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Eurovision 2023
- Thread starter Jonathan
- Start date
John
TS Member
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Having not listened to any of the songs before the show (except the UK's which I couldn't escape) I'm not sure whether it's just the live performance or whether I don't particularly like Loreen's voice. The song is great I just don't particularly rate the vocals.
Shame that once again the UK sent someone unable to put on a good performance on the stage. Neither the vocals nor the stage presence to justify a better result sadly.
Shame that once again the UK sent someone unable to put on a good performance on the stage. Neither the vocals nor the stage presence to justify a better result sadly.
BarryZola
TS Member
That Finland song was absolute trash. No way Ukraine should have been anywhere near the top 5 either. Annoyed me as I'd bet on Belgium making the top 5 and even with just those 2 not finishing higher than they should have I would have been quids in. I should know better though, it is Eurovision, after all. Absolute rubbish but yes I'll be tuning in again next year 
Tim
TS Member
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This years was ours to loose, but I do hope next year we either embrace what made last years song work or do something so far 'out there' it's at least memorable.
I actually have no issue with the voting system. Remember that if it wasn't for the judges last year we likley wouldn't have done as well. If I recall correctly we were winning before Ukraine got the absolute landslide of public votes.
Finland's entry really has grown on me. Seeing it first in the semi-finals (which I don't normally watch) made the second viewing so much more enjoyable, waiting for the 'whiplash' tone change to happen.
But Sweden's act was a well crafted performance and I was happy that it still edged out as the winner.
Also it's not like the judges didn't give Finland a fair chance, they already had a good score before the public vote came in.
Unfortunately I went in with Norway as my favourite, but I just don't think it played as good this week as when I first heard it.
I actually have no issue with the voting system. Remember that if it wasn't for the judges last year we likley wouldn't have done as well. If I recall correctly we were winning before Ukraine got the absolute landslide of public votes.
Finland's entry really has grown on me. Seeing it first in the semi-finals (which I don't normally watch) made the second viewing so much more enjoyable, waiting for the 'whiplash' tone change to happen.
But Sweden's act was a well crafted performance and I was happy that it still edged out as the winner.
Also it's not like the judges didn't give Finland a fair chance, they already had a good score before the public vote came in.
Unfortunately I went in with Norway as my favourite, but I just don't think it played as good this week as when I first heard it.
John_P
TS Member
Was a great show I though, knew Loreen was the favourite but wouldn't have had it in my own top 5 personally.
Felt sorry for Mae don't think she was great live, and that certainly counted against her. The tune has really grown on me from when I originally heard it.
Interestingly Finland won the telephone votes and Sweden didn't receive a single douze points from that method. Also in the semi final 1 Finland beat Sweden in that as well.
Thought the arena looked amazing, completely unrecognisable from when I've been for gigs.
Was great to see the city of Liverpool embrace the event so much with the festival site, plus other pop up gigs, stages, and venues all putting something on. Not going to be the same when I'm next in the office going down to the Pier Head and there's nothing going on.
Felt sorry for Mae don't think she was great live, and that certainly counted against her. The tune has really grown on me from when I originally heard it.
Interestingly Finland won the telephone votes and Sweden didn't receive a single douze points from that method. Also in the semi final 1 Finland beat Sweden in that as well.
Thought the arena looked amazing, completely unrecognisable from when I've been for gigs.
Was great to see the city of Liverpool embrace the event so much with the festival site, plus other pop up gigs, stages, and venues all putting something on. Not going to be the same when I'm next in the office going down to the Pier Head and there's nothing going on.
James
TS Founding Member
Loreen was good, I felt her vocals were off in her first performance last night, she was much better singing it as a winning song.
I don't personally feel previous contestants should be allowed to represent their countries again, it feels like they have an unfair advantage against competing artists and I wonder how much of the jury vote was swayed by the reputation of Loreen.
Hilarious that we're back in our rightful spot. I liked Mae's song but it didn't work live at all, the staging was off and Mae's vocals felt flat. I hope we take the lessons from last year and have a good entry next year. We need something at least memorable.
Great show anyway, now to wait another year for gay Christmas to return!
I don't personally feel previous contestants should be allowed to represent their countries again, it feels like they have an unfair advantage against competing artists and I wonder how much of the jury vote was swayed by the reputation of Loreen.
