ESC 2019 General Discussion Thread

[musicfan]

best of the prequalified
Spain. While I've listened to all kinds of music I don't have any particular bias to latin styles which isn't my most frequent listen. But I thought this had a potentially wider appeal if people opened themselves up to it, the performance wasn't bad either. Being placed last in the running order, by which time people probably just wanted to vote, likely didn't help it.

most overrated
Italy. The Italian language can sound nice and they have a reputation of being stylish/cool. But I think they have been overrated some years, the best Francesca and Francesco. This song never did anything for me, I can't remember the melody even now.

most desperate
France. I don't care if the singer has a big fanbase the song was really boring, that they had to spice it up with some silly stage show which seemed to cynically try and buy into the winner's idea last year (it actually looked like the singer was dancing with Netta).

most dead
Germany. It just didn't feel like there was much life there, in performance or staging. Stiff.

most 'don't give a shit'
Israel, an entry more like a sentimental schlager, very narrow appeal but those who adore the style may like it I guess.

most messy...UK
Started without any life and then later suddenly gained emotion in second half.

No ranking, apart from the Spanish one being the best.

 

[njdevils94]

Its here!

LEGO ESC 2019

 

[Preuss]

The scores this year in the top ten were ridiculously high

 

[NemesisNick]

My Eurovision Song Contest 2019 official DVD, which I ordered last Friday, arrived today. There are three discs, the First Semi-Final is on disc 1, the Second Semi-Final is on disc 2 and the Grand Final is on disc 3. The discs also have bonus material.

Madonna's interval act (which happened near the end of the interval), and the interview with Madonna (which happened earlier in the interval), have been omitted from the Grand Final recording (disc 3) Presumably that's due to rights reasons.

As for the voting coverage on disc 3:
1) When Belarus appears in the jury voting, the incorrect results (as announced on the night) still appear at the bottom of the screen, Maria Vasilevich announced 12 points to Israel and the Green Room shot of Kobi receiving 12 jury points from Belarus still appeared (just like on the night). Thereafter the scoreboard showed the erroneous cumulative jury results.

2) Consequently the announcement of the televoting totals, from Spain to Sweden, was the same as on the night, even though with the corrected jury scores the announcement order would have been slightly different.

3) When Iceland's televote total was announced, instead of showing the Green Room shot of Hatari, an animated star logo and Icelandic flag was shown. Green Room shots of the other artists, who were shown on the night, appeared just as they did on the night.

I've only seen a few bits of disc 3. Hopefully I'll get round to watching all three discs in their entirety at some point.

 

[Gabe]

3) When Iceland's televote total was announced, instead of showing the Green Room shot of Hatari, an animated star logo and Icelandic flag was shown. Green Room shots of the other artists, who were shown on the night, appeared just as they did on the night.

Do you reckon you could get a video of this? I'd like to see it

 

[esc87fan]

I pre-ordered my copy of the DVD from Amazon UK 5 days after the final, and it's due to get to me within the next week and a half. I'm really curious about the bonus features, so I can't wait for it to get here - it will be my first official piece of ESC merchandise

 

[Ezio]

Eurovision 2019 was very much down to flawless performances. For me it is the most striking year when flaws and flukes got punished harshly, while a lot of polish could help sell mediocre songs. And I think there is a very thin line now between make or break, given that almost every country is bringing its A-Game.

Some examples, I could go through all the songs, but I don't have the stamina, lol

Most painful: Portugal. In no universe I would have thought that this song could not qualify. I am still obsessed with Telemovéis and its failure is equally heartbreaking to Italy not winning in 2015. But there were avoidable flaws: the lights, the dresses, the camera angles. When the national final performance looks better than Eurovision, then there is a problem. (Same is true to a lesser extent for Sweden, lol. Melfest >>> ESC)

Really stings: Austria. I felt so lonely rooting for this song, because I felt it so deep inside of me and was full of hope and optimism like virtually never before. I thought, there is an audience out there exactly for this kind of song, that would vote off their fingers for this precious gem. And the 2nd rehearsal clip made my spirits soar. The staging nailed it! It gave me goosebumps and winner vibes. But when I found the jury show performance footage on a russian youtube website and the next day the live show performance, I witnessed a car crash and could see zero televotes incoming yet again. The vocals were atrocious, most likely due to her nerves.

Most obvious: Armenia: Walking out is one of my biggest earworms this year and probably one of the few songs I really like the most. But here are the problems: Girl has no idea what she is singing. Angry women never sold a song, neither would she. And the actual performance was a non-event.

Most obvious in the first semifinal: Belgium: This song would have been pre-programmed to advance to the final, but Belgium has built quite a record now of putting on a weak show and putting an inexperienced teenager on stage. From the first note, this was not meant to advance.

Most overdone: France. Nothing else to say here.

