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Eurovision Song Contest 2014
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Don't suppose you have the breakdown of televotes/jury points? I remember reading somewhere that if the Eurovision had been based on Televoting alone Ireland would have made it half way up the table last year.
Is it just me or does Ireland appear to be a bit jaded and disinterested in the whole Eurovision thing this year? The Eurovision is just over a week away and I think I can count the amount of times I've heard 'Heartbeat' on Irish radio on one hand.
Even on the Late Late on Friday it seemed a bit, "Here's our Eurovision entry... okay, moving swiftly on!" A short interview with Kasey after her performance surely wouldn't have gone amiss?
I think with Ryan Dolan (somewhat unfairly) finishing bottom last year has given us an attitude of "What's the point?" this year so nobody wants to become too invested. There was a genuine buzz about Dolan last year, but it all ended in disappointed.
Can't seem to find it any more but eurovision.tv had this.Ireland:
Points : 5
Average Jury Ranking: 16,21
Average Televote Ranking: 14,62
Position: 26th
As combined rankings of televoting and jury voting result in a top-10 per country, and not on an international level, the combined rankings do not necessarily reflect the outcome on the scoreboard.
For example; Ireland has an average jury rank of 16,21 and an average televoting rank of 14,62 in the Grand Final, but only made it into the top-10 in three countries. Consequently, Ireland finished 26th in the Grand Final - lower than twelve countries ranked higher by televoters and three countries ranked higher by juries, who all received more points by ending up in the top-10 in individual countries.
In other news, the rehersals have begun for the first semi final. TDC seem to be trying to keep a tighter lid on what gets out as they're only uploading 30 seconds as opposed to full videos from previous years. Thankfully the press will be allowed into the second rehearsals so we'll get to see the full song then.
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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!
If RTE were dying to host the Eurovision again, then why would they be repeatedly churning out songs that are "specifically for Eurovision" and thus guaranteed not to win - and all with the help of their "buddies" like Louis Walsh, Mairead Farrell, Hazel Kaneswaran and John Waters? :rolleyes:
And it wouldn't surprise me if they felt that even with the EBU's assistance, they still wouldn't have enough money to host the thing... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:... 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.
Well, it certainly doesn't look like RTE are willing to invest in the Eurovision any more than they currently do - which surely only strengthens the case that they don't want to win it and thus host it the following year...Flying Fox wrote: »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.
You might recall last summer's The Hit, where budding songwriters pitched their compositions to established singers - all under the roof of the O2.
It has been suggested that this would be a brilliant format for coming up with a Eurovision entry.
Can't say I'd disagree - although the folks at Montrose would probably cráp their pants at the thought of it generating a song that's not "specifically for Eurovision" and thus stands a real chance of winning... :rolleyes:
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BuilderPlumber wrote: »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.
Mr Waters himself would probably be very pleased with that description of 'They Can't Stop the Spring'... 0 -
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Is it just me or does Ireland appear to be a bit jaded and disinterested in the whole Eurovision thing this year? The Eurovision is just over a week away and I think I can count the amount of times I've heard 'Heartbeat' on Irish radio on one hand.
I say that and then this happens:
She's looking well.0 -
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I definitely agree that there's very little buzz about Eurovision this year. It's funny how nearly all the negative reception towards Kasey and Can Linn has been from Irish people, while a look at Youtube comments and blogs shows that people in other countries generally like our entry. I think it's just seen as the cool thing to look down on Eurovision; if Freddie Mercury came back from the dead and represented Ireland at Eurovision people here would still moan about it.
Not that I think Heartbeat is brilliant or anything but it's certainly not the worst song in the competition this year.
I do think where Kasey and Can Linn will struggle is the lack of promotion that they have in comparison to some other acts. There's only so much they can do themselves, it's RTÉ who should be trying to get them playing across Europe, making appearances on international chat shows etc. But of course Paddy and Mary Public would then be whining about RTÉ "wasting our taxes.....bankers....gubberment......disgrace Joe.....rabble rabble....". :rolleyes:Why can't they just offer it as an additional prize for The Voice?
