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Will 2020 be the year of ballads?

Biscuit02

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As we have seen in the past the winner of one year usually influences alot of the acts of the next, for example when Conchita won in 2014, in 2015 there were many ballads, When Mans won in 2015, 2016 was mostly filled with generic pop songs, and when Salvador won in 2017, we saw the increase in entries in native language in 2018, So my point is now that this year Duncan won with a ballad do you think that next year we are going to see mostly ballads much like in 2015, or maybe the fact that ''Soldi'' and ''She got Me" place really high there will be many catchy songs.
 

Neo

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Good question. Seems likely with a lot of 'bandwagon' ballad entries like you say, but isn't there a pendulum effect when one thing becomes old, and people go for the new, opposite thing?
 

Ana Raquel

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Well, considering that, in 2019, there were more songs similar to Fuego than to Toy, and Fuego hasn't won... we never know.

They might go to the Soldi way instead as Mahmood's song is still a huge success in some countries.
 

Daybreak

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Toy is a really weird one-off case though, it'd make sense people would be copying Fuego more. Eesti Laul is apparently going to have quite a lot of ballads or songs that "start slow and have a build-up" in any case.
 

AlekS

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Heaven forbids me from entering a comatose state in May. Nah, I believe it will be a balanced year.
Judging from our recent tastes we can send an uptempo bop.
 

Gera11

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I sure hope not. But if they're trying to copy Duncan's at least they might be somewhat modern-sounding. From my own country I have no hopes for a well-constructed ballad, we love the old cheese ballads performed by a middle-aged diva that would lead us to a third DNQ in a row

"She Got Me" may continue the trend that hot dance songs can do good so maybe some countries will deliver something. I'm not sure how to replicate "Soldi". Feels very specific to the Italian music scene
 

midnightsun

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Seems it is. Though I have to say it doesn't feel like an overweight of ballads because we have a good amount of catchy pop songs too. The ballads will be eliminated in the semis in a greater number because many sound the same and only the ones outstanding will survive.
 

Realest

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The Problem is not that we have too much Ballas, the Problem is that many Countries think Ballad = automatically good.
North Macedonias Juryvictory lead Eurovision in the wrong Direction I fear.
 

Realest

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The problem is we have the same songwriters for to many songs.

Not really, NJ. I mean Milanov, Kontoupoulos etc.. are very versatile Songwriters.
 

Zonne147

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Milanov is fine but Kontoupoulos' songs are very similar.

Totally agree, Milanov is way more versatile than Kontopoulos. Kontopoulos is predictable (and overrated) - probably "Superg!rl" is the song I would expect the less to be from him
 

midnightsun

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Ballads are not ballads. Some people are mixing up ballads with slow songs / down tempo songs.

:bg: and :ro: are not ballads.
:ee: is not a ballad.
:fi: is not a ballad.
:uk: is not a ballad.
:es: is not a ballad.
:al: is not a ballad.
:ge: is really not a ballad!

All these songs are boring imo because they’re just half-baked. (Except for Georgia.)

:ch: & :au: are semi-ballad.

My favourite this year is Switzerland. It combines a ballad with modern elements. Just like Arcade last year.
Australia is a pop-ballad that‘s more popular in the US than Europe.

:it: and :pl: are classic ballads.
:fr: is a contemporary ballad.
:sl: & :hr: are the usual Balkan-ballads.
:no: is a random Scandi-Eurovision-Ballad.
:pt: is the usual outdated oldie ballad.

Out of these I like the two classic ballads the most. This is what is really eurovision-y to me! Norway‘s great too. Scandi-ballads have been a steady part in Eurovision and that‘s good!
I actually love me a good Balkan ballad too but for some years now they are lacking variety, which is a pity, but they aren‘t a contender for anything anymore.
 
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musicfan

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The Problem is not that we have too much Ballas, the Problem is that many Countries think Ballad = automatically good.
North Macedonias Juryvictory lead Eurovision in the wrong Direction I fear.

Some people automatically think that a trashy dance song is good, or that it IS Eurovision. Which amounts to the same thing with how some think.
 

musicfan

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I'd rather have a good dance song. Fast food disco, fast food soul etc you listen and then throw away soon after. Why bother when there's so much more lasting music to listen to on the internet. And stage gimmicks don't really have long term appeal to most either.
 

Ana Raquel

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nah i never really throw away my good old fast food disco. it has always been part of my music taste and it forever will.

but then again it's my taste and well, a song just needs to be upbeat enough for me to stan so that's obviously a personal thing
 
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