Eurovision Song Contest 2016

CFlat

Strazdas wrote: »

Nothing like that....I think the likes of the BBC pay less than £1m

If it's that little could we not just pony up the money and spare us the blushes of not getting through every year.

Richard Hillman

I hope Australia win just to end this Block Voting myth.

mansize

You could say Nicky got Byrned... 😎

mansize

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I hope Australia win just to end this Block Voting myth.

They'll still say it!

Andy From Sligo

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I doubt you would have got much back relative to your stake.

evry little helps!

Broken Hearted Road

paleoperson wrote: »

I really liked the song and I was surprised I did because I usually hate Ireland's entry and Nicky Byrne. Obviously Ireland aren't going to win the thing, but not even qualifying this time is pretty daft.

I'm not a fan of Ireland's song this year. I think it's very bland but I was still hoping that we'd get through.

Do you know who would be great for Eurovision to represent Ireland next year - Seo Linn. They are up on YouTube and they did a fantastic powerful performance for some sort of 100 years celebrations for Ireland.

Strazdas

Broken Hearted Road wrote: »

I'm not a fan of Ireland's song this year. I think it's very bland but I was still hoping that we'd get through.


Do you who would be great for Eurovision to represent Ireland next year - Seo Linn. They are up on YouTube and they did a fantastic powerful performance for some sort of 100 years celebrations for Ireland.

Or that young girl from the same show who sang Mise Eire....Sibeal was her name.

RedemptionZ

Didn't watch this, but heard the song before and it's ****ing ****e. Complain about block voting all you want but when you've got a terrible terrible song it doesn't mean much. Plus Sweden is hardly Eastern Europe.

Lollipop95

I think next year we should get Jean whatshername and Michael Flatley out to represent us with Riverdance, it's the most iconic ever interval act and was mentioned tonight by one of the presenters..sure if that doesn't get us through nothing will!

Alternatively, send Jedward again They qualified...twice so they're a safe bet!

Eugene Norman

murpho999 wrote: »

There is no bloc voting in the semis as not all countries can vote.

Look at these winners

2015 Sweden
2014 Austria
2013 Denmark
2012 Sweden
2011 Azerbaijan
2010 Germany

5 of the last 6 winners for 'Old Eurovision' countries. How did they win?

And the Azerbaijan song was pretty good.

Block botng exists and isn't just a Eastern European thing, it does help to have more neighbours. But it doesn't seem to affect the winners.

mansize

Eugene Norman wrote: »

And the Azerbaijan song was pretty good.

I'm running I'm scared!

Broken Hearted Road

Lollipop95 wrote: »

I think next year we should get Jean whatshername and Michael Flatley out to represent us with Riverdance, it's the most iconic ever interval act and was mentioned tonight by one of the presenters..sure if that doesn't get us through nothing will!

Alternatively, send Jedward again They qualified...twice so they're a safe bet!

Yes to Riverdance. Riverdance is powerful but doubt Ireland cound send a Riverdance performance because Riverdance is well known and you'd want something new.

No to Jedward.

force eleven

Bland boring song from Ireland and no surprises it didn't qualify. RTE haven't taken this competition seriously in 20 years. We send a turkey most years and not just 2008. Actually Jedward and Lipstick was the closest we got to modern Eurovision song and performance and we get top 10. I don't believe RTE actually want to win anymore but neither do they want to lose out on the yearly junket for a week with Marty & Co so put in a song that has no chance, feign sadness and dismay (Marty) when it fails and get back to the cocktails. We need a National contest again, and not a Late Late debacle either. Proper staging at the 3 arena perhaps and 10 finalists. All money of course but sponsorship would surely not be a problem, the popularity is very much there...ah well dream on.

Broken Hearted Road

Eurovision - isn't this supposed to be a song contest between European countries?

Why on Earth has Australia been added to Eurovision? And other countries that's not even in Europe too? Like Israel?

