Author: Phil

What an amazing night, what an amazing Contest, and from my point of view, what amazing winner! Congratulations to Loreen and Sweden.

I know that you will have enjoyed the ESC 2023 grand final last Saturday. Kudos to the BBC for producing and delivering a broadcast of just over four hours that didn’t feel like it was that long. Gosh, in Turin last year it felt twice as long!

Much of the joy from the contest didn’t just come from the songs – it came from the presenters. The inclusion of Graham Norton added to the dynamic and during the voting sequence his collaboration with Hannah Waddingham was assured, funny and when it needed to be, strict! Hannah in particular kept the arena audience under manners when they were getting a bit giddy during the voting.

Mae Muller didn’t have the result most of us expected, with many thinking it would be top ten finish or on the left hand side of the leader board. Not to be. Finishing 25th is disappointing, but as has been said, perhaps the message of the song doesn’t easily translate, and the vocal was adequate at best, and the overall vision mixing didn’t fully capture Mae’s personality. That said, I think you can see she is loving life during her performance, with a few cheeky smiles to camera.

As I said last week, life beyond Eurovision week can render the result immaterial. Let’s hope that Mae can build on this result on the socials. She is already an established artist, so whilst we didn’t get the result we wanted, she was part of the most-watched ESC final in the UK – ever!

I was delighted to see Sonia on stage as part of the interval acts. Bless her. Showing the sequence of the voting from 1993 when she narrowly lost to Ireland’s Niamh Kavanagh was a nod to how well she had done, and the disappointment we all felt when she didn’t win. A brief reprise of the other Better The Devil You Know doesn’t make it feel like 30 years ago! And how lovely that Niamh herself acknowledged Sonia when she delivered the votes for Ireland.

And so the ESC is back in Sweden next year. And they now tie with Ireland as the most successful countries – with seven wins apiece. Sweden are prolific competitors, and when they rarely miss out on a top ten finish that’s a shock. From the first time I heard Tattoo I *loved* it. And that staging – wow! I was getting texts on Saturday night from people who had not seen or heard the Swedish entry. One of them simply read, “Sweden – perfection”.

The voting sequence gave me what I wanted – a tussle between Sweden and Finland. That didn’t come during the jury voting, but it did with the public vote. Käärijä topped the public vote, Lorraine the jury vote. Some people were moaning online yesterday that the jury vote should be scrapped. I disagree. Juries have criteria that they mark to, and it isn’t just first impressions or their favourite song musically. When we watch at home, we’re going on gut instinct sometimes – and that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re making informed choices! There have been winners recently who haven’t topped either vote. Jamala for Ukraine at ESC2016, Duncan Lawrence for The Netherlands at ESC2019.

I hadn’t realised that it is 50 years in 2024 since Abba won the ESC, so how fitting that the Contest will be hosted there. The Swedes know how to host the ESC very well, and it will be mega next year.

I think that our (UK) hosting of the ESC was superlative. To all involved in any way, shape or form, huge congratulations (and celebrations!). It will be hard to top, and will linger in the memory for many years to come. It was lovely to be in the city and to be able to attend the semi-final previews. Liverpool – you were dead good!

So, this is my final post for my ESC blog this year. I have been blogging since 2008 (with a little hiatus) and this year was the twelfth Contest that I have shared with you my thoughts, feelings and experiences of all thing Eurovision. Liverpool represents the ninth Contest I have attended in person, and I think it will be my last. Even the lure of Sweden and 50 years of Abba’s victory couldn’t tempt me! I’m watching from home from now on…

Borrowing from Martin Osterdahl’s voting green light, Eurovision you were good, and now it’s time for me to go.

Thanks for reading, and if I do blog again, maybe you’ll join me again?

любов Phil. xx

Happy Eurovision final day!

It’s almost time…

After months of build-up it’s time for the crowning of the next Eurovision Song Contest winner. If you haven’t seen any of the performances (really?!) do a search on YouTube/TikTok/etc., and you can enjoy full performances and selected clips.

My final day in the ESC host city on Friday was a busy one, and on our way back to my home, Brian and I dropped into BBC Radio Merseyside to be interviewed as part of their Eurovision party…

I’m sure you can check out BBC Sounds for Claire Hamilton’s show and hear our contribution. We were on at about 3:10pm, so an hour and 10 mins in. A quick chat with Claire and a then we bid fond farewell to the city.

And so to grand final day!

