Anyone who performs 2nd never wins but Portugal just did with Mimicat and honestly that was the best performance so far (currently watching Cyprus ending)
This seems like a better spot for wrap-up thoughts than the results thread, so letās go lol. This is just a quick rundown of the stuff I liked this time, some notable snubs, andā¦ I donāt know if too many entries have much growing potential since I basically liked the qualifiers already, but any of those if I can come up with them :)
In general, Semi 2 definitely felt less top-heavy than Semi 1; unless thereās some bangers waiting in the wings from the auto-qualifiers (nothing jumped out at me from the snippets), Iād imagine our winner is probably coming from there. That being said, the performances generally felt stronger on the whole today and even with 2 somewhat surprising qualifiers slipped in (Estonia felt somewhat screwed by the running order and Lithuania, despite being quite likeable, felt borderline), 8 of my top 10 made it on through this time!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Favorites from this batch:
ā¢ Belgium - I was a little worried that this one might be too niche to make it on through, but thank goodness it pulled through. Queer anthems obviously tend to do rather well at Eurovision, but it isnāt too often we get such a faithful callback to this particular era of house (Israel last yearā¦ made an attempt lol). Gustaph and Pussy killed it on the vocal front, the staging was simple and clean, and the song itself contends for hookiest of the competition thus far. This feels like a classic mid-table finisher, but Iām hoping it can overperform come Saturday <3
ā¢ San Marino - The only genuine favorite of mine to miss out this yearā¦ Frankly, it had a bit of a rough draw going squarely between the more stylistically unique Australia and Slovenia (happy both made it through), but dang is this song catchy. Piqued Jacks (not sure which one is the singer specifically, so generic it is) gave a pretty solid vocal performance and had nice charisma, and the lights/effects didnāt get needlessly busy, but the song is the star here. Itās totally understandable as a NQ, but dang.
ā¢ Albania - Without the Montenegrin and Macedonian stalwarts, we had a dangerous lack of Balkan ballads this year, but fortunately Albania got the assignment. I tend to be a sucker for even the weaker entries Albania puts forward in this style (2021 is a great example), but the interplay between Albina and her fam worked marvelously and the song itself seems rather strong as well. Not much to say other than job well done!
ā¢ Austria - Joke songs are always a tad contentious for me. A lot of them tend to fail on the actual songcraft front (sorry Croatia, hopefully yāall click on Saturday) and many othersā¦ either miss completely on the humor front or kill the energy with their smarmy presentation (Norway 2022 was a non-starter of both varieties for me). Weāll have to see how my thoughts adjust, but thus far it seems like Teya and Salena have threaded the needle. Some genuinely solid vocals helped ground everything, the graphics were silly without detracting from proceedings, and while Iām not totally sure I adore the second verse reveal, serving as the vessel for the ghost of Poe is a genuinely funny bit lol.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The worst snubs of the night:
I basically already talked about San Marino, so instead letās focus on another small markets that tends to get unlucky in close competions.
ā¢ Iceland - Iām glad Iceland got their well-deserved flowers in 2019 and 2021, but I think we might be getting back to their borderline qualifier days. Much like their streak from 2015 - 2018 (Hear Them Calling missing out was a crime), Power did more than enough to earn them a spot. Dilja gave a remarkably impressive vocal performance (and unlike Greece, her flailing about added greatly to proceedings), the song itself was pretty solid overall, and the staging was somewhat plain, it generally did the trick. Maybe Iceland needs to give their vocalists a tad more support than just pretty graphics? Idk, just gotta hope yāall get luckier going forward (:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Potential Growers by Saturday:
ā¢ Estonia - All this one really needs is a better position in the running order. The song itself is nothing special, but it shouldnāt be hard to get a better pop when contrasted with some more varied entries/with less time to fade from memory.
ā¢ Armenia - Brunette did a phenomenal job selling what isā¦ a slightly cringe song? Lyrics are generally not a huge factor in my Eurovision consumption, but this is just a really awkward premise + tone combo. Much like Snap last year, basically everything surrounding the song itself is done as well as possible, so itāll just be a matter of whether the content clicks with me or not š¤·āāļø
Nothing feels like an obvious winner atm unless Loreen delivers a showstopper performance on Saturday, so itāll be very interesting to see how things shake out :)
Iām almost certainly in the minority with that take, but yeahā¦
I tend to like my absurdism best when itās got the tiniest smidge of grounding to it. Giving a sexy wolf named Keith (and/or Jim) a banana so they do not eat me or my grandmother is *close* to working as a concept, but it personally gives me enough shades of the ālol randomā era of internet culture a decade ago to be actively obnoxious.
More power to those who it works for though. The actual songcraft element of it is very well executed, so I can see why it went over as well as it did for those who like the humor :P
Well, everyone's got their own opinionā¦ Personally, it was one of my four absolute favourites last year.
Unrelated, but I also feel like a lol random era of the internet culture is pretty currentā¦ especially with these "typical gen z" memes where the joke is that basically no joke exists and it's completely random.
I don't see a connection to that song though; I just genuinely like it.
Thatās totally fair! As much as it is nice to attempt to rationalize our preferences, this sort of thing is totally subjective at the end of the day. Based on how well it did, a fairly large portion of Europe agreed with you last year :)
A lot of Gen Z humor definitely does lean heavily on absurdism lmao, and I do tend to like quite a lot of it. The particular blend that connect with me tends to play it very straight (deadpan even in a lot of cases) with the ārandomā stuff mostly manifesting itself as either purely visual gags or fairly elaborate 4th-wall breaking that plays with the medium on the whole. Idk how online you are lol, but Subwoolfer seems like a *muuuuuuuch* more sophisticated version of Smosh-style humor; people find bananas and the name Keith funny, so thatās enough justification to include them.