I presume not everybody who competes in The Voice would want to do it.
I actually think the BBC got it right this year. Rather than go with a well known face or a has been, do an understated search to see what talent is out there waiting to be uncovered. It seems like it's Armenia vs. Sweden right now but I reckon Molly might just be the dark horse of the competition. Shes bound to give a passionate performance and if she nails her vocals then the juries may be won over!
As for Mr. Armenia, I'm not sure appearing on stage alone is such a great idea. It's not a song that needs dancers but I think having a pianist, drummer and violinist on stage would add to the atmosphere. Being alone on a big stage can backfire if you just end up looking awkward and lost, as the Bulgarians demonstrated to us two years ago! :pac: (Surprisingly she only missed out on a place in the final due to a tiebreak....I wonder if she would have made it had she looked a little bit less like a drunk aunt at a wedding?!)
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BuilderPlumber wrote: »And then we had Dustin the canvas bag, er turkey, a novelty act, in 2008. Say no more as it is infamous in Europe and we don't want them to be reminded about it!!!!
2013 saw us slide back down to our usual last place spot. Ryan Dolan was a singer not unlike his You're a Star almost-namesake Chris Doran and the songs were similar too. Unfortunately, so were their positions in it!
Wasn't 2008 the year that they opened it up to anybody to write a song for the competition. I seem to remember Donal Skehan had a really catchy song, Double cross my heart. Mind you his vocals on the night were shocking.
Bit dated now, but it was perfect for the competition back in 2008. Much better than Dustin's entry anyway! 0 -
Wasn't 2008 the year that they opened it up to anybody to write a song for the competition. I seem to remember Donal Skehan had a really catchy song, Double cross my heart. Mind you his vocals on the night were shocking.
Bit dated now, but it was perfect for the competition back in 2008. Much better than Dustin's entry anyway!
Leona Daly should have qualified that year
Not Crazy After All still sounds great six years later imo. Even at the height of bloc voting, I imagine Leona might still have gotten a decent enough score. She'd certainly have qualified anyway, that's for sure. 0 -
yerwanthere123 wrote: »Leona Daly should have qualified that year Not Crazy After All still sounds great six years later imo. Even at the height of bloc voting, I imagine Leona might still have gotten a decent enough score. She'd certainly have qualified anyway, that's for sure.
Completely forgot about that track. Definitely has aged well.0 -
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Wasn't 2008 the year that they opened it up to anybody to write a song for the competition. I seem to remember Donal Skehan had a really catchy song, Double cross my heart. Mind you his vocals on the night were shocking.
Bit dated now, but it was perfect for the competition back in 2008. Much better than Dustin's entry anyway!
All the other songs from 2008's selection process were much better than Dustin's. Dustin was however going to run away with it no matter what as all those who wanted to vote for the laugh voted him to win. By allowing him to go forward and knowing he would walk it was what was wrong.0 -
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Deleted User wrote: »
Not that I think Heartbeat is brilliant or anything but it's certainly not the worst song in the competition this year.
That's true. While it is not the worst song by any means (it is above average in the scheme of things for Ireland), it will still probably come last or near last.0 -
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The Eurovision isn't granted the same sort of respect that the competition is given by the Nordic or Eastern Block. We seem to be in this perpetual downward spiral or thought that the competition is "rigged" and that the best songs don't win.
It's not entirely RTE's fault. It's the fact that singer songwriters here don't want to be associated with the competition and the fact that journalists seem to think that sending a song to eurovision should only cost a couple of quid as opposed to what the rest of Europe is spending.
*sigh*
If that is the situation, then there really is no point in taking part unless a considerable number of minds are widened and a considerable number of pairs of balls are grown...Is it just me or does Ireland appear to be a bit jaded and disinterested in the whole Eurovision thing this year? The Eurovision is just over a week away and I think I can count the amount of times I've heard 'Heartbeat' on Irish radio on one hand.I say that and then this happens:
She's looking well.
TV Now is a gossip magazine, though - and the gossip media would naturally take a very keen interest in the Eurovision... 0 -
If you didn't think it could get any more silly... the dancers are wearing ****ing kilts!