Most improved: Switzerland: This mediocre charts and Eurovision 2018 rip-off of a song was not on my list at all. It is too generic and pandering for me. However, the overdose of Sasha-Jean Baptiste polish worked miracles here. The show was a total banger and I kept raping the replay (replay yeah) button on youtube to watch the performance. Semifinal Live show performance is much slicker.

Most dated: United Kingdom: Someone must have totally confused Eurovision with X-Factor 2005. Everything from song choice to staging felt so out of touch with 2019. And the singer als reminded of the shy guy who never got laid but rises to 15 minutes of fame through X-Factor.

Nailed it: Netherlaaaaaaaaands (invoking Latvian spokesperson). I consider myself sensible and relatable to emotive songs, and this manufactured piece of pseudo-art fails on every level to click with me. Did not like before, don't like it now. And although the staging itself has some laughable moments for me, like this shitty fake piano and the burning lamp that is the centre of adoration and longing for Dunkin', it somehow was quite classy and stunning. Very conservative and not out of the box at all, which is also quite annoying, but it was also a nice counterpunch to this OTT hysterical show that the Israeli put on. At least a burning (lamp hanging over a) fake piano won Eurovision. Makemakes failed, Dunkin' slammed. Love love peace peace.

Honourable mentions:

Improved: Serbia, North Macedonia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Australia
Let down: Greece, Germany, Hungary, Romania

 

[esc87fan]

So my DVD actually arrived the first week of July. I haven't watched the full set yet (I'm looking for a day or two when I can watch them all), but I did see what the bonus features were. Disc 1 is a featurette of the road to the contest featuring highlights from the national finals, pre-parties and behind the scenes in Tel Aviv, culminating in parts of the interview with the winner (video from the official ESC YouTube channel). Disc 2 is highlights from the winner's press conference (shown on the menu as "Interview with the winner"), and disc 3 has no bonus material

 

[Ezio]

This vid slays me.

And this perodi too

 

[NemesisNick]

My in-depth review of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final is now available. Sorry it's taken me this long to complete it for various reasons. Admittedly nearly three calendar months have now past since the event, but better late than never. The link is below:
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final

My Extended Voting Analysis of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final is also available.
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final Extended Voting Analysis

This report also includes alternative voting scenarios:
a) Jury voting first, followed by televoting totals announced from bottom of the jury scoreboard to top of the jury scoreboard (BUT starting with the corrected set of Belarusian jury scores)
b) Jury voting first, followed by televoting totals from lowest televote score to highest televote score (as 2016 - 2018)
c) Televoting first, followed by jury totals from bottom of televote scoreboard to top of televote scoreboard (opposite of 2019)
d) Televoting first, followed by jury totals from lowest jury score to highest jury score (opposite of 2016 - 2018)
Click here to jump directly to the alternative voting scenarios.

 

[NemesisNick]

My latest collection of Eurovision Song Contest Statistics, incorporating the winner of the ESC 2019, is now available.
Eurovision Song Contest Statistics 2019

 

[NemesisNick]

My Eurovision Song Contest League Tables 2019, which incorporate the results of the ESC 2019, are now available. Although the UK has had a generally poor performance in the Eurovision Song Contest for several years, the UK is still one of the best overall performance records in the history of the ESC. There are actually three separate tables; please click the link below:

Eurovision Song Contest League Tables 2019

 

[Ezio]

The Netherlands contributed 50% to the greatest Alpine skier of all time, who is expected to announce his retirement. :-(

Austria in advance contributed the singer to Teach-In to win Eurovision 1975.

 

[NemesisNick]

I've found the following animated videos of announcing the televoting results in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final. Both start with the corrected jury totals as revealed by the EBU at 18:29 CEST (17:29 BST) on Wednesday 22 May 2019.

1) Televote Totals Going Up Jury Scoreboard: Israel to North Macedonia (like 2019 ESC final, but starting with corrected jury totals)

2) Televote Totals Last to First (like 2016 to 2018 inclusive)

So far I've not found animations of starting with the televote totals and inserting the jury totals, either from country with lowest televote score to highest televote score (opposite of 2019) or lowest to highest jury score (opposite of 2016 to 2018).

 

[94ayd]

Just realised that the top 2 is openly bi? and 3rd is closeted, not sure about 4th place.

 

[shameless]

Just realised that the top 2 is openly bi? and 3rd is closeted, not sure about 4th place.

And what a hot couple they would make. Luca Hänni is definitely straight. Tom Hugo from KEiiNO is gay though.

 

[ESC94]

Just realised that the top 2 is openly bi? and 3rd is closeted, not sure about 4th place.

Are there really rumors??

 

[94ayd]

Are there really rumors??

http://www.frivolette.com/lifestyle...ose-sergey-lazarev-goes-public-with-boyfriend

 

[njdevils94]

All 41 songs in Lego Eurovision 2019.