Eurovision 2018

[elisi]

Am going to try to do a live blogging thing.

Partly because this parade thing (flag ceremony) is fun. Already plenty of odd balls!

1. Ukraine. Postcard: Goth on horse... And the staging is an instant classic! THE STAIRS ARE ON FIRE!!! :D :D :D

2. Spain. Saccharine doesn't begin to cover it! Adorable, but... OH GRAHAM. ("I give it a month." SO SAVAGE)

3. Slovenia. Flashing lights and strobe lighting. My mother is confused by 'the people doing gymnastics'.

4. Lithuania. Simple but beautiful ballad according to Graham Norton. ("It's bring your husband to work day... *DIES*)

5. Austria. Darcy: "This man brought his own RnB gospel choir. That's a thing right there."

6. Estonia. Opera and DRESS. Daaaaaamn. Like, no words.

7. Norway. Alexander Rybak. So adorbz. V catchy, but no fairy tale.

8. Portugal. Pink hair. I think I like it, but I can't think of much to say.

9. UK. Oh dear not looking forward to this. Um, what just happened? Well, she kept it going, good girl!

10. Serbia. Graham: "Slightly like a cult leader with his three sister wives." And a mad professor on a dais.

11. Germany. Graham: "Germany's answer to Ed Sheeran." And my mother informs us that he speaks fluent Danish. 30 seconds in, Darcy: "He's already better than Ed Sheeran." Oh this is beautiful and heartbreaking. <3

12. Albania. Very competent & yelling. Where's the fire?

13. France. Merci. I like it, like, it's a lovely lovely song. I think...

14. Czech Republic. This kid's fly. Darcy: "Everything about this is perfect. That was value for money, right there!"

15. Denmark. Mood in the room: "This is awful, we love it!" "KEY CHANGE!" (But there are better Viking songs - *literally*.)

16. Australia. My mother: "It's not just, they're not in Europe!" That... was a song.

17. Finland. *watches first 30 seconds* god I love Eurovision. Graham Norton thinks it may have suffered from following Australia - I think the opposite. Finland was fun, spectacle and fabulous. :D

18. Bulgaria. The Bad Guys in a futuristic dystopia, but hell, they're giving it their all. Graham is shady as ever: "Some people like this song." Shut up Graham, I'm one of them.

19. Moldova. I have no words, that was AMAZING. (Graham's description: 'Like some children's TV presenters got drunk...')

20. Sweden. Very competent, but am not particularly taken?

21. Hungary. This one was my mother's favourite! (Spot the babyboomer...) Nice METAL.

22. Israel. What the hell was that? Anime + madness.

23. The Netherlands. This is... pretty good. I like it. Great beat. I'll be listening to this again. Bit Elle King, bit Guns'n 'Roses?

24. Ireland. Graham: "Does everyone have a tear in their eye, or is it just this old fool?" Aw, twas v sweet.

25. Cyprus. Her outfit is very nice and doing most of the work. Graham said something about fire-retardant hairspray...

26. Italy. A dance about fear? I don't remember many songs about terrorism... Good on them.

~~~

Salvador (last year's winner) - ♥ ♥ ♥ Now this is actual, real music. Crazy thing amongst all the madness. But very very beautiful.

~~~

This year’s bingo sheet was almost a sweep. #Eurovison pic.twitter.com/eMCTbe8t9P

— Kate McIntyre (@McIntyreKmci) May 12, 2018

Hi Mel! #Eurovision

— BBC Eurovision🇬🇧 (@bbceurovision) May 12, 2018

Wtf Sweden? It was not great and shouldn't win. Austria was good. Israel was... weird. C'mon. Wait what? The Hungarian jury gave Denmark 12 points?

Still thinking about this guy from Estonia tbh. #EurovisionGothContest pic.twitter.com/YH9IocSTSa

— BBC Eurovision🇬🇧 (@bbceurovision) May 12, 2018

~~~

AHAHAHAHA The People did not like Australia or Sweden!

~~~

3 left!!

