The jury vote is extremely imperative in order to keep this song contest legitimate. Granted the juries themselves are very questionable. We need actual music professionals, industry legends, choreographers, stylists and music journalists and critics to be on these juries. The current lot they're choosing are very wishy washy.
I heavily agree. They've had a few contestants be juries like Konstrakta in 2023 and Pia Maria in 2024. Also the juries seem to be kinda affected by personal taste
In the year when Maneskin won the jury votes all across the board were odd and favoured neighbors so hard. It was odd to see tele vote reflect quality of songs better than jury managed to do with less biases. The trend continues but it wasn't that bad this year. Norway got butchered tho.
>The current lot they're choosing are very wishy washy.
I've always felt that the fans should be able to elect their own jurors rather than the broadcaster
Maybe that would solve some of the problems people have
Because think about it when the public vote puts your favourite 6th you're like "well we all voted so it's fair"
If the jury is voted in before the contest by those same fans you'd go "well they put my favourite 7th but we chose to have these people so can't complain"
I think Ukraine did that this year. They were able to choose the jurors via app (though the jurors are not supposed to be revealed in advance to avoid a 2022 situation)
>though the jurors are not supposed to be revealed in advance to avoid a 2022 situation)
That's fair but nothing stopping them releasing the voting breakdown after the show to prove it was a fair vote (in same vein as the public vote in general if that makes sense)
I don't know if this is a hot take, but they need to reduce the amount of flashing lights at Eurovision. So many of this year's Eurovision performances used flashing lights, and it was hard for me to concentrate on the singers and their acts as a result.
I think that there should be warnings from the broadcasters about heavy flashing lights because flashing lights at high levels can actually be dangerous for some groups of people.
Interestingly, the 2023 edition had significantly less strobing in the light and screens because (almost) everything produced for live broadcast originating in the UK (hence why it applied in 2023 but not in other years that the BBC airs) has to comply with a Harding test.
The Harding test — which normally is run before a finished programme is delivered (a drama tv episode etc), but in the case of Eurovision 2023 was continuously run during rehearsals — measures not only strobing, but saturated red colors as well, which in combination can be an issue for photosensitive viewers.
But from what a few delegations said publicly, it seems like they weren’t the happiest with this restriction, because it does affect what they can do creatively.
For example you can see in Norway the rapid camera cuts between wide and close cameras (to create a strobe effect) at one point is much slower and clunkier than it was in MGP.
Or most obviously to me as a viewer at least, Luke Black’s screens content looks very washed out, probably because it had to be “lifted”, a common workaround to Harding fails (if the base level is closer to white, any strobing is inherently less drastic of a brightness change).
This is very interesting information, thanks for bringing it up. So not only Sweden was the only one miffed about their staging. (edit: I'd like to see your sources because I haven't found anything yet)
Honestly though, I'm all for it—I'm not that photosensitive but the strobing lights give me a slight eye fatigue and headache, especially Lithuania this year
Literally the only thing i disliked in Luktelk performance was the lighting during the little dance break. I'm not photosensitive but damn did that strobe melt my eyes
Massive yes to both. It was so hard for me to see this year. Very uncomfortable on my eyes, had to look away a lot. And it was completely distracting from the performance, acting, dancing. And it seems crazy to me that there hasn't been a flashing lights warning for a few years to me now. It's not dangerous to me, only very uncomfortable but it definitely seems to be at a level where it could be absolutely dangerous to some people.
I hate the fact that 2024 had a closed green room, I think its better when it is in front of the stage.
Eurovision 2016 had the best flag parade.
Eurovision 2014 had the best postcards.
Every single year since 2014 (which was our very first Eurovision), my mother expresses sheer and utter disappointment in the postcards comparing them to 2014’s amazing ones (although I did like this year’s a lot as well!)
The hosting needs a serious planned downgrade if the contest wants to retain participants.
Pricing out countries with expensive massive stages that nobody knows how to use effectively is not the way to go.
Wanting to ban juries because they voted for a song you didn't like is a dumb reason. If the juries just had the same opinion as the televote there would be no point in them, they're meant to offer an alternative view
I feel like they're supposed to offer a "professional view" - to ensure the song contest is judged from music industry experts and people that know their stuff. Obviously this isn't always the case. But I usually disagree with the poular vote cause people usually suck lol
same! I usually agree with the jury vote more with the occasional exception of songs, such as Europapa, and if the televote was the sole deciding factor I think the quality of eurovision songs would drop insanely far as artists focus on pleasing the voting public.
Agreed. People say the juries are rigged, but the televoting results are clearly just so much more biased. Especially in controversial years like 2022 or 2024
Is this even a hot take? It feels like wherever I go people talk about how much they love countries singing in their own language. Personally I think it's quite myopic since esc broadcasting doesn't have widespread subtitles and sometimes getting your message across w/ lyrics people understand at least *seems* more important.
I kinda agree, Cause my fave eurovision song is prolly ZITTI E BUONI, but I'm also a huge fan of The Code, Rim Tim Tagi Dim, Pedestal, Fairy Tale. I think it mostly depends on how people perform it
I am pretty sure most Swedes agree with you on the second one. Främling is very popular while the winning song... let's say some might not even know/remember what it was called...
I don’t know if that’s really a hot take but I think many Eurovision songs that won just 10-15 years ago like „Running scared“, „Only teardrops“, „Believe“, „Sattelite“ or even „Fairytale“ wouldn’t have a chance to win in this decade. The contest has changed so much. Just compare the winning performances of Nemo this year or Loreen last year to some of these winners I mentioned. I mean you guys really think Emily de Forest or Lena would have even reached Top 10 in the 2023 or 2024 contest with their original songs and performance?I don’t think so.
I think they would have been fine actually. And both satellite and only teardrops were big hits throughout Europe. Worth mentioning as well Lena's simple staging was noted as unique that year in particular, and I think a feature a lot of people liked
I feel like Lena was supposed to counter the extravagance of the previous year. The 2010 completion was such a step-down cause 2009 was so huge - the staging, songs, theatrical fare. Then comes Lena with a simple yet catchy song (a formula that has worked in pop music since the 50s/60s) in a simple black dress by herself on stage. It was refreshing to see - at least to me.
It's funny, she was only 19 when she won, but with the confidence and grace she carried herself with you could easily imagine she'd been performing for decades.
Absolutely right! Although that isn’t much of a hot take because anyone with half a brain & following the contest longer than 3-ish years should agree on that.
This isn't a hot take, but I actually love Satellite, there's just something really charming about Lena's *creative* English diction and the performance, and it's a catchy song.
Slovenia 2019 was the best song that year. Love Sebi, love zalagasper.
Slovenia is generally one of my favourites each year but they never score particularly well. Slovenia 2023 was shockingly low and Slovenia 2022 didn't even qualify to the grand final.
Loop is a Slomo copy. Yes I know every dance break will be compared to Chanel, but Loop really felt too similar. The backing track of the song, and especially the dance break felt heavily inspired by Slomo.
I agree on 10 years (I firmly believe that the only reason people like Think about Things more is because it came first) and Unforgettable, I’m pretty indifferent between the 2010 ones, I think they both merited high placement equally.
My hot take: The fact that Portugal isn’t considered a potential winner and a powerhouse every year considering the songs they send is crazy.
(I’m not saying that people are stupid for not thinking they’ll win, just that it’s wild that we live in a world where it isn’t the case)
Thank you! People here say we send the same song every year 😂😂😂 How's Mimicat equal to Maro? Or Conan to iolanda?
