Eurovision Song Contest, 2023

[Chrill]

I don't... get Croatia. I see some people rating it Amazing, some as Awful. I guess I'm leaning toward the latter, but not quite there. 3/10 for Croatia?

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I don't... get Croatia. I see some people rating it Amazing, some as Awful. I guess I'm leaning toward the latter, but not quite there. 3/10 for Croatia?

I think vocally, its... probably a 4 or at best, a 5/10. As for the message it is trying to get across, i'd give a higher rating, like.. 8? I think its a song that has to be performed the best it can be. If the vocals & message don't translate on the night, I think this will struggle to get through the semis, and even then I doubt it'll be top... 12? on the night.
I have some Croatian friends who praise Let 3 quite a lot, apparently in their homeland their known for their zero care for whoever they hurt with their songs & messages, shame Croatia can't vote for themselves then, eh?

[Chrill]

So Loreen is competing again this weekend. I haven't heard the song yet, but I guess the bookies have because Sweden just jumped Ukraine and is now favourite to win in Liverpool.

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We shall see on Saturday whether I agree.

Also, Saturday sees Finland pick their entry. I am rooting for Cha Cha Cha, and so are everyone it seems.

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After Loreens performance, yah, I'd give it a fairly high rating. My favourite out of Melodifestivalen 2023 personally is Paul Rey - Royals, although I found Panetoz - On My Way also pretty enjoyable in a way.
I can see Sweden voting for Loreen to win in March though, her song was great and she has a proven track record of... winning Eurovision!

also I looked up when Loreen won Eurovision with Euphoria, all the way back in 2012. rip 11 years.

[Chrill]

It's fun how Loreen can only put out a great song once every 10 years.

I wasn't a fan of Paul Rey, he's the typical mediocre entry that would finish 17th in Liverpool. Panetoz I liked a fair bit more, they bring a lot of energy. I also like how they actually sing in Swedish. We haven't sent a Swedish entry since they allowed English lyrics.

EDIT: But Finland actually sent a song in Swedish back in 2012. Finland Swedish is an official language in Finland and is decently understood by a large minority of the population, but only used as the main language by roughly 5% of Finns.

It seems my top 3 right now are Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Possibly in that order, it is not quite set yet. How patriotically Nordic of me.

Loreen also suffered a protester on stage during her performance and had to abort and restart the performance. Didn't seem to affect her. It was the same people who often glue themselves to the road to protest climate change. Well, not protest climate change but highlight it I suppose.

Now we just have to wait for who UK will enter (rumours claim it could be Rina Sawayama) and most of the expected front runners will have been made clear. Yes, UK is a front runner. Deal with it.

[Chrill]

OK so I'm bored. Let's see how Eurovision would have looked the last few years had I been in charge. Essentially, who should have won according to the Chrill of February 2023. Not necessarily my favourite at the time of the competition!

2022: Maro - Saudade, Saudade (Ninth)
2021: Go_A - Shum (Fifth)
2020: Diodate - Fai Rumore (Competition Cancelled)
2019: Mahmood - Soldi (Runner-Up )
2018: Eleni Foureira - Fuego (Runner-Up ) (this was a difficult one, because I don't necessarily like many entries from 2018)
2017: Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma (Third )
2016: Dami Im - Sound of Silence (Runner-Up ) (this was a difficult one, because I also really liked the entries of France, Russia, and Bulgaria)
2015: Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Winner! ) (I have to, don't I? Italy comes close)
2014: Conchita Wurst - Rise Like a Phoenix (Winner! ) (Arguably the one winner I fully agree with in the last ten years. Conchita won, and should have won too)
2013: Margaret Berger - I Feed You My Love (Fourth)

Seems I rarely agree with Europe.

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OK so I'm bored.

Well, now I think I have to give my input too now, be warned I'm a fan of horrendous cheesy pop, which is probably evident from my posts on previous Eurovision threads.