Hilarious that we're back in our rightful spot. I liked Mae's song but it didn't work live at all, the staging was off and Mae's vocals felt flat. I hope we take the lessons from last year and have a good entry next year. We need something at least memorable.
Great show anyway, now to wait another year for gay Christmas to return!
Poisson
TS Member
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I worked 9 days of Netball World Cup out of there and thought it'd be a good venue but they absolutely nailed it beyond all expectations. No idea how they uplinked though as the main compound was underground as it was.
Craig
TS Administrator
Ooh Eurovision social media is a toxic place since last night 
. Are the juries really out of touch? I'd say no, they're just looking at things from a professional point of view versus the public's opinion of what can be their first view/listen of a song on the night. In general, they do a good job of giving a bit of balance to the meme acts, or something that might have an unfortunate position in the running order on the night. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the craziness of Eurovision, but I think it's also important to maintain some credibility in the competition which they've worked so hard to build in the last decade or so. Having the juries help address that is a must in my view. Perhaps they may look at it being tweaked a little by giving them say a lower percentage of votes in future, as they do in the voting of some national finals - but overall they should stick around. And yes, this is coming from someone who also bloody loved KEiiNO!
Participating countries know how the contest is decided, so it's down to those countries to enter a song that suits that. In other words, a song has to walk that line of being attractive to both the juries and the public. Now I loved Finland's entry, but knew that ultimately it was going to be heavily nerfed by juries. As exciting as the performance was, vocally it wasn't great and it was always going to be marked down as a result. Käärijä absolutely smashed Finland's national final (UMK) on the public vote, and while he also won the international jury vote (which accounts for only 25% versus 75% of the public vote) the spread of those jury votes was far wider. The signs were already there that it was a crowd pleaser, but nowhere near a jury pleaser on the same level:
Credit: EurovisionWorld
So I've seen a lot of people saying Finland were "robbed", but I don't buy that view - Sweden simply played the game as it's currently setup better. They walked that tightrope of jury and public pleaser and pipped them to the post. Yes, on the public vote he won, but then if we had a 100% public vote decided prior to the contest, we'd likely have had multiple countries sending completely different songs to suit that setup too.
I disagree that artists shouldn't be allowed to return after participating too, since it's difficult to draw a line as to where that ends. Should we then look at preventing other artists from entering because of their heavy viral social media following such as Sam Ryder? Should acts like Måneskin who had major success in some countries prior to the contest be prevented from entering?
Back to the rest of this year's contest though, gutted for Mimicat (Portugal) being in the death slot. One of the best vocals of the night, and always got a massive crowd reaction whenever she performed. Admittedly it was never going to win, but I expected to see a few more televote points. Austria was a surprise for the public vote too. I thought it would've been way, way higher based on the buzz and reactions around it. Staging and performance wise, it felt a bit flat though in comparison to the craziness of the music video, kicking off the contest didn't help either. There ended up being far more acts that I loved this year than there has been for a while. It ended up being a really strong lineup, there were even some non qualifiers in the semis that I really enjoyed - Iceland and Georgia being two that come to mind.
Now Mae Muller - sadly there's no dressing it up as anything else - regardless of the sound mixing she wasn't good enough live. A catchy enough song, but it's heavily studio produced so doesn't translate well onto a live stage. We simply have to have acts that are up to the really heavy rigours of Eurovision and can sing live with real power and stage presence. Endless press events, pre parties and rehearsals all leading up to the final. It's incredibly difficult for any singer, never-mind someone who was vocally quite weak in the first place. It's crazy how we successfully demonstrated that formula last year, yet dropped back to same old same old this year.
So so glad I managed to get down to Liverpool for both semi finals, and manage to nab a last minute ticket for the afternoon preview of SF2. It was fantastic to see the setup in person after years of following the contest, absolutely fascinating to see what goes on behind the scenes while those postcards are rolling. Despite some crap weather on Thursday, it was amazing to see the buzz around the city and see some Eurovision acts past and present in the process too.
Now time for a few months off before the joys of national finals come round again. Roll on Sweden 2024, tempted to go do it all again in person!