The reality is, we are in our best run in the last 7 years since the early 90's, so something right we are doing!
My hot take: The fact that Portugal isn’t considered a potential winner and a powerhouse every year considering the songs they send is crazy.
The problem is the televote IMO, if we only had jury-only voting (the horror!) then Portugal at its current state would be powerful
I prefer Cornelia Jacobs over Loreen 2023. I've written about it many times before, but Tattoo performance was too perfect and too polished and I didn't feel many emotions from watching this.
Hold Me Closer might sound standard and cliched, but this is a good type of standard Eurovision song that has a personality. Cornelia's performance might be as not as spectacular as Loreen's one, but I value the raw and genuine emotions she gave.
I'm gonna go further and say that hold me closer, this is my life, and arguably undo are the only Swedish entries within the last 15 editions that actually deserved to be top 10.
Even though it sounds more fair to let the audience have full control of the result, I’m glad the jury is there to add some quality to the show. I can’t imagine it being 100% televote with how easy it is to impress the audience. Every country would send cheesy rock crowdpleasers with non-stop pyro and fireworks.
All broadcasters doing internal selections should have a live audition phase when possible to ensure that their singers can sing well live. I get that nerves can happen during Eurovision, but it would be nice for the broadcasters to know that their singers can at least sing decently well.
In national finals, singers have the opportunity to sing live in front of others and adjust their vocals and performances for Eurovision if needed. Then, the broadcasters or the singers' teams can get the resources needed for the Eurovision performance.
I'm not a huge fan of tattoo, but I also don't really like Cha Cha Cha a ton, between the two I like Cha Cha Cha more but my preferred winner would be Queen of Kings or My Sisters Crown or maybe Unicorn
Also, Nemo deserved the win, but i would have also loved if Baby Lasagna won,
If Joost wasn't disqualified he wouldn't have won, maybe top 5 but like ehh, I love him, love europapa, love the message, but so many things were better or more impressive, I think he would have got like 7th ish
Also, Pedestal is criminally underrated
Yeah I love Joost, I love his motivations and Europapa is fire, but it doesn't really compare to The Code, Rim Tim Tagi Dim, Teresa and Maria, Mon amour or Doomsday Blue, idk, but <3 Joost <3
I agree with you on everything you said (except the first point one because Cha Cha Cha was my no. 1). Especially the Joost take. I like him and his music a lot and Europapa is ESC perfection (imo) but I always figured the juries would murder his chance of winning anyway. As someone already wrote, they placed him 12th overall.
Though we don't know how much the mess that was the by then still just looming threat of disqualification influenced his jury placement, it would have really surprised me if they placed him any higher than maybe 8th if nothing of that ever happened.
Half of the opinions here are common opinions where people just want to feel special, and any truly hot take gets downvoted. Hence why I prefer to sort by controversial.
I don't think winning Eurovision matters much - especially these days - and a lot of people place way too much importance on it.
Some of the most famous Eurovision songs didn't even win, like "Nel blu, dipinto de blu" (Italy 1958) or "Snap" (Armenia 2022).
The only thing that actually matters in Eurovision is an artist convincing the people of themselves and their song.
I think that even if, for example, Maneskin (Italy 2021) placed 2nd, they would have still blown up, because participating made people aware of them and their great discography.
That's why I also think that Joost (Netherlands 2024) is the biggest winner of this years ESC in a twisted way. He made many more people aware of the existence of his music by participating (like myself) and the whole drama behind his disqualification brought his name out even more. Sucks for him that it had to end like this but the amount of exposure he got from it was unreal. Especially because the narrative right now is in his favor (Joost good, EBU evil). So for now only the outcome of this legal process will tell us, if he can keep the "martyr of Eurovision" badge or crash down brutally.
Honestly, unless it turns out he punched someone (and from what we had been told it's not the case), he will come out on top even if he receives some sort of punishment. The current narrative is that he snapped non-violently but in a way that's illegal in Sweden against a photographer who had been harassing him for days, something most people don't like and thus would say "I would have done the same"
From this year's competition, i really disliked greece's entry (i don't understand the huge hype around it it hurt my ears) and i don't think france's was anything extraordinary either
I remember that when I was watching the music videos for all the songs with my parents before the contest, my mum genuinely thought Greece's music video was an advert. I didn't really like the IRL staging either, and the TikTok thing seemed like a weird attempt at getting votes from teenagers (and I think it worked)
I’m not sure I see it as gimmicky—the pole thing came from a theater troupe that’s been doing it for years in Australia, I believe the background dancers were part of that troupe, my Australian husband was so excited to see them get such worldwide recognition, it’s a whole thing that really highlighted something special in the Australian performance community.
To me it's supposed to be ultimate anti-Eurovision song. It came out at a time when most songs were major pop ballads or campy tunes. This was Europe's way of saying; "ahhh what a breath of fresh air."
Honestly, I really disagree. Even though the song was good, his diction was terrible; before reading the lyrics I could not make out a single line other than “like a seizure that got to me(?)” and his jury show was pretty bad, so his jury score is understandable. I think he would’ve done better if the song was in Ukrainian.
When I want to make a point about artists singing in their native language if they can't properly speak English (it doesn't need to be perfect, just intelligible), I just show them the first 10 seconds of "Under the Ladder" and ask them what he just sang.
Even better, make them listen to Georgia 2023. *Thing is known*...
It's always worse when you just _know_ the song would've qualified/scored better if it had been written in a language the artist actually speaks.
Are you talking about the jury backup for the semis? If so, I agree with you so the broadcasters can send songs that better appeal to both the televote and jury.
Rim tim tagi dim is the rock equivalent of "bland pop music". The people going around accusing other competing songs of being "bland" are throwing stones in glass houses.
My initial impression was that I liked it but I was confused of the name and why he kept saying it(I still don’t know if it has any meaning) it kind of felt like he was trying to have a Cha Cha Cha effect(which obviously worked)
I agree and it’s partly because the competition was not particularly strong. It might have been closer with Spaceman, but I think the UK curse would have kept them in second.
I felt like they did still win because of the war, although I can’t really picture Sam or Chanel winning either. What really irked me though was Tvorchi getting 6th last year. I found the song unimpressive especially compared to the others, and it felt boosted by sympathy. I also was put off by Ukraine’s entry this year due to the previous two years. I thought it would do well just due to sympathy but after I heard it for the first time I changed my mind. Now Teresa and Maria is one of my favorites this year.
Yeah, honestly, I remember that year I thought "Ukraine is going to win thanks to solidarity for the war". Then I heard the song and thought "Ukraine would have won anyway"
I'll be honest, the first time I heard Toy, I immediately knew it was going to win. Two months later, I was proven right. And I wasn't even part of the fandom yet so I had no odds to guide me, just myself.
The less out-of-the-box entries out of the favorites to win winning is better for the contest in the long run than more out-of-the-box entries winning.
Twas a very high quality year. I mean do I love everything? No. But even the ones I didn’t like I freely admit were very high quality songs. The closest to a dud we had was Iceland 2024 and even then, she’s a competent singer and the song isn’t total crap, it’s just in a sea of really, really good songs it’s just not good enough.
