Eurovision Song Contest 2014

gavmcg92

In other news, the Irish OGAE results have been uploaded. How do they compare to your favourites?

OGAE Ireland
12 points go to… Spain
10 points go to… the United Kingdom
8 points go to… Sweden
7 points go to… Norway
6 points go to… Malta
5 points go to… Israel
4 points go to… Denmark
3 points go to… Austria
2 points go to… Hungary
1 point goes to… Montenegro

Great to see Malta up there so high. Also surprised that Spain is top. Just would have assumed that the Swedish entry would have gotten 12. Also delighted for Norway.

BuilderPlumber

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Noticed that we were second on that last year! Definitely not something to look too closely into.

I have a feeling we will be having the usual post Eurovision discussion here in Ireland after a few weeks. Some country like Armenia could run away with it followed by 4-5 other either East Europeans, ex-USSR or Scandinavian countries. Ireland will be in the bottom few and we will all be talking about block voting, our type of song being out of sync with the modern Eurovision, etc.

gavmcg92

Eurovision stage in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9EjTa7LZkA

BuilderPlumber

What is left for Ireland to try? Maybe some of these:

A soccer related novelty? True, most of Europe are massive soccer nations. But we perform as poorly at the moment in international soccer events like the World and European cups as we do at the Eurovision! So, no it would not be convincing coming from Ireland.

I got it! A rugby related novelty, then? True, we have a world class rugby team. Unfortunately, most of Europe are not into rugby thus meaning the song would only appeal in the UK, France and Italy.

How about an out and out country or folk song then? Well, conceptwise, it would be interesting. Unfortunately, we'd end up with some 'boyfolk' singer like the godawful Mike Denver doing it. Besides, I think Germany already tried this and came nowhere.

How about the Rubberbandits then? Well, if they were singing 'Uh ah up the RA', it may not appeal in the UK very much. Besides, to Europeans, they may see another Dustin here!!!!

On a serious note, other Irish acts have all been mentioned as possible future Eurovision reps. Johnny Logan again, Crystal Swing, etc. All good at what they do and I have the feeling they don't want to enter it for career reasons. Look at poor Jedward? I can't see Christy Moore or Johnny Mc Evoy ever representing us either: they probably would not want to be in it for artistic reasons.

So, now we have a competition many don't want to enter and we have tried almost everything and it does not work? Maybe ask Gay Byrne and see what he'd advise!

gavmcg92

I hope we never send a novelty act again!

Go Harvey Go

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I have a feeling we will be having the usual post Eurovision discussion here in Ireland after a few weeks. Some country like Armenia could run away with it followed by 4-5 other either East Europeans, ex-USSR or Scandinavian countries. Ireland will be in the bottom few and we will all be talking about block voting, our type of song being out of sync with the modern Eurovision, etc.

This - and more, in the unlikely event that Kasey and Can-Linn fail to make it out of the semi...

Galvasean

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Noticed that we were second on that last year! Definitely not something to look too closely into.

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Also surprised that Spain is top.

Well, Lorenzo probably has fans left over from her X factor days so that could it explain it.

gavmcg92

Galvasean wrote: »

Well, Lorenzo probably has fans left over from her X factor days so that could it explain it.

That could explain it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Just had a look at the latest odds. Ukraine are 14/1 which is the same as Romania and the UK. Wha? Ukraine? I think it's a very cheap, hollow song. I can't see that being amongst the contenders.

Sweden are 2/1 second favourites. I think they were a longer price a few weeks ago so I should have had a bet.

In terms of outsiders, Poland and France at 80/1 are tempting. If Poland can give a strong stage act - think Russia and the grannies a few years ago - then the novelty aspect could pay off.

The big question is will the singers hold up well; but the song has a lot of attitude and it should carry a good amount of buzz. Don't think it will be a winner but it wouldn't amaze me to see this song give the others a challenge.

Go Harvey Go

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Sweden are 2/1 second favourites. I think they were a longer price a few weeks ago so I should have had a bet.

For the record, Armenia are currently 6/4 with Paddy Power, William Hill and Coral, and 7/4 with Ladbrokes.

Mr.Nice Guy

Not sure if this was mentioned but check out one of the songs that didn't make it in the German final. I think this would have got 12 pts from Ireland with that tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2-CGwO50A

And look at the staging: pirates! Oh Germany. What a wasted opportunity.