*bites nails*

Please not Cyprus. At least Israel was interesting.

~~~

OK, well done weird not-Bjork. Bring on the chicken song. Dana International's heir, 20 years later...

Morning after ETA:

On the winner, my immediate thoughts (when first seeing her) were:

1. Hurrah someone who's not a size zero (and looks pretty good too!!)

2. Holy cultural appropriation Batman.

And then, when she won.

3. Well, next year will be... interesting, politically. How many countries might boycott the whole thing? If Israel carries on the way it does now.

I'm sure there was something else, but I can't remember it.



ETA2: Graham Norton, when there were about 3 of the audience results left to announce and everyone was on tenterhooks: "This is SUCH a good voting system!"

I very much agree. It keeps the suspense going, and the differences between the jury votes and the audience ones are fascinating.

Comments

[owlboy]

E U R O V I S I O N

[elisi]

EEEEE! Alexander Ryback is on now! :D

[ruuger]

I was really impressed by UK's singer and how well she performed even though she was clearly shaken by the guy stealing her microphone.

[elisi]

Yeah, she handled that brilliantly. Am v proud.

[watervole]

I really liked the British entry (and the German one).

I think Brexit is still affecting our votes...

[elisi]

Yes, the British one was surprisingly nice, and the German one was properly good (which might be why it didn't do so well).

And Brexit will probably keep affecting votes for the foreseeable future. (Not surprisingly)

[stir-of-echoes.livejournal.com]

I loved Germany.

[elisi]

That was a gorgeous gorgeous song. <3

[sea_thoughts]

I don't understand why Australia can take part and Canada can't when Canada a) has French as an official language and b) is closer.

[elisi]

Is Canada obsessed with Eurovision to the same extent?

[sea_thoughts]

This made me laugh out loud, too accurate for words

[elisi]

omg. Community forever! <3

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

The accuracy is unreal!

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Yas Israel!

So gutted that our Ryan didn't do better, wonder is it the old homophobia, or what.

[elisi]

WE GAVE YOU TEN POINTS! <3

[double_dutchess]

My favourites were Austria and Finland. I liked Germany too. Hadn't expected Israel to win at all.

The Dutch song was a good rock song, but I wasn't surprised that it didn't get many votes. It was just not "Eurovision" enough, I think.

[elisi]

My favourites were Austria and Finland. I liked Germany too.
I approve of your choices. :D

Hadn't expected Israel to win at all.
No, it was REALLY WEIRD.

The Dutch song was a good rock song, but I wasn't surprised that it didn't get many votes. It was just not "Eurovision" enough, I think.
That's it. I want to listen to it again, just because I like it, but it wasn't quite in the mood of the thing.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I voted for Austria and Ukraine (I keep humming the damn thing).

I dscided Salvador's bit was the best time to come home from my friend's house - he was sending us all to sleep.

[elisi]

I voted for Austria and Ukraine (I keep humming the damn thing).
Ukraine was amazing. The set was an instant classic and it was the perfect kick-off. They deserved to do better.

My girls voted for the Czech Republic.

I dscided Salvador's bit was the best time to come home from my friend's house - he was sending us all to sleep.
LOL. Yeah, he's so very un-Eurovision. Like, I'm very happy he won, because sometimes something different is just the thing, but he approaches music in a completely different way to everyone else there. (Last year and this year make an interesting contrast...)

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

TEAM ISRAEL

I loved Salvador's song too but the dude can take a whole stadium of seats for his elitism about pop music tbh.

As an Australian national I don't understand why Australia even goes here.

[elisi]

HI TEAM ISRAEL!

I loved Salvador's song too but the dude can take a whole stadium of seats for his elitism about pop music tbh.
LOL. Well, it's amusing me how this year's winner is the polar opposite. ;)

As an Australian national I don't understand why Australia even goes here.
Because they're obsessed... Fannishness gets you places apparently.

[liliaeth]

The Czech republic should have ended up a lot higher than it did, and I really didn't like Israel's song.

Austria was a lot better.

[elisi]

The Czech republic should have ended up a lot higher than it did,
Yes, yes it should. My girls voted for it.

and I really didn't like Israel's song.
Can't say I liked it either. Partly because it wasn't a song. Like, there wasn't a tune.

Austria was a lot better.
Yes, Austria was v good. I was rooting for them.

[kaffy_r]

DAMN! I missed it! I knew it was coming up, but I ended up going to get groceries. Is there anyplace online where I can hear some of these? I watched the BBC 17 minutes of finalist announcements and listened as Israel ... uh ... OK ... because Eurovision? I had exactly the same thought about how the hell Israel could pull off the show. My bet's on Eurovision pulling it away from Israel because of security worries (can they do that?) and Israel getting upset. Stop voting Netanyahu in and I'll get upset with you ....

[elisi]

DAMN! I missed it! I knew it was coming up, but I ended up going to get groceries
How long for? It's 3 1/2 hours long...

Is there anyplace online where I can hear some of these?
Um, youtube maybe? Unless you can hack into BBC iPlayer (it's not the same without Graham Norton's commentary). Or scour the internet for dogdy downloads/streaming services.

I had exactly the same thought about how the hell Israel could pull off the show. My bet's on Eurovision pulling it away from Israel because of security worries (can they do that?) and Israel getting upset. Stop voting Netanyahu in and I'll get upset with you ....
mmm, Stop bombing your neighbours and shooting unarmed protestors. Well, I guess we'll have to wait & see.

If you can get hold of the show, it's a fun few hours. :)