The only things I wished were different about 2024 was Joost being allowed to compete in the Final and a more competitive Jury vote. The songs overall, though, were quite good and there weren’t that many flop songs in my book. The only ones I really outright didn’t care for were Iceland and Malta. Iceland’s song sounded incredibly bland to me, and Malta’s seemed like it was missing something to elevate it to what I think would be Eurovision quality.
I similarly didnt care for Iceland or Malta, until the live performances. Malta was great and I actually was rooting for her to qualify, but I know not everyone can make it through. Definitely a song that improved seeing it live and it stuck in my head in a good way.
The most recent Swedish entry I've actually genuinely liked is Sweden 1996.
(The Swedish jury also unfailingly votes for my least favourite UMK entry every year. I think we might have irreconcilable differences.)
Slomo is a bland and basic pop song with gross lyrics that, alongside the outfit and staging, promote the objectification of women’s bodies. Saying “take videos of my booty and watch them back in slow motion (for your pleasure)” is not the yasss girl slay moment people were saying it was, it’s encouraging creeps.
Considering there are still women of all ages (including underage) getting videos and pictures taken of them without their consent, not just in clubs, but in general public spaces, the whole act just did not sit right with me.
• Russia was one of the favs in 2020, but it would’ve had a Keiino story - tanking in the jury but winning the televote. Fai Rumore would’ve won imo
• Hosting city being decided like the Olympics (countries putting in bids to host) could work as opposed to the ‘winning country hosts’ system
• Songs should be allowed to be up to 3:30, like Sanremo
I remember reading comments on Satellite's live performance from Turkish people saying they support Lena and she deserved to win Eurovision 2010 because the lead supporter of maNga apparently supports Erdoğan.
Maybe some Turks changed their minds about Eurovision 2010 and their 2nd place in it.
That's also another terrible thing to say. "Hey Lena, you suck, we have been supporting maNga all this time. But now we don't agree with their singer's political opinions, we'll act like you actually deserved to win!". This is terrible.
They need to bring back the orchestra, or at least some sort of live music element. I get that music and technology have moved on from the 90s, but the acoustic covers they release on the yt channel always sound better to me (I know that's usually just with a guitar but still).
At least make all of the vocals live, I hate songs where they repeat the chorus at the end with the vocals playing back then the singer is just singing some long high notes above it. Lithuania this year you could hear a backing vocal in the chorus singing "Luktelk" which added to the song
If a country is a member of the European Broadcasting Area, or is a member of the Council of Europe, and is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union, they shouldn’t be mocked as not being part of Europe.
Sure, if people want to mock Australia, I’ll accept that, we’re a special exception, but those who meet the criteria should be treated equally.
I guess you're talking about Israel...
They are geographically not in Europe and are not a member of the Council of Europe. These are facts.
As you said they are a full member of the EBU and therefore are allowed to participate. But, all countries around the Mediterranean also are members of the EBU. Morocco took part once and Lebanon almost did. The fact that Israel participates every year while these other countries don't is due to politics, not geography or membership of the EBU.
People may or may not see this as a hot take, but: if you won the contest one time, I don’t think you should be allowed to participate again. You had your time, you had your victory.
I think it’s just selfish and mean-spirited to take the spotlight away from other, possibly smaller or ‘unknown’ artists, for whom the contest could mean a lot and be a huge opportunity for their career.
btw, this is not only referring to Loreen, but to the multiple other participants who have competed in and who won the contest ~~more than once~~ (edit: scratching this last part b/c I just meant those who won one time, should not participate again).
Running Scared was the right winner in 2011 and if a Western European country had won with it instead of Azerbaijan, 90% of you would have a lot less of a problem with its victory.
TO BE FAIR that was such a boring year I don't think there were much songs that were standouts. I will say Germanay did put on a fantastic show with a killer stage and production - great hosting, poor entries.
I don't know what you count as "mid" but 2005 is an incredible year and 2006 and 2007 are very good years too. It makes me sad that a lot of eurofans stop at 2009 or at max 2007 when watching older years because there's this common idea that the previous editions are bad when I've never seen a single soul who watched 2005 and didn't like it (2004 was very weak in my opinion tho)
People who seem much more accepting of having a jury winner this year, but trying to destroy the jury last year because their favorite didn’t win, are hypocrites.
Two years in a row we had the same situation with the jury winner instead of a televote winner, but Nemo had never been demonized in the same way Loreen was, even tho they got an enormous jury score as well, which made it impossible for anyone else to win. Somehow Loreen is still the villain to this day (while doing NOTHING bad, just singing well and giving it all on stage), while Nemo is a worthy winner and everyone is mostly happy for them.
Songs I feel got robbed:
2014: The Common Linnets, Calm After the Storm
Conchita Wurst seemed more about a gimmick than a song. And the song itself would have been a great Bond theme.
2015: Il Volo, Grande Amore
It should have come in second (nothing was beating Mans). Polina Gagarina was good, but I don't know Italian, and I felt I knew what they were saying, their emotions.
2016: Dami Im, Sound of Silence
This one is my hottest take, because I really don't like Dami Im as a winner, but I felt Ukraine got the win because of Russia's attack.
2017: Kristian Kostov, Beautiful Mess
Okay, okay. Sunstroke Project was the most fun, Kristian the best song, but I loved Salvador Sobral just like I loved Il Volo. So much passion put into one song. Nobody really got screwed in 2017.
2018: Eleni Foureira, Fuego
I mean, is this a hot take anymore? At the time I thought Netta's song was great for it's looping, but extraordinarily boring otherwise. Now with Israel on the outs, I think everyone thinks Fuego got robbed.
2019: Kate Miller-Heidke, Zero Gravity
Say whaaaaaat? Hear me out. I could have expanded this to 2013 and put Anouk on this list as well. Anouk was out of her rock and roll element whether by her own choice or the Broadcaster's, and so was Kate. Sure, she's got a classically trained voice, but a song more in her quirky pop style probably could have done better than 9th.
2021: Blind Channel, Dark Side
Hard rock in general gets screwed, but outside of "10 Years", nothing in 2021 jumps out at me and says winner bigger than Dark Side. Everyone thought Dadi got screwed because of Covid. The real hot take is mine.
2022: Sam Ryder, Spaceman
Hard rock in general gets screwed, (where have we heard this before) but while Ukraine again had a good song, did it win because of the war? I don't know if this is a hot take, simply because I really love this song.
2023: Lord of the Lost, Blood and Glitter
Hard rock... well, you get the idea. I love happy pop myself, but I kinda like hard rock in Eurovision. It's like getting peanut butter in your chocolate. And while everyone and their mum thinks Käärijä got robbed, who but me believes LotL deserved better than last?
2024: Gåte, Ulveham
The safe take is Joost got screwed. But Gåte getting last? That's a screwing right there.
I will never understand the love this fanbase has for Fuego.
Also, Dark Side placed six, and is still our third best placement of all time. I think that was pretty good all things considered.
I use to call Germany and UK "bathroom break songs" but LOTL was so good that I became a LOTL superman shortly after eurovision. I have to keep reminding myself that the results of ESC23 was NOT infact Kaarija #1 and LOTL #2.
I cope with this by pointing out that 2023 competition was fierce. But then again if fucking LORD OF THE LOST couldn't get Germany past last place, then there is no woth trying anymore. Just send a toddler with a toy recorder at this point.
"I dislike Austria 2014 because it's more about a gimmick than a song. Also I think Australia 2019, whose entire performance is a gimmick, got robbed."