BuilderPlumber

I would not be surprised to see either Sweden or Armenia win?

It's increasingly looking like a two-horse race between Sweden and Armenia. And if that's the case then I seriously hope Armenia win. Every time I hear the Swedish entry I like it less and less; it's so bland, vapid, unoriginal and the lyrics sound like they were written by a mopey teenager. DO NOT WANT. :mad:

gavmcg92

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Not sure if this was mentioned but check out one of the songs that didn't make it in the German final. I think this would have got 12 pts from Ireland with that tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2-CGwO50A

And look at the staging: pirates! Oh Germany. What a wasted opportunity.

I think latvia 2008 will always be our eurovision pirates!

Galvasean

Was looking on the Can-linn FB page today - looks like Laura O'Neill has an EP coming out. That could be worth checking out. She's a great singer, but I felt her Eurosong song wasn't the best. Hopefully she can build a creer for herself.

Galvasean

Ireland is up to first on that Wiwi Bloggs poll:
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/03/21/poll-win-eurovision-2014/43728/

And Kasey is the 2nd best looking gal in the Eurovision (I'd have said 1st here TBH):
http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/25/eurovisions-next-top-model-2014-vote-now-finals-2/47812/

IF WE CAN'T WIN THE EUROVISION ITSELF WE'RE DAMN WELL GONNA WIN OURSELVES A FEW POLLS ON THE WAY!!!

gavmcg92

... also the 4th qualifier for the second semi

http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/04/will-win-second-semi-final/45696/

aramush

Anyone know if the song is on The Late Late tonight?

Edit:

The Late Late Show @RTELateLateShow
@can_linn will be performing their #Eurovision song #Heartbeat on tonight's @RTELateLateShow. Tune in to RTÉ 1 at 9.35pm or @RTEplayer

Mr.Nice Guy

Very interested to see what type of performance we see. Will the dancers be better this time?

Dancers still don't work for me but they're not as bad as last time...

The whole thing looms better but the vocals are shaky.

gavmcg92

Missed it. Will have to catch it later on youtube.

Mr.Nice Guy

The dancers are terrible. It's too blarney and takes away from the song.

I agree her vocals were a bit shaky at the start but I thought it improved after that. Trouble is, the dancers attract so much attention that she comes across like an afterthought.

Her dress was better than the Eurosong final though.

gavmcg92

Just managed to catch it there on the rte player. The performance has definitely come a long a bit. She looks a lot more comfortable performing the song and she looked hot! XD

Now for the negatives. The dancers are silly with their half Irish dancing, half hip hop routines, they take away from the song. Secondly, give that woman a bloody lesson or two on how to play the bodhran. She looks just as silly as the dancers when she was hitting it at the start. Backing vocalists need a lot of work. Not only were their vocals out of key for a lot of it, but the notes they're being asked to sing for some of it just doesn't sound right. To be honest, if it was me I would ditch the violist and get another backing vocalist. Male preferably. While it might just be the poor rte sound engineers, the song sounds very thin. They need a lower range in the back.

Regardless of all that, it looked a lot better. Also sounded a lot better when she got over her pitchyness. Didn't look as cluttered as the last performance. They seem to realise how large the eurovision stage is and know that they need to expand it out.

I'd imagine we're not going to see much in the way of change from what we saw tonight.

Toto Wolfcastle

I don't get the point of the girl with the bodhran walking across the stage at the start. She just looks awkward. And the dancers just look wrong. They're too rigid to mix Irish dancing with more modern dancing. They should stick with one or the other. The song needs a bit more oomph. I actually realised halfway through that I wasn't really listening. It's a bit meh and forgettable.

She looked great though, and I liked the violin.

gavmcg92

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

I actually realised halfway through that I wasn't really listening. It's a bit meh and forgettable.

She looked great though, and I liked the violin.

I noticed the same thing. When listening to it, I realised how poor of a song it is. It just goes nowhere really, which leads to the audience getting bored really quickly.

gavmcg92

Aram Mp3 is going to be on the stage alone for his performance. No backing vocalists or violinists. Either a very brave decision or they're throwing away the competition. It's not the most engaging song in the competition.

shroom007

What do people think of the Ukraine entry, does it have a chance

gavmcg92

shroom007 wrote: »

What do people think of the Ukraine entry, does it have a chance

Don't like it to be honest. It's not in my top ten for semi final one but it will qualify, I'm sure.

