What do people in your country think about ESC?

[Grinch]

In Turkey, people usually say "Only we care about this contest, no one gives a damn, it's ridiculous bla bla". They think it's cool to pretend not watching Eurovision but they keep watching it So, I'd like to learn other nations' opinions.

(I didn't see any thread related to this subject, then I posted this)

 

[goktengri]

and someone watch it as if they are going to war or something there is a world cup atmosphere at our house

 

[Sabiondo]

Here in Venezuela we think that its the Biggest European Party ever held every year

 

[Yamarus]

In Belgium, the Flemish part tends to follow the ESC much more than the francophone part. Mainly due to a musical culture that is more geared towards pop music (and Europop) in Flanders than in Wallonia. People in Wallonia tend to loathe the ESC and few people watch it. That's what I've observed anyway, my fellow Belgian forum members might disagree.

 

[sannerz]

Most people in my country DON'T think...

 

[Milos-BC]

In Turkey, people usually say "Only we care about this contest, no one gives a damn, it's ridiculous bla bla". They think it's cool to pretend not watching Eurovision but they keep watching it So, I'd like to learn other nations' opinions.

(I didn't see any thread related to this subject, then I posted this)

Yes, it's the same thing here From 2004-2008 there was a huge interest and almost everyone was watching it, but since 2009 a lack of interest is evident, and people now generally consider it as a "stupid, cheap, poor, kitschy event, Serbia should withdraw" etc...

 

[Quent91]

It's kitsch, tacky and outdated (in Wallonia, as Yamarus said) Same in France, but 100x worse.

 

[r3gg13]

As Sannerz said, in America a good 99% of us don't even know what Eurovision is.
When I try to explain to my friends what it is, they usually say "Soooo, it's like American Idol." Then I say, "no, you don't get it"

 

[MyHeartIsYours]

United Kingdom... everyone says it's crap but at the same time no-one wants to miss it cuz they cant miss Eurovision . Deep inside though, everyone loves it hence why we get upset when we lose . It's a true guilty pleasure :twisted:.

 

[Israeliboy]

In Israel ESC was a big contest in the past, nowadays it's more political and neighbours votes even if there are juries. So when you don't have neighbours, you won't expect to get votes, you'll prefer not to watch or follow it. But in general, I can say that 30% watch ESC here every year!

 

[vatroslav_cro]

In Israel ESC was a big contest in the past, nowadays it's more political and neighbours votes even if there are juries. So when you don't have neighbours, you won't expect to get votes, you'll prefer not to watch or follow it. But in general, I can say that 30% watch ESC here every year!

Haha Adir I think it is very close to what the people here think! Just a little difference: I think that in Croatia LESS than 30% people watch ESC.....it was popular in the past (in the early 90's) but after that time the interest for it decreased.

 

[ParadiseES]

Here in Spain is like everywhere. Most people and especially media say that ESC has very poor quality, it's kistch, old-fashioned and cheap and if you watch it, then you're automatically not cool.
Also 99 % of Spaniards think it's all politics and music does not matter here.

But it's so funny all that criticism with ESC, which comes from:
- People who don't watch it and talk about it as if they knew the contest. They throw crap and people believe them despite it's all lie.
- People who think "OMG THAT'S HORRIBLE, HOW CAN YOU WATCH THAT?". But then, they all watch it every single year. You only have to see the ratings here in Spain and will see it's the most watched show after football

 

[Michelangelo]

Well, I think the swedish people are divided into to groups - they who like it and they who doesn't like it. But it's nevertheless a highlight of the year, much thanks to Melodifestivalen which is by far one of the biggest shows on television here. I'd say the interest for Melodifestivalen is a lot bigger than the one for Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps our 3rd place this year will change that though.

 

[Yamarus]

As Sannerz said, in America a good 99% of us don't even know what Eurovision is.
When I try to explain to my friends what it is, they usually say "Soooo, it's like American Idol." Then I say, "no, you don't get it"

To be fair, the ESC has become a show akin to American/Pop Idol in many ways. It's a big show with impressive pyrotechnics, people voting for their favourites via SMS/phone, (almost) only English songs, and mostly young adults singing up-beat and catchy songs. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad however; I'm actually happy of these developments, except the language issue.

 

[r3gg13]

To be fair, the ESC has become a show akin to American/Pop Idol in many ways. It's a big show with impressive pyrotechnics, people voting for their favourites via SMS/phone, (almost) only English songs, and mostly young adults singing up-beat and catchy songs. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad however; I'm actually happy of these developments, except the language issue.

I agree about the similarities. However, my friends just don't understand the details that are surrounding ESC; the politics, the long running history, the NF's, the millions of viewers, etc. The funny thing is, people in America usually think that American Idol is a crappy contest (me included), just as the Western Europeans don't have good regard for ESC.