Let’s remind ourselves of what we have to look forward to (and some songs to endure) this evening…

(source: EBU)

As I have mentioned previously, there were raised eyebrows when many of the hot faves were drawn in the first half of the draw. I think the EBU have done a fab job curating the ebb and flow of songs, even with the pickle of a problem.

01 Austria will open the run of songs. We know who Edgar is, and this infectious song is an uptempo pop song very much in the Billie Eilish stylings in places (and the chipmunk Daphne and Celeste opening).

02 Portugal have the draw of death as no one has ever won performing second. As I probably said in every other year of the blog, this won’t change this year.

03 Switzerland gives us an early pause for thought with a reflective anti-war song. For a relatively young singer this is a rich vocalist, and it will probably do well with the juries.

04 Poland provides us with a pop banger – and one of those songs you have already heard even if you haven’t. It will get lost in the draw, but I was glad it got to the final.

05 Serbia provides us with the first scratching of heads, and surprise that this got to the final. That it is currently bottom of the betting tells us all we need to know. Hard to connect with on any level, for me.

06 La France has been bobbing around in the top five betting odds for a while, and peaked up to third following the initial rehearsal clips were released. It’s slipping back now, maybe because you have seen this type of performance before. The songs is fine, but putting a singer on an elevated plinth with loads of fabric festooned below isn’t fresh.

07 Cyprus was the victor in the near-neighbourly competition with Greece. It’s not lost on any of us that an attractive performer can help sell a song. Case in question here, deffo. A snack re-filler for me.

08 Spain is definitely inhabiting the indigenous ethno-pop stylings from their culture this year. Visually quite interesting, performed with commitment, but I just can’t find the hook in it. I like the ethno-flavoured songs in the mix this year, but this one not so much.

09 Sweden has been the favourite to win with this song even before it had been selected by the Swedish public to be their representative this year. Returning champ from ESC2012, Loreen (or Lorraine as I lovingly refer to her!), is back with a much-fancied song. Yes, it’s Euphoria adjacent, however Tattoo inhabits a different ethereal space whilst still being a pop banger. And yes, there is a whiff of Madonna’s Frozen in the mix. My winner, but I am looking forward to the tussle it will have with Finland. And if you haven’t seen it, don’t worry, Lorraine escapes from the panini press in which she seems trapped at the start of the song…

10 Albania provide more ethno-pop vibes. It’s done well to qualify and might get cancelled out by a couple of similar songs and visuals.

11 Italy have a returning singer from ESC2013. The song has drifted in the odds, but has been in the top ten for a while now, which is probably where it will end up. The juries will most likely support it, but for me it’s another song where it doesn’t linger in the memory, and for people hearing this song for one time only before they vote, there might be a problem…

12 Estonia will stand out at this stage as it’s the first big ballad of the night. It will be a nice change of pace (obvs), and a lot of us were delighted this progressed to the final.

13 Finland will be the one to challenge Sweden, for sure. It might win. There are differences of opinion all round on this! Some people are automatically anti-Sweden in the euro-bubble as they’re consistently good at Eurovision. Finland offers something entirely different. I love it, but, again, those hearing it for the first time tonight might not get it. It is a marmite entry. That said, I like marmite. Keep your eye on the jury voting. If it flies with them, well hello Helsinki in 2024.

14 Czechia is a stylish performance. I like the melody of the song and it’s very well-choreographed and is visually impactful. Again, let’s see what the combo of public and jury do with it – I’m intrigued…

15 Australia give us our first taste of dad rock. It’s rerto-rock feel will connect and if they were giving out medals for committing to the moment, well… Top 10 with a good wind, I’d say.

16 Belgium are bringing the euro-party, and there aren’t many songs tonight that do. This is going to lift the arena, which will translate to the viewers at home. Sixteen songs in we will need to be! If it makes the top ten that would be amazing, but I think it will deffo be on the left hand side of the leader board. C’mon dancing queens!

17 Armenia will give you an opportunity to refresh drinks and nibbles. It’s a bit beige for me, and you know what I’ll be doing! Did well to qualify…

18 Moldova allows me to roll-out my usual line ‘will you be bowled over by Moldova?’. They always do well at the end of the day, although always poorly backed with the betting odds in the UK. Don’t be surprised when Moldova bowl the viewers over…

19 Ukraine is the reason why we’re doing all of this in Liverpool for ESC2023. It will be interesting to see their placing tonight. The song is a departure from last year, and I like it. The staging is effective for TV, but in the arena, it wasn’t particularly impactful. Let’s see how it does with public and jury tonight when we see it on the telly/viewing device.

