It’s Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK today. Last night in Malmö, it was time for the ESC artists to walk the turquoise carpet at Malmö Live, now that rehearsals are done and dusted.
I walked the carpet in Olso, back in 2010. I know, right. Not in any musical capacity, obvs, but because I had accreditation. The carpet that year was pink…
Blimey, I look young and thin! The juice fast starts next Monday! 😀
I mentioned on the blog yesterday that there is all kinds of everything (see what I did there!) musically this year, and based on the looks on the turquoise carpet, also stylistically. You can see that Eurovision is as cooky and crazy as it has always been, by checking out the fads and fashions of ESC2024 here.
I watched (well, fast-forwarded through) what was actually quite entertaining coverage of Malmö Live. In previous years this launch event for the artists has been a bit of a stretch for the viewer, with clunky presenters and awkward interviews with the artists. This year a slightly different approach was taken, with the artists, having walked the carpet outside, being interviewed indoors. With everything going on outside of the Eurovision bubble, one suspects this might have been for security purposes?
The artists were interviewed by drag sensations Elecktra (Drag Race Sverige, Melodifestivalen) and Tia Kofi (Drag Race UK, Drag Race UK vs The World). They were entertaining hosts, although quite amusingly at times they clearly weren’t listening to the responses to their questions! I like Tia – a Drag Race alum who is becoming a national treasure.
You can watch coverage of the backstage interviews at Malmö Live below…
(you will find yourselves doing as a I did – skipping to the interviews as there is a gap between each interview)
It was nice to meet each of the artists in this way. One of my takes from Malmö Live is that the turquoise carpet has given us early indications of the battle of the bare-chested male backing dancers! It also showcases the modern Eurovision – diverse and delightful, and showcasing (to borrow from RuPaul) charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent…
I will be back on Tuesday with my take on the songs competing in the first semi-final, which will be broadcast in the UK on BBC1/iPlayer at 8pm.
I can’t quite believe we’re here again, in what feels like less than twelve months since Liverpool hosted the Contest.
I am happy to be watching from home this year. My days of travelling to the host city are over. I’ve been there and done that, nine times. Great memories of each trip, with the added excitement of having accreditation so I could be in rehearsals and the press centre. What a fab Eurovision bubble it was!
The way I engage with the ESC has changed over recent years. Long-time readers may remember there were a few years where I didn’t have much Euro-mojo, so I was listening to the songs less and less. And I didn’t blog because I didn’t have anything to say. Oh, and then there was the year when Portugal won, and to this day I still don’t get how popular it was. My ears weren’t hearing what everyone else was!
What is brilliant about the ESC each year, is that it really does have something for all music tastes. A smorgasbord of performances to delight the eye and ear. ESC2024 is a strong year for songs, I’d say. I can’t comment on the performances yet as I haven’t seen any of the rehearsals footage.
You see, that’s how I’m doing the Contest this year; sitting down to watch it on the telly and seeing the performances for the first time then. So, on the blog this year, you will get my reaction after the semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday, on Wednesday and Friday. And this time next week (Sunday) we will have a winner so I will deffo have something to say about that!
Who might win? If the bookies odds are anything to go by, potentially Croatia, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands. Ukraine is up there also, but that would raise a conundrum if they did win – but I can’t see that happening.
I’ve just read a great article from the BBC’s music correspondent, Mark Savage. His summary of the musical smorgasbord is broadly how I’d categorise it: chart ready pop vibes, ethnopop vibes, rock vibes, ballad vibes, and rather too many quirky song vibes that are leaning a little towards being novelty songs.
I have said to you in the past on the blog that a winning Eurovision song is often a song you haven’t heard before, but you already know it. A handful of songs are leaning into last year’s runner-up for Finland – Käärijä’s Cha Cha Cha. You’ll notice that influence on both Switzerland and Croatia’s entries (and others).
Once again this year we can all live out our formative pop years from the 80s and 90s, because a number of entries draw on music from those decades – which is fab and familiar. Or a cop out and cliché. Potato / vodka!
