New ESC era?

[LakZaNokte]

imo, this year the shift is more obvious than ever;

- we are done with the gimmicks. first 4 slots in odds are filled with 1-(wo)man-staging (ok, in netherland's case 2 ). all of them just standing and singing. true, hamster wheel made it . no crazy choreographies, costumes, fountains, hairstyles. nobody is half-naked.

- songs are serious. there's no "lalala" and "nanana". songs that are not "esc style" (it obviously means light notes and catchy tunes, borderline cheesy and/or stupid) are going up up up.

- no awkward performances. no tacky shows.

- live performances are breaking point. sure, that was always out there but it feels like live has finally taken over youtube.

or maybe it's just me

 

[tuorem]

I agree. I was surprised (in a good way) not to see nonsenses on stage. I hope this will continue that way.

 

[chokladplopp]

YES! This is exactly what I've been thinking about 2013 and 2014. And I like it this way, I must say

 

[Tinchey]

But that's the general taste nowadays I guess. People seem to like simplicity but classic examples of music as well. Nothing strange.

 

[FilipFromSweden]

I agree! Eurovision has changed, in a good way!

 

[jadine]

I like it as well! I know people who were totally disappointed with the lack of show performances this year but I definitely think it's a change for the better. I also like that there is a nice variety of music. Some people still think that the song has to be "typically Eurovision" to have any chances of winning.

 

[anto475]

I think what's happening is that we're recovering from the initial shock of the late-90s/early-00s when they got rid of the language rule and introduced televoting. Those two rule-changes meant that countries weren't just impressing music industry professionals, but everyone across Europe, and they could do so in English. Therefore we got more attempts to sound like whatever music was charting at the time and more outrageous attempts to out-do everyone (e.g. Svetlana Loboda). The contest is mellowing out now, everyone can see that you don't have to go crazy, and that less is more.

 

[LoveHate]

Yes, the competition has gotten better. The worst years were in the early 2000's. It was so bad I didn't even want to watch it for a couple of years. All the changes (language rule, televoting, more countries, semi-finals, big 4/5...) were tough on the competition and it just became a big mess. I'd say things started to stabilize around 2005-06.

However, there are still issues (new and old) with the competition. Too many songs in English, deciding the running order, political voting, etc. The new voting system (50/50 viewers/jury) really hasn't changed much, and (atleast for me) it is unclear how those two are combined to produce one result from each country.

 

[greece]

The people said the same things after Euphoria's winning but see we are back inti the same songs... gimmicks never were high in the odds, but they always do well. Lalala and nanana songs there is always in ESC and they are in tbe final... only cause one year happend have some songs with serious messanges, doesn't mean that next year it will be like this

 

[Alberca]

The people said the same things after Euphoria's winning but see we are back inti the same songs... gimmicks never were high in the odds, but they always do well. Lalala and nanana songs there is always in ESC and they are in tbe final... only cause one year happend have some songs with serious messanges, doesn't mean that next year it will be like this

Of course it doesn't, but there have been good entries in the last three years in a row and less gimmick, so we can say there is a change in the trend. Just remember middle of the 2000's...

 

[greece]

Of course it doesn't, but there have been good entries in the last three years in a row and less gimmick, so we can say there is a change in the trend. Just remember middle of the 2000's...

, last year had gimmick and they were in the top 3. And I think that the most spngs in Eurovision are good entries . I understand what you mean but this could be also translated as more ballads less pop/dance. Seeing these 3 years dance songs flop and ballads do really well I think that this is actually the biggest change

 

[12Points]

Are gimmicks even bad? if there are no gimmicks then the show will be the most boring show, ever, it's okay if it's good gimmicks tho .