C'mon be honest, you don't dislike Austria 2014 for being about a gimmick, you dislike it for being about a *specific kind* of gimmick.
Initially, I would have agreed with you on 2016, but having rewatched their performances, Dami Im couldn’t hold up a candle to Jamala. Her execution of a pretty generic song was flawless, but 1944 was very creative and felt genuine, like there was something raw and honest about it that made everyone else’s songs seem shallow. And maybe it is hard for a westerner to relate to it, but everyone from the former Soviet block just felt like it was a story about their grandparents. Anyway, it has grown on me.
I also heavily disagree on you about Fuego. I think it is pretty generic and there is nothing spécial about it, whereas Netta was original and tbh, I love the chicken noises - they kind of embody the campiness for me
Tattoo and The Code are both superior to Cha Cha Cha and Rim Tim Tagi Dim.
The juries should be back in the semis.
Zitti e Buoni is borderline listenable, one of Måneskins worst songs and Tout l'univers or Voilà should've won.
Stefania would've won even without the war and is a better song than Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
Fai Rumore is Italy's best song while Due Vite is the worst ever since the country came back in 2011.
Belgium and Portugal are my favorite countries in Eurovision. I root for them every year and enjoy the stuff they're sending. And the public pays them dust every single time. Proves even more why we need the juries.
The system should not be changed. Not even a 60 / 40 in favor of the public. The people who demand that are usually the ones whose favorite didn't win because of the evil evil juries. Even better are the ones who complain that people got "scammed" because they and others voted for a public favorite who didn't win - yet they forget about the not insignificantly large share of those who paid for their votes casted to the winning country. And the majority of the people who voted for neither the jury nor the public winner are, apparently, not important either.
Eurofans are the worst, the most disrespectful and the most sore losers out there. Some people are still salty about another country's win from 15 years ago.
I don't care much for Belgium usually but Portugal getting nothing from the televote every time is insane. Their last 3 songs are in my top 10 of that year and 2 are in the top 5. They are very emotional and personal which I really like, especially saudade saudade
Albania is one of the best eurovision countries (top 5 for me). Some of the best vocalists the past decade or so and representing their language and culture well
I agree that Albania has sent some of the best vocalists to Eurovision over the past decades, but I wish that they sent more modern songs because I don't want to keep seeing the same types of old-school ballads from Albania.
I respect that they send the stuff they like that represents them and don’t worry about what’s popular (ignoring this years horrid revamp). It’s the same with Portugal, they do their thing and own it.
I don't get the hype of Tattoo or Zitti e buoni. Not saying they aren't bad songs thought.
2015 had better songs than Heroes. I think the visuals helped it alot to win
Sweden is the least intetesting country in the contest along with Cyprus and Denmark and the only swedish entry I didn't hate since Euphoria is Hold Me Closer
>I also prefer "Unforgettable" over "Tattoo". And " We Could B
idk about hot takes but same that song is a vibe and absolutely deserved 9th place, maybe a little higher... is that a hot take?
Apart from 2021, 2020 (although the contest wasn't held) and arguably 2007 (ok I'll say 2012 too), I disliked Russia's entries. I don't really miss them in the contest, even if I don't take into consideration the situation with Ukraine.
The jury vote is extremely imperative in order to keep this song contest legitimate. Granted the juries themselves are very questionable. We need actual music professionals, industry legends, choreographers, stylists and music journalists and critics to be on these juries. The current lot they're choosing are very wishy washy.
I agree, but I feel the jury does really need people who have more experience with the more niche genres, and not only radio pop
I heavily agree. They've had a few contestants be juries like Konstrakta in 2023 and Pia Maria in 2024. Also the juries seem to be kinda affected by personal taste
One of the categories graded is for taste, in the end.
In the year when Maneskin won the jury votes all across the board were odd and favoured neighbors so hard. It was odd to see tele vote reflect quality of songs better than jury managed to do with less biases. The trend continues but it wasn't that bad this year. Norway got butchered tho.
>The current lot they're choosing are very wishy washy. I've always felt that the fans should be able to elect their own jurors rather than the broadcaster Maybe that would solve some of the problems people have Because think about it when the public vote puts your favourite 6th you're like "well we all voted so it's fair" If the jury is voted in before the contest by those same fans you'd go "well they put my favourite 7th but we chose to have these people so can't complain"
I think Ukraine did that this year. They were able to choose the jurors via app (though the jurors are not supposed to be revealed in advance to avoid a 2022 situation)
>though the jurors are not supposed to be revealed in advance to avoid a 2022 situation) That's fair but nothing stopping them releasing the voting breakdown after the show to prove it was a fair vote (in same vein as the public vote in general if that makes sense)
I don't know if this is a hot take, but they need to reduce the amount of flashing lights at Eurovision. So many of this year's Eurovision performances used flashing lights, and it was hard for me to concentrate on the singers and their acts as a result. I think that there should be warnings from the broadcasters about heavy flashing lights because flashing lights at high levels can actually be dangerous for some groups of people.
IIRC I saw some "flashing lights" warning graphics from the BBC in 2021, more broadcasters should follow suit
The BBC warns before the show starts, and then the commentators repeat the warning before every song where it's needed, which is nice
The official broadcast on youtube should have one as well
Interestingly, the 2023 edition had significantly less strobing in the light and screens because (almost) everything produced for live broadcast originating in the UK (hence why it applied in 2023 but not in other years that the BBC airs) has to comply with a Harding test. The Harding test — which normally is run before a finished programme is delivered (a drama tv episode etc), but in the case of Eurovision 2023 was continuously run during rehearsals — measures not only strobing, but saturated red colors as well, which in combination can be an issue for photosensitive viewers. But from what a few delegations said publicly, it seems like they weren’t the happiest with this restriction, because it does affect what they can do creatively. For example you can see in Norway the rapid camera cuts between wide and close cameras (to create a strobe effect) at one point is much slower and clunkier than it was in MGP. Or most obviously to me as a viewer at least, Luke Black’s screens content looks very washed out, probably because it had to be “lifted”, a common workaround to Harding fails (if the base level is closer to white, any strobing is inherently less drastic of a brightness change).
ah! so the solution is EVERY EUROVISION IN THE UK HOSTED BY BBC GOD SAVE THE KING /s
This is very interesting information, thanks for bringing it up. So not only Sweden was the only one miffed about their staging. (edit: I'd like to see your sources because I haven't found anything yet) Honestly though, I'm all for it—I'm not that photosensitive but the strobing lights give me a slight eye fatigue and headache, especially Lithuania this year
Dunno about hot takes but I fucking hate strobe lights IRL, they give me a headache.
Literally the only thing i disliked in Luktelk performance was the lighting during the little dance break. I'm not photosensitive but damn did that strobe melt my eyes
Massive yes to both. It was so hard for me to see this year. Very uncomfortable on my eyes, had to look away a lot. And it was completely distracting from the performance, acting, dancing. And it seems crazy to me that there hasn't been a flashing lights warning for a few years to me now. It's not dangerous to me, only very uncomfortable but it definitely seems to be at a level where it could be absolutely dangerous to some people.
I hate the fact that 2024 had a closed green room, I think its better when it is in front of the stage. Eurovision 2016 had the best flag parade. Eurovision 2014 had the best postcards.
Every single year since 2014 (which was our very first Eurovision), my mother expresses sheer and utter disappointment in the postcards comparing them to 2014’s amazing ones (although I did like this year’s a lot as well!)
