{"id":4230,"date":"2024-05-08T15:04:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T14:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2024-05-09T01:58:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T00:58:50","slug":"twists-and-shouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2024\/05\/08\/twists-and-shouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Twists and shouts\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On my first blog post this year I said that Sweden know how to do Eurovision, and boy<\/em> did they do<\/em> Eurovision last night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staging \u2013 amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenters \u2013 amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some performances – amazing. Some of which I know we weren\u2019t expecting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As tends to be done every year, the history book really was off the shelf as there was a nice nostalgic montage of clips from the vaults to remind us of the history and longevity of the ESC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching the performances for the first time \u2013 as I know a few of you are doing similar to me this year \u2013 made for an unexpected evening and a highly enjoyable semi-final. I had a bit of a jealous twinge seeing the spectacle and the audience having such a fab time. That said, being in front of the telly was where I wanted to be, drinks and nibbles on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching from home with my dear friend and Eurofan, Brian Singleton, is a joy as always. And a bit more exciting for him as Ireland have got it going on this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mentioned to you yesterday that Eleni, Eric and Chanel were the three interval acts for the first semi-final. Rather bizarrely they opened<\/em> the show, so they were the opening acts<\/em> rather than the interval acts. A bit confusing! Mind you, it certainly got the Euro party started, raising the energy in the arena and it translated to us watching from home\/elsewhere. Johnny Logan popped-up during the voting window to cover Loreen\u2019s Euphoria.<\/em> A nice orchestral version from Eurovision royalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good Eurovision week becomes a great Eurovision week when the presenters are on top form. From the first words they said, Petra Mede and Malin \u00c5kerman had the audience on their side, particularly on Petra\u2019s side. Hosting for the third time she is a clear fan and crowd favourite \u2013 because she\u2019s brilliant. She\u2019s natural, funny, on message and a safe pair of hands. If she were an entrant, Petra would win by a country mile! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joined by a suitably assured Malin this year, there wasn\u2019t one moment of cringe. The script was * genius *. All the gags landed, and we were all laughing along. Love how the set pieces of supposed spontaneous interaction were clearly scripted, but done very naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what things did we learn from the first semi-final?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of performances had an obelisk of some kind on stage for the singers to interact with\/fall off. For some it was an obstacle too far… <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backing dancers were out in full effect for most entries\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of which, is there an EBU male nipple allowance these days? \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of backing dancers were channelling covid-time vibes with hoodies and face masks \u2013 all a bit random\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looked a bit odd when the solo singers were on stage alone\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did have a couple of sightings of the lesser spotted backing singers \u2013 yay!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Billy brigade were out in force, as Serbia made it through to the grand final\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backing track was clearly doing a lot of the heavy lifting for some singers, including Cyprus (watch it back!)\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland was a hot mess \u2013 channelling Gaga, Taylor, and Beyonc\u00e9 wasn\u2019t a great look\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hera\u2019s song is called <\/em>Scared of Heights and ironically she had to descend a steep set of stairs from quite a height\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were not bowled-over by Moldova.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some observations on a few of the performances\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania really did add to the song with fantastic visuals and choreo \u2013 it amped up a song I already liked and was a no-brainer to get through\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Croatia was very well staged, and I hadn\u2019t realised that there is a crowd-pleasing singalong hook for us to join in on…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland isn\u2019t worth my time. I like marmite, but I didn\u2019t like this performance; all kinds of odd \u2013 a joke that wasn\u2019t funny for me \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yes, Croatia is currently the favourite, but for me (with no bias) the two stand out performances of the night were Ireland and the UK\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, Ireland, can we talk! I loved the Maleficent stylings and the cosplay from Bambi Thug and their backing dancer\/devil. Brilliant staging and vocals. Love that Bambi has a screaming vocal coach with them in Malm\u00f6! It was an entertainingly W-T-Thug moment. I hope the kids had been put to bed! Mind you, you\u2019d see similar ghoulish figures on Doctor Who.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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