And BTW Suzy is half naked, the Russian twins have a some kind of see-saw, the Greek trio have a trampoline, Georgia have a parachute, Montenegro have a roller skater, and Poland have girls washing clothes and churning butter which IMO is the most ridiculous thing on the show, maybe you should re-watch the show

 

[Alberca]

And BTW Suzy is half naked, the Russian twins have a some kind of see-saw, the Greek trio have a trampoline, Georgia have a parachute, Montenegro have a roller skater, and Poland have girls washing clothes and churning butter which IMO is the most ridiculous thing on the show, maybe you should re-watch the show

No need to rewatch. We just think that the gimmick/bizarre wave is decreasing. Songs like The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, Montenegro, Belgium, San Marino, Azerbaijan... all in the same Contest, it would have been weird in the mid 2000's. Those who enjoyed Eurovision in the 80's and 90's know what we mean.

 

[ES2011]

Are gimmicks even bad? if there are no gimmicks then the show will be the most boring show, ever, it's okay if it's good gimmicks tho .

And BTW Suzy is half naked, the Russian twins have a some kind of see-saw, the Greek trio have a trampoline, Georgia have a parachute, Montenegro have a roller skater, and Poland have girls washing clothes and churning butter which IMO is the most ridiculous thing on the show, maybe you should re-watch the show

Well gimmicks for me are usually bad, especially the ones you just named, made all these songs performances worse for me instead of better. I also believe "suble" gimmicks like the gimmick of the netherlands to let the camera focus on them entirely.

Further I believe this year is continuing the trend that has been set in 2013 (which was one of the most quality-rich edition in a long time). I'm actually really happy that this "change" is happening, because all I wanted is that eurovision is becoming a more serious contest, which it has the potential to be.

I actually stopped watching it from 2005-2010, because not only were the songs trashy and bad, they usually won, while the few good songs got no recognition at all. But now actually good or well known artists are starting to compete and actually booking results, which makes it more attractive for other good and well known artist to compete.

Who knows, maybe in a few years the is sending Coldplay, will send U2, could send INNA and will send Armin van Buuren to name a few. But for now I'm already enjoying Eurovision again with a few weird songs to have a laugh, but also good songs again who are actually booking result and getting the attention they deserve.

 

[FilipFromSweden]

We love Eurovision for a reason, and it's not because every performance is pure perfection

 

[Sabrewulf238]

But that's the general taste nowadays I guess. People seem to like simplicity but classic examples of music as well. Nothing strange.

I wouldn't go as far to say nothing strange.

I think there's still room for the Rona Nishliu's. Although I suppose Suus might not be strange depending on your opinion.

There's brilliant/beautiful strange and then there's "we're being kooky just for the sake of it" strange.

 

[tuorem]

I wouldn't go as far to say nothing strange.

I think there's still room for the Rona Nishliu's. Although I suppose Suus might not be strange depending on your opinion.

There's brilliant/beautiful strange and then there's "we're being kooky just for the sake of it" strange.

Rona didn't have any gimmick on stage...

 

[Daybreak]

It depends, but I agree with the idea that people just went crazy with gimmicks to appeal to televoters for a while. In any case, lots of other artists are also using weird stage setups and clothes and so on, it's not like it's unique to ESC so it's not gonna disappear completely.

 

[DanielLuis]

Yes, the competition has gotten better. The worst years were in the early 2000's. It was so bad I didn't even want to watch it for a couple of years. All the changes (language rule, televoting, more countries, semi-finals, big 4/5...) were tough on the competition and it just became a big mess. I'd say things started to stabilize around 2005-06.

However, there are still issues (new and old) with the competition. Too many songs in English, deciding the running order, political voting, etc. The new voting system (50/50 viewers/jury) really hasn't changed much, and (atleast for me) it is unclear how those two are combined to produce one result from each country.

You must be joking right? Political voting has decreased so much in the last few years

 

[nofuxCZ]

I pretty much agree with the OP. The last 2 years have been awesome (even though I would prefer more entries in the national languages). I'm tired of explaining to my fellow Czech non-ESCers how much the ESC has changed since the mid 00s.