2022: Cornelia Jakobs - Hold Me Closer - Actual: 4th - I just cannot describe how much I love the heart & soul Cornelia manages to put into the words as she sings, it's beautiful. 2022 was one of the best years of the last 10, with the UK, Moldova & Germany (yes, I know, last place) being fantastic for me.
2021: Daði og Gagnamagnið - 10 Years - Actual: 4th - Love it, its pop but also the lyrics are the most wholesome thing I've ever heard.
2020: Little Big - Uno - Actual: Cancelled - I just love this song, it's so fun, and what's not to love about the Russian rave band, Little Big?! What I will say, Iceland were robbed this year, they'd have totally got it with 'Think About Things' had the contest gone on, we all know it.
2019: Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra - Actual: 10th - I loved everything about it, the band, the staging of it all, just how different the song was to 'normal' Eurovision at the time.
2018: Michael Schulte - You Let Me Walk Alone - Actual: 4th - This was the only entry in 2018 I really listened to after the event had finished so, I guess that's the winner! This was a year of underwhelming songs for me.
2017: Blanche - City Lights - Actual: 4th - I loved this track, although it could have been helped with a few CC's of Kenny Loggins injected into it, with the amount of times 'Danger Zone' was said.
2016: Frans - If I Were Sorry - Actual: 5th - For me, this was a weak year overall, but Frans narrowly beat Hovi Star's Made of Stars for Israel.
2015: Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes - Actual: 1st - Agreed it was the winner this time around!
2014: Pollapönk - No Prejudice - Actual: 15th - Pollapönk won it for me purely from the cheesy and retro look everyone performing, plus the lyrics were more meaningful for me. I'm also a big fan of fun staging, which Conchita missed on both counts there.
2013: Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops - Actual: 1st - yeah, totally agree with Europe here, well done everyone!


So overall, Nordic countries truly are the best at Eurovision for me! The last 10 years varied from a year of 'eh' to some of the best, with 2013, 2015 & 2022 being great song wise, at least for my taste in music. With the viewing figures for the competitions generally increasing year to year, so hopefully we've got another 10 years of Eurovision guaranteed coming up!

[Chrill]

And to me, Frans in 2016 is one of Sweden's weakest entries over this period! I really didn't like it.

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And to me, Frans in 2016 is one of Sweden's weakest entries over this period! I really didn't like it.

It's definitely not one of Swedens finest outputs, but it was a pretty weak year I thought, and it was for me at least, the best of the mediocre bunch. Melodifestivalen has been pretty good this year, so I think whichever is likely to win, we'll have a good year for Sweden.
Not long left until we find out the UK's entry, which hopefully will be fairly good, the rumour mill has some good artists lined up as the likely candidates, at least.

[Chrill]

Melodifestivalen has been pretty good this year, so I think whichever is likely to win, we'll have a good year for Sweden.

Loreen. It is Loreen. No doubt. And I quite like it, maybe actually a better song than Euphoria but also Eurovision itself has evolved since she last won so it might not stand out as much.

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Loreen. It is Loreen. No doubt. And I quite like it, maybe actually a better song than Euphoria but also Eurovision itself has evolved since she last won so it might not stand out as much.

She is probably the best singer (as in terms of vocals) this year of Melodifestivalen, but I do feel some of the other songs were better, and may have been more appealing to Europe as a whole, although from my ranking of the last 10 years above, that is definitely up for debate if my opinion holds any worth, literally 1% value there hah.

Meawhile there's more songs! Finland's Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä is 3 minutes of fun, then we have San Marino & Like An Animal by Piqued Jacks. I find it hard to judge the song vocally, I think the staging is blurring the vocals a bit, it seems pretty decent, but I think the microphone, or more likely the arena surrounding is slightly muffling it vocally, I reckon the actual vocals are better than made out there. Next up, Australia! Featuring Voyager singing Promise. If the singer is able to bring that level of buzz to the arena, they might do pretty well, I do love how 2 minutes in the entire song goes a bit wild, wasn't expecting that!

I need to clear my browser history before I start using country flags whenever I reference a county in my life going forward, if its not in my history I'll probably forget they exist

[Chrill]

Meawhile there's more songs! Finland's Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä is 3 minutes of fun

Yup, as I wrote above I'm very supportive of the Nordic entries this year. Sweden, Norway, and Finland

San Marino does not do it for me, it's a definite Non-qualifier. I haven't checked out Australia yet, so let's do that. (checking out Australia). Yup. This is good. It could be on for a top 10 if the staging works, but I don't think they will be battling at the very front.

On a related note, I see Käärijä is catching Tvorchi in the bets. Finland v Sweden for Eurovision. Is this the Ice Hockey World Cup all of a sudden?

[orudge]

Tickets on sale on Tuesday if you want to try to go.

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Tickets on sale on Tuesday if you want to try to go.

Me & the girlfriend (i'm as surprised as anyone) was planning on going, but safe to say the only 'normal' priced hotels are basically as far out as Southport, Preston & Warrington, and we can only imagine the level of hell getting back there afterwards. So I think we'll do what we did last year, and go away somewhere nice and watch it in the comfort of a nice hotel somewhere, although having said 'nice', last year we went to Peterborough...