Strazdas

force eleven wrote: »

Bland boring song from Ireland and no surprises it didn't qualify. RTE haven't taken this competition seriously in 20 years. We send a turkey most years and not just 2008. Actually Jedward and Lipstick was the closest we got to modern Eurovision song and performance and we get top 10. I don't believe RTE actually want to win anymore but neither do they want to lose out on the yearly junket for a week with Marty & Co so put in a song that has no chance, feign sadness and dismay (Marty) when it fails and get back to the cocktails. We need a National contest again, and not a Late Late debacle either. Proper staging at the 3 arena perhaps and 10 finalists. All money of course but sponsorship would surely not be a problem, the popularity is very much there...ah well dream on.

Agree with all this. You can tell that their approach is half arsed at the moment and one of not taking it seriously. If they don't get the finger out, we could end up failing to qualify for four, five or six Eurovisions in a row.

wyrn

I'm not surprised we didn't get through. The staging was lacklustre, the singing was weak and out of tune and the repetitive strains of the keyboard (do do do do do) was louder than Nicky. I can't even remember it. Couldn't humm it if you paid me, where as some of the ones that did get through, I could no bother. Even Poland! We really didn't deserve to get through.

I think the song was ok and would have had a chance if it had someone with much better and powerful vocals, someone with a bit more charisma too.

The thing that annoyed me most was all the different Irish companies on twitter saying how brilliant Nicky was, when he really wasn't. I don't mean that they should be mean or criticise about the performance but just be nice without exaggerating (or lying).

I'm really not impressed with RTE is picking one of their own for Eurovision to represent us. I know they were relying on the former Westlife fans. I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same again and picked Gerry Ryan's daughter, like some of you mentioned. All credit to Jedward, at least they qualified for the finals twice and did fairly well. I could still humm parts of Lipstick and Waterline.

Busi_Girl08

Let's all just focus on the positives from tonight.

Broken Hearted Road

force eleven wrote: »

Bland boring song from Ireland and no surprises it didn't qualify. RTE haven't taken this competition seriously in 20 years. We send a turkey most years and not just 2008. Actually Jedward and Lipstick was the closest we got to modern Eurovision song and performance and we get top 10. I don't believe RTE actually want to win anymore but neither do they want to lose out on the yearly junket for a week with Marty & Co so put in a song that has no chance, feign sadness and dismay (Marty) when it fails and get back to the cocktails. We need a National contest again, and not a Late Late debacle either. Proper staging at the 3 arena perhaps and 10 finalists. All money of course but sponsorship would surely not be a problem, the popularity is very much there...ah well dream on.

I think Eurovision is gone trashy. Like there's so much cheapness. Like I think Ireland would have stood a chance if Nicky Byrne danced around on stage wearing women's leopard print knickers. Or wear a dress or pretend to be gay or some other weird sh1te like wear some sort of pregnant belly suit and he'd come out on top because what he'd get is a liberal vote.

Welsh Megaman

JuanJose wrote: »

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

I honestly believe both Nicky and RTE thought Ireland were a shoe-in for the final, simply because he used to be in Westlife.

Well that was a flawed plan. Westlife certainly didn't register here in Spain anyway. And weren't they bigger in Japan & eslewhere outside Europe?

It is exactly the same attitude the BBC had a few years ago when they sent Blue.

''Oh, but they were big all across Europe so they must still have a fanbase out there. They're bound to win.''

Jack Killian

Eugene Norman wrote: »

And the Azerbaijan song was pretty good.

Block botng exists and isn't just a Eastern European thing, it does help to have more neighbours. But it doesn't seem to affect the winners.

I can never figure out why people fixate on block voting.

Neighbouring countries have - for better or worse - similar tastes. So they'll vote for each other.

Even a cursory glance at the amount of people in Ireland that buy UK artists' music or watch UK talent shows will prove that.

Why we bitch about bloc voting elsewhere and then say "good on ya" when England give us 10 or 12 is beyond me.