Video is live. Vocals seem good and the backdrop is very bright and vibrant.
From ESCdailyKasey Smith begins at the back of the stage while two female backing singers are to her side & a female musician who plays the bodhrann followed by violin. Two dancers of Riverdance-style come onto the screen off-screen. Kasyey is wearing a golden, glittery dress with a gold , celtic neck-piece while everyone else is wearing black. The river-dancers wear male skirts which are attached to their costume. The staging is golden with strong uses of celtic patterns. At the floor, the celtic patterns take the shape of a heart. with two circles of celtic design appear above the heart.
From EurovisionIrelandFascinating fact: The Irish language was once spoken by a large proportion of Newfoundland.
Andrew: One good thing about the Irish rehearsal, the backdrop and the staging is great, very colourful and Celtic. We also have the 2 male dancers in kilts. Now we like kilts at Eurovision. The vocal need to be beefed up a bit and the overall effect is a bit static despite the dancers. It needs more energy and a hint of confidence and enjoyment in it. The second run through was a little bit better but Kasey looks scared and needs to show confidence and look like she is having the time of her life. This needs to improve a lot for next week or I fear it could struggle to qualify.
John: We guess there were some problems between the first two runs through, as there was a long gap. I seriously hope those issues, if there were any, are sorted out quickly. The golden setting is very nice, complete with Irish symbols and the direction shows it off well. Kasey is also in gold which could be seen as both a benefit and a hindrance. We could also tell there was a bit of nervousness. Perhaps it’s the vast stage, which the performers aren’t used to. This still needs some work to polish it.
From wiwiblogsWiwi: Kasey Smith looked like an Egyptian princess in a sumptuous golden gown during her first rehearsal this morning. She was tanned and toned and simply stunning. At the end of the rainbow there isn’t a pot of gold: there is Miss Kasey Smith! I’m glad they removed all the chaos from the national final and have opted for something more pure and simple. The violinist in the bridge works well, and the dancers seem to have given up the caffeine since the NF. The camera angles are not yet final, and I’m hoping they cut this to make it feel a bit punchier. It seemed to drag at times today. But all-in-all I think Ireland can be proud of this—especially the Miss Universe runway walk that Kasey throws during one of the instrumental sections.
Patrick: I’m a huge fan of Can-Linn & Kasey Smith’s song and am thrilled to have finally seen their first rehearsal. First the bad: The background is a bit of a letdown. I really like the waves behind the lattice, but the rest is just meh. Now the good: the overall package looks nice and the Irish dancer makes this “Irish dream” come to life. The traditional sounds work so well with Kasey’s voice, though I do hope she keeps practicing. Wonderful Ireland!
From eurovision.tvKasey Smith and Can-Linn were all wearing their stage outfits by the time that we caught up with the artists backstage.
Kasey is wearing a long gold and light brown dress, with a long train. It is designed by Kathy De Stafford, with a necklace designed by Oliver Calla, and reflects the 'Warrior Princess' image that they want to portray in the song, The two backing male dancers are dressed all in black,leather with kilts. The backing vocalists are in elegant long black dresses, trimmed in gold. A female violinist (Niamh Fahy) completes the ensemble, and Niamh kindly demonstrated us her skill by playing Heartbeat live for the Eurovision.tv team.
Kasey has been vocally rehearsing almost every day since winning the right to represent Ireland, and knows the song inside out, and also with rehearsing with her colleagues in Can-Linn so she is more and more confident and relaxed in her stage performance. They have been rehearsing in some areas with large floorspace, and will be using a gym here in Denmark to also rehearse in, Kasey was really looking forward to finally being able to rehearse on the Eurovision stage itself, which she had heard was amazing.
It won't all be hard work though, as Kasey and the rest of the Irish delegation plan to have some fun in the amusement park in the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen during their spare time here.
The team got their own graphic designers in for the backgrounds that you will see on the giant cube and on the large screen that goes across the back of the arena. The latter shows stormy skies and huge waves, which transform into green waves with an organge sky, and is reminiscent of the colours in the Irish flag. The images in the cube, have a celtic circular almost clockwork look to them,
Although the train of her dress had to be carried by a colleague as Kasey made her way backstage, she has no problems at all striding across the stage once she is performing.