Also, Had a look back at the RTE performance from yesterday again. I was overly critical of it, I think. I think Kasey's vocals were pretty good. Bit iffy at the start but they sounded great in the second half. The big problem is the backing singer that's singing the lower end. She was dreadful. She was out of key for most of it which affected the overall performance.

yerwanthere123

Pray for my soul guys, for the first time ever in my living memory, I don't think I'll be able to watch Eurovision this year. I'm distraught!

shroom007

its getting harder to enjoy the contest as the years go by, our entry is appalling really,Im sick of this Oirish sh*t we seem to always drag out as if they still buy that in Europe, sure begorra have'nt they all seen riverdance at least six times.

How do they pick their songs in other countries is the system as corrupt as it is here or do they just judge it on the quality of the song

shroom007

gavmcg92 wrote: »

I hope we never send a novelty act again!

Jedward next year again

shroom007

shroom007 wrote: »

its getting harder to enjoy the contest as the years go by, our entry is appalling really,Im sick of this Oirish sh*t we seem to always drag out as if they still buy that in Europe, sure begorra have'nt they all seen riverdance at least six times.

How do they pick their songs in other countries is the system as corrupt as it is here or do they just judge it on the quality of the song

Yeah I really don't get the obsession with showing off the "Oirishness", its so tacky and contrived. I wish we would stop trying to make songs specifically for Eurovision, and instead just find a really good song and stage it naturally.

A lot of other countries have proper national finals that don't take place in a tiny TV studio. Some pick their entries internally like the UK.

If you want to see how it should be done check out Melodifestivalen in Sweden. It's a massive show over there that goes on for about four or five weeks, and the songs that make the final usually do really well in their charts.

gavmcg92

This just in... (Try and read it with a straight face):P

If our readers are any indicator, then Ireland’s Can-Linn feat. Kasey Smith has emerged as the dark horse to win Eurovision 2014. Smith, a sultry siren with a Celtic spirit, has claimed 21,734 votes for her song “Heartbeat”, or around 31% of all votes cast. That’s an increase of 13,422 votes since last week. Ireland is also sitting at the top of our Wiwi Jury rankings. As of April 27 we had reviewed 25 songs, and Ireland was the only nation to average a score of 8 or higher. Hold on to Kasey’s “Heartbeat”, y’all…

http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/04/27/who-will-win-eurovision-update-2/48015/

garybarnes

Chill... after listening to the competiton , i believe we will get through to the final and finish in the top 10...go Ireland! smiley face

gavmcg92

garybarnes wrote: »

Chill... after listening to the competiton , i believe we will get through to the final and finish in the top 10...go Ireland! smiley face

I would imagine it's going to be a similar case to last year. Get into the final quite comfortably, do well in the televotes and then get slated by the juries to bring us to the last 5-10 acts on the right hand side of the score board.

Go Harvey Go

shroom007 wrote: »

its getting harder to enjoy the contest as the years go by, our entry is appalling really,Im sick of this Oirish sh*t we seem to always drag out as if they still buy that in Europe, sure begorra have'nt they all seen riverdance at least six times.

How do they pick their songs in other countries is the system as corrupt as it is here or do they just judge it on the quality of the song

Flying Fox wrote: »

Yeah I really don't get the obsession with showing off the "Oirishness", its so tacky and contrived. I wish we would stop trying to make songs specifically for Eurovision, and instead just find a really good song and stage it naturally.

A lot of other countries have proper national finals that don't take place in a tiny TV studio. Some pick their entries internally like the UK.

If you want to see how it should be done check out Melodifestivalen in Sweden. It's a massive show over there that goes on for about four or five weeks, and the songs that make the final usually do really well in their charts.

Don't forget, guys, RTE want to take part in the Eurovision but don't want to have to host it again...

The closest they've come to making an Irish equivalent of Melodifestivalen is, of course, the first three series of You're A Star. Even then, the winning songs were "specifically for Eurovision" and thus stood no chance in Riga, Istanbul and Kiev respectively... :rolleyes:

gavmcg92

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Don't forget, guys, RTE want to take part in the Eurovision but don't want to have to host it again...

I disagree to be honest. I think RTE would be dying to host such a large contest. When we have the IRFU and FAI trying to get big competitions here, with a very high chance of Ireland getting the 2023 rugby world cup. Not to mention how much money the government are willing to spend on tourism ploys like the Gathering; I think they would be delighted to have the opportunity to show Ireland off.

