Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

Post by Redirect Left »

Belarus has been banned from competing in Eurovision 2021, after twice submitting songs that were deemed unsuitable in terms of lyrics.

Didn't expect them to get banned, but twice did they submit songs deemed by the organisers as having political subtext around the treatment of demonstrators by President Alexander Lukashenko, whose rise to president is quite a disputed subject by Belarusians, as well as internationally with many countries not officially recognising the result of the election that led to his installment in 2020.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 27 Mar 2021 00:28 Belarus has been banned from competing in Eurovision 2021, after twice submitting songs that were deemed unsuitable in terms of lyrics.

Didn't expect them to get banned, but twice did they submit songs deemed by the organisers as having political subtext around the treatment of demonstrators by President Alexander Lukashenko, whose rise to president is quite a disputed subject by Belarusians, as well as internationally with many countries not officially recognising the result of the election that led to his installment in 2020.
It's strange. Why was not Ukraine banned from participating in Eurovision in 2004, when a group performed with a song with which they provoked people there on the Maidan? This is also a political subtext.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Challenger007 wrote: 16 Apr 2021 09:24
Redirect Left wrote: 27 Mar 2021 00:28 Belarus has been banned from competing in Eurovision 2021, after twice submitting songs that were deemed unsuitable in terms of lyrics.

Didn't expect them to get banned, but twice did they submit songs deemed by the organisers as having political subtext around the treatment of demonstrators by President Alexander Lukashenko, whose rise to president is quite a disputed subject by Belarusians, as well as internationally with many countries not officially recognising the result of the election that led to his installment in 2020.
It's strange. Why was not Ukraine banned from participating in Eurovision in 2004, when a group performed with a song with which they provoked people there on the Maidan? This is also a political subtext.
It's super hit & miss with what is allowed. There is quite a lot of political subtext in a lot of songs over the year. In 2017 Ukraine won with the song '1944' by Jamala. The song was basically about the experiences of her grandmother by the Soviet Union, by orders of Joseph Stalin.
Eurovision was meant to be politically neutral, as a way of uniting the nations after World War II, bringing countries together with synchronized programs across multiple countries & co-operation. Unfortunately however it seems politics is the elephant in the room at nearly all of the events over the year.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 16 Apr 2021 14:14
Challenger007 wrote: 16 Apr 2021 09:24
Redirect Left wrote: 27 Mar 2021 00:28 Belarus has been banned from competing in Eurovision 2021, after twice submitting songs that were deemed unsuitable in terms of lyrics.

Didn't expect them to get banned, but twice did they submit songs deemed by the organisers as having political subtext around the treatment of demonstrators by President Alexander Lukashenko, whose rise to president is quite a disputed subject by Belarusians, as well as internationally with many countries not officially recognising the result of the election that led to his installment in 2020.
It's strange. Why was not Ukraine banned from participating in Eurovision in 2004, when a group performed with a song with which they provoked people there on the Maidan? This is also a political subtext.
It's super hit & miss with what is allowed. There is quite a lot of political subtext in a lot of songs over the year. In 2017 Ukraine won with the song '1944' by Jamala. The song was basically about the experiences of her grandmother by the Soviet Union, by orders of Joseph Stalin.
Eurovision was meant to be politically neutral, as a way of uniting the nations after World War II, bringing countries together with synchronized programs across multiple countries & co-operation. Unfortunately however it seems politics is the elephant in the room at nearly all of the events over the year.
Well, you understand that World War II is a separate topic, and this is not modern politics and propaganda, it is still history and whatever one may say, but you will not cancel the fact of the death of millions of people, the existence of concentration camps, etc. Politics would not be the memory of these events, but, for example, constant reproaches towards Germany, as the Jews continue to do, inciting anti-Semitism themselves. And to tell the story of what a person has experienced, while not promoting anything, is quite acceptable.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Challenger007 wrote: 27 Apr 2021 10:55 And to tell the story of what a person has experienced, while not promoting anything, is quite acceptable.
I would still very much say that it is political, and still targets a country (however much they deserve it or 'need' calling out) at an event that is meant to be as neutral as possible.

In other news, today marks the 3-week mark before the event kicks off, with the first semi-final. So make sure you put your orders in for your drinks and snacks, 3 weeks delivery should be plenty I'd hope! :lol:
With all songs now released, and available on varying streaming platforms, I've listened to pretty much all songs a few times over now, I have to say the UKs entry Embers is one of our strong ones, so I hope it at least doesn't bomb on the evening. Others I've enjoyed listening to that I didn't bring up in my previous post stating my likes is the Australian entry Don't Break Me, Swedens Voices, at first I thought it was a surprisingly weak entry from Sweden, but it did grow on me in time. However my new personal favourite is now Denmark and Øve Os På Hinanden. Don't understand a word of it, but it sounds great.