You can check out Mark’s article here, and you will get my thoughts on all of the songs in more detail as we go through the week.
For performance footage check out Eurovision on TikTok here, and news and photos via the official website here.
Years ago I would have spent a lot of time embedding stuff on the blog – not anymore! 😀
Oh, and one final thing for today. For my blog post title today I am channelling Liza Minelli vibes (“It’s Liza with a “Z” not Lisa with an “S” cause Lisa with an “S” goes S not Zee’). Can we please be clear that the Swedes pronounce Malmö with an a/er sound at the end, rather than a hard O sound. At the launch event in Malmö back in January viewers were schooled by some Swedish linguists…
It’ll do my head in all week when people say it with the hard O! A bit like when Ukraine changed to Kyiv rather than Kiev, and peeps still said Kiev! Not so much these days, obvs.
Right, enjoy Eurovision week, get streaming those songs! I’ll be back soon!
I’m back with my blog, which was published for the first time way back in 2008. I’m glad to be back, re-energised after a fabulous ESC in Liverpool last year. The memories will linger. It was a special time, and it was the most watched ESC in the UK, ever. The BBC did a fab job, and set the bar for how the Swedish broadcaster, SVT, will build on that.
And oh how SVT seem to be doing that…
Well, my friends, the first footage of the stage for ESC2024 has just been released – and the reason for me realising I need to get started with the blog!
Amazing. The first time ESC will be been done ‘in the round’. Wow, just wow.
Musically, it’s a really strong year, as I’ll discuss with you on the blog.
I think it’s going to be a close call who will win. UK? No, not a chance. Early contenders: Switzerland, Croatia and Netherlands, although as we’ll see they kinda cancel each other out (although Switzerland is the best for me). Italy providing the diva vibes, Greece flavoured with Laurie Anderson’s O Superman is cool. Sweden are opening the final with a good pop song, but they have sent better versions of this song in previous years, so they won’t win a record eight win to pull ahead of Ireland this year.
So, welcome back regular readers, and hello newbies! Get involved and comment if you fancy. I won’t have the backstage scoop as I’m watching from home. And once again this year, as last, the European Broadcasting Union are keeping rehearsals under wraps, so I will see what you see. But I’ll still have an opinion. 😉
As always, if I can add a little something to your ESC experience this year – brilliant.
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?
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!?
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 20th 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!
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.
I hope you enjoyed the first semi-final. It looked great, didn’t it – and it was all very polished in terms of production and presentation. As always, the rehearsal period that started a week ago last Sunday delivered a fantastic Eurovision spectacle. More of that to come again tomorrow in SF2 (Thursday).
Fifteen songs were reduced to ten and they progress to the grand final. Did you think the right songs made it through? There are some raised eyebrows on the socials that Ireland didn’t progress. I would have liked it to, but I thought the performance I saw at the Monday night preview was a stronger vocal. Same for Malta going out – the reaction to them in the arena on Monday night made it look promising for them, but sadly they join Ireland, Azerbaijan, Latvia and The Netherlands in an early exit from ESC2023..
One of the factors in play this year might be that the professional juries do not split the vote 50/50 with the televote in the semi-finals (they will for the grand final on Saturday). Potentially Ireland might have suffered for that. I thought Serbia was a hot mess on stage (I quite like the song), but the slightly nonsensical staging clearly connected with the viewers. Hey, it’s all subjective at the end of the day, isn’t it. And as the late Terry Wogan used to say, we have to marvel at the glorious unpredictability of it all.
So, what did we learn from the first semi-final?
Alisha Dixon spit some bars (did some very good rapping) to raise the roof in the arena.
The Bucks Fizz standing by the phone box was a delightful surprise – they weren’t at the preview performance on Monday.
Portugal and Finland had the battle of the strictly come backing dancers. Finland won.
We thought that Ireland was tucking great.
Events beyond the ‘euro bubble’ are now at the heart of the ESC (with anti-war songs from Croatia and Switzerland).