20 Norway is another song that has been backed well over the last couple of months. It will benefit from its position in the draw. I hate it when people sell songs as ‘fan favourites’, but this has been gushed about since it got the ticket to Liverpool. That said, all I can hear is how similar it sounds to a song that competed in Sweden’s Melodifestivalen last Year. Take a listen to Klara Hammarström’s Run To The Hills… (excuse the pitchy vocal!)

And then…

Hmm. Klara should call the lawyers! 😉

That said, top 10 for sure.

21 Germany are back feeling the dad rock glam rock vibes. A bit like Finland – it’s your jam or it isn’t. Some people like jam rather than marmite. Kudos for the effort on that staging, but it’s got cliché rhyming lyrics which you might find catchy but I find irritating.

22 Lithuania gives our only Disney princess moment this year. Aah, Eurovision – always a good time to grab my Pumbaa…

23 Israel is another popular song that will deffo gain from this placing in the draw. Or, given that this is (what) our fourth pop princess, will they start to merge. And as I said to you on an earlier post – she’s feeling like a unicorn, when they don’t exist.  Top 10 all the way, maybe top five?

24 Slovenia will provide a break between the bangers and bonkers of songs 23 and 25. Well, it does nothing else for me! They might be popular in Europe, but surely it’s the bottom half of the right hand side leader board?

25 Croatia ups the fromage towards then end our buffet. I like the song, but dislike the staging. I might be having a sense of humour fail about it, that not a bother as by the time this is on screen tonight a few bevvies might make this a riot (in a positive way) for the voting public – I’m not sure what the juries will make of it. Again, let’s track that before the public vote…

And finally,

25 United Kingdom were drawn by Ukraine to play out the songs this year (the UK drew Ukraine’s place in the draw). Mae Mullar’s I Wrote A Song debuted in the UK Official Charts Top 40 the week after its release. That was a sign that this song had been very well received. It’s usually the case that, if they are lucky, a UK song debuts somewhere in the top 100.To enter at number 30 shows that in the UK at least, people liked what they were hearing and seeing.

As I said on a previous post, the performance clip of her arena preview performance didn’t blow people away in terms of the vocal. It didn’t need to. She just needs to bring it tonight. Fingers crossed, as on this now updated/remixed arrangement Mae she spits some bars, and is a tweak that some said the song needed when it was initially released.

Top 10 would be a great result. Whatever happens I hope she gets a bounce on the socials after the Contest, and if we’ll get any more songs from her…

I will report back one more time on Sunday/Monday with some reactions and reflections to the winning song and country. For those of you listening to BBC Radio Lancashire on Monday morning, I will be on at around 8:20am. They liked me so much the other day, they invited me back to do the same (reactions and reflections).

To you all who have been reading this week, and to all my friends and eurofans, enjoy tonight. This our night, so let’s enjoy it. And bring on Sonia!?

чудово провести сьогоднішній вечір

(have a brilliant time tonight!)

Phil. xx

So, semi-final 2 (SF2) is done and dusted and we have now have a complete line-up for the grand final of ESC2023 on Saturday. Huzzah! There was no messing about as is usually the case with SF2, it was straight down to business. It really was a case of ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’.

I was disappointed that Denmark didn’t make a better impact and progress. Mind you, Reiley’s vocals were a bit weak, and he seemed a little nervous. He joins the singers from Romania, Iceland, Greece, Georgia and San Marino queuing at the taxi rank.

That said, just because they have sashayed away doesn’t mean that’s that for any of these artists and their songs. Increasingly there are breakout stars and songs who don’t necessarily make an impact during Eurovision week. Some fair better on the socials and have longevity and success beyond the Contest. Take Armenia’s Rosa Linn for example. She finished in 20^th place at ESC2022 with a song that then became a viral hit, Snap. Also, following his win at ESC2019, Duncan Lawrence’s Arcade had longevity and a spike in popularity in the UK (and elsewhere) during lockdown – way after his victory at the time. We will see who is hot on the socials and the streaming platforms after we’re all done on Saturday night.

So, what did we learn from SF2?

Belgium gave us the first sighting of the lesser-spotted backing singers (and Lithuania).

Austria are channelling Daphne and Celeste vibes a little to figure out who the hell Edgar is.

Joker unfortunately not out for Slovenia (I don’t get it!)