This year seems to be filled with songs that on first hearing are rather 'meh', but do grow on you. So here's hoping a large proportion of people take the time to hear songs a few times instead of just 1-2 times from semis & finals...
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Yes, the Danish entry is brilliant. I'm bummed they aren't expected to do well. "Øve os på hinanden" means "Practice on each other", I think. Danish is very different to Swedish, really. "Øve os på" is "Öva på" in Swedish, but hinanden is just not a word. :mrgreen:

I understand the Danish lyrics as follows:
They sing about some sort of dance battle, and that nobody really knows how to dance, so therefore let's "Practice on each other". As in, to win this battle on the dancefloor, they need to learn to dance!

I could be very wrong.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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They've started uploading rehearsals to YouTube now. Malta's first was a trainwreck, and they are plummeting in the odds (to 2nd, so I guess plummeting is too strong). I do have a pretty clear set of favourites now, though, but let's try a top 10.

1. Ukraine: Go_A - SHUM
2. Finland: Blind Channel - Dark Side
3. Iceland: Daði Freyr - 10 Years
4. Lithuania: The Roop - Discoteque
5. Denmark: Fyr og Flamme - Øve os på hinanden
6. Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo
7. Sweden: Tusse - Voices
8. Malta: Destiny - Je Me Casse
9. Italy: Måneskin - Zitti e Buoni
10. San Marino: Senhit - Adrenalina

But right now, obviously France is looking strong in the odds. Switzerland and Malta are still in the running of course. Italy and Bulgaria is popping up. Out of those 5, my favourites are probably Malta followed by Italy and Switzerland. I am slowly warming up to France's Voila (although it's literally Piaf's "Padam padam"), but I cannot wrap my head around why Bulgaria is so liked. I disliked their 2020 entry, and this year they're worse.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 27 Apr 2021 12:41
Challenger007 wrote: 27 Apr 2021 10:55 And to tell the story of what a person has experienced, while not promoting anything, is quite acceptable.
I would still very much say that it is political, and still targets a country (however much they deserve it or 'need' calling out) at an event that is meant to be as neutral as possible.
You're right, the line between memory and politics, unfortunately, is thin. In some cases, the same thing can be interpreted in different ways. Although there are things that are interpreted unambiguously and unambiguously.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Chrill wrote: 10 May 2021 14:27 10. San Marino: Senhit - Adrenalina
The behind the scenes first rehearsal for this has me confused, this song has been quite widely advertised & touted here, just because the official video for it features Flo Rida, who was popular here in the late 00s. The rehearsal does feature the rap that Flo Rida does on the video, although it appears to be a stand in, as its quite clearly not the real Flo. So will Flo be a no show? Will he only appear in the final and not the semis (assuming it gets through semis to start with). It seems no one really knows for sure. Either way, the staging for the song seems good with weird rotating platforms, and Senhits vocals pretty ace as always for her.

I've seen the rehearsals posted so far, and I have to say. I'm slightly underwhelmed so far, I get it, they are the first rehearsal, it's far from polished still, but it seems rehearsals from previous years were already much more refined, vocals much more on point, so far, with a few notable exceptions, everyone's vocals seem to be somewhat... flat?

Iceland I am gutted for, their entry this year for me is nowhere near as good as 'Think About Things' which I truly believe would have taken the floor and swept to a mighty point total probably unrivaled by any other countries for a win last year. Whilst my personal favorite remains Denmark & Øve os på hinanden, my money would either be on Malta or Switzerland taking it at this point.

I'd really love for somewhere like Malta or San Marino to win, it'd be ace to see Eurovision end up in a country that's so small, and in San Marino's case, the Eurovision tourists might outweigh the actual native population! Unfortunately, this year it seems quite far fetched for either.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 12 May 2021 05:12my money would either be on Malta or Switzerland taking it at this point.
It's Italy for me right now to be honest. I'm just not a big fan of Voila, I'm trying to like it, but it's too..... French.

Malta just isn't good live. Her singing is amazing, but the staging and everything surrounding it are awful.