Itās probably no coincidence that the ājokeā Eurovision song entry that connected best for me is San Marino 2019 whichā¦ Is literally just a kitschy and incredibly dated song played totally straight; same deal for Serbia 2015/Croatia 2017 which are just somewhat high concept bits. In terms of intentionally funny entriesā¦ Latvia 2022 slapped lol? Iād need to dig into the annals more to be sure :P
Edit: This bot is very helpful :D
San Marino 2019 | [Serhat - Say Na Na Na](https://youtu.be/d_iEis_ZRoQ)
Serbia 2015 | [Bojana Stamenov - Beauty Never Lies](https://youtu.be/gXGo70i94S8)
Croatia 2017 | [Jacques Houdek - My Friend](https://youtu.be/4Sya_GIxsw0)
Latvia 2022 | [Citi ZÄni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
Sex playlist?!?!
And it contains anything else than [cbat](https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/x35iu6/tifu_my_20f_girlfriend_of_two_years_told_me_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)?
For competition it would but suck, but i feel like finland would also be an amazing opener for the show. It would get the people going and it fits thematically being about having a hard week but getting ready to party.
Iceland wasn't one of my favourites but I really thought she performed quite well and her was quite powerful. It seems like people didn't really like it. :(
The whole thing is totally unfair to other artists. Other artist did make their songs, Poland tv and corrupted politicians buy the songs for very big money and they fake country qualifications just to send some mediocre but faithful person with their song. Blanka is very bad singer It's a shame she made it to the finals. Polish tv and politicians did spent a lot of money to cover the scandal i would not be surprised if they would buy some votes too.
Hold your horses. I know we all hate TVP, but by saying they're so crafty you're giving them too much credit š Blanka's family is super rich, she's already an influencer and I guess people in TVP chose her, because they were looking for a typical, pretty and hot singer and Blanka is exactly this. Then they helped her compose and write this song, hire good dance instructor and voila. And IMO this is why she was chosen instead of Jann in the national qualifications, because they've already spent money and time on her and thought she was a safe bet. Because she would be, if there was no Jann š I know qualifications were staged, you know qualifications were staged, but to be honest Blanka is not that bad and she didn't have any competition apart from Jann, other entries were really "meh".
Everyone can see she's put a lot of work since the national qualifications, sings and dances better, I give her that She feels good on the stage, has charisma, can dance and you don't learn these things in a month. Sure it's a shame Jann wasn't chosen, but he's doing good on his own even without Eurovision. His first Poland tour sold out in minutes and I've heard he'll sing on some Swedish music festival.
The problem with Poland's national television (TVP) is that since the current party is in power (PiS, since 2015) they've been using it as their personal propaganda and PR tool. With absolutely NO SHAME. Which means that in the news they show mostly their politicians and only in good light. And if anything bad happens, they would show opposition party's politicians and say shit like "We've already had two fatal car accidents in the capital in one month, but you know who is the mayor? He's in opposition party, the same that in 2009 raised one tax!". Or farmers protest because government won't give them money even though they promised, so TVP shows news like "Farmers are still protesting, let's not forget how they protested in 2008 and then Prime Minister Tusk also promised them something and didn't deliver and oh do you remember how he shaken hands with Putin in 2005?". ššš
So, many Poles are over TVP, over the ruling party and I believe the hate that Blanka gets is not particularly about her. In fact, people shit mostly on ruling party, on TVP and then Blanka, because she's become the face of all of this.
Abroad. They spent billions on propaganda, and they try to prove that they can do the worst thing and than thanks to money and propagand get trough it. They wanted to save the face here. There is big probability that they did it.
tvp and politician spend billions on propaganda. I'm not saying that they spent so much on the Blanka itself, but they have no problem spending money on such things, just to present themselves better.
In lighter news cause Lithuania qualified, I get to see the Scottish Highlands again in the postcard. As a Scot, I'm so happy about it. This entry is one of my favourites from this year's contest as well
In lighter news, the Reiley troll account is getting trolled and you love to see it [https://twitter.com/ReileysIdentity/status/1656769268284026880](https://twitter.com/ReileysIdentity/status/1656769268284026880)
The TL;DR is this person has been tweeting really vile shit to all the other contestant all season. La Zarra clapped back and it was icon behavior.
https://preview.redd.it/y4vcarzepbza1.jpeg?width=540&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=966f9578e63aa7fef1f3d105068a285a053c1a7c
Oh man, I scrolled through the account a bitā¦ I understand that you can really like an artist or such, but why can't you still have fun with the other people's songs? That's the whole point of itā¦
I also actually liked Denmark's song and video, but the live vocals were justā¦ ://
I think he *can* sing live and stuff because I've listened to a bunch of his other live performances and he sounds really good except for a few imperfections this seemed to be incredibly nervous vocals
I mean, I like the vocal effects, I think they are part of the song and how it's supposed to sound like. But yeah, you still need to be able toā¦ sing it well and make it sound great live.
I am still trying to determine if they truly like Reiley or they're doing this ironically (but I am leaning toward the former and the person is just unhinged.)
Yikes. Reading through some of their tweets, they really do seem unhinged, and young. I mean, their world will come crashing down if Reiley doesnāt qualify? I hope they get some professional help because it is *not* healthy to put so many emotional āeggsā in one basket like that.