It was fire down below for Cyprus – fuego indeed!

Cyprus and Greece cancelled each other out. Cya Greece…

It’s a family affair for Albania. All the singers are from the same family – mum, dad and the kids (awr bless)

It really was all about the ballads and ethnopop – which is good as it balances things musically for Saturday night.

It occurred to me whilst watching the television broadcast last night that the impact of the A-MA-ZING lighting in the arena (which often prompts the crowd to be wowed, oohed and aahed) doesn’t translate as much when watching at home. It still looked fantastic, and the presenters are not lacking in energy with their good-humoured script.

Once again there were a few opportunities to empty the dishwasher, as well as refresh your beverage and snacks of choice. With the running order for the grand final now sorted (included below), and with us all knowing what our fave songs are by now, we will know when to pop off and do what we need to do! 😀

Don’t forget, it’s 26 songs on Saturday and a four-hour (yikes) television broadcast, and this is what we have been training for – the final Eurovision marathon!

Before SF2 yesterday, I met up with a friend of mine, Sam Wilce. Sam is a graduate of my department at Edge Hill University. He now works for Ditto Music and is based in Liverpool. I am very proud of him as he is doing amazing things with his career (and his degree in BA (Hons) Media, Music and Sound!) which is brilliant. As we chatted, he shared with me a press release that Ditto have put out which details the most popular songs ahead of this week, in terms of Spotify streams. Their infographic tells us what they were…

It will be interesting to see how that has changed by the time we have a new winner, and then as I said earlier, beyond that point. If you would like to read the full press release, you can here.

Catching a brew and a chat with Sam in the Ditto Café was great, and as we left, I came as close as I had to the Eurozone this week. This is where a lot of fans live their best lives and party until the wee small hours. That’s never been my jam, but it’s all part of the fabric of this fan community and why fans love this Eurovision week so much – escaping the real world for a bit and entering the Eurozone, and the home of the EuroClub.

Hopefully you’re still in the zone with all this! 😀

Time to take a break, have a rest, rehydrate and gear up for the grand final on Saturday. The running order is as follows, and all things considered with many of the fave songs having to be in the first half of the draw, the EBU producers have worked their usual magic to create a flow of songs that gives changes in the type and tempo of music to good effect. Although Austria might be a bit miffed, and Croatia will be delighted. More on that on Saturday, so please do check back in with me before ‘the final countdown’ on Saturday.

(source: EBU)

BTW, it was an early start for me today. I was on the Graham Liver breakfast show on BBC Radio Lancashire just after 7:30am (they kept me hanging on for over half an hour – I was a bit miffed!). They have just called me back and have invited me to be on the show again on Monday morning from 8:00am. So set your alarm clock (I wanted a lie in if I’m honest!).

And this afternoon, I have been invited to the BBC Radio Merseyside Eurovision Party. It’s on air with Claire Hamilton from 2pm, and Brian and I are being interviewed just after 3pm. You can listen again to Graham’s show on BBC Sounds. Same for Claire’s show – listen live later (depending when you read this post) or catch-up on BBC Sounds.

My time in our host city is coming to an end. I will return home today. What a brilliant little bubble Ellen, Brian and I have had this week. It’s been eurotastic! xx

Check back for my next post on Saturday afternoon!

побачимось в суботу!

(see you on Saturday!)

It was my second and final visit of the week to the Eurovision mothership on Wednesday evening, for the second semi-final (SF2) preview performance.

There is something really quite special about the approach to an ESC venue, every time that I have been over the years. It’s probably due to the inescapable host theme branding guiding us to the bubble.

We were spared the rain of Monday evening, and given that we knew where to go to enjoy our VIP hospitality once again, we breezed through security to enjoy the buzzing atmosphere, as well as the bevvies and scran in the hospitality area…

I missed the smorgasbord of desert bites on Monday night – didn’t make that mistake last night!

Someone better call Strictly…

Having soaked up the atmosphere and the various treats in the VIP, we were off to the arena proper…

What a lovely view across the Mersey…

We had slightly better seats for this preview – just slightly to the left of where we were on Monday. It’s a fantastic setting, one of the best I’ve been to…

The atmosphere in the arena seemed even more excitable than Monday. Every song got cheered to the rafters. Probably a sense of giddiness and relief that those of us in the arena were relieved that we’ve managed to get tickets in the scrum that we were all put through! And with one minute to go, all the young folks sat around us became even more giddy…

We were lucky enough to once again have a great view of the countries in the green room…

Presenters Hannah, Alesha and Julia did a great job once again. Everything seemed to a lot more fast paced, and there was less fannying about with skits in the green room. There was a brief appearance from Graham Norton in his commentary box, so he was in the building (was he pre-recoded for Thursday night?).

