EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2015 *now with Australia!*

[Bonteburg]

UK has just sneaked up to 5 points. No doubt that tonight will be deemed to be successful.

It was annoyingly catchy i'll give it that but sounded so out of place compared to the other entries.

It sounded like the 2010s take on 1970s novelty tunes to me – a la Racey or Sailor. Most annoying of the lot but the only one with a bit of ESC campness.

[Chris-S]

Congrats to Sweden, the song was my favourite. Also great optical show.

Germany zero point, but we will strike back next year.

[Kriminal]

Its a shame nearly all acts sing in English....

[Bonteburg]

It has its pros and cons – almost everyone can identfy with English. On the other hand it makes things samey and also a little fake. Yeah definitely I'd like to hear more German, Russian, Dutch etc!

[ras.s]

Yea I think too Sweden's tune was a good one, the visuals were nice. I only watched the last fifteen minutes before the voting so I only saw a few performances. Russia wasn't too bad either, quite Eurovision. It would have gotten political though if they would have won.

Ridiculous that the organizer's show-tech didn't work when 'calling' other countries. It looked like it's run by amateurs. :-P There were Microsoft ads popping up when the countries' results were coming in so I guess that explains it ..

It has its pros and cons – almost everyone can identfy with English. On the other hand it makes things samey and also a little fake. Yeah definitely I'd like to hear more German, Russian, Dutch etc!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhi7Kdj7_rs

;-)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjF---dfSr8
"You'll live by working, but with commerce you get rich", that was 2010.

They don't get even past the semifinals to try if they'd get zero points in the finals. :P

[Bonteburg]

NPK would have rocked the boat in Vienna!

I was looking forward to them. It's a shame they didn't make the semis. Indeed, it's a shame that there ARE semis now

[ras.s]

Yea definitely everyone should be allowed to take part. I suppose the show would get even longer and no one's attention span can hold that amount of eurovision music. ;-)

It's kinda cool though that they've been doing it for 60 years now and they've created a genre of music, Eurovision camp.


Here's the winner for those who don't know what this is even about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3avE4Zsp14g

That was nice, it has an uplifting message. This was also among the best performances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQf0JOspU0M

[Numanoid]

This is what Eurovision is all about, I don't think any of the acts this year or any year later really has reached the tacky heights of Dschinghis Khan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeXG9-wyzw0

[VariKusBrainZ]

This is what Eurovision is all about, I don't think any of the acts this year or any year later really has reached the tacky heights of Dschinghis Khan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeXG9-wyzw0

Boney M a likes

[Compyfox]

Germany zero point, but we will strike back next year.

0 Points?!

Now that is a new low since 1964 (8 years post the first ESC in 1956) and 1965. Actually, the host this year also scored 0. If I were one of the funding countries, I'd really(!) consider overhauling the musical route and not go via Facecrook likes and fake purchases/chart numbers. Oh wait... they did that from 2008 to 2010 - and failed just as much (lower ranks!).


We need another "Bundesvision Song Contest", and from there - a collaborative project by professionals that do a joke song about the whole ESC (Stefan Raab in 2000 and Guildo Horn in 1998, anyone?!). They don't have to win - just pull a nose on the whole "Contest". Though if they win, the message came across.



I mean... let's be realistic. Who is "Ann Sophie" - or rather, who was she pre-ESC2015?

Have you heard of her if you don't listen to chart music on the car radio? I sure as hell don't. Actually, if I wouldn't have seen a reminder of the ESC, I would have forgotten it like the last 2 years.

Anyway - according to various sources, she surfaced in 2011 in small bars with cover versions and own songs, then aimed to get a "wildcard" into "Song für Österreich", lost to the actual winner of the show (who then withdrew), which got the focus on her. So she's our(!) (Germany's) wildcard for the ESC now?! Okay...

This is just another "one hit" wonder that is supposed to sweep people's feet away and to please the backers. But her sound is like a mix of Adele (overheard at this point) and other "jazz/soul"/pop musicians - so we were ovestuffed with that "sound" and "music" in recent years. It was successful - let's try it for the ESC as well! And what do you know... her first "album" got released just in time (05-MAY-2015), out of nowhere. What a coincidence - but also a "bit" late. Though - internet: leaking, sharing on Facebook, etc.

I do smell aggressive label marketing here. Just to make a quick buck. And to push the strong "feminism" part (that rear end wiggling got her "12 points" in various YT comments) that is currently haunting our society even further.