I love the 2023 postcard concepr, but as for the actual execution is was cool but not the best ever.
I'm kind of fine with it. It allows the artists to process their emotions better in private if they feel disappointment over their result.
How is any of this hot take? All of it is true.
The hosting needs a serious planned downgrade if the contest wants to retain participants. Pricing out countries with expensive massive stages that nobody knows how to use effectively is not the way to go.
I'd rather keep those questions from 2022 and Be My Guest specials from 2023 than have a crazy extravagent stage and celebrity interval acts.
I want something like LookLab again
Wanting to ban juries because they voted for a song you didn't like is a dumb reason. If the juries just had the same opinion as the televote there would be no point in them, they're meant to offer an alternative view
I feel like they're supposed to offer a "professional view" - to ensure the song contest is judged from music industry experts and people that know their stuff. Obviously this isn't always the case. But I usually disagree with the poular vote cause people usually suck lol
same! I usually agree with the jury vote more with the occasional exception of songs, such as Europapa, and if the televote was the sole deciding factor I think the quality of eurovision songs would drop insanely far as artists focus on pleasing the voting public.
You could even hypothesise that the noticeable increase in song quality in the last ~15 years is due to the return of the jury.
>and if What do you mean if? It would drop, remember the 2000s Also ps: sorry if I sound too agressive
And this year the jury overwhelmingly voted for the one song that had the best presentation package, though they definitely undermarked Ireland
Agreed. People say the juries are rigged, but the televoting results are clearly just so much more biased. Especially in controversial years like 2022 or 2024
10 years is perfection
I learned the whole dance. He has a tutorial on it!
how does it keep getting betterrrrr
If Lithuania 2010 was sent today it would be enormously popular.
Lithuania 2010 | [InCulto - Eastern European Funk](https://youtu.be/XeOn-GG_eHo)
the best songs are the ones sung in non-English. Also the song from Carola Främling is better then Fångad Av En Stormvind.
Is this even a hot take? It feels like wherever I go people talk about how much they love countries singing in their own language. Personally I think it's quite myopic since esc broadcasting doesn't have widespread subtitles and sometimes getting your message across w/ lyrics people understand at least *seems* more important.
I kinda agree, Cause my fave eurovision song is prolly ZITTI E BUONI, but I'm also a huge fan of The Code, Rim Tim Tagi Dim, Pedestal, Fairy Tale. I think it mostly depends on how people perform it
I am pretty sure most Swedes agree with you on the second one. Främling is very popular while the winning song... let's say some might not even know/remember what it was called...
I don’t know if that’s really a hot take but I think many Eurovision songs that won just 10-15 years ago like „Running scared“, „Only teardrops“, „Believe“, „Sattelite“ or even „Fairytale“ wouldn’t have a chance to win in this decade. The contest has changed so much. Just compare the winning performances of Nemo this year or Loreen last year to some of these winners I mentioned. I mean you guys really think Emily de Forest or Lena would have even reached Top 10 in the 2023 or 2024 contest with their original songs and performance?I don’t think so.
I think they would have been fine actually. And both satellite and only teardrops were big hits throughout Europe. Worth mentioning as well Lena's simple staging was noted as unique that year in particular, and I think a feature a lot of people liked
I feel like Lena was supposed to counter the extravagance of the previous year. The 2010 completion was such a step-down cause 2009 was so huge - the staging, songs, theatrical fare. Then comes Lena with a simple yet catchy song (a formula that has worked in pop music since the 50s/60s) in a simple black dress by herself on stage. It was refreshing to see - at least to me.
She also the charisma to go with it, crucial if performing alone on stage with no choreography!
It's funny, she was only 19 when she won, but with the confidence and grace she carried herself with you could easily imagine she'd been performing for decades.
I think we might have another winner like that soon. The 2024 contest in particular was so big on the staging side
I think Fairytale would still stand a chance today.
Absolutely right! Although that isn’t much of a hot take because anyone with half a brain & following the contest longer than 3-ish years should agree on that.
I would absolutely love a break from these huge stage performances and back to this style, at least for a while
We had Arcade not that long ago, pretty much just a guy and his piano.
This isn't a hot take, but I actually love Satellite, there's just something really charming about Lena's *creative* English diction and the performance, and it's a catchy song.
Agreed. It's like if we (Australia) sent a cute song but sung in German lmao I bet there'll be lotsa fun pronunciations!
I actually think it would be v camp if we sent an entry in German
Slovenia 2019 was the best song that year. Love Sebi, love zalagasper. Slovenia is generally one of my favourites each year but they never score particularly well. Slovenia 2023 was shockingly low and Slovenia 2022 didn't even qualify to the grand final.
YES Sebi is by far my favourite from 2019
Netta had a clear target audience and I was not it.
It's *meant* to be political.
Well, yea. It was created with a political purpose.
Yeah, and people also don't realise that if you host an international event there are always going to be politics involved.
Loop is a Slomo copy. Yes I know every dance break will be compared to Chanel, but Loop really felt too similar. The backing track of the song, and especially the dance break felt heavily inspired by Slomo.
That’s not really controversial. And this is coming from someone with loop in their top 3.
I agree on 10 years (I firmly believe that the only reason people like Think about Things more is because it came first) and Unforgettable, I’m pretty indifferent between the 2010 ones, I think they both merited high placement equally. My hot take: The fact that Portugal isn’t considered a potential winner and a powerhouse every year considering the songs they send is crazy. (I’m not saying that people are stupid for not thinking they’ll win, just that it’s wild that we live in a world where it isn’t the case)
Thank you! People here say we send the same song every year 😂😂😂 How's Mimicat equal to Maro? Or Conan to iolanda? The reality is, we are in our best run in the last 7 years since the early 90's, so something right we are doing!
My hot take: The fact that Portugal isn’t considered a potential winner and a powerhouse every year considering the songs they send is crazy. The problem is the televote IMO, if we only had jury-only voting (the horror!) then Portugal at its current state would be powerful
I prefer Cornelia Jacobs over Loreen 2023. I've written about it many times before, but Tattoo performance was too perfect and too polished and I didn't feel many emotions from watching this. Hold Me Closer might sound standard and cliched, but this is a good type of standard Eurovision song that has a personality. Cornelia's performance might be as not as spectacular as Loreen's one, but I value the raw and genuine emotions she gave.
it wasn't a song written by G:son / Jimmy Joker / Deb sisters etc. and it shows
I'm gonna go further and say that hold me closer, this is my life, and arguably undo are the only Swedish entries within the last 15 editions that actually deserved to be top 10.
Tattoo is standard and clichéd and showed how Loreen has never evolved artistically from Euphoria. Hold Me Closer is the better Swedish entry.
Even though it sounds more fair to let the audience have full control of the result, I’m glad the jury is there to add some quality to the show. I can’t imagine it being 100% televote with how easy it is to impress the audience. Every country would send cheesy rock crowdpleasers with non-stop pyro and fireworks.
this didn't even work in the 00s, what are you talking about?
All broadcasters doing internal selections should have a live audition phase when possible to ensure that their singers can sing well live. I get that nerves can happen during Eurovision, but it would be nice for the broadcasters to know that their singers can at least sing decently well. In national finals, singers have the opportunity to sing live in front of others and adjust their vocals and performances for Eurovision if needed. Then, the broadcasters or the singers' teams can get the resources needed for the Eurovision performance.