[Chrill]

At least next year when we host it in Stockholm I don't need a hotel so that's beneficial.

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At least next year when we host it in Stockholm I don't need a hotel so that's beneficial.

Do you have a garden big enough for a tent?

ESC's YouTube have recently posted this video of Italy's Due Vite, and if Marco is able to perform it that emotionally and that strong on the night, I can see a top 5 finish for them. It's somehow even more powerful than the previous video for them. I have no idea what he is singing about, but my god it sounds beautiful. In the video he appears to have an orchestra, hopefully the Eurovision rules mean that can be prerecorded and played behind his live vocals, as I doubt ESC rules allow an entire orchestra, I think the limit is around 8 people max on stage per act?
Every month the YouTube channel also posts a 'top 20' of the last months views, this time around, we had Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! at 3rd, amazingly we have Little Big's - Uno from 2020 2nd (deserved, I think its a great tune), and then Norways Queen Of Kings by Alessandra in 1st.
Also posted to ESC's YouTube in the last few days is the Netherlands song, Burning Daylight by Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper. Whilst its not quite my type of song, I can appreciate how good the vocals are from both of the singers, I'm not sure its quite top 10 performance, and indeed if its put in a rough semi-final with some great tunes, I reckon it may even struggle to get out of semis perhaps?

[Chrill]

Do you have a garden big enough for a tent?

I have a spare room, and we have a guest apartment in the building. So you're fine!

Germany has sent what I can only describe as a mix of Rammstein, Twisted Sister, Marilyn Manson, and Lady Gaga.



It's definitely different, but I'm not sure how I feel quite yet.

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From the thumbnail ESC used, I was expecting Lordi or maybe Hatari vibes, but was a little uh... surprised? i guess is the word. I find it vocally a bit limited, but I can see why they'd go down a massively different route after the last few years, with Malik Harris & Rockstars, S!sisters - Sister as well as Jendrik's - I Don't Feel Hate coming bottom 2, although don't worry Germany, we Brits saved you from the absolute bottom in 2019 & 2021. I'm not entirely convinced it'll work out, so far we've got a strong field ahead for all the contenders, it might get lost amongst it all.

Recently released is Poland's Blanka, performing Solo. This is another where vocally its a bit meh, with some lines sounding amazing, and some kinda fading to "oof" levels. Speaking of oof, the comments are a bit savage, with suggestions the song is indeed not what Poland chose, and the choice of juries who did the vote for them, with some comments also wanting the publication of data from the national broadcaster, and several comments calling the process this year corrupt.
Also recently released is Serbia's Luke Black - Samo Mi Se Spava. The staging for that I think will really work at the larger scale Eurovision allows, it's a bit of a weird song, but after a few listens it does grow on me to a degree. The lyric "I just wanna sleep forever, I like it better when I dream" is very relatable, I do enjoy dreaming!

I have a top 10 forming in my head, and not gonna lie. Now I've listened to most of the tracks at least 3-5 times, I'm finding a few surprises in there I never thought would be on first listen to it...

[Chrill]

Also recently released is Serbia's Luke Black - Samo Mi Se Spava. The staging for that I think will really work at the larger scale Eurovision allows, it's a bit of a weird song, but after a few listens it does grow on me to a degree. The lyric "I just wanna sleep forever, I like it better when I dream" is very relatable, I do enjoy dreaming!

I feel like they tried repeating the success of last year but this falls short compared to "what is the secret to Meghan Markle's healthy hair?".

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I feel like they tried repeating the success of last year but this falls short compared to "what is the secret to Meghan Markle's healthy hair?".

I was so close to putting Konstrakta - In Corpore Sano as my #1 for last year a few posts ago, but I couldn't deny the raw emotion Cornelia Jakobs managed to find for hers.

Speaking of top songs, here's my current top 5 for this year, with only 6 songs (Georgia, Sweden, Armenia, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan & Portugal) left to officially unveil their songs.

#5 Remo Forrer- Watergun
#4 Voyager - Promise
#3 Alessandra - Queen of Kings
#2 Marco Mengoni - Due Vite
#1 Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha

Now, we all know who Sweden will choose, and based upon Melodifestivalen performance, Loreen isn't quite in my top 5 currently.
In my head, my #5 is currently between Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! & Remo. With Voyager, Alessandra, Marco & Käärijä having some amazing vocals, its really hard to sort between them for me currently. I'd be surprised if it had the same top 5 (especially #5) come the tournament. Currently, Käärijä edges out the rest because the instrumentals/beat is just insane to me. I'd also not be surprised if Gustaph's Because of You drifted into my top 5 at some point.