The two male dancers make their entrance from the diametric corners of the stage, and in order to preserve their dignity they wear black shorts under their kilts.
Photos from the rehearsal: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/multimedia/photos?gal=104853
Photos from backstage: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/multimedia/photos?gal=104843
The vocals sound good on the video, but it seems she's really nervous. Hopefully she gets used to it. The backdrop behind the led screens looks amazing. It's like a barrage of waves hitting the stage.
Behind the Scenes
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:rolleyes:
Bit of a slating from escXtraSo Can-Linn have taken on stage. The back drop are stormy clouds and the "inner" backdrop is all gold in what seems to be plenty of suns. Playing with the rain/sun contrast there, which looks quite cool. Kasey is wearing an embroidered gold dress with a big pool of lace in the bottom. Vocally this may have been the worst rehearsal so far. The dancers seem like they are completely out of place and disconnected from the rhythm of the song. They really don't go with it at all! The whole act comes across as rather amateurish and they all look like they have no idea what's going on and what's happening around them. They look disconnected from each other as if each one of them were doing their own thing but not as part of an ensemble but rather as individual acts. I would say we have the biggest almost certain non-qualifier of this semi.0 -
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Based on that thirty second rehearsal clip it's hard to say much about the choreography but in terms of the vocals I think Kasey sounds fine there.
It seems that the main reason we finished last in 2013 was because Ryan Dolan had a bit of a nightmare in his jury performance. At least Kasey's a slightly more experienced singer than Ryan was, so hopefully she won't have this problem.
I still don't think there's much chance of us not qualifying. I think we should finish fifth or sixth in the semi (behind Norway, Romania, Greece, Israel and possibly Poland) and be somewhere mid table on the Saturday.
The other four qualifiers are tougher to predict. I think Georgia and Belarus are non-runners, sadly, but the others seem to each have a fairly good chance. I had thought Macedonia would be safe but it seems as though her live performance is disappointing; also the fact that Israel and Italy both have similar songs/singers that are a bit better might put people off voting for Macedonia. On the other hand, it seems like I prematurely wrote off Austria - I must admit that Conchita is a much better singer than I thought she would be and although the song isn't among my favourites it does have a cool Bond theme vibe to it. I still wonder if the televoters/juries from the more socially conservative countries would vote for her though? There have been petitions from idiots in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to have her performance edited out - "a hotbed of sodomy" was the description one of them had for the Eurovision. :rolleyes:
So final prediction*: Romania, Norway, Greece, Israel, Poland, Ireland. Austria, Finland, Malta and Macedonia to qualify (in roughly that order).
Switzerland and Slovenia to challenge Macedonia for that last spot.
Lithuania in with a very slim chance if she somehow drastically improves her vocals within the next week or so.
Belarus and Georgia to provide lots of sunshine and lulz, but sadly only for one performance each.
*I reserve the right to edit this "final" prediction based on future rehearsal performances and/or my own whims!
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Love the guys from malta
The Icelandic entry covers Girls and Boys
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Exactly. It sounds like the performance wasn't particularly impressive for a first rehearsal, but not particularly impressive doesn't equate to a "car crash". Kasey says she found the sheer size of the stage a little daunting, but it's obvious she'll get more comfortable with it with each rehearsal. The second rehearsal should be much more revealing : presumably all involved will move up a gear or two and it should be starting to click into place.
It's also 30 seconds that we're judging it on. When the second rehearsals are on, the bloggers and press are allowed into the arena to film it, so we should get some better footage to judge it on.
Moving away from all that, Malta are working their way up my favourites list I'm not normally the kind of person who votes in these kinds of competitions but I'm going to give my one and only vote to Malta to hopefully help them out of the semis. I get this impression that they're going to rank quite high in the Irish televote. OGAE Ireland awarded them their highest points of 6 with only OGAE Luxembourg and OGAE Sweden giving them something. 0 -
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Flying Fox wrote: »The general consensus amongst fans online is that it's a car crash and we'll be lucky to qualify. I can't really argue to be honest.
