure Sweden). Almost all non-mainstream entries so far (this year) come from south (excluding Iceland). Maybe I can add Albania here and I have a strong feeling Armenia will bring something different.

 

[LastDreamer]

It's the second year in all Eurovision history (after 1988), when the highest song in my ranking will get somewhere near 6 out of 10.

Based on the current-line up I will not watch Eurovision in this year and with high probability in the future too.
Possibly Anna can change my opinion, but obviously Sweden will send male singer in this year.

I lost my hope in this contest.

 

[GlamSIMorous]

I like how this Eurovision season is shaping up. Lots of innovative songs, different genres and languages. I am a little pissed though at how the social media (mostly YouTube) is not up to date. I mean, we barely get the winners national final performances uploaded on the Eurovision page. Its all so .. well ... shifted in time which kills the momentum of these songs. I mean, Slovenia and Hatari have their music video ready, why not upload them to the official Eurovision page?

 

[Schlagerman1]

I like how this Eurovision season is shaping up. Lots of innovative songs, different genres and languages. I am a little pissed though at how the social media (mostly YouTube) is not up to date. I mean, we barely get the winners national final performances uploaded on the Eurovision page. Its all so .. well ... shifted in time which kills the momentum of these songs. I mean, Slovenia and Hatari have their music video ready, why not upload them to the official Eurovision page?

It is the broadcasters that decides when the songs or performances should be uploaded on the Eurovision channel and most broadcasters decide to put it up after the head of delegation meeting on 11th of March. I think many wants to wait with upload it, cause the quality of the sound or video differs quite a lot from other countries, and it is hard to judge them fairly. I am sure that from that date and a week forward all of them should be up (unless some country wants a little extra time).

 

[Lindon]

Today Kan froze all ticket sales over suspicions of “irregularities” on the part of the official ticket vendor of the ESC.

In a statement, Kan said it had instructed the ticket vendor to halt all sales until further notice after the broadcaster’s oversight committee raised suspicions that hundreds of highly in-demand tickets purchased last week were being resold at a profit.

The announcement came shortly after Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan instructed police to investigate the suspicions raised by Kan officials.


Kan said its oversight committee “identified an attempt by various parties to intervene in the sales process, with hundreds of tickets in the arena’s best seats sold to top sports and media executives and not to the public, which is firmly against the guidelines set by the broadcaster’s board of directors.”

 

[BorisBubbles]

In what way did Caesar Samspon and John Lundvik dress differently than Måns Zelmerlöw or Sergey Lazarev? It's kind of narrow-minded of you to say that a singer has to dress in one way or another, not sure what their skin color has to do with anything either?

You misunderstand. It's not the clothes, nor the skin colour. It's the microphone. I associate 'Britney mics' with fitness instructors and public speakers, as opposed to singers. I do not like them in choreographies which do not necessitate them, because I find them immersion-breaking. It's fine in cases where the performance requires the performer to use their hands, like with Sertab's and Helena Paparizou's acts, but Cesár's act is not one of those. One of many questionable decisions that act had imo.

You mean well, but not every off-hand or unfortunate comment is made out of mean-spiritedness.

 

[Lindon]

That's the strangest statement I've read here for a long time. The first time I read about microphone racism.
In what category falls the microphone during the end credits of this clip?

 

[MyHeartIsYours]

Well... it's looking like one of the worst years for song quality!

 

[BorisBubbles]

Um sorry if i've upset all the microphonephobicphobics :'( I have many random pet hates that I can't really explain. I should just make a top five of random shit that BUGS the hell out of me for no reason:

1) Headset microphones.
2) Disproportionally large mouths.
3) Selfie backdrops/special effects/selfie sticks
4) Wearing sunglasses indoors.
5) Unironically using hashtags in song titles.

There you go, those are the most important ones. *shudders at the tought*

 

[ZoboCamel]

Um sorry if i've upset all the microphonephobicphobics :'( I have many random pet hates that I can't really explain. I should just make a top five of random shit that BUGS the hell out of me for no reason:

1) Headset microphones.
2) Disproportionally large mouths.
3) Selfie backdrops/special effects/selfie sticks
4) Wearing sunglasses indoors.
5) Unironically using hashtags in song titles.

There you go, those are the most important ones. *shudders at the tought*

Belarus 2020: Alekseev - #WeGotSelfieSticks

 

[esc87fan]

Tamara's song for Macedonia has been pushed back to the 8th, to coincide with International Women's Day. The HoD meetings are next week, by which time all songs must be handed over to the EBU and we'll also know Israel's starting position for the final