ESC United - Rehearsal and Live Show discussion megathread

[Sean]

It's time for the rehearsals to finally get underway for Eurovision 2024 at Malmö Arena! 37 countries will begin their preparations for this year's contest today, with over two weeks of coverage to come from the ESC United team on the ground!

The schedule for rehearsals is below (thank you Eurovisionworld! All times in CEST);

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You can check out Matt's pre-rehearsal live stream below in case you missed it;

DAY ONE

Eurovision 2024 Rehearsals - Day 1 Round-Up Live Stream

Join Matt and his team as they discuss the rehearsals of the day and answer your questions. The first dress rehearsal is closed to the press so we'll be here...

www.youtube.com

The team will be on hand to cover everything going on in Malmö over the coming weeks, so make sure to follow ESC United on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and YouTube and Twitch to not miss a minute!

Please also use this thread for any rehearsal coverage and discussion, including for jury shows, dress rehearsals and the live shows!​

 

[MopManMoss]

So, after those pages and pages of pure hate towards Loreen last year, where are everyone's apologies?

I see many people who were b*tching like hell one year ago about Loreen allegedly because "she wasn't the people's favourite" but who are absolutely thrilled celebrating Nemo, despite Nemo ending even worse with the people than Loreen.

Where is the consistency?

I mean the very fate of the contest wasnt up in the air with last year's outcome whereas it absolutely was if yesterday went a different way, I want juries to have less of a say but I was very grateful for them yesterday

 

[Lumina]

I think juries should be kept to avoid stuff like Israel winning just because of politics, but probably they should include members that are not only music professionals.

lol, they did give Israel a bad result! By your logic they would have to prevent Ukraine too because their points are at least halfway political too!

 

[crashworld]

I don't think I'm even particularly bitter (a smidge though I confess), just tired and exhausted from what's been a really miserable, toxic edition with poor showings from the EBU, virtue signalling delegations and artists that were predictably all bark, no bite, a large chunk of the fandom being their usual selves (not great) and just this horrid atmosphere that took away from the enjoyment of the contest. I'm really glad it's all over. This whole year has been a stain.

Thank you for putting this so succinctly. This year's edition is definitely a "mask off" moment for every ESC fan.

Keep up this spirit and the contest will not only be ruined by EBU but by the same community (including the entrants) who they claimed to love the contest so much.

 

[HayashiM]

yes, and they still got 200+ televote points, which is a big amount.

So did Loreen.

The only reason why they were 4 (or 3,5, as slimane only got ONE point more) countries with more televote points did so because they either had a massive hype, big diaspora and of course organised voting with ads and alt-right people who normaly dgaf about the contest advertising to vote for you know who. And that the televote top 5 got 66% of the available points. the other 20 countries in the final got the leftover 33% of televote points available.

Where was Ukraine's diaspora last year, if it can produce 300 points on a whim?

Every single other reason mentioned as benefiting other countries benefited too. It too had hype and was aided by people simply not wishing Israel to win - certainly more than or , as those 2 other countries were much lower in the odds and thus were worse targets as "hope-bearers".

So no, that's not the only reason why is so low. And those aren't reasons to justify one celebrating Nemo if they shat on Loreen.

 

[Looren]

So, after those pages and pages of pure hate towards Loreen last year, where are everyone's apologies?

I see many people who were b*tching like hell one year ago about Loreen allegedly because "she wasn't the people's favourite" but who are absolutely thrilled celebrating Nemo, despite Nemo ending even worse with the people than Loreen.

Where is the consistency?

In other circumstances I think I would've been angry towards the jury for not letting the public favourite win, but this year the future of the contest was in danger, so in the current circumstances I'm pretty happy about what happened

If Loreen happened this year I would've said the same thing as I said for Nemo, and if Nemo happened last year I would've said the same thing about the juries, context matters a lot imo

And please let's word it properly, I don't think the hate was towards Loreen, but towards the jury system

 

[Shadowfuxcs]

Georgia will be top 5 with televote.

Whatever.

 

[Brendan]

Couple of former artists on the juries this year however the juror the stuck out to me the most was Vanessa Cum from Luxembourg

I hope Vanessa enjoyed the show anyway.

It was notable that four of the 5 Luxembourg jury members placed Switzerland 1st or 2nd but the fifth placed Nemo 20th. Was that outlier the lowest individual jury ranking Switzerland got?

https://eurovision.tv/event/malmo-2024/grand-final/results/luxembourg

 

[Gitte]

So did Loreen.

Where was Ukraine's diaspora last year, if it can produce 300 points on a whim?

Every single other reason mentioned as benefiting other countries benefited too. It too had hype and was aided by people simply not wishing Israel to win - certainly more than or , as those 2 other countries were much lower in the odds and thus were worse targets as "hope-bearers".

So no, that's not the only reason why is so low. And those aren't reasons to justify one celebrating Nemo if they shat on Loreen.

Ukraine was 4th in the televote with 243 points last year, with a song that was received lukewarm, meanwhile many people loved ukraine's entry this year. Ukraine definitely didn't get those 307 ONLY because of the war and their new diaspora, the song was in my personal top 5, but it surely helped.

I liked Loreen, btw, I never got the chachacha hype.

 

[HayashiM]

I mean the very fate of the contest wasnt up in the air with last year's outcome whereas it absolutely was if yesterday went a different way, I want juries to have less of a say but I was very grateful for them yesterday

The fun part is, my argument is not aimed against the juries. It is aimed against fans who shat on Loreen and are celebrating Nemo.