Switzerland's stage performance is also a bit off to me.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Right. Semi final 1 tomorrow. Who will make it through? Here are my bets for the 10:

Almost certain:
1. Malta
2. Lithuania
3. Ukraine
4. Cyprus

Probably through:
5. Sweden
6. Russia

Potentially through:
7. Azerbaijan
8. Croatia
9. Norway
10. Romania

Could go through:
11. Belgium
12. Israel
13. Australia
14. Ireland

Probably not:
15. Slovenia
16. North Macedonia

So my bets are on the top 10 here, then.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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So we're just about to start, BBC Four have just started their broadcast.
So whilst I listen to last years winner open the first semi final, here's my guesses for the 10 qualifiers!

Lithuania
Cyprus
Australia
Ireland
Azerbaijan
Ukraine
Malta
Israel
Norway
Sweden
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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We both got 8/10 tonight, Adam. That's not too bad! Let's get your Thursday predictions going too!
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Not a bad showing for the both of us then. I am really surprised Australia didn't get through, for some reason I was suspecting "hey, it's Australia, we'll vote for them either way!" to happen. Also sad for Ireland, was one of their stronger songs. Hopefully they don't just pull out Jedward again for next year.

So my 10 for Thursday,
San Marino, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Finland, Greece, Serbia, Poland, Switzerland & Moldova.

I feel the next semi-final is a lot less clear-cut in who and who is not going through, there are only a few standout songs in the pack, and a lot of really "eh" ones.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 19 May 2021 00:09Also sad for Ireland, was one of their stronger songs. Hopefully they don't just pull out Jedward again for next year.
She couldn't breathe for 3 minutes, and it showed. Really weak performance, sadly.
Redirect Left wrote: 19 May 2021 00:09 So my 10 for Thursday,
San Marino, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Finland, Greece, Serbia, Poland, Switzerland & Moldova.

I feel the next semi-final is a lot less clear-cut in who and who is not going through, there are only a few standout songs in the pack, and a lot of really "eh" ones.
Yeah, semi final 2 is much harder to call. I'll try using the same template I used for Semi final 1.

Almost certain:
1. Iceland (even though they won't be performing live due to a member testing positive for COVID-19)
2. Finland
3. Bulgaria
4. Switzerland

Probably through:
5. San Marino
6. Greece

Potentially through:
7. Albania
8. Serbia

Could go through:
9. Portugal
10. Austria
11. Denmark
12. Moldova
13. Poland
14. Czechia

Probably not:
15. Estonia
16. Latvia
17. Georgia

You've put Latvia and Poland into the semi finals which I do not think will happen. I also really like Denmark but I just don't.... think they will make it.

You've missed out on Bulgaria! They're not my favourites, I really don't like it, but the Eurovision fans sure seem to.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Chrill wrote: 19 May 2021 19:44 You've put Latvia and Poland into the semi finals which I do not think will happen. I also really like Denmark but I just don't.... think they will make it.

You've missed out on Bulgaria! They're not my favourites, I really don't like it, but the Eurovision fans sure seem to.
I think a lot of my choices are what I want, rather than anything else. I'll be deeply disappointed in Europe (and Australia) if Denmark don't get through :(

I really hope the rehearsal Iceland did was top notch, given that'll be used on Thursday and (possibly) Saturday if they get through. A lot of the rehearsals i saw on Youtube were truly... shambles.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Redirect Left wrote: 19 May 2021 23:04 I really hope the rehearsal Iceland did was top notch, given that'll be used on Thursday and (possibly) Saturday if they get through. A lot of the rehearsals i saw on Youtube were truly... shambles.
From what I've heard, yes. It was a well executed rehearsal. We'll see if they get sympathy votes, or if its the reverse.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Chrill wrote: 17 May 2021 07:43 Right. Semi final 1 tomorrow. Who will make it through? Here are my bets for the 10:

Almost certain:
1. Malta
2. Lithuania
3. Ukraine
4. Cyprus

Probably through:
5. Sweden
6. Russia

Potentially through:
7. Azerbaijan
8. Croatia
9. Norway
10. Romania

Could go through:
11. Belgium
12. Israel
13. Australia
14. Ireland

Probably not:
15. Slovenia
16. North Macedonia

So my bets are on the top 10 here, then.
I liked Israel, Malta, Ukraine, Norway, Azerbaijan. I didn't like the song of Lithuania at all.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

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Chrill wrote: 19 May 2021 19:44 [listing of expected results used to live here]
Well you thoroughly beat me there. 9/10 for you, and 7/10 for me.

and yup, Denmark failed to get through, absolutely gutted. Happy Iceland & San Marino got through for sure though.
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Re: Eurovision Song Contest, 2021

Post by kamnet »

I've not been able to watch Eurovision for the last couple of years, so I'm excited to get to watch it live this year in the US since NBC's Peacock streaming service picked it up. I missed the semi-finals so I have no idea what to expect. :)
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