. Are the juries really out of touch? I'd say no, they're just looking at things from a professional point of view versus the public's opinion of what can be their first view/listen of a song on the night. In general, they do a good job of giving a bit of balance to the meme acts, or something that might have an unfortunate position in the running order on the night. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the craziness of Eurovision, but I think it's also important to maintain some credibility in the competition which they've worked so hard to build in the last decade or so. Having the juries help address that is a must in my view. Perhaps they may look at it being tweaked a little by giving them say a lower percentage of votes in future, as they do in the voting of some national finals - but overall they should stick around. And yes, this is coming from someone who also bloody loved KEiiNO!Participating countries know how the contest is decided, so it's down to those countries to enter a song that suits that. In other words, a song has to walk that line of being attractive to both the juries and the public. Now I loved Finland's entry, but knew that ultimately it was going to be heavily nerfed by juries. As exciting as the performance was, vocally it wasn't great and it was always going to be marked down as a result. Käärijä absolutely smashed Finland's national final (UMK) on the public vote, and while he also won the international jury vote (which accounts for only 25% versus 75% of the public vote) the spread of those jury votes was far wider. The signs were already there that it was a crowd pleaser, but nowhere near a jury pleaser on the same level:
Credit: EurovisionWorld
So I've seen a lot of people saying Finland were "robbed", but I don't buy that view - Sweden simply played the game as it's currently setup better. They walked that tightrope of jury and public pleaser and pipped them to the post. Yes, on the public vote he won, but then if we had a 100% public vote decided prior to the contest, we'd likely have had multiple countries sending completely different songs to suit that setup too.
I disagree that artists shouldn't be allowed to return after participating too, since it's difficult to draw a line as to where that ends. Should we then look at preventing other artists from entering because of their heavy viral social media following such as Sam Ryder? Should acts like Måneskin who had major success in some countries prior to the contest be prevented from entering?
Back to the rest of this year's contest though, gutted for Mimicat (Portugal) being in the death slot. One of the best vocals of the night, and always got a massive crowd reaction whenever she performed. Admittedly it was never going to win, but I expected to see a few more televote points. Austria was a surprise for the public vote too. I thought it would've been way, way higher based on the buzz and reactions around it. Staging and performance wise, it felt a bit flat though in comparison to the craziness of the music video, kicking off the contest didn't help either. There ended up being far more acts that I loved this year than there has been for a while. It ended up being a really strong lineup, there were even some non qualifiers in the semis that I really enjoyed - Iceland and Georgia being two that come to mind.
Now Mae Muller - sadly there's no dressing it up as anything else - regardless of the sound mixing she wasn't good enough live. A catchy enough song, but it's heavily studio produced so doesn't translate well onto a live stage. We simply have to have acts that are up to the really heavy rigours of Eurovision and can sing live with real power and stage presence. Endless press events, pre parties and rehearsals all leading up to the final. It's incredibly difficult for any singer, never-mind someone who was vocally quite weak in the first place. It's crazy how we successfully demonstrated that formula last year, yet dropped back to same old same old this year.
So so glad I managed to get down to Liverpool for both semi finals, and manage to nab a last minute ticket for the afternoon preview of SF2. It was fantastic to see the setup in person after years of following the contest, absolutely fascinating to see what goes on behind the scenes while those postcards are rolling. Despite some crap weather on Thursday, it was amazing to see the buzz around the city and see some Eurovision acts past and present in the process too.
Now time for a few months off before the joys of national finals come round again. Roll on Sweden 2024, tempted to go do it all again in person!
Jonathan
TS Member
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- Helix <3
As I see it, there are three realistic options - Malmö, Gothenburg, and Stockholm.
Zeock
TS Member
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- Is Wastelands Penitentiary (Tulleys Shocktober Fest) a ride? If not, my favourite ride is Nemesis.
If it was Gothenburg, I'm sure that lots of people on here would go so they could have a sneaky visit to Liseberg too.
Jonathan
TS Member
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- Helix <3
I don't know what you mean...
Being serious, the likely venue for Eurovision in Gothenburg - the Scandinavium - is about a five-minute walk from Liseberg's north entrance.
Craig
TS Administrator
Gröna Lund for Stockholm, Tivoli for Malmo and Liseberg for Gothenburg - plenty of options
.All three have arenas of pretty much the same capacity. Friends Arena is mentioned a lot, but since the football league runs from March/April, there's zero chance they'll have the stadium for long enough. Have to agree that Stockholm is the most obvious choice for the historical aspect next year, but wouldn't count out the other two either since Stockholm was the venue when they last hosted in 2016.
