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EUROVISION 2023 - General Discussion thread

empo21

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11 is a bad spot depending on the context

This year, 11 is likely after a break (good) and there's only four songs after thst (also good). 11th out of 15 songs is better than 11th out of 17-19. The 11th spot is also followed by a significantly less competitive entry.
 

Leydan

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Iker

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Balkan is (geology and geography) from Julian Alps ( whole Slovenia) to Black Sea.

I've heard that Balkans end on Kupa river (it makes some part of Croatian/Slovenian border). Moreover Slovenia despite being South Slavic and Ex-Yugo does not feel Balkan to me (I've been there). It is already more like Austria.
 

I bims

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G'morning.

You can all go on at me now again, but this is my personal opinion and I think all should be respected, whether you agree or not.

They have spot no. 11 for Loreen for two reasons. One I think is the staging maybe (but we can’t know that for sure yet) and second, this is my personal opinion, to give Loreen the best possible starting position in the final. And her "opponent" Finland away from her with the explanation "well, you already got that preferable spot in the semi, now it’s turn for the other contender to win". Doesn’t matter which half Loreen's about to start in the GF, she will for sure get the most favourable spot, even if Finland had the most televotes in the semi.
They already did that in past years so it’s not directly only a Sweden-thing. But it’s not too late: maybe they‘re gonna prove me wrong; we‘ll see.

But the most memorable running order in that regard was imho 2019 when they put fan favorite KEiiNO in such a (considered) "bad spot" in the final to be no "harm" for Sweden. There were other hints to Sweden pandering that year, like the big jury and televote differences, the unusually long voting time at that time, which has become standard now (back then because they realized John Lundvik did not get as many televote as they wished for), Norway not being able to perform twice in the jury finale after they had technical issues etc.
Prolonging the vote to benefit Sweden?! That's just baseless aluhut territory, like, really. The producers had the results of the Semi and had a good idea that the gap between the jury and televote would be too much for Sweden to win (the semi results mirror the GF results completely). As if they really sat there during the finals, saw the 93 points for Sweden and thought "If we wait 10 more minutes, they may get 200 more points!". The gap was way too much.

And Keiino did not get a bad slot, they performed between two Bottom 5 acts with ZERO televote appeal. That's a great slot, they actually kinda fucked the other two over by putting the televote magnet right there between them. And no matter where they would've started, the jury would never give them a better score.

But I agree, the producers always give the favourite to win a good slot in the Grand Final. But it just makes sense. The commentators and tabloids always report on who is the bookies favourite to win the contest, so people know who to look out for. And to keep the anticipation high, you put that country at one of the later positions in whatever half they are. That's how you pace a show. They did it for Ukraine, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, Portugal, etc.
But if they do it now for Sweden, everyone will scream that the EBU only favors Sweden... even though they do it EVERY YEAR with EVERY favourite. Not everything is a pro-Sweden conspiracy.

We will see what slot they give to Finland, I was scared for a while that he might open the GF if he draws first half, but I don't think that will happen anymore. Only if he suddenly underperforms and his score doesn't meet the expectations.
 

luli

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I've heard that Balkans end on Kupa river (it makes some part of Croatian/Slovenian border). Moreover Slovenia despite being South Slavic and Ex-Yugo does not feel Balkan to me (I've been there). It is already more like Austria.
That is not true. I am a geologist by profession and know exactly where the Balkan begin and end. The Balkan is a peninsula in the geographical sense. Everything else is a geopolitical game where Slovenia and Croatia are trying "to squeeze";into Central Europe insted of South Europa. What you saw in Slovenia is the cultural aspect and influence of AU and it has nothing to do with the definition of the Balkan. Slovenia and Croatia have been under the influence of the Germans since the 10th
 

FilipFromSweden

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Eurovision fans really love to overanalyze these things. Käärijää or Loreen could've performed as nr 2 in the semi and would still do just as well, plus or minus a few points. Semi-finals are not as sensitive to running orders
 

harey

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But I thought that the people on charge of the running order in the GF don't know the results of the SF? I think I've read it last year, like they assume things just like us but they don't use the SF results to make their running order.
 

midnightsun

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Officially they don’t know, but… yeah. It’ll leave it with it.

And before someone screams "conspiracy“ - I have my sources. I‘m not a conspiracist. People go on me all the time because some things I point out don’t fit in their ideas.

But I‘m working in the media field myself (I’m a former journalist - well technically I‘m still but I‘m working as a copywriter for some years now) and some inconsistencies at Eurovision were even validated by some people here who claimed to be in the know (I don’t know about that).

As I wrote before, it’s not Sweden bashing, I defended their responsible authorities (Björkmann for example) a lot in the past because some accusations couldn‘t be justified.
But in the last years… well, you know, let me put it this way: Sweden has done a lot for Eurovision! If it was up to me, Germany should withdraw from the Big 5 and leave that spot to Sweden. I get why they are so eager to do well at Eurovision. They deserve it in a way. But not at all costs, being unfair to others. But it’s not only Sweden, not at all. So I‘ll leave it with this.
 

Mainshow

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I´m really happy that the official album cover is that bright!

All the dark blue covers in the last two decades were enough! It´s time for a change!
 

Loindici

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But in the last years… well, you know, let me put it this way: Sweden has done a lot for Eurovision! If it was up to me, Germany should withdraw from the Big 5 and leave that spot to Sweden. I get why they are so eager to do well at Eurovision. They deserve it in a way. But not at all costs, being unfair to others. But it’s not only Sweden, not at all. So I‘ll leave it with this.

I personally felt the Swedish (or more correctly, SVT) influence starting to take over from a long ago, but there's a certain line where it's starting to get overpowering. Most of the time it brought something to modernize Eurovision, but starting from 2016 a lot of the changes reflected Melodifestivalen and it's starting to look like an international version of that Swedish festival. The appearance of Bjorkman and now Osterdahl could be considered strengthening the Swedish grab of the contest.

SVT's people have been working hard for Eurovision, but it's also why it feels as if Sweden has a 'privilege' of success.

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At the same time, the delegation in Sweden felt like an internal bubble separated from the much bigger music industry. One of the main reasons might be how non-profiting it might be for most songwriters, producers, and singers alike - it might be better to sell their work for Western or Asian pop artists. Yet, all that we see is a recurring roster of the same components, which a lot of fans claimed as 'quality'. For a broadcaster that's proud of collecting 2000 songs each year, it seems like they love gatekeeping.
 
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Ezio

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sLOVEnia is not part of the Balkans, because it is completely drama-free!
 

Ezio

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The parodies are sending me this year :ROFLMAO:

 
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My boyfriend and I following Beteve for pre-party tonight. He's a die hard hater of ESC, can't wait for him to spoil all the fun with his comments hahaha

The transmission looks great!
 
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