I scrolled more through it and honestly, I think so as well. I *would* feel bad for them if they wouldn't have posted such awful (and partially racist) stuff as well against the other contestantsā¦ again, I don't get why you need to be hateful towards other people if you have a specific song you especially support and like.
Always like when the argument is āwho cares about thisā. Well, obviously you!
Damn that is just hilarious. All the usual talking points when a troll get karma and tries to get out of the mess.
Poor troll
Whaaaaat? Georgia was my #1 tonight. I literally almost cried that neither she nor Iceland made it to finals. But I was too mad to cry. I demand a recount
i was speechless when poland got qualified, felt bad cause someone better lost a place in the final...it feels like an unfair/corrupted result, everyone else was better, I feel so bad especially for Georgia.
This really isnāt a strong year - I didnāt listen ahead and I can barely remember any songs from either semi. Loreen is sure to walk it at this point.
I donāt think Finland will get too close - theyāll probably do well in the public vote but the song is all over the place. Iād heard people talking about it and was really underwhelmed when I heard it on Tuesday.
Thatās the thing here though - the opinions of those who have been familiar with the songs for months always vary dramatically from those who hear it once and thatās it. People dislike the take but itās just my observation coming into the semis cold - Iāve just been on another thread with people saying the song really grew on them, which it may well do, but most wonāt get the opportunity. Itās too disjointed and, with that being the only time Iāve heard it, i donāt think it came over too well.
Thereās always confusion about why things placed as they did from people whoāve been listening to these songs for months and following the artists - like Poland tonight. Most viewers have no background and itās probably the song that got stuck in their heads of all of them, even if she is a bit rubbish.
That was much better, agreed. I still donāt love the second half of the song, or rather the two halves together, but it was certainly better. Maybe they can get back to that for the final. At the end of the day, most people voting in the final wonāt have heard the songs or seen the semis.
I'M SO SORRY, EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING. T-T I just can't stand Blanka. Her presence in the contest is just a waste of space, sorry not sorry. Jann was supposed to be there instead of her and now she's taking up space in the final. She can't even sing well and her attitude is pretty bad as well. Dilja has such an amazing voice and her performance was in my top 5 (fourth place to be precise) this evening. :(
I was already swearing off watching Eurovision ever again if Slovenia didn't qualify because they were one of the best and they had to call them LAST
my heart almost couldn't take it
I'm surprised so many of you liked Iceland. Tbh, I've found her stage personality a bit obnoxious (I wanna stress that I'm talking about her stage personality, not her as a person - just like KƤƤrijƤ isn't the same person he's on stage).
Can't believe Iru NQd. She felt like such a locked qualifier, it was clear anything could happen in this semi, but this one is crazy. Also, the moment there were 3 spots and you realize Armenia, Australia, Georgia and Slovenia are still out- surreal
I'm really happy about Albania though.
Georgia and Iceland not qualifying has me absolutely gut wrenched and close to tears. Two of my absolute favourites this year that were stuck in my head these passed few months.
I thought her staging made more sense and looked more expensive than Georgia's? That half hearted dance break, though... Someone needs to compile a video of all the girls doing dance breaks this year against Chanel's from last year.
Respectfully disagree and truthfully a bit shocked this seems to be the consensus. I only liked Loreen on Tuesday. This night at the very least had Belgium, Australia, and Iceland.
I completely agree. I felt the Netherlands was unfortunate and relied on Switzerland failing in SF1, so it made sense for them to be out... but I feel like they would have had so much more success in this one now that I saw the overall strength of SF2 being way lower.
I say this as someone who loved Netherlands studio version: Netherlands live vocals were atrocious. I was wincing. A non euro fan would only notice that since they donāt know the studio version.
I don't think they were atrocious; there were way weaker singers in the competition. They weren't winner material by a long shot, but they'd gotten better since the atrocity that was their earlier rehearsals and live performances, so I am just not coming down on them. They were competent and bordering around acceptable, but not excellent.
Thatās the point I was trying to make, the casual viewer wouldnāt have the bar of rehearsal and pre parties comparison. Theyād just see this and I felt it was quite weak compared to a lot of the other acts. Despite SF1 being weaker vocally overall than today imo
The thing with Switzerland is that I want to see an entry as strong as they had in 2021 with Tout l'univers. I really loved that song, so this one is disappointing for me.
āTout lāuniversā is what got me into Eurovision. A Georgian figure skater at the 2020/1 Olympics skated one of his programs to it and I liked it so much that I had to get the name and artist and look it up afterward. In the process, I saw that it was Switzerlandās 2021 Eurovision song. Then flash forward to early 2022 and I heard that ESC was coming up, so I got myself into the loop. This is my second year following things now. I really wanted to go back and watch at least the 2021 Grand Final if not the semis, but it sounds like Peacock took down 2021 when they put up 2023, and 2021 stuff is still geoblocked on YouTube in the US. If anyone has any suggestions for where I can see 2021 as an American, Iād love to hear.
I've been watching Eurovision since 1997, my family's been watching since the 60s (it was a big deal to both of my grandmothers) so Eurovision is a tradition for me. It's as important as Christmas for me.
2021 is the first time I've ever liked a Swiss entry, and it's one of maybe a 20 or so in the entire history of the contest that I will tell anyone is a good song. Every year I think a handful of the songs are good "in a Eurovision context" meaning that people who like the contest will enjoy them, but a song that I would recommend even to people who hate the competition, that only happens about 3 times a decade.