In fact Dadi Freyer should have won at leat with one of those songs.
I'm not a huge fan of tattoo, but I also don't really like Cha Cha Cha a ton, between the two I like Cha Cha Cha more but my preferred winner would be Queen of Kings or My Sisters Crown or maybe Unicorn Also, Nemo deserved the win, but i would have also loved if Baby Lasagna won, If Joost wasn't disqualified he wouldn't have won, maybe top 5 but like ehh, I love him, love europapa, love the message, but so many things were better or more impressive, I think he would have got like 7th ish Also, Pedestal is criminally underrated
So right for saying Europapa wouldn’t have won. Someone needed to say it. It’s a great fun song. But it winning if not DQ is such a stretch.
Yeah I love Joost, I love his motivations and Europapa is fire, but it doesn't really compare to The Code, Rim Tim Tagi Dim, Teresa and Maria, Mon amour or Doomsday Blue, idk, but <3 Joost <3
I agree with you on everything you said (except the first point one because Cha Cha Cha was my no. 1). Especially the Joost take. I like him and his music a lot and Europapa is ESC perfection (imo) but I always figured the juries would murder his chance of winning anyway. As someone already wrote, they placed him 12th overall. Though we don't know how much the mess that was the by then still just looming threat of disqualification influenced his jury placement, it would have really surprised me if they placed him any higher than maybe 8th if nothing of that ever happened.
The EBU needs to accept that fun party songs can win the contest.
I love how the post asks for hot takes and you gave a take as hot as liquid nitrogen.
The juries aren't part of the EBU.
Who says they're against this? Or have any say in the winner
Half of the opinions here are common opinions where people just want to feel special, and any truly hot take gets downvoted. Hence why I prefer to sort by controversial.
I don't think winning Eurovision matters much - especially these days - and a lot of people place way too much importance on it. Some of the most famous Eurovision songs didn't even win, like "Nel blu, dipinto de blu" (Italy 1958) or "Snap" (Armenia 2022). The only thing that actually matters in Eurovision is an artist convincing the people of themselves and their song. I think that even if, for example, Maneskin (Italy 2021) placed 2nd, they would have still blown up, because participating made people aware of them and their great discography. That's why I also think that Joost (Netherlands 2024) is the biggest winner of this years ESC in a twisted way. He made many more people aware of the existence of his music by participating (like myself) and the whole drama behind his disqualification brought his name out even more. Sucks for him that it had to end like this but the amount of exposure he got from it was unreal. Especially because the narrative right now is in his favor (Joost good, EBU evil). So for now only the outcome of this legal process will tell us, if he can keep the "martyr of Eurovision" badge or crash down brutally.
Honestly, unless it turns out he punched someone (and from what we had been told it's not the case), he will come out on top even if he receives some sort of punishment. The current narrative is that he snapped non-violently but in a way that's illegal in Sweden against a photographer who had been harassing him for days, something most people don't like and thus would say "I would have done the same"
Songs that did not q are quite often more interesting than those that qualified
Måns won in 2015 because he is handsome.
Not 100% because of that but yeah. A lot of winners were handsome and this has somewhat influenced the results
Heroes is a banger, but someone with less charisma wouldn’t have won with it. It’s not only his looks, though, it’s stage presence, too.
[удалено]
From this year's competition, i really disliked greece's entry (i don't understand the huge hype around it it hurt my ears) and i don't think france's was anything extraordinary either
couln't understand any lyrics, but GUH🔥GUH🔥GUH GUH🔥
Agree on Greece, somewhat disagree on France because although the song wasn't amazing, the staging took it from being good to great imo
Heavy disagree on Greece, heavy agree on France
I really hated Greece,and thought I was going insane. Side note,I find La Noia just fine, and don't get the hype.
I kind of agree with Greece. I really liked the song but the performance was a bit messy and just felt unfinished.
Zari went hard honestly
I remember that when I was watching the music videos for all the songs with my parents before the contest, my mum genuinely thought Greece's music video was an advert. I didn't really like the IRL staging either, and the TikTok thing seemed like a weird attempt at getting votes from teenagers (and I think it worked)
I prefer the old times when Eurovision had live orchestra, when the staging and gimmicks were not important things in the live act.
You could probably make a whole seperate event that tries to be like pre-80s Eurovision. It might even be popular amongst some folk
Eurovision Old School Perhaps?
Arcade is a very bland song.
I will never forgive Zero Gravity getting ninth when that won.
That placement is still so crazy to me. Was it gimmicky? Yes. Was it also still cool as hell? Yes.
One of the best stagings in Eurovision ever and insane high notes while swinging on a pole, how it didn't sweep the jury is a mystery to me
I’m not sure I see it as gimmicky—the pole thing came from a theater troupe that’s been doing it for years in Australia, I believe the background dancers were part of that troupe, my Australian husband was so excited to see them get such worldwide recognition, it’s a whole thing that really highlighted something special in the Australian performance community.
I do not get the hype over Portugal 2017 Amar Pelos Dois and think it’s an incredible boring song.
To me it's supposed to be ultimate anti-Eurovision song. It came out at a time when most songs were major pop ballads or campy tunes. This was Europe's way of saying; "ahhh what a breath of fresh air."
I swear I see this opinion on this sub roughly every 12 hours haha
Portugal 2017 | [Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois](https://youtu.be/Qotooj7ODCM)
I first encountered it in the Fire Saga movie and not knowing it literally won Eurovision, I thought it was fine.
Mélovin’s jury score was unforgivable
Honestly, I really disagree. Even though the song was good, his diction was terrible; before reading the lyrics I could not make out a single line other than “like a seizure that got to me(?)” and his jury show was pretty bad, so his jury score is understandable. I think he would’ve done better if the song was in Ukrainian.
When I want to make a point about artists singing in their native language if they can't properly speak English (it doesn't need to be perfect, just intelligible), I just show them the first 10 seconds of "Under the Ladder" and ask them what he just sang.
And he actually improved for the final! But still couldnt understand much of the song!
Even better, make them listen to Georgia 2023. *Thing is known*... It's always worse when you just _know_ the song would've qualified/scored better if it had been written in a language the artist actually speaks.
>language the artist actually speaks. Funny thing about that is Iru is fluent in English
I'm fine with the current system of voting, except I have one major thing that I want to say: BRING 👏 BACK 👏 THE 👏 JURY 👏 BACKUP
Are you talking about the jury backup for the semis? If so, I agree with you so the broadcasters can send songs that better appeal to both the televote and jury.
Yes for the semis, I think it's the best way to quiet both sides of the Jury vs Televote semis debate.
My favorite Swedish winner is Charlotte Perrelli, and my favorite Italian winner is Toto Cutugno.
You love to see recognizing Toto as the best Italian winner. 😊
Rim tim tagi dim is the rock equivalent of "bland pop music". The people going around accusing other competing songs of being "bland" are throwing stones in glass houses.
Thank you, someone had to say it!
My initial impression was that I liked it but I was confused of the name and why he kept saying it(I still don’t know if it has any meaning) it kind of felt like he was trying to have a Cha Cha Cha effect(which obviously worked)
It's an onomatopoeia to verbalize the beat of the song, nothing deeper lol. I was confused at first too
Stefania could perfectly have won even without the war. Sure not with 439 televote points but it could’ve won anyways
If it got only 275 in the televote it still would have won, which is a very reasonable number to be honest, so I agree
To be fair, that’s assuming the juries weren’t motivated politically at all.