 

[HayashiM]

In other circumstances I think I would've been angry towards the jury for not letting the public favourite win, but this year the future of the contest was in danger, so in the current circumstances I'm pretty happy about what happened

If Loreen happened this year I would've said the same thing as I said for Nemo, and if Nemo happened last year I would've said the same thing about the juries, context matters a lot imo

And please let's word it properly, I don't think the hate was towards Loreen, but towards the jury system

No, just no. I was here last year. The amount of hate directly towards Loreen was laughable. And the juries *did* block the televote winner yet again and that televote winner is in no way politically shady, so they didn't prevent anything bad at all.

Double standards.

 

[empo21]

The reaction for Nemo is probably softer than Loreen because after the RAI leak, the main conversation became "anyone but israel".

But also Loreen got a lot of flack for being a returning champion and the huge jury score and margin was a low hanging fruit for people to say "they voted her because she's loreen" or "she already won and had her time". Nemo was well liked from the beginning and a rootable act, and fan favorite.

I think it's simply the underdog effect. Last year Kaarija was the underdog, this year Israel's potential televote score and EBU's reaction towards them turned the other acts into underdogs (mainly the more vocal ones like Bambie, Nemo, Joost, Marina, Iolanda)

 

[HayashiM]

I liked Loreen, btw, I never got the chachacha hype.

Then, my comments are not aimed at you.

They are aimed at concrete people, but I don't want to pinpoint to that extent (regardless of it being against the forum's rules).

 

[Ted Talks]

In other circumstances I think I would've been angry towards the jury for not letting the public favourite win, but this year the future of the contest was in danger, so in the current circumstances I'm pretty happy about what happened

If Loreen happened this year I would've said the same thing as I said for Nemo, and if Nemo happened last year I would've said the same thing about the juries, context matters a lot imo

And please let's word it properly, I don't think the hate was towards Loreen, but towards the jury system

You clearly didn't see the death threats she got online last year and disgraceful comments about her appearance etc. Then factor in the conspiracy theories bandied about 'Sweden only won because ABBA 50th' etc it was pretty awful.

People trying to deny that happened is a bit strange. It was toxic online for days with the hate aimed at Loreen. Yes they may have been angry at the juries, but then direct it at them - not Loreen as I saw time and time again last year.

 

[Looren]

You clearly didn't see the death threats she got online last year and disgraceful comments about her appearance etc.

You're correct I didn't see those, and I feel truly sorry for her that she had to face this, she seems like a genuinely nice person and things never should've gotten this far

 

[GermanBango]

Anyway...
Congrats to ...
for their first win in a whopping 36 years.
for their highest placement ever
for their fourth top 10 placement in a row
for their second top 5 placement in four years

for almost destroying a 68-year-old tradition and for rallying far-right nationalists from all over the world behind them. Your ancestors would be so proud. Ironie off.

for their best placement in 24 years
for their seventh consecutive top 10 placement
for their best placement in 8 years
for their eleventh top 10 placement in 14 years
for their second top 10 placement in 4 years
for their third top 12 placement in 4 years
for their best placement in 6 years
for a successful return after 31 years of absence. Welcome back dear friends.
for their fourth consecutive top 15 placement
for not giving 12 points to Greece two years in a row (the jury at least)
for their first final in 8 years
for their sixth consecutive final qualification
for not finishing bottom six for the second time in four years
for their fourth consecutive final qualification
for their third consecutive final qualification
for their first final qualification in 8 years
for not finishing last, I guess?
for their fourth final in the last 7 years
for bringing back the 90s
for their seventh consecutive final qualification

And last but not least, congrats to Martin Oesterdahl for showing the world that you can indeed wear your own butt as a hat.

 

[pyryniemi]

As long as we have countries like Israel and delegations like Israel taking part, juries should have at least 50 % say

 

[lacrymea]

Because last year there wasn't the political context we have today.
Pro-Israel people rallied in masse. A part of Croatia's votes were made to counter Israel (and the same can be said about the Swiss ones!). These results have been influenced from left and right.

Don't get me wrong, I would defend the public vote anytime, but the situation is vastly different. We will never know who would have been the TV winner without all these pro and counter strategies. Last year felt like a travesty to make Loreen win. This year is a giant chess game influenced by the color of the chessboard.

(Not commenting on the harassment and criticism Loreen received, but the general feeling of the audience)

I agree with all you wrote. In addition, people (myself included, not gonna lie) were pretty angry last year because it was Sweden. And we were all collectively tired of Sweden being praised. And the fact the juries made sure a former winner with a worse song beat a phenomenon like Kaarija left a sour taste.

Very different from this year, hence the different reaction.

Maybe it's not fair, but it is what it is.

 

[GermanBango]

Oh and one more thing, art and music in particular are supposed to be political, bold, relevant, daring and critical. That has always been in their nature. At the end of the day music is a way of expressing what is going on in our lives and in this world. Thankfully so. I'd rather have 25 songs with an actual relevant message than 25 songs that tell me to just be happy and party.

 

[Ted Talks]

I agree with all you wrote. In addition, people (myself included, not gonna lie) were pretty angry last year because it was Sweden. And we were all collectively tired of Sweden being praised. And the fact the juries made sure a former winner with a worse song beat a phenomenon like Kaarija left a sour taste.

Very different from this year, hence the different reaction.

Maybe it's not fair, but it is what it is.

Now see that's not a fact is it? That's an opinion being expressed fact. Very different things.

Former winners have come back time and time again and the juries haven't 'made sure' they did well. It's ridiculous statements like that which really put me off the Kaarija fans in the wake of last year.

Kaarija did amazingly well - and probably better with the juries than he should imo - but he is still seen as a Eurovision icon and I doubt the last thing he wanted was all the bile directed at Loreen on his behalf which there was tons of last year.

 

[Loindici]

for bringing back the 90s

I cackled at this.

(P.S. for several years I didn't vibe with you, but this year a lot of my perspective about you in this forum changed. Here is a rose .)