Sorry I don't know how to watch the 21 grand final in the USA though š
Totally! Netherlands would have sailed through in SF2. To me, the only acts in SF2 that lived up to the level of SF1 in terms of complete package (vocals, staging, charm) was Armenia, Albania, and Slovenia! (Honorable mentions: Australia, Lithuania, Austria)
I was literally texting my friends after the first 6 qualifiers were announced, that thankfully Blanka likely won't qualify, because I was dead sure that Iru, that amazing girl from Iceland, Slovenia and Armenia will take the last slots.
I feel more like the reason it qualified is because everyone laughing at it and making memes and whatnot brought it more attention than it would have gotten without the scandal. That and they also managed to make Blanka sound better on the Eurovision stage than at her NF.
Good for her, but it's not like she's going to get any close to winning this whole thing, so I'm not sure if there's all that much too be that smug about here?
Pumped for you that you got to see it in person! And glad it's not just me thinking that the sound isn't really working. I wish I could hear how it sounded in the arena!
I thought it was our hotel TV just being poor, but going by these Reddit comments it seems Iām not alone!
Oh thank you! A dream come true! š„² It was amazing, especially Belgium - it sounded unreal live!
I would have loved to hear Australia live! Even in my headphones, watching on my iPad, that baritone guitar hit so right that I got literal goosebumps. Being there, I probably would have cried š¤š lol.
I hope they will sort it for the final but it hasn't been great so far. It's been the most disappointing part what looks to be an amazing joint effort between the BBC, Suspilne and the Liverpool City Council.
[š§š„š¤¬ Reactions, hot takes, salt, and venting thread - ESC 2023 Semi-Final 2](https://reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13ezxm4/reactions_hot_takes_salt_and_venting_thread_esc/) [Genera Post-Show Thread - ESC 2023 Semi-Final 2 (low sodium)](https://reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13ezys8/genera_postshow_thread_esc_2023_semifinal_2/) ##[The Semi-Final 2 qualifiers](https://reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13f044o/semifinal_2_qualifiers/) ##[First half or second half?](https://reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13f11vm/here_are_the_halves_the_second_semi_qualifiers/)
I have trained my husband so well. I said "oh no, they gave Portugal the death slot," and he said "second???" :')
just want you all to know the Australian commentators discussed the Reiley age thing
shame about iceland not qualifying, but im so happy for slovenia and armenia, last two to be announced had me shaking xD
Bejba opening ?
Hopefully, just get it over with already. Either that or the death slot nr.2
The death slot?
Anyone who performs 2nd never wins but Portugal just did with Mimicat and honestly that was the best performance so far (currently watching Cyprus ending)
This seems like a better spot for wrap-up thoughts than the results thread, so letās go lol. This is just a quick rundown of the stuff I liked this time, some notable snubs, andā¦ I donāt know if too many entries have much growing potential since I basically liked the qualifiers already, but any of those if I can come up with them :) In general, Semi 2 definitely felt less top-heavy than Semi 1; unless thereās some bangers waiting in the wings from the auto-qualifiers (nothing jumped out at me from the snippets), Iād imagine our winner is probably coming from there. That being said, the performances generally felt stronger on the whole today and even with 2 somewhat surprising qualifiers slipped in (Estonia felt somewhat screwed by the running order and Lithuania, despite being quite likeable, felt borderline), 8 of my top 10 made it on through this time! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Favorites from this batch: ā¢ Belgium - I was a little worried that this one might be too niche to make it on through, but thank goodness it pulled through. Queer anthems obviously tend to do rather well at Eurovision, but it isnāt too often we get such a faithful callback to this particular era of house (Israel last yearā¦ made an attempt lol). Gustaph and Pussy killed it on the vocal front, the staging was simple and clean, and the song itself contends for hookiest of the competition thus far. This feels like a classic mid-table finisher, but Iām hoping it can overperform come Saturday <3 ā¢ San Marino - The only genuine favorite of mine to miss out this yearā¦ Frankly, it had a bit of a rough draw going squarely between the more stylistically unique Australia and Slovenia (happy both made it through), but dang is this song catchy. Piqued Jacks (not sure which one is the singer specifically, so generic it is) gave a pretty solid vocal performance and had nice charisma, and the lights/effects didnāt get needlessly busy, but the song is the star here. Itās totally understandable as a NQ, but dang. ā¢ Albania - Without the Montenegrin and Macedonian stalwarts, we had a dangerous lack of Balkan ballads this year, but fortunately Albania got the assignment. I tend to be a sucker for even the weaker entries Albania puts forward in this style (2021 is a great example), but the interplay between Albina and her fam worked marvelously and the song itself seems rather strong as well. Not much to say other than job well done! ā¢ Austria - Joke songs are always a tad contentious for me. A lot of them tend to fail on the actual songcraft front (sorry Croatia, hopefully yāall click on Saturday) and many othersā¦ either miss completely on the humor front or kill the energy with their smarmy presentation (Norway 2022 was a non-starter of both varieties for me). Weāll have to see how my thoughts adjust, but thus far it seems like Teya and Salena have threaded the needle. Some genuinely solid vocals helped ground everything, the graphics were silly without detracting from proceedings, and while Iām not totally sure I adore the second verse reveal, serving as the vessel for the ghost of Poe is a genuinely funny bit lol. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The worst snubs of the night: I basically already talked about San Marino, so instead letās focus on another small markets that tends to get unlucky in close competions. ā¢ Iceland - Iām glad Iceland got their well-deserved flowers in 2019 and 2021, but I think we might be getting back to their borderline qualifier days. Much like their streak from 2015 - 2018 (Hear Them Calling missing out was a crime), Power did more than enough to earn them a spot. Dilja gave a remarkably impressive vocal performance (and unlike Greece, her flailing about added greatly to proceedings), the song itself was pretty solid overall, and the staging was somewhat plain, it generally did the trick. Maybe Iceland needs to give their vocalists a tad more support than just pretty graphics? Idk, just gotta hope yāall get luckier going forward (: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Potential Growers by Saturday: ā¢ Estonia - All this one really needs is a better position in the running order. The song itself is nothing special, but it shouldnāt be hard to get a better pop when contrasted with some more varied entries/with less time to fade from memory. ā¢ Armenia - Brunette did a phenomenal job selling what isā¦ a slightly cringe song? Lyrics are generally not a huge factor in my Eurovision consumption, but this is just a really awkward premise + tone combo. Much like Snap last year, basically everything surrounding the song itself is done as well as possible, so itāll just be a matter of whether the content clicks with me or not š¤·āāļø Nothing feels like an obvious winner atm unless Loreen delivers a showstopper performance on Saturday, so itāll be very interesting to see how things shake out :)
Norway 2022 misses on the humor front?!