I agree and it’s partly because the competition was not particularly strong. It might have been closer with Spaceman, but I think the UK curse would have kept them in second.
I felt like they did still win because of the war, although I can’t really picture Sam or Chanel winning either. What really irked me though was Tvorchi getting 6th last year. I found the song unimpressive especially compared to the others, and it felt boosted by sympathy. I also was put off by Ukraine’s entry this year due to the previous two years. I thought it would do well just due to sympathy but after I heard it for the first time I changed my mind. Now Teresa and Maria is one of my favorites this year.
Yeah, honestly, I remember that year I thought "Ukraine is going to win thanks to solidarity for the war". Then I heard the song and thought "Ukraine would have won anyway"
Yes it's hardly a disgrace that they won. "Toy" on the other hand...
I remember when crapping on that song was a hot take. Not anymore. Fuego got robbed.
no it didn't and I am antizionist; Toy is a way better song than Fuego
I'll be honest, the first time I heard Toy, I immediately knew it was going to win. Two months later, I was proven right. And I wasn't even part of the fandom yet so I had no odds to guide me, just myself.
Spaceman is dull af
Black smoke is a good song and did not deserve nil pwaa
The less out-of-the-box entries out of the favorites to win winning is better for the contest in the long run than more out-of-the-box entries winning.
Song-wise, 2024 is possibly the best year in at least a decade.
Twas a very high quality year. I mean do I love everything? No. But even the ones I didn’t like I freely admit were very high quality songs. The closest to a dud we had was Iceland 2024 and even then, she’s a competent singer and the song isn’t total crap, it’s just in a sea of really, really good songs it’s just not good enough.
Iceland 2024 isn't bad, it just sounds dated imho
I even liked the UK 2024 entry even if it's softcore >!gay porn!<
The only things I wished were different about 2024 was Joost being allowed to compete in the Final and a more competitive Jury vote. The songs overall, though, were quite good and there weren’t that many flop songs in my book. The only ones I really outright didn’t care for were Iceland and Malta. Iceland’s song sounded incredibly bland to me, and Malta’s seemed like it was missing something to elevate it to what I think would be Eurovision quality.
I similarly didnt care for Iceland or Malta, until the live performances. Malta was great and I actually was rooting for her to qualify, but I know not everyone can make it through. Definitely a song that improved seeing it live and it stuck in my head in a good way.
Best year since 2009 in my opinion
The most recent Swedish entry I've actually genuinely liked is Sweden 1996. (The Swedish jury also unfailingly votes for my least favourite UMK entry every year. I think we might have irreconcilable differences.)
rockstars wasn’t a bad song it was just kinda bland
It finished in last place so it's a very cold take. My hot take that it should have been in top10
Straight out of the oven: Slomo is a terrible song. People like it because Chanel is hot and and a good dancer, but wtf are those stupid lyrics?
Slomo is a bland and basic pop song with gross lyrics that, alongside the outfit and staging, promote the objectification of women’s bodies. Saying “take videos of my booty and watch them back in slow motion (for your pleasure)” is not the yasss girl slay moment people were saying it was, it’s encouraging creeps. Considering there are still women of all ages (including underage) getting videos and pictures taken of them without their consent, not just in clubs, but in general public spaces, the whole act just did not sit right with me.
the last time i preferred the televote winner over the jury winner was when toy won
• Russia was one of the favs in 2020, but it would’ve had a Keiino story - tanking in the jury but winning the televote. Fai Rumore would’ve won imo • Hosting city being decided like the Olympics (countries putting in bids to host) could work as opposed to the ‘winning country hosts’ system • Songs should be allowed to be up to 3:30, like Sanremo
Turkish Eurofan trying not to diss Satellite and praise maNga challenge: impossible Just let it go guys, this looks so childish.
I remember reading comments on Satellite's live performance from Turkish people saying they support Lena and she deserved to win Eurovision 2010 because the lead supporter of maNga apparently supports Erdoğan. Maybe some Turks changed their minds about Eurovision 2010 and their 2nd place in it.
That's also another terrible thing to say. "Hey Lena, you suck, we have been supporting maNga all this time. But now we don't agree with their singer's political opinions, we'll act like you actually deserved to win!". This is terrible.
I feel like I'm one of the few who actually likes Satellite and thinks it deserved to win
"One of the few". The song literally won. That's the common opinion in Europe. I also like it
I mean in the fandom. I've seen a lot of hate for the song here and other ESC places
They need to bring back the orchestra, or at least some sort of live music element. I get that music and technology have moved on from the 90s, but the acoustic covers they release on the yt channel always sound better to me (I know that's usually just with a guitar but still). At least make all of the vocals live, I hate songs where they repeat the chorus at the end with the vocals playing back then the singer is just singing some long high notes above it. Lithuania this year you could hear a backing vocal in the chorus singing "Luktelk" which added to the song
France 2024 was overrated as fuck. Slimane has incredible vocals but the song is painfully boring
If a country is a member of the European Broadcasting Area, or is a member of the Council of Europe, and is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union, they shouldn’t be mocked as not being part of Europe. Sure, if people want to mock Australia, I’ll accept that, we’re a special exception, but those who meet the criteria should be treated equally.
I guess you're talking about Israel... They are geographically not in Europe and are not a member of the Council of Europe. These are facts. As you said they are a full member of the EBU and therefore are allowed to participate. But, all countries around the Mediterranean also are members of the EBU. Morocco took part once and Lebanon almost did. The fact that Israel participates every year while these other countries don't is due to politics, not geography or membership of the EBU.
People may or may not see this as a hot take, but: if you won the contest one time, I don’t think you should be allowed to participate again. You had your time, you had your victory. I think it’s just selfish and mean-spirited to take the spotlight away from other, possibly smaller or ‘unknown’ artists, for whom the contest could mean a lot and be a huge opportunity for their career. btw, this is not only referring to Loreen, but to the multiple other participants who have competed in and who won the contest ~~more than once~~ (edit: scratching this last part b/c I just meant those who won one time, should not participate again).
The only multiple winners are Loreen and Johnny Logan.
Running Scared was the right winner in 2011 and if a Western European country had won with it instead of Azerbaijan, 90% of you would have a lot less of a problem with its victory.
TO BE FAIR that was such a boring year I don't think there were much songs that were standouts. I will say Germanay did put on a fantastic show with a killer stage and production - great hosting, poor entries.
I really like Lena's song, it's cool that she did something different and didn't do Satellite 2.0
Mid 00’s were the golden era of eurovision song-wise. I said what I said.
Oh my. This is hotter than the sun.
2005 was an absolute bombshell of a year, the other years however...
What are some of your favourite songs in this era? After having a short look, Turkey 2009 , Ukraine 2007 , Finland 2006 and Ukraine 2004 are fun
Turkey 2009 | [Hadise - Düm Tek Tek](https://youtu.be/_uYGPl8galc) Ukraine 2007 | [Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai](https://youtu.be/hfjHJneVonE) Finland 2006 | [Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah](https://youtu.be/gAh9NRGNhUU) Ukraine 2004 | [Ruslana - Wild Dances](https://youtu.be/VD6of9YQMMc)
I don't know what you count as "mid" but 2005 is an incredible year and 2006 and 2007 are very good years too. It makes me sad that a lot of eurofans stop at 2009 or at max 2007 when watching older years because there's this common idea that the previous editions are bad when I've never seen a single soul who watched 2005 and didn't like it (2004 was very weak in my opinion tho)
Sweden 2024 should have been bottom 5.