No idea where you're getting this 'consensus' from. The song and the rehearsal has gotten a lot more positive than negative feedback. While people, by and large, aren't gussawing over it, the overall mood seems to be of cautious optimism. The kilts seem to be going down better abroad than here. While Irish people tend to see it as being a cliché a lot of Europeans love that kind of stuff.
I mean, if you were to cherry pick all the worst comments on every blog going then EVERY entry this year would be complete rubbish. A pinch of salt is needed when judging these things. Filter out the zealots who call everything by their favourite act brilliant regardless of quality and the naysayers who just want to slate every little thing with as much hyperbole as possible and you find something a little closer to the truth.
PS: anyone getting a 300:Rise of a Nation vibe from the Irish costumes?
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That woman and her violin get around!
First it was a colab with Malta... now Switzerland! and it doesn't sound half bad.
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^ Call me crazy but I still think the UK could actually win it this year. "Children of the Universe" has an anthemic quality to it that "Undo" severely lacks imo, while possibly having more universal appeal than "Not Alone" does. And I can't foresee Molly screwing up her vocals. If any song is gonna come between Armenia and Sweden, I think it'll be the one. Though it is my personal favourite this year so maybe I'm a little biased.... :pac:
I've been watching the second rehearsals for SF1. None of them scream winner to me at the moment but here are some thoughts:
* Aram Mp3 sounded pretty good for Armenia but looks very lonely on stage (ironic for a song called Not Alone!). Can't help feeling that a backing band would have helped. Also he has some very off-putting facial expressions when singing. He should probably work on that.
* Latvia was a complete trainwreck but that was to be expected. Possible nul pointer unless their neighbours decide to be charitable.
* I strongly dislike Estonia's song for being a ripoff but admittedly her ability to sing with that choreography is rather impressive.
* Sweden was predictably solid. It's a shame I hate this song so much 'cause Sanna is clearly a very talented singer.
* Iceland was one of my favourite rehearsals. They actually sing quite well live and bring some much needed colour. The "la la la la la" bit impossible to dislike. This might just sneak into the final.
* Hersi sang very well for Albania, perhaps could work on her diction a little more. I've no idea why she's standing on a box though. Surely the Albanian delegation could have come up with something other than that?
* The Russian twins had a much better vocal than I was expecting. Their stage show is just odd though; whose idea was the it to dress them like Princess Leia robots and put them on a seesaw?
* Azerbaijan's trapeze artist and church background don't really suit their song at all. Vocally Dilara seemed to be holding back a bit.
* Ukraine definitely wins for stage presence (hamster wheel! Because why the hell not?) but vocally she was not impressive. Gimmicks rather than talent will send this to the final.
* Belgium was......well, the same as it's always been, pretty much. Not much more you can say about it.
* It wouldn't be a Moldovan Eurovision entry without a WTF? moment. This year's epic sax guy/cone head/giant dress moment occurs when the singer decides to pull out her hair extensions for no apparent reason.
* Valentina Monetta sounded good for San Marino but looks incredibly awkward; she just stands still, waving her arms around randomly. And her giant pearl looks like it's made of bedsheets and toilet roll! Sadly, the staging may have killed off their chances of qualifying.
* If the ratio of likes to dislikes on Youtube is any indication (it probably isn't) then Portugal could be an unexpected player on Tuesday night. Song is still crap and the vocals ain't great but the performance does have a certain oomph! factor that other entries lack.
* The Netherlands have a nice simple honest performance with no gimmicks. Sadly Europe doesn't seem to like that sort of thing so this may be what sees them knocked out.
* Montenegro have a skater on stage and it just looks rather silly. On the plus side Sergej is an effortless pro when it comes to the vocals. I suspect the jury might just push this into the final.
* Hungary was very solid and probably the only entry other than Armenia and Sweden with a chance of winning this semi. I still think the lyrics are a bit too simple for a song with such a difficult theme but it would be nice to see Armenia and Sweden be challenged, so good luck to him.0 -
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