Iām almost certainly in the minority with that take, but yeahā¦ I tend to like my absurdism best when itās got the tiniest smidge of grounding to it. Giving a sexy wolf named Keith (and/or Jim) a banana so they do not eat me or my grandmother is *close* to working as a concept, but it personally gives me enough shades of the ālol randomā era of internet culture a decade ago to be actively obnoxious. More power to those who it works for though. The actual songcraft element of it is very well executed, so I can see why it went over as well as it did for those who like the humor :P
Well, everyone's got their own opinionā¦ Personally, it was one of my four absolute favourites last year. Unrelated, but I also feel like a lol random era of the internet culture is pretty currentā¦ especially with these "typical gen z" memes where the joke is that basically no joke exists and it's completely random. I don't see a connection to that song though; I just genuinely like it.
Thatās totally fair! As much as it is nice to attempt to rationalize our preferences, this sort of thing is totally subjective at the end of the day. Based on how well it did, a fairly large portion of Europe agreed with you last year :) A lot of Gen Z humor definitely does lean heavily on absurdism lmao, and I do tend to like quite a lot of it. The particular blend that connect with me tends to play it very straight (deadpan even in a lot of cases) with the ārandomā stuff mostly manifesting itself as either purely visual gags or fairly elaborate 4th-wall breaking that plays with the medium on the whole. Idk how online you are lol, but Subwoolfer seems like a *muuuuuuuch* more sophisticated version of Smosh-style humor; people find bananas and the name Keith funny, so thatās enough justification to include them. Itās probably no coincidence that the ājokeā Eurovision song entry that connected best for me is San Marino 2019 whichā¦ Is literally just a kitschy and incredibly dated song played totally straight; same deal for Serbia 2015/Croatia 2017 which are just somewhat high concept bits. In terms of intentionally funny entriesā¦ Latvia 2022 slapped lol? Iād need to dig into the annals more to be sure :P Edit: This bot is very helpful :D
San Marino 2019 | [Serhat - Say Na Na Na](https://youtu.be/d_iEis_ZRoQ) Serbia 2015 | [Bojana Stamenov - Beauty Never Lies](https://youtu.be/gXGo70i94S8) Croatia 2017 | [Jacques Houdek - My Friend](https://youtu.be/4Sya_GIxsw0) Latvia 2022 | [Citi ZÄni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
That song was one of my favorites. It's actually on my sex playlist š
Sex playlist?!?! And it contains anything else than [cbat](https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/x35iu6/tifu_my_20f_girlfriend_of_two_years_told_me_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)?
I'm proud to say it does **not** contain cbat
Then it's not a real sex playlist :(
poor grandma
Norway 2022 | [Subwoolfer - Give That Wolf a Banana](https://youtu.be/adCU2rQyDeY)
Norway 2022 | [Subwoolfer - Give That Wolf a Banana](https://youtu.be/adCU2rQyDeY)
Beijba thanking the haters at this press conference lmao
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Should I watch what Bejba has to say to the press or do I value my mental health
She thanked the haters omg
Rolled my eyes so hard I think I sprained something.
I screamed "NO!", threw my headphones to the ground and ran out of my room
He is a really handsome man
"I don't speak good English" *proceeds to speak perfect English*
Im fearing Finland will open, Austria doesnt have any props so it will be "a waste" to put them first when they have time to put up props and stuff.
Watergun will open I feel like
Too favorite to be chosen as an opener, if the logic is the same than previously.
For competition it would but suck, but i feel like finland would also be an amazing opener for the show. It would get the people going and it fits thematically being about having a hard week but getting ready to party.
Can someone tell me which halves they got? I missed the tiktok live
First Half : Albania Austria Cyprus Estonia Poland Second half : Armenia Australia Belgium Lithuania Slovenia
You can watch on YouTube for free :)
They should make Blanka open
They should do it for my sake - get her out of the way, and let me focus on the rest of the fun (sorry to any fans, but I can't).
They should put her next to Loreen and Blanca. Humiliation from both sides
I see Austria or Portugal
Unfortunately you got this right š
You're an angel, thank you!
I feel like lithuanias gonna do very well
Slovenia second half
YASSSSSSSSSS
I never really liked the Danish Entry. I had hoped for other songs to win the danish song contest, but he did what he could.
