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Is this is a weak year?

Jacketh

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Anyone else kinda feel a little..., well not down, but slightly disappointed so far this year? I didn't have very high expectations going into it after listening on YouTube, and tonight did nothing to make me change my mind.

As I said on the other thread:

I think a reason why it is such a weak year (in my opinion, anyway - everyone is different!) is a lot of countries have opted for radio friendly songs, especially after the amount of ballads last year. Given the success of Heroes, Euphoria, and Only Teardrops in the last five years, it does show that contemporary pop is the way forward if you want to win.

Personally I quite like a lot of the songs this year. But nothing more. I'm not really excited this year over anyone particularly (okay, maybe Joe and Jake because of how damn adorable they are), I look back at last year and I really loved Heroes (both for the staging and the song), A Monster Like Me, Rhythm Inside... heck, even Golden Boy tried mixing a contemporary sound with a traditional Israeli sound. It was a lot more of a creative year with more variety.

One thing Eurovision should not be is generic, and a lot of these songs this year just having me saying meh. Where is the variety, the eccentric acts? Songs that try and relate to their native culture? Heck, we're even missing a few mighty ballads this year - think Polina last year. It just feels like everyone is playing it safe and trying to replicate what has had success in the past. Everyone opting for a blue background isn't helping either...

I hope Semi Final 2 surprises me as I've been staying awake from the rehearsals.

Sorry for being so negative haha. I'll still be in my element and absolutely love the show. Just disappointed with the lack of variety, creativity and the few eccentric acts we normally get. Its that is what makes Eurovision so sp

Its just like something is missing this year. :(
 

Andalublue

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I disagree. I think this is a pretty good year. There are about 9 songs I think would make perfectly reasonable winners. I don't remember there being that many for a long time.

Ditto on Joe and Jake btw. A. Dorable!
 

ag89

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I also disagree. Many songs are good, up to date and most people can sing very well.

The only thing that bothers me this year is the amount of technology used for almost each song and that is distracting and it doesn't really help if you ask me.

For example, Armenia was the most impressive for me last night night even without holograms and I have to say I really disliked her holograms.

The same goes for Iceland and many other songs.
 

Andalublue

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I also disagree. Many songs are good, up to date and most people can sing very well.

The only thing that bothers me this year is the amount of technology used for almost each song and that is distracting and it doesn't really help if you ask me.

For example, Armenia was the most impressive for me last night night even without holograms and I have to say I really disliked her holograms.

The same goes for Iceland and many other songs.

Yes, I'm with you on that point. If you think you need fancy holograms and projections, you've probably got a weak song.
 

Fem

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I don't think it's a weak year, but I do miss songs like Norway and Estonia 2015.
 

Jacketh

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Disagreeing is fine, its why I made the thread! I guess Eurovision means something different to everyone and everyone will take something different from each year.

Many songs are good, up to date and most people can sing very well.

I won't dispute that! I do think this year is missing the quirks, though. Like you say, it has gone quite technology mad (and Mans probably inspired this...), I kinda just hoped for a little bit more cheese and more colour thrown in. Think Iceland in 2014 :D:


Maybe labeling it a poor year in terms of quality isn't right, but I think in terms of the variety that is on offer and the things we often associate with Eurovision, the quirks, the different languages, the mix of colour and eccentricity, it is. Maybe Eurovision is just developing and losing that... who knows.
 

musicfan

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May 18, 2012
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Anyone else kinda feel a little..., well not down, but slightly disappointed so far this year? I didn't have very high expectations going into it after listening on YouTube, and tonight did nothing to make me change my mind.

As I said on the other thread:

I think a reason why it is such a weak year (in my opinion, anyway - everyone is different!) is a lot of countries have opted for radio friendly songs, especially after the amount of ballads last year. Given the success of Heroes, Euphoria, and Only Teardrops in the last five years, it does show that contemporary pop is the way forward if you want to win.

Personally I quite like a lot of the songs this year. But nothing more. I'm not really excited this year over anyone particularly (okay, maybe Joe and Jake because of how damn adorable they are), I look back at last year and I really loved Heroes (both for the staging and the song), A Monster Like Me, Rhythm Inside... heck, even Golden Boy tried mixing a contemporary sound with a traditional Israeli sound. It was a lot more of a creative year with more variety.

One thing Eurovision should not be is generic, and a lot of these songs this year just having me saying meh. Where is the variety, the eccentric acts? Songs that try and relate to their native culture? Heck, we're even missing a few mighty ballads this year - think Polina last year. It just feels like everyone is playing it safe and trying to replicate what has had success in the past. Everyone opting for a blue background isn't helping either...

I agree. Though I think it's been coming, as you also suggest, though I don't like some of what you did. Heroes was boring enough to me. Much of it is about special effects and the singers who look the most glamorous.

Cyprus was a bit different at least in the context of what we saw, Moldova was solid but without the budget of the big places.

Armenia is like a slight improvement of Latvia from last time, a more glamorous singer and different effects. These songs tend to have a heavily produced sound to make up for lack of basic musical interest.

Slow Down stands out because it's different but it's successful as much because it's just a nice 'sound' and people think he looks cute. Again, it's trying to copy a previous song's approach, in this case The Common Linnets, but the chorus is way inferior here.

And the hype for the same places (Sweden, Russia, Italy) year after year gets tiresome. Yes they have reputation, they have the money which you need for the stage performance now, but smaller places just get ignored which is shallow.
 

JimmyJump

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2014 and 2015 was a weak year. This year it's really awesome. I like a lot of songs this year.
 

FilipFromSweden

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I wouldn't call this a weak year but I would neither call it the best year. I think it's an average year when it comes to quality.
 

blein

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This edition feels rly different.Stage looks small,songs are bad.. sound quality also shitier than in :at:
 

Celia

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Having listened to SF1 only so far, 2016 may be the weakest year of the 2010s yet IMO :(
 

Dutchball

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This is the best year (songwise) for me since 2011 which I loved. This year I honestly like 42 Out of the 43 original entries.

However I have to agree with you that sometimes it's too much contemporary pop. Which is why my top songs this year are "rare" songs; :it: own language ballad, :cz: as one of few ballads, I like :fr: :ba: and :at: for not singing in just English.

I do think that we need more variation, an edition with entries ranging from ballad to pop to funk rock to dubstep à la Igranka.

But again I love almost all songs this year, even though there's so much pop songs
 

Brandt

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From last night, my top 2 didn't even make it. And there were like 3 or 4 songs that I actually liked (including pre qualifiers). Semi 1 was a bad starting for me. I hope Semi 2 will be much better.
 

nofuxCZ

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The top songs from this year can't match with the best songs from last couple of years (13/14/15), so maybe the quality is really lower this year, at least for me. At least the songs are more diverse than last year.
 

MyHeartIsYours

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I'm not particularly interested in this year, when the semi was on yesterday I was excited then, and I'm sure I will be tomorrow, but this is definitely the least enthused about Eurovision I've been since I first watched in 2003.

I hope this is because I find it a weak year in terms of song quality, and not because I'm losing interest in Eurovision itself ;)
 

ParadiseES

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No, this year is the best since 2010 quality wise. It is true, though, that the level of the performances wasn't so high, at least yesterday.
 
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