Jonathan
TS Member
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- Helix <3
This is what's leading me to think Gothenburg could be the venue, and absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'd be able to combine Eurovision with Liseberg.Gröna Lund for Stockholm, Tivoli for Malmo and Liseberg for Gothenburg - plenty of options
All three have arenas of pretty much the same capacity. Friends Arena is mentioned a lot, but since the football league runs from March/April, there's zero chance they'll have the stadium for long enough. Have to agree that Stockholm is the most obvious choice for the historical aspect next year, but wouldn't count out the other two either since Stockholm was the venue when they last hosted in 2016.
Rob
TS Team
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- Steel Vengeance
We put on a brilliant show for Eurovision, although that was never in doubt! The atmosphere in the arena sounded electric as well, not sure I've ever seen it so crazy that you can barely hear the presenters.
I thought it was a really strong line-up of songs this year as well, there were up to about 10 that I'd have been happy with winning. Sweden clearly had a great song that was always going to do extremely well with the jury vote. I also really liked Finland, Norway, Estonia and Cyprus! Ukraine should never come as high as they did, thought it was one of the weakest on the night, but votes were always going to go their way for obvious and understandable reasons. Germany coming last was really harsh in my opinion as well.
Felt a bit sorry for Mae, she did her best and seems like a lovely person but ultimately the song, her vocals and the staging were all not good enough on the night. It is quite a catchy song and does sound good when you hear it recorded, but does not translate well to a live performance. She was completely upstaged by the brilliant Sam Ryder when he performed almost immediately after her!
Bring on 2024 though, Sweden always but on a great show!
I thought it was a really strong line-up of songs this year as well, there were up to about 10 that I'd have been happy with winning. Sweden clearly had a great song that was always going to do extremely well with the jury vote. I also really liked Finland, Norway, Estonia and Cyprus! Ukraine should never come as high as they did, thought it was one of the weakest on the night, but votes were always going to go their way for obvious and understandable reasons. Germany coming last was really harsh in my opinion as well.
Felt a bit sorry for Mae, she did her best and seems like a lovely person but ultimately the song, her vocals and the staging were all not good enough on the night. It is quite a catchy song and does sound good when you hear it recorded, but does not translate well to a live performance. She was completely upstaged by the brilliant Sam Ryder when he performed almost immediately after her!
Bring on 2024 though, Sweden always but on a great show!
Danza91
TS Member
Really enjoyed Eurovision on Saturday. As fun and catchy as Finland's song was, Sweden was a worthy winner, a great song and vocal performance from Loreen (although she was better during her winner's performance!).
I could hear an element of Rammstein's Sehnsucht and Tattoo in Finland's song, which also makes sense as I later discovered Käärijä has a Rammstein tattoo on his chest. He also (almost) did a bit of the 'Till Hammer' during his performance.
Germany coming last was disappointing and underserved given how bland some of the performances were.
In no order, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Norway were probably my top five. Belgium was also good.
As for the UK's song, not to be harsh but it was absolutely the worst of the night. It's no surprise we often do so crap at Eurovision when we turn up with garbage.
I did really miss Graham Norton not commentating during the results, it's one of the bits of Eurovision I always look forward to. You could see how desperate he was to make comments. Mel Giedroyc just isn't funny in my opinion.
Right Sweden, do the right thing and put Ghost forward for 2024!
I could hear an element of Rammstein's Sehnsucht and Tattoo in Finland's song, which also makes sense as I later discovered Käärijä has a Rammstein tattoo on his chest. He also (almost) did a bit of the 'Till Hammer' during his performance.
Germany coming last was disappointing and underserved given how bland some of the performances were.
In no order, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Norway were probably my top five. Belgium was also good.
As for the UK's song, not to be harsh but it was absolutely the worst of the night. It's no surprise we often do so crap at Eurovision when we turn up with garbage.
I did really miss Graham Norton not commentating during the results, it's one of the bits of Eurovision I always look forward to. You could see how desperate he was to make comments. Mel Giedroyc just isn't funny in my opinion.
Right Sweden, do the right thing and put Ghost forward for 2024!
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Benzin
TS Member
God that'd be boring.