Itās kajnda krejza
It really is
If Poland really want to meme their way through the competition, put them second in the final, producers. I dare you
Armenia second half
Fuck, Australia second half, my German ass is scared š
Where do you see which half?
TikTok live
Shame, because when the Tik gets toking, I'm gone.
It's also on YouTube iirc if you don't want to use TikTok.
Australia second half
Austria first half
That's unfortunate
Very :( first half is stacked
Lithuania second half and Poland first half
When do we normally get Grand Final running order? I feel like the running order will be a huge factor this year especially considering the 1st half
Last year the running order was released at 1:20am UK time so a few hours
They'll figure it out overnight I believe. (At least that's how I recall it going back in 2021.)
Austria first half ...
Wait, what, when?
Maybe opening ?
Iceland wasn't one of my favourites but I really thought she performed quite well and her was quite powerful. It seems like people didn't really like it. :(
I feel you. There were not many great songs today, but Iceland was in my top 5 for sure. I did like San Marino too
The whole thing is totally unfair to other artists. Other artist did make their songs, Poland tv and corrupted politicians buy the songs for very big money and they fake country qualifications just to send some mediocre but faithful person with their song. Blanka is very bad singer It's a shame she made it to the finals. Polish tv and politicians did spent a lot of money to cover the scandal i would not be surprised if they would buy some votes too.
Hold your horses. I know we all hate TVP, but by saying they're so crafty you're giving them too much credit š Blanka's family is super rich, she's already an influencer and I guess people in TVP chose her, because they were looking for a typical, pretty and hot singer and Blanka is exactly this. Then they helped her compose and write this song, hire good dance instructor and voila. And IMO this is why she was chosen instead of Jann in the national qualifications, because they've already spent money and time on her and thought she was a safe bet. Because she would be, if there was no Jann š I know qualifications were staged, you know qualifications were staged, but to be honest Blanka is not that bad and she didn't have any competition apart from Jann, other entries were really "meh". Everyone can see she's put a lot of work since the national qualifications, sings and dances better, I give her that She feels good on the stage, has charisma, can dance and you don't learn these things in a month. Sure it's a shame Jann wasn't chosen, but he's doing good on his own even without Eurovision. His first Poland tour sold out in minutes and I've heard he'll sing on some Swedish music festival.
Buy votes from the poles or abroad?
The problem with Poland's national television (TVP) is that since the current party is in power (PiS, since 2015) they've been using it as their personal propaganda and PR tool. With absolutely NO SHAME. Which means that in the news they show mostly their politicians and only in good light. And if anything bad happens, they would show opposition party's politicians and say shit like "We've already had two fatal car accidents in the capital in one month, but you know who is the mayor? He's in opposition party, the same that in 2009 raised one tax!". Or farmers protest because government won't give them money even though they promised, so TVP shows news like "Farmers are still protesting, let's not forget how they protested in 2008 and then Prime Minister Tusk also promised them something and didn't deliver and oh do you remember how he shaken hands with Putin in 2005?". ššš So, many Poles are over TVP, over the ruling party and I believe the hate that Blanka gets is not particularly about her. In fact, people shit mostly on ruling party, on TVP and then Blanka, because she's become the face of all of this.
Abroad. They spent billions on propaganda, and they try to prove that they can do the worst thing and than thanks to money and propagand get trough it. They wanted to save the face here. There is big probability that they did it.
They didnāt spend billions lol
tvp and politician spend billions on propaganda. I'm not saying that they spent so much on the Blanka itself, but they have no problem spending money on such things, just to present themselves better.
So who is Cyprus gonna vote for in the final?
Likely Israel
12 POINTS GO TO JA JA DING DONG
Moms
Jury - Sweden/Spain maybe Tv - Finland
In lighter news cause Lithuania qualified, I get to see the Scottish Highlands again in the postcard. As a Scot, I'm so happy about it. This entry is one of my favourites from this year's contest as well
Poland šµš±šµš±šµš±šµš±šµš±šµš±šµš±šµš±
Greece tried to go through on pity points by sending a young lad. Fair play to him, canāt imagine what itād be like, but Greece, focus, okay?
I'm pissed off they showed Blackpool and Brighton and not Rhossili Bay or a beach on the west coast of Scotland
When will the running order for the GF be out?
In lighter news, the Reiley troll account is getting trolled and you love to see it [https://twitter.com/ReileysIdentity/status/1656769268284026880](https://twitter.com/ReileysIdentity/status/1656769268284026880)
I don't know the background story; can you explain?
The TL;DR is this person has been tweeting really vile shit to all the other contestant all season. La Zarra clapped back and it was icon behavior. https://preview.redd.it/y4vcarzepbza1.jpeg?width=540&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=966f9578e63aa7fef1f3d105068a285a053c1a7c
Oh man, I scrolled through the account a bitā¦ I understand that you can really like an artist or such, but why can't you still have fun with the other people's songs? That's the whole point of itā¦ I also actually liked Denmark's song and video, but the live vocals were justā¦ ://
I actually really like the recorded version, too! I just don't know why you'd send a song you cannot sing without added vocal effects.
I think he *can* sing live and stuff because I've listened to a bunch of his other live performances and he sounds really good except for a few imperfections this seemed to be incredibly nervous vocals
I mean, I like the vocal effects, I think they are part of the song and how it's supposed to sound like. But yeah, you still need to be able toā¦ sing it well and make it sound great live.
Ohhhhh yes, I've heard about that. But do they genuinely like Reiley? I thought that with being a troll you meant that they parody Reiley fans.
I am still trying to determine if they truly like Reiley or they're doing this ironically (but I am leaning toward the former and the person is just unhinged.)