BTW, I want the language rule back (or a modified version of it). I wrote a paper about the politics of language in ESC for one of my courses last quarter.

 

[AlekS]

Not gonna speak for all people in my country. Gonna talk about those whom I saw/heard.

As for people who speak about ESC. There are people who dislike this fest in general (mainly those who dislike pop). Some people dislike the general quality of entries (I must say this year I joined this group). Some people watch it because of our own entry. Some people watch it every year and they always discuss it on the streets/phone/blogs, at work etc ... the main theme of the week, Euro-mania
We also have people who talk about voting/immigrants/East voting for East/West not voting for East etc but it's rather... I dunno, we aren't obsessed like certain people :? We are more into music and our own entries' position.
We aren't obsessed with who gave us 12 and who gave us 0. Nobody (except diehard fans) will remember that on the next day We like discussing ESC entries, esp lulzy and the top-2 3

 

[ParadiseES]

Actually, the thing with the voting is pretty old. At least here, Eurovision has always had the fame that it's "all politics", so it's not new because fo the East.

 

[Interrail]

I agree with Milos, in Serbia there's decline of interest in ESC (and I think it's a big decline). I remember in 2004..when we were back...everybody watched it...and had 'OK' opinion about Eurovision and it was everywhere in TV or newspapers.
Now ppl criticize it a lot, I read comments in online newspapers, I'm interested what regular ppl think, not just fans...and I'm really shocked how many ppl criticize Eurovision and all our entries, always. For example in our newspaper online..ppl write that we always send craps and they're never satisfied with any Serbian entry, many want us to withdraw. Also in our media...I see there r less and less ESC articles every year. I think this is partially because RTS abolished Beovizija show. New format is more efficient, but not interesting for ppl and showbiz.

 

[Stella]

All the people I know just know I'm obssesed with esc And I made my closest friends become big fans of eurovision like me,and I don't force them anymore to watch esc
Overall,reading many comments of Romanian people on youtube,sites of esc,online newspapers etc,they love it too,though an artist with a bad position is also criticized...but many continued their career and had succes (Elena Gheorghe recently),many artists ended their career or we don't hear about them anymore (Malina Olinescu,Sanda Ladosi,etc)
Most of the people I know love esc,there is no one I know to say that esc sucks or something like that,so I guess that's a good thing

 

[Milos-BC]

I agree with Milos, in Serbia there's decline of interest in ESC (and I think it's a big decline). I remember in 2004..when we were back...everybody watched it...and had 'OK' opinion about Eurovision and it was everywhere in TV or newspapers.
Now ppl criticize it a lot, I read comments in online newspapers, I'm interested what regular ppl think, not just fans...and I'm really shocked how many ppl criticize Eurovision and all our entries, always. For example in our newspaper online..ppl write that we always send craps and they're never satisfied with any Serbian entry, many want us to withdraw. Also in our media...I see there r less and less ESC articles every year. I think this is partially because RTS abolished Beovizija show. New format is more efficient, but not interesting for ppl and showbiz.

Absolutely correct, I agree. Many fans in Serbia don't care about the general people opinion, which is totally wrong imo, as that is a majority, and the fans are only a minority here. It is interesting that RTS still didn't publish the viewing rates for the national final this year, and I can guess why......it was probably the lowest ever, that was seen by the number of received SMS votes as well. If they stick to this standard, people will be even more ignorant about it, there will be even less people watching, and we will sink deeper and deeper in that context.......I think many people didn't even know who is going to represent us in Dusseldorf this year (last year they knew about Milan at least). And the lack of ESC articles is also very evident, and, along with that, there are more articles (like the one I recently read in Blic) that spit on the contest than those who favor it, while that was not the case in a period from 2004 to 2008. RTS itself doesn't care much about it as well. They found a perfect formula not to be ranked too low, but not too high either. From a country which was generally unsatisfied with Jelena's 6th position and considered that as a bad result, we became a "small Serbia which can qualify and then end on 20th spot, 20th spot from 42 countries is a great result for such a small nation". Everything collides with each other. I am not an optimist for the ESC future in Serbia.

The way this is proceeding, I wonder who is going to watch ESC in next year in the first place .......maybe it will be fans only, lol. I noticed how nobody congratulated Nina on her qualification to the final on FB from my friends, and instead of watching the ESC final they watched Novak Djokovic. Even people who watched with me were "Hey, turn the channel, enough of this s**t festival". That "diaspora" of ours who was "supposed" to vote for Nina was also watching Djokovic I am sure.

System is what needs to be changed, and as we say in "The fish is being cleaned starting from its head". We know what is head in this case...