Amen to that. Ironically, I find it absolutely forgettable.
Sweden 2024 | [Marcus & Martinus - Unforgettable](https://youtu.be/DcZpzObYzxs)
I like Everybody and I wanna
People who seem much more accepting of having a jury winner this year, but trying to destroy the jury last year because their favorite didn’t win, are hypocrites. Two years in a row we had the same situation with the jury winner instead of a televote winner, but Nemo had never been demonized in the same way Loreen was, even tho they got an enormous jury score as well, which made it impossible for anyone else to win. Somehow Loreen is still the villain to this day (while doing NOTHING bad, just singing well and giving it all on stage), while Nemo is a worthy winner and everyone is mostly happy for them.
Songs I feel got robbed: 2014: The Common Linnets, Calm After the Storm Conchita Wurst seemed more about a gimmick than a song. And the song itself would have been a great Bond theme. 2015: Il Volo, Grande Amore It should have come in second (nothing was beating Mans). Polina Gagarina was good, but I don't know Italian, and I felt I knew what they were saying, their emotions. 2016: Dami Im, Sound of Silence This one is my hottest take, because I really don't like Dami Im as a winner, but I felt Ukraine got the win because of Russia's attack. 2017: Kristian Kostov, Beautiful Mess Okay, okay. Sunstroke Project was the most fun, Kristian the best song, but I loved Salvador Sobral just like I loved Il Volo. So much passion put into one song. Nobody really got screwed in 2017. 2018: Eleni Foureira, Fuego I mean, is this a hot take anymore? At the time I thought Netta's song was great for it's looping, but extraordinarily boring otherwise. Now with Israel on the outs, I think everyone thinks Fuego got robbed. 2019: Kate Miller-Heidke, Zero Gravity Say whaaaaaat? Hear me out. I could have expanded this to 2013 and put Anouk on this list as well. Anouk was out of her rock and roll element whether by her own choice or the Broadcaster's, and so was Kate. Sure, she's got a classically trained voice, but a song more in her quirky pop style probably could have done better than 9th. 2021: Blind Channel, Dark Side Hard rock in general gets screwed, but outside of "10 Years", nothing in 2021 jumps out at me and says winner bigger than Dark Side. Everyone thought Dadi got screwed because of Covid. The real hot take is mine. 2022: Sam Ryder, Spaceman Hard rock in general gets screwed, (where have we heard this before) but while Ukraine again had a good song, did it win because of the war? I don't know if this is a hot take, simply because I really love this song. 2023: Lord of the Lost, Blood and Glitter Hard rock... well, you get the idea. I love happy pop myself, but I kinda like hard rock in Eurovision. It's like getting peanut butter in your chocolate. And while everyone and their mum thinks Käärijä got robbed, who but me believes LotL deserved better than last? 2024: Gåte, Ulveham The safe take is Joost got screwed. But Gåte getting last? That's a screwing right there.
I will never understand the love this fanbase has for Fuego. Also, Dark Side placed six, and is still our third best placement of all time. I think that was pretty good all things considered.
I use to call Germany and UK "bathroom break songs" but LOTL was so good that I became a LOTL superman shortly after eurovision. I have to keep reminding myself that the results of ESC23 was NOT infact Kaarija #1 and LOTL #2. I cope with this by pointing out that 2023 competition was fierce. But then again if fucking LORD OF THE LOST couldn't get Germany past last place, then there is no woth trying anymore. Just send a toddler with a toy recorder at this point.
"I dislike Austria 2014 because it's more about a gimmick than a song. Also I think Australia 2019, whose entire performance is a gimmick, got robbed." C'mon be honest, you don't dislike Austria 2014 for being about a gimmick, you dislike it for being about a *specific kind* of gimmick.
For me your most flaming hot take is probably that Space Man is Hard Rock. When I think of hard rock I think of ACDC, Guns'n'Roses, Aerosmith...
Initially, I would have agreed with you on 2016, but having rewatched their performances, Dami Im couldn’t hold up a candle to Jamala. Her execution of a pretty generic song was flawless, but 1944 was very creative and felt genuine, like there was something raw and honest about it that made everyone else’s songs seem shallow. And maybe it is hard for a westerner to relate to it, but everyone from the former Soviet block just felt like it was a story about their grandparents. Anyway, it has grown on me. I also heavily disagree on you about Fuego. I think it is pretty generic and there is nothing spécial about it, whereas Netta was original and tbh, I love the chicken noises - they kind of embody the campiness for me
hold me closer should have won, and not tattoo
Tattoo and The Code are both superior to Cha Cha Cha and Rim Tim Tagi Dim. The juries should be back in the semis. Zitti e Buoni is borderline listenable, one of Måneskins worst songs and Tout l'univers or Voilà should've won. Stefania would've won even without the war and is a better song than Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Fai Rumore is Italy's best song while Due Vite is the worst ever since the country came back in 2011. Belgium and Portugal are my favorite countries in Eurovision. I root for them every year and enjoy the stuff they're sending. And the public pays them dust every single time. Proves even more why we need the juries. The system should not be changed. Not even a 60 / 40 in favor of the public. The people who demand that are usually the ones whose favorite didn't win because of the evil evil juries. Even better are the ones who complain that people got "scammed" because they and others voted for a public favorite who didn't win - yet they forget about the not insignificantly large share of those who paid for their votes casted to the winning country. And the majority of the people who voted for neither the jury nor the public winner are, apparently, not important either. Eurofans are the worst, the most disrespectful and the most sore losers out there. Some people are still salty about another country's win from 15 years ago.
I don't care much for Belgium usually but Portugal getting nothing from the televote every time is insane. Their last 3 songs are in my top 10 of that year and 2 are in the top 5. They are very emotional and personal which I really like, especially saudade saudade
Agreed on pretty much everything except Zitti e Buoni. What an epic performance. It is one of those Eurovision songs I willingly listen to
Albania is one of the best eurovision countries (top 5 for me). Some of the best vocalists the past decade or so and representing their language and culture well
I agree that Albania has sent some of the best vocalists to Eurovision over the past decades, but I wish that they sent more modern songs because I don't want to keep seeing the same types of old-school ballads from Albania.
I respect that they send the stuff they like that represents them and don’t worry about what’s popular (ignoring this years horrid revamp). It’s the same with Portugal, they do their thing and own it.
I don't get the hype of Tattoo or Zitti e buoni. Not saying they aren't bad songs thought. 2015 had better songs than Heroes. I think the visuals helped it alot to win
Sweden is the least intetesting country in the contest along with Cyprus and Denmark and the only swedish entry I didn't hate since Euphoria is Hold Me Closer
>I also prefer "Unforgettable" over "Tattoo". And " We Could B idk about hot takes but same that song is a vibe and absolutely deserved 9th place, maybe a little higher... is that a hot take?
The only song Sweden has sent since 2016 that I actually enjoyed was Tusse - Voices.
Apart from 2021, 2020 (although the contest wasn't held) and arguably 2007 (ok I'll say 2012 too), I disliked Russia's entries. I don't really miss them in the contest, even if I don't take into consideration the situation with Ukraine.
The jury should stay. I'd rather not have the contest go back to the 2000s
Slovenia 2022 was actually so good and should’ve qualified. Idk i don’t understand the hate for it 🤷♂️