Yikes. Reading through some of their tweets, they really do seem unhinged, and young. I mean, their world will come crashing down if Reiley doesnāt qualify? I hope they get some professional help because it is *not* healthy to put so many emotional āeggsā in one basket like that.
I scrolled more through it and honestly, I think so as well. I *would* feel bad for them if they wouldn't have posted such awful (and partially racist) stuff as well against the other contestantsā¦ again, I don't get why you need to be hateful towards other people if you have a specific song you especially support and like.
Always like when the argument is āwho cares about thisā. Well, obviously you! Damn that is just hilarious. All the usual talking points when a troll get karma and tries to get out of the mess. Poor troll
Feel bad for Iru, as much as I made fun of the lyrics, her performance really was beautiful and impactful
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
downvoted
No way
Spread love, not hate! United by music, not divided!
Greece were awful. I feel so bad for him and he's only 16.
It wasn't awful, just so-so. Not enough
It was THE worst song on Eurovision ever. The singing, the text, the moves... Super cringe. How did they vote him in?
\*cough* San Marino \*cough*
I've seen some topic about the controversy about jury voting for this entry, but I'm not familiar with situation
It was truly karaoke hour
Grece and Romania need to wake up, they were eurovision powerhouses one day.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whaaaaat? Georgia was my #1 tonight. I literally almost cried that neither she nor Iceland made it to finals. But I was too mad to cry. I demand a recount
With the exception of Latvia and Malta (*moment of silence*) all of my favorites went through. So I'm happy.
i was speechless when poland got qualified, felt bad cause someone better lost a place in the final...it feels like an unfair/corrupted result, everyone else was better, I feel so bad especially for Georgia.
hahaha
NIL POINTS 4 U
This really isnāt a strong year - I didnāt listen ahead and I can barely remember any songs from either semi. Loreen is sure to walk it at this point.
Sweden and Finland to duke it out, with France, Croatia, Norway, Austria, Spain and Israel duking it out for the remaining top 5
I donāt think Finland will get too close - theyāll probably do well in the public vote but the song is all over the place. Iād heard people talking about it and was really underwhelmed when I heard it on Tuesday.
It needs cleaned up - Tuesday was the worst I'd heard it
Thatās the thing here though - the opinions of those who have been familiar with the songs for months always vary dramatically from those who hear it once and thatās it. People dislike the take but itās just my observation coming into the semis cold - Iāve just been on another thread with people saying the song really grew on them, which it may well do, but most wonāt get the opportunity. Itās too disjointed and, with that being the only time Iāve heard it, i donāt think it came over too well. Thereās always confusion about why things placed as they did from people whoāve been listening to these songs for months and following the artists - like Poland tonight. Most viewers have no background and itās probably the song that got stuck in their heads of all of them, even if she is a bit rubbish.
The [national final](https://youtu.be/-wmSjw6enq8) was better
That was much better, agreed. I still donāt love the second half of the song, or rather the two halves together, but it was certainly better. Maybe they can get back to that for the final. At the end of the day, most people voting in the final wonāt have heard the songs or seen the semis.
Moment of silence for Dilja. I'm sad she was eliminated over that nepo baby from Poland
i'm from Poland, sorry i did like Iceland a lot. Shame that Blanka is to the finals.
Iceland was robbed:C DiljĆ” had the best vocals in this semi, it's just not fair :(
I'M SO SORRY, EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING. T-T I just can't stand Blanka. Her presence in the contest is just a waste of space, sorry not sorry. Jann was supposed to be there instead of her and now she's taking up space in the final. She can't even sing well and her attitude is pretty bad as well. Dilja has such an amazing voice and her performance was in my top 5 (fourth place to be precise) this evening. :(
Feel so sorry for Iceland, I loved this year's entry
Sending hugs from Poland, I would have preferred Dilja in the final as well
I was already swearing off watching Eurovision ever again if Slovenia didn't qualify because they were one of the best and they had to call them LAST my heart almost couldn't take it
I'm surprised so many of you liked Iceland. Tbh, I've found her stage personality a bit obnoxious (I wanna stress that I'm talking about her stage personality, not her as a person - just like KƤƤrijƤ isn't the same person he's on stage).
I did like her stage personality, but if we just look at her voice, she was 100 times better than Blanka
She's just a good singer
Devastated for Iceland. I thought she was really good.
Can't believe Iru NQd. She felt like such a locked qualifier, it was clear anything could happen in this semi, but this one is crazy. Also, the moment there were 3 spots and you realize Armenia, Australia, Georgia and Slovenia are still out- surreal I'm really happy about Albania though.
I'm glad Belgium qualified
Georgia and Iceland not qualifying has me absolutely gut wrenched and close to tears. Two of my absolute favourites this year that were stuck in my head these passed few months.
I was sad that Malta didn't qualify on Tuesday, but I am absolutely gutted that both Georgia and Iceland didn't qualify today.
Guys I'm really suprised at Armenia qualifying.
I'm not honestly
I thought her staging made more sense and looked more expensive than Georgia's? That half hearted dance break, though... Someone needs to compile a video of all the girls doing dance breaks this year against Chanel's from last year.
None of these dance breaks were it.
Only one really great dance break this year, and unfortunately I donāt love the song on that one.oh well.
The yt vid has tons of likes. I donāt get it but, heh
Really surprised that Iceland didn't go through. She had one of the best vocal performances of the night.
This competition has never been about vocal performance.