I haven’t seen any of the music videos or rehearsal performance footage, so seeing everything for the first-time last night was really fresh. That said, here are a few first impressions from me on a few stagings of the songs…

Denmark’s wee boy, Reiley, opened the proceedings with a catchy little pop number. With his boyish cute looks and his pop idol pastel stylings, it inhabits some of the BTS territory that they have used in the past. Looks great on camera and on stage…

Lovely to see the reaction from the Danish delegation (his team) in the green room. The boy did good, so wave those flags!

As always at the ESC, we get those throwback songs that get us all misty for who we were back in the day, for what we were wearing, what we were feeling, and for this next song – what we were dancing to. Pass me my C&C Music Factory cassette, locate my lycra cycling shorts (oh, no don’t!), and make me feel like I can Vogue with Madonna like we all tried in 1990! Belgium’s entry will give those of us of a certain age a chance to get all nostalgic for the 1990s!

(you can tell I like it by the number of pics! )

To be fair, it gave the entire arena life! I loved it. The staging – and the images on the backdrop were very effective. Get ready for a bop!

Amongst the songs tonight there are adequate opportunities to refresh your drinks and top up those nibbles (you know what I mean). One part of the running order loses a bit of momentum, but overall it was a very enjoyable SF2 without any of the main front runners taking part  (perhaps with the exception of Austria gathering popularity and improving in the betting odds).

After the run through of the sixteen semi-finalists, as on Monday we were treated to a full performance of three automatic qualifiers: this time Spain, Ukraine and United Kingdom. Spain is well fancied, but I just don’t get it. Ukraine is stylistically very well presented, and I like the song (noticeably different in sound and vibe to last year). And then there was really only one song to finish with – yes, our homegirl Mae Muller. I’ve loved it since my first listen…

You will hear a new mix of her song – much like what happened with Sam Ryder’s Eurovision performance of his song last year. You might not be hearing what you were expecting, if you have been bopping along to I wrote A Song for the last few months. It is confidently staged, with effective images and graphics on the backdrop. My one observation looking at the monitors in the arena is that the impressive visuals at times will not be seen on the tv screen, cropping Mae and her dancers out of what’s going in in the bigger (impressive) picture. There will be no national embarrassment for the UK this year, but don’t expect the Sam Ryder success of last year, I would say.

We left our seats before the pretend voting sequence, which aided an easy escape, and to us beating the crowds leaving the arena..

I am sure some of you have already had a photo opportunity around the city, and here…

So, for tonight the runners and riders for SF2 are…

01 🇩🇰 Denmark: Reiley with Breaking My Heart

02 🇦🇲 Armenia: Brunette with Future Lover

03 🇷🇴 Romania: Theodor Andrei with D.G.T. (Off and On)

04 🇪🇪 Estonia: Alika with Bridges

05 🇧🇪 Belgium: Gustaph with Because Of You

06 🇨🇾 Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou with Break A Broken Heart

07 🇮🇸 Iceland: Diljá with Power

08 🇬🇷 Greece: Victor Vernicos with What They Say

09 🇵🇱 Poland: Blanka with Solo

10 🇸🇮 Slovenia: Joker Out with Carpe Diem

11 🇬🇪 Georgia: Iru with Echo

12 🇸🇲 San Marino: Piqued Jacks with Like An Animal

13 🇦🇹 Austria: Teya & Salena with Who The Hell Is Edgar?

14 🇦🇱 Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi with Duje

15 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Monika Linkytė with Stay

16 🇦🇺 Australia: Voyager with Promise

BTW, the UK can vote tonight – ‘citing.

Look out for the final interval interval act – giving us all life and slaying the runway!

One final thing for now is that the running order for the grand final is causing some speculation and comment. A lot of the hot faves have been drawn to perform in the first half of grand final. This means that France, Finland and Sweden must be performed by song thirteen. Let’s see what happens tonight, and who progresses, and then how the EBU sequence the grand final – which we will know by the early hours of Friday morning.

More on all of that tomorrow…

насолоджуйтесь сьогодні ввечері!

(enjoy yourselves tonight!)