Despite the fact that I tell myself I really don't care about this contest, every year, without failing, I sit in front of the tv and watch it just to confirm if Portugal is still the worst one. I did have a big surprise last year, but I wasn't very hopeful for this year. I mean, only Spain, Luxembourg and Israel have ever won twice in a row so the bar was set very low for us!
For the most distracted people (or american population that may follow my blog in general), the Eurovision Song Contest is the longest-running annual international TV contest of all time, currently in its 63rd year with over 40 countries eligible to compete. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the competition's winning entry. The final result is calculated with 50% the country's juri vote, whom I have no idea who they are, and the other 50% the public at home and there's usually a lot of politics involved, like neighbours voting for neighbours. For this contest, we bring it all in and we basically have two different kinds of performances: ballads and weird wtf songs.
So last year, Portugal managed to score their first victory, ending the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history (53 years). Salvador Sobral got us another record as well: the highest scoring winner under the current voting system, with 758 points. And, as the winning country, that meant we got to host this year. Not surprisingly, though, we ended up in last place, back to our usual spot. This time, the UK even managed a higher score than us!
My favourite and, to me, the rightful winner was "You Let Me Walk Alone" by Michael Schulte from Germany. I also enjoyedo "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira from Cyprus with her Beyonce vibes (who ended up in second place), "Outlaw in 'Em" by Waylon from The Netherlands, who brought some country to the competition, austrian Kanye West mixed with Craig David vibes with "Nobody but You" by Cesár Sampson (who was also competing for the trophy right until the end) and estonian Elina Nechayeve with "La Forza" who got a good public vote position. Honestly, though, I would have loved to see the british SuRie with "Storm" win, since despite all the security involved, someone managed to get in the stage and steal her microphone (not shown in the video), but she managed to finish strong anyway (she was given the chance to perform again but declined)! Had she won, next year, after Brexit day, the UK would be forced to host a massive celebration of European unity and diversity!
Honorable mentions go to Ukraine, with a vampire kid who made me Google where Transylvania is actually situated (Romania, not Ukraine), Czech Republic with its MC Hammer vibes, Hungary with its metal-rock, and Denmark's artist who, despite the need of men up in the Wall of Ice, still managed to sing at the contest.
Now, I've given you five good winning potential songs, in my opinion. Those fall into the ballad option of Eurovision songs. Let me now tell you about the winning song, which definitely falls into the weird category. The winner was "Toy" by Netta from Israel, which apparently was a favourite when it comes to the betting pools, and combines a trademark chicken dance, electronic dance song, japanese manga and women's empowerment lyrics. So, as you can see (and hear), it had everything to be a major hit!
All in all, I have a mix of good feelings about the contest. I'm satisfied with Portugal's score - so much pride in fighting for the last place, I like to think we were such good hosts we didn't want anyone to feel sad about scoring last. However, I'm unhappy with the winner. While I get how Netta won, I still feel like my favourite Michael Schulte was injusticed and deserved the trophy. I will definitely be following Eurovision 2019 in Israel and I hope it's even better (read: weirder) than the 2018 edition!
For the most distracted people (or american population that may follow my blog in general), the Eurovision Song Contest is the longest-running annual international TV contest of all time, currently in its 63rd year with over 40 countries eligible to compete. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the competition's winning entry. The final result is calculated with 50% the country's juri vote, whom I have no idea who they are, and the other 50% the public at home and there's usually a lot of politics involved, like neighbours voting for neighbours. For this contest, we bring it all in and we basically have two different kinds of performances: ballads and weird wtf songs.
So last year, Portugal managed to score their first victory, ending the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history (53 years). Salvador Sobral got us another record as well: the highest scoring winner under the current voting system, with 758 points. And, as the winning country, that meant we got to host this year. Not surprisingly, though, we ended up in last place, back to our usual spot. This time, the UK even managed a higher score than us!
My favourite and, to me, the rightful winner was "You Let Me Walk Alone" by Michael Schulte from Germany. I also enjoyedo "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira from Cyprus with her Beyonce vibes (who ended up in second place), "Outlaw in 'Em" by Waylon from The Netherlands, who brought some country to the competition, austrian Kanye West mixed with Craig David vibes with "Nobody but You" by Cesár Sampson (who was also competing for the trophy right until the end) and estonian Elina Nechayeve with "La Forza" who got a good public vote position. Honestly, though, I would have loved to see the british SuRie with "Storm" win, since despite all the security involved, someone managed to get in the stage and steal her microphone (not shown in the video), but she managed to finish strong anyway (she was given the chance to perform again but declined)! Had she won, next year, after Brexit day, the UK would be forced to host a massive celebration of European unity and diversity!
Honorable mentions go to Ukraine, with a vampire kid who made me Google where Transylvania is actually situated (Romania, not Ukraine), Czech Republic with its MC Hammer vibes, Hungary with its metal-rock, and Denmark's artist who, despite the need of men up in the Wall of Ice, still managed to sing at the contest.
Now, I've given you five good winning potential songs, in my opinion. Those fall into the ballad option of Eurovision songs. Let me now tell you about the winning song, which definitely falls into the weird category. The winner was "Toy" by Netta from Israel, which apparently was a favourite when it comes to the betting pools, and combines a trademark chicken dance, electronic dance song, japanese manga and women's empowerment lyrics. So, as you can see (and hear), it had everything to be a major hit!
All in all, I have a mix of good feelings about the contest. I'm satisfied with Portugal's score - so much pride in fighting for the last place, I like to think we were such good hosts we didn't want anyone to feel sad about scoring last. However, I'm unhappy with the winner. While I get how Netta won, I still feel like my favourite Michael Schulte was injusticed and deserved the trophy. I will definitely be following Eurovision 2019 in Israel and I hope it's even better (read: weirder) than the 2018 edition!
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