It once again failed for the challenge - the voting clearly shows that.




The ESC did work with Nicole... why?

Because he was showing a message during troubled times (written by producers of course). A teenager singing her heart out, and she was already known for months at this point in German charts. BOOM - instant win. And yes, the ESC is all about politics as well (there is even a great documentary about this - and somebody remember the negative vibes resolving BAKU?).

Lena? A one-hit wonder that popped up out of nowhere.

An amateur actor in TV productions, tried to sing a song by Adele at an ESC casting show (hosted by Stefan Raab, with the really cool idea to finally get some "good" stuff on he radio again - look what that got us! Even more fake and predetermined casting shows like The Voice Germany and X-Factor Germany). Anyway - Raab pushed her - she got into the ESC and out of nowhere... she won. Why? Because half of Europe was in "Party Mood" anyway so to speak (Soccer World Cup was coming up, the "internet/social media movement" thing really blew up around that year as well). But even then, she had a longer lead time in the game.




Now the ESC2015 winner (Sweden, won last time in 2012) has experience since 2007(!), and he tried to join several song contests prior to that as well. Just like ABBA (prior to being ABBA), he also got "known" due to a casting show (actually, half of ABBA was already known as folk musician, and Frida was the one with the Talent show experience). But he worked(!) for years before actually joining the ESC.

So to me, that is a big difference and not just a lazy attempt. On top of that, the song can have several meanings: being strong against bullying, depression and social oppression (as the video implies - face your demons, pull through, spread your wings and fly) and it can also work for our war-torn world. Once again, a message that came across.

Same with the second place of the ESC2015: Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices, a clear stab at the Russian/Ukraine conflicts. This pierces people's hearts.

At least more than burning a Steinway on stage (Austria).




What irks me the most here is the fact, that the ESC in Germany is somewhat taken for granted. Most of the time it was "Ralph Siegel" writing songs for the ESC (various countries), in hope to repeat his success and therefore get fame (and considerable dividend payout) in return. Nothing to say against that - but overall that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And IMO, he can stop by now as well (look at his recent entries and scoring).

Same with all other entrants in recent years. Roger Cicero (was pushed), No Angels (was a reunion attempt), Alex Swings Oscar Sings! (was a "hidden ESC drawing" by public-sector broadcasters - was really negative taken!), Roman Lob (push after casting show DSDS), Cascada (her track was accused to rip off of Loreen's "Euphoria" from the year prior), Elaiza (left a personal bad taste in mouth due to the IMO really negative pushed "Feminism movement" years - the song won at the "Women-of-the-World-Festival" 2013, and then got another "wildcard" into the ESC), etc...

Most of the artists in question "magically" formed 1-2 years prior to the ESC, and then were uber successful - just like that.

And let's not forget the sympathy voting in he 80ies/90ies of the ESC, which was more than apparent.

If this doesn't tell you anything, I don't know what does.





Yes, the ESC is a mere "show" (the original "casting show" maybe?!) - but come on... it doesn't have to be that obvious now, does it?

But well, it's at least one of the better "casting"/voting music shows on TV. So, there you go.

This is what Eurovision is all about, I don't think any of the acts this year or any year later really has reached the tacky heights of Dschinghis Khan

Boney M a likes

Well - Boney M was "Frank Farian" creation, and Dschinghis Khan was "Ralph Siegel"'s pet peeve. Two well known names in the chart industry. The most known - a short "collaboration" with each other being "Milli Vanilli"

[Ben H]

At least more than burning a Steinway on stage (Austria).

Why would they burn a piano on stage, when they could've just used Omnisphere?

[Compyfox]

LOL! Tweet THAT to Spectrasonics.

[Chris-S]

Indeed Omnisphere was my first though when he inflammed the grand.

[seismic1]

I just watched this on catch-up. I wish I hadn't

The songs were almost without exception, dire and dreadful, with no memorable hooks.

If I had to vote for one, I think it would have been Australia. I certainly couldn't countenance voting for 10 of them.

I knew this beforehand. I have only myself to blame.

[Numanoid]

The songs were almost without exception, dire and dreadful, with no memorable hooks.

Eurovision is like fine wine, it needs to age to be appreciated properly.

Rewatch the 2015 final in 20 years, and most of us will say that back then they had class and finess and good tunes