It's funny you bring this up. I was watching an interview today from ESCKaz.com who were talking to Jon Ola Sand who was asked a question in relation to a smaller nation hosting. He basically said that he does see there being an issue and that discussions have been held on a regular basis with all host broadcasters about funding and possible assistance from the EBU if the case ever arises that a nation has a difficultly in hosting. I think Malta was used as an example (would love them to win this year, but I can't see that happening :P)

They also had a discussion about the possibility of having an open air contest too. Now that would be awesome!

Elmo

AFAIK

Largely RTÉ funded all of the Eurovisions they hosted, unfortunately RTÉ kind of feed into the big production event that Eurovision has become. Though since then the EBU have allowed ads and the programme isn't just funded by the host Broadcaster.

aramush

IF RTE was serious about winning Eurovision then we wouldn't be using the same tried and failed system every year.

If I had anything got to do with it, I'd go internally and get Imelda May. Put 3/4 songs to the public and take it from there. Give her a great song and I'd be confident.

gavmcg92

aramush wrote: »

IF RTE was serious about winning Eurovision then we wouldn't be using the same tried and failed system every year.

If I had anything got to do with it, I'd go internally and get Imelda May. Put 3/4 songs to the public and take it from there. Give her a great song and I'd be confident.

They can't force people to perform for Ireland. If Imelda May doesn't want to do Eurovision then they wont be able to get her. The problem is they have the public breathing down their backs and journalists with their laptops at the ready to write a story about how much money they're spending on the competition.

I think the new system is working a lot better than the systems that were in place before. The BBC seemed to do a great job this year. With all due respect to Molly, she's still a bit of a nobody with a brilliant self written song. A lot of people seem to assume that if we get someone big to represent us that the competition is in the bag. It's far from that.

shroom007

aramush wrote: »

IF RTE was serious about winning Eurovision then we wouldn't be using the same tried and failed system every year.

If I had anything got to do with it, I'd go internally and get Imelda May. Put 3/4 songs to the public and take it from there. Give her a great song and I'd be confident.

not a bad idea ,don't think it will happen, even just a decent song written by a decent songwriter who's completely independent of all that RTE shmouss would be a change

I can't help thinking of Father Ted when I think of eurovision and the heads in RTE panic

aramush

gavmcg92 wrote: »

They can't force people to perform for Ireland. If Imelda May doesn't want to do Eurovision then they wont be able to get her. The problem is they have the public breathing down their backs and journalists with their laptops at the ready to write a story about how much money they're spending on the competition.

I think the new system is working a lot better than the systems that were in place before. The BBC seemed to do a great job this year. With all due respect to Molly, she's still a bit of a nobody with a brilliant self written song. A lot of people seem to assume that if we get someone big to represent us that the competition is in the bag. It's far from that.

That much is obvious. I should have made myself clear, if she wanted it, she should be given it.

I can't think of anyone better to represent Ireland, fair enough the monetary element is a big factor but Fair City costs RTE 55k per episode, thats 200 odd grand a week. Taking that into account, I think a little bit more into Eurovision wouldn't hurt and who knows, there might be something worthwhile at the end of it.....

gavmcg92

aramush wrote: »

That much is obvious. I should have made myself clear, if she wanted it, she should be given it.

I can't think of anyone better to represent Ireland, fair enough the monetary element is a big factor but Fair City costs RTE 55k per episode, thats 200 odd grand a week. Taking that into account, I think a little bit more into Eurovision wouldn't hurt and who knows, there might be something worthwhile at the end of it.....

I completely agree. I think if we want to win it we need to invest in it a little more. With that being said, it needs to be financially profitable for RTE. They obviously need to offset what the show brings in with how much they're willing to spend. I can't imagine they're making a loss on it at the moment. At the end of the day we're not Azerbaijan. We can't afford to pump millions into it each year with the full works, marketing, staging and ... well... buying votes

Also, that idea you had of picking the artist first is what they did with the Dervish year. I'm not so sure on it. I like the idea of an Artist falling in love with a song as opposed to the audience falling in love and forcing the artist to sing it. I just think in order to get the best out of the artist, you need to let them do the work.