According to Israel’s singer Noa, she “has got the power of a unicorn”. Not sure how that works when they don’t exist? 😀
Finland’s Käärijä was brilliantly bonkers, with a performance made “much better” with a few of Baga Chipz dance moves.
All in all – SF1 was sound!
We’re off to the preview final for SF2 tonight (Wednesday) where, in addition to the remaining 16 semi-finalists, we will see the full performance of Spain, Ukraine and The United Kingdom. Oh, and with the UK in mind, my colleague Michael Austin bumped into Mae Muller (the UK singer) and she sent us this message…
Yay Mae – she wrote a song, you know…
Right, more from me soon. Will SF2 solve the problem of “who the hell is Edgar?”…
I have travelled to Liverpool with my euro-buddy Brian Singleton, my travel companion to now nine ESC host cities (and often mentioned on the blog over the years). We have have been welcomed by my dear friend, and our host for the rest of the week in the grounds of Liverpool Anglican Catherdral, Reverend Canon Dr Ellen Loudon. Some colleagues and friends may remember Ellen as a former member of the Performing Arts department, as a Senior Lecturer in Drama. Ellen left EHU in 2006 to train as a priest in the Church of England , and how brilliantly she has done in her career since then to become Director of Social Justice and Canon Chancellor for the Anglican Catherdral. Thanks for hosting us, Ellen!
On Monday evening Brian and I attended the first public preview performance of the first semi-final (SF1). Approaching the arena the now familiar host theme branding is everywhere – signalling the approach to the mothership!
We queued for the VIP hospitality package, and when we arrived it was amazing…
This was a premium experience that came at a premium price – we got what we paid for, and rest assured that this was not on EHU’s dollar! It was a very special start to the evening. We do it all again on Wednesday evening. Like Loreal, we’re worth it…
Following the fabulous food and drinks we took our seats, and in keeping with a very good experience – had a really good view of the stage. The arena and setting as a whole looked stunning…
We had a great view of the green room where the artists take their seats after each performance. Directly in front of us were Malta, Norway, Finland and Ireland.
There are fifteen songs competing in SF1, sixteen in SF2. Thirty seven songs in total including the ‘Big five’ and Ukraine. Slightly lower than in previous years.
The running of SF1 will give you a good flow of tempo and musical textures, although there are very few ballads in SF1. A bit of ethnopop (but not a lot) and the usual Coldplay-lite song in the mix (you will know when you hear it). And there are the generic pop bangers from female singers that you know already even though you have never heard them before. Overall, enough good songs to get ten songs through to the Grand Final on Saturday.
There is more than just a whiff of songs pointing to the reality of the war in Ukraine – see if you pick up on the subtle and not so subtle messaging on this tonight.
Our runners and riders for this evening are:
01 Norway: Alessandra with Queen of Kings
02 Malta: The Busker with Dance (Our Own Party)
03 Serbia: Luke Black Samo with Mi Se Spava (Само ми се спава)
04 Latvia: Sudden Lights with Aijā
05 Portugal: Mimicat with Ai Coração
06 Ireland: Wild Youth with We Are One
07 Croatia: Let 3 with Mama ŠČ!
08 Switzerland: Remo Forrer with Watergun
09 Israel: Noa Kirel with Unicorn
10 Moldova: Pasha Parfeni Soarele și Luna
11 Sweden: Loreen with Tattoo
12 Azerbaijan: TuralTuranX with Tell Me More
13 Czechia: Vesna with My Sister’s Crown
14 The Netherlands: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper with Burning Daylight
15 Finland: Käärijä with Cha Cha Cha
Below are a few dodgy pics from me with some observations from what we saw on Monday evening and what you will see tonight (8pm BBC1 in the UK)…
Ireland were left stranded on stage as their performance was preceded by a pre-filmed segment. Worth the wait, and you will see that Elvis is in the building…
Israel give us a very clever optical illusion in the choreo and staging at the start of the performance. Singer Noa is static on stage, but with the optical illusion you’ll think she’s spinning. Very clever, but we have seen this done before – think Sergei at ESC 2016 when he did it on a bigger scale. Ah, the magic of telly!