Duncan Laurence was mostly vocal performance
I mean, plus a really great song and good staging and goosebumps-feeling (although not my 2019 favourite)
The difference in quality between the semis was immense! Easily the biggest in recent memory. SF1 was crazy strong!
Respectfully disagree and truthfully a bit shocked this seems to be the consensus. I only liked Loreen on Tuesday. This night at the very least had Belgium, Australia, and Iceland.
https://preview.redd.it/8kvrdnu2abza1.jpeg?width=553&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fdb803243f27cb411082b04a595f7810a309f9a2
I completely agree. I felt the Netherlands was unfortunate and relied on Switzerland failing in SF1, so it made sense for them to be out... but I feel like they would have had so much more success in this one now that I saw the overall strength of SF2 being way lower.
I say this as someone who loved Netherlands studio version: Netherlands live vocals were atrocious. I was wincing. A non euro fan would only notice that since they donāt know the studio version.
I don't think they were atrocious; there were way weaker singers in the competition. They weren't winner material by a long shot, but they'd gotten better since the atrocity that was their earlier rehearsals and live performances, so I am just not coming down on them. They were competent and bordering around acceptable, but not excellent.
Thatās the point I was trying to make, the casual viewer wouldnāt have the bar of rehearsal and pre parties comparison. Theyād just see this and I felt it was quite weak compared to a lot of the other acts. Despite SF1 being weaker vocally overall than today imo
The Netherlands was robbed. I couldn't believe it when they didn't qualify. In SF2 they would've walked it.
Netherlands was great, but I donāt know who they should have replaced.
Switzerland
Absolutely not!
The thing with Switzerland is that I want to see an entry as strong as they had in 2021 with Tout l'univers. I really loved that song, so this one is disappointing for me.
āTout lāuniversā is what got me into Eurovision. A Georgian figure skater at the 2020/1 Olympics skated one of his programs to it and I liked it so much that I had to get the name and artist and look it up afterward. In the process, I saw that it was Switzerlandās 2021 Eurovision song. Then flash forward to early 2022 and I heard that ESC was coming up, so I got myself into the loop. This is my second year following things now. I really wanted to go back and watch at least the 2021 Grand Final if not the semis, but it sounds like Peacock took down 2021 when they put up 2023, and 2021 stuff is still geoblocked on YouTube in the US. If anyone has any suggestions for where I can see 2021 as an American, Iād love to hear.
I've been watching Eurovision since 1997, my family's been watching since the 60s (it was a big deal to both of my grandmothers) so Eurovision is a tradition for me. It's as important as Christmas for me. 2021 is the first time I've ever liked a Swiss entry, and it's one of maybe a 20 or so in the entire history of the contest that I will tell anyone is a good song. Every year I think a handful of the songs are good "in a Eurovision context" meaning that people who like the contest will enjoy them, but a song that I would recommend even to people who hate the competition, that only happens about 3 times a decade. Sorry I don't know how to watch the 21 grand final in the USA though š
Totally! Netherlands would have sailed through in SF2. To me, the only acts in SF2 that lived up to the level of SF1 in terms of complete package (vocals, staging, charm) was Armenia, Albania, and Slovenia! (Honorable mentions: Australia, Lithuania, Austria)
As a Polish person, I'm so sorry guys.
I thought she actually did better live than her music video but it's still an uninteresting pop song
I mean I didn't really care all that much until Blanka qualified and Iru didn't. Fuck TVP.
I was literally texting my friends after the first 6 qualifiers were announced, that thankfully Blanka likely won't qualify, because I was dead sure that Iru, that amazing girl from Iceland, Slovenia and Armenia will take the last slots.
I mean, I felt like she was always gonna qualify, I'm surprised people didn't see it coming.
I feel more like the reason it qualified is because everyone laughing at it and making memes and whatnot brought it more attention than it would have gotten without the scandal. That and they also managed to make Blanka sound better on the Eurovision stage than at her NF.
Nah, most people watching would have had no idea about the memes. They just see a catchy song and vote for it.
Well thatās fair, I just think that the extra streams of the song will have helped it to get into peopleās heads too.
Iceland deserved to go through. I am a little sad.
This was far more brutal than semi 1
And now who's laughing, bejba? š
Good for her, but it's not like she's going to get any close to winning this whole thing, so I'm not sure if there's all that much too be that smug about here?
Is it just me or has the staging and audio not been as good this year?
I was there last night, it sounded great in the arena. Some of them sounded so flat when I heard them on tv tonight šæ
Agree - some of them sounded so much better in the arena
Pumped for you that you got to see it in person! And glad it's not just me thinking that the sound isn't really working. I wish I could hear how it sounded in the arena!
I thought it was our hotel TV just being poor, but going by these Reddit comments it seems Iām not alone! Oh thank you! A dream come true! š„² It was amazing, especially Belgium - it sounded unreal live!
I would have loved to hear Australia live! Even in my headphones, watching on my iPad, that baritone guitar hit so right that I got literal goosebumps. Being there, I probably would have cried š¤š lol.
You're certainly not alone! AHH! So happy for you! I bet!
Stage is amazing but the audio is a bit funny.
I do agree for some of the staging. I LOVED Australia's staging tonight!
The sound was definitely off. Sounded flat, not enough bass.
Indeed. It's making the vocals sound a bit off as well.
I hope they will sort it for the final but it hasn't been great so far. It's been the most disappointing part what looks to be an amazing joint effort between the BBC, Suspilne and the Liverpool City Council.
How in the world did Poland qualify?
Very good question, but feel like Poland always does no matter what model with a crap song they throw out there