Imagine if this was our song and artist this year. That would be amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWJXeWH6QGQ

Love this song. I can just imagine her on the satellite stage, the arena in darkness with her lit up with a spot light. No special effects or fireworks. Just her, alone. Sort of like how the Netherlands played it last year.

gavmcg92

Also, forgot to mention. The OGAE poll is coming to an end with only the last few fan clubs left to vote. Looks like Sweden is the run away winner with 343 points. They're followed by Hungary with more than 100 point behind with a score of 230. Finally, in third place is Israel with 217 points.

Also, also, Rehearsals start tomorrow. They start with SF1 and then moves onto semi final 2.


Here's the schedule for tomorrow.

Monday 28 April
Armenia 10:00 – 10:30
Latvia 10:40 – 11:10
Estonia 11:20 – 11:50
Sweden 12:50 – 13:20
Iceland 13:30 – 14:00
Albania 14:10 – 14:40
Russia 14:50 – 15:20
Azerbaijan 15:30 – 16:00
Ukraine 16:40 – 17:10
Belgium 17:20 – 17:50

aramush

Yea I agree with a lot of what you have to say, so you would be suggesting RTE pick song and artist internally if we were to go down that route again? RTE always seem set on giving the audience a choice as it boosts rating for a NF (justify some of the money spent!)

In hindsight Dervish was a poor choice at the time, it didn't work out sadly but the year previous Brain Kennedy had to sing three songs (I'm sure he had input into which songs he would sing), it worked well. That reflected on us finishing on the left hand side of the board. Traditionally the Irish public always pick the best song in the NF and with the jury element also it makes it that bit easier to put our best foot forward.

gavmcg92

aramush wrote: »

Yea I agree with a lot of what you have to say, so you would be suggesting RTE pick song and artist internally if we were to go down that route again? RTE always seem set on giving the audience a choice as it boosts rating for a NF (justify some of the money spent!)

In hindsight Dervish was a poor choice at the time, it didn't work out sadly but the year previous Brain Kennedy had to sing three songs (I'm sure he had input into which songs he would sing), it worked well. That reflected on us finishing on the left hand side of the board. Traditionally the Irish public always pick the best song in the NF and with the jury element also it makes it that bit easier to put our best foot forward.

I would like for them to open it up and allow singer songwriters to enter. Find a way to narrow it down to 5 and then do the late late show to get the public to decide.

gavmcg92

gavmcg92 wrote: »

I would like for them to open it up and allow singer songwriters to enter. Find a way to narrow it down to 5 and then do the late late show to get the public to decide.

It should absolutely be an open contest with the best 5-10 songs selected for a live show, but please not the Late Late. I think the approach we took in 2008 was right, even if it did give us an appalling entry! Had we sent Leona Daly that year we could have done a lot better.

gavmcg92

Flying Fox wrote: »

It should absolutely be an open contest with the best 5-10 songs selected for a live show, but please not the Late Late. I think the approach we took in 2008 was right, even if it did give us an appalling entry! Had we sent Leona Daly that year we could have done a lot better.

Does it matter where it's on? Not really.

BuilderPlumber

Not too far away now from the Eurovision! Reflecting on some of the above:

Jedward appearance 1 and Brian Kennedy were our two best entries in recent years. Other ok enough placings were Jedward appearance 2 and MJ Harte. Other than that, all the rest were either in the bottom 3 or not even making it into the final.

Imelda May: I have the feeling too she would not want to associate herself with the Eurovision. She is well aware of how this competition can sink a career and bring it crashing down. Look at how Jedward were all over the place until May 2012! And not seen much since.

Imelda May is not the only high profile artist who would turn it down. I'm sure, any established artist (including former Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, who I'm sure was asked at some stage to represent Ireland again) would feel the same. Brian Kennedy and Jedward however proves a wellknown artist can lift Ireland's chances. Any time we did very poorly, we did have an unknown artist afterall: Ryan Dolan/Chris Doran, easy even to mix up some of their names! Gary O'S and Donna & Joe, etc. However, wellknown acts Dervish (despite performing an anti-Iranian John Waters classic!!!) and Dustin the canvas bag, er turkey were among the ones who did most poorly.

gavmcg92

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Does it matter where it's on? Not really.

Course it does. The Late Late studio is terrible, it's tiny and the sound is awful. You can't give an accurate representation of how the performance will look on an actual stage.

It would be much more suitable to have the show in a proper music venue or theatre.