You will be delighted with the staging of the hot faves: Sweden and Finland. Returning champ from 2012, Loreen is giving an ethereal and impassioned moody performance, with moody lighting and fog. Brillianlty done…
Finland’s Käärijä is the opposite – full throttle, and as he has said “It’s crazy. It’s party!”. Which it is. It’s bonkers. Good bonkers for me, and it’s been a bop on my playlist since I was asked to be on the UK jury voting for the eventual Finnish entry, back in February.
One funny comment that I heard from the row behnd me was when one of the interval acts, Rita Ora, came on stage to do her medley. The chap said, “Does Rita Ora think she’s making a comeback?”. He made me chuckle. She did a good job with an army of dancers.
BTW, the presenters are all really good this year (thankfully), and the script is well written and naturally funny. Hannah Waddingham is especially good after her triumph hosting The Olivier Awards recently. It’s girl power all the way and Graham Norton doesn’t appear until the Grand Final (not really sure why he his needed, but hey…).
So that’s it from me for now. I will report back on Wednesday on what we learnt from SF1. You will enjoy the show – newly promoted (obviously) to BBC1 this year for both of the semi-finals. This will mean that more people will know more of the songs come Saturday night.
Enjoy the show, eurochums! Predict away your ‘napkin of death’ with who you think are the top ten songs going through. I’m less inclined to do that these days, so I probably won’t. We’ll see when the gin and fanta kicks-in tonight! 😉
Oh, and one last thing, what was the view out of your bedroom window this morning? This was mine…
Happy Eurovision week, everyone! In just seven days the next chapter in ESC history will have been written. But before that…
Gosh, what a weekend!
If all things coronation wasn’t your jam this weekend, fair play. For me it was.
My undergraduate degree was BA (Hons) History with Communication Studies. I was a much better student of Communication Studies than I ever was History! That said I feel historical moments that are significant to me. The Coronation resonated for me as an historical moment, and at times I was very moved by it. Mind you, I cried during lockdown when there was that advert for McCain Home Chips, featuring the two dads and their kids. I’m a wee softie!
I realise as a graduate, I became estranged from the history part of my degree, focusing much more on the Communication Studies aspect – which eventually gave me my academic career in media theory related subjects (off the back of Comms Studies). And yet, a major part of being an academic teaching media theory, cultural studies and popular music studies is that they are all underpinned by history!
What I did was leave the study of history behind me, to study the cultural industries and what I needed to know about them, historically. So perhaps you can take the History degree out of the lad, but you can’t take the lad out of history.
Away from the Coronation, it’s time for THE Contest!
And hey, I know the history of Eurovision that’s for sure! Some of which I am sure will be part of my commentary over the coming days – including a post on UK entries. What’s your favourite? Let me know! (email: [email protected]).
Whilst my euro-mojo has waned in recent years (I will not mention that again!), the ESC is important to me. It’s part of my year, it’s part of me, it’s part of me and my history.
I was fuming in 1988 when Switzerland’s representative Celine Dion beat the UK’s Scott Fitzgerald by just one point. And I think Sonia was robbed in 1993 to finish as runner-up – talk of which my Irish friend Brian Singleton will not entertain, as Ireland took the crown that year.
As we eagerly anticipate two semi-finals this week (Tues and Thurs on BBC1 in the UK from 8pm) and then the grand final on Saturday 13 May, as Abba’s lyrics attest ‘the history book on the shelf is always repeating itself’. And so it will again this week, and the rituals of Eurovision will crown a new winner.
I think this year is a really good competitive year for songs (lucky that for a song contest!). There are a few hot faves for us to keep our eyes on: Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, and now France. And others. Let’s see where the week takes us!
I am heading into Liverpool on Monday, and I can’t wait to feel this part of ESC history – and I am sure it will be dead good!