The only issue is us not having neighbours on three sides.

Oh, and not having sent a decent song in years too.

Welsh Megaman

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

Let's all just focus on the positives from tonight.

My thoughts will turn to Azerbaijan on Saturday night

johnruns

Broken Hearted Road wrote: »

I think Eurovision is gone trashy. Like there's so much cheapness. Like I think Ireland would have stood a chance if Nicky Byrne danced around on stage wearing women's leopard print knickers. Or wear a dress or pretend to be gay or some other weird sh1te like wear some sort of pregnant belly suit and he'd come out on top because what he'd get is a liberal vote.

Not a chance,even the liberals have some shame.

Lunger

murpho999 wrote: »

There is no bloc voting in the semis as not all countries can vote.

Look at these winners

2015 Sweden
2014 Austria
2013 Denmark
2012 Sweden
2011 Azerbaijan
2010 Germany

5 of the last 6 winners for 'Old Eurovision' countries. How did they win?

Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrractice.

Xaniaj

Broken Hearted Road wrote: »

I think Eurovision is gone trashy. Like there's so much cheapness. Like I think Ireland would have stood a chance if Nicky Byrne danced around on stage wearing women's leopard print knickers. Or wear a dress or pretend to be gay or some other weird sh1te like wear some sort of pregnant belly suit and he'd come out on top because what he'd get is a liberal vote.

Or you know what would help? If he could sing!

Atlantic Dawn

CFlat wrote: »

If it's that little could we not just pony up the money and spare us the blushes of not getting through every year.

Redacted could pony it up, would be nothing to him.

force eleven

Must say having listened to that Ukraine song I cannot see why it is (or was) 3rd favourite. Awful dirge. Hard to look past Russia, but maybe the Aussies will surprise. It would be fun to see the Aussies stage a Eurovision at 4am their time....

dogcat

Broken Hearted Road wrote: »

Why on Earth has Australia been added to Eurovision? And other countries that's not even in Europe too? Like Israel?

The euro refers to the European Broadcasting Union, which extends to parts of Africa and Asia. Israel is within the EBU so it can compete. Saudi Arabia could even compete if they wanted.

Australia was added as a guest and accepted to compete again in 2016. The contest is expanding, it's mainly a European contest, but other countries are added too.

clairewithani

Eugene Norman wrote: »

And the Azerbaijan song was pretty good.

Block botng exists and isn't just a Eastern European thing, it does help to have more neighbours. But it doesn't seem to affect the winners.

The Azerbaijani song was ****e. And didn't they get caught cheating the year after or something. But agree, block voting is not the reason Ireland are not winning. The songs have been poor.

Broken Hearted Road

Xaniaj wrote: »

Or you know what would help? If he could sing!

I must admit I wasn't watching tonight so I didn't see his performance. What was it like? Was it just him on stage?

I think Eurovision allows 6 people on stage per performance.

Maybe a band with some musical instruments might go down well. Accordions are powerful stuff. Well I like them anyways. So something on this line would be great for next year.

Wouldn't the The High Kings be great for Ireland. Four lads singing and playing multible instruments.

Broken Hearted Road

dogcat wrote: »

The euro refers to the European Broadcasting Union, which extends to parts of Africa and Asia. Israel is within the EBU so it can compete. Saudi Arabia could even compete if they wanted.

Australia was added as a guest and accepted to compete again in 2016. The contest is expanding, it's mainly a European contest, but other countries are added too.

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

Broken Hearted Road

Broken Hearted Road wrote: »

I think Eurovision is gone trashy. Like there's so much cheapness. Like I think Ireland would have stood a chance if Nicky Byrne danced around on stage wearing women's leopard print knickers. Or wear a dress or pretend to be gay or some other weird sh1te like wear some sort of pregnant belly suit and he'd come out on top because what he'd get is a liberal vote.

Actually, compared to about ten or so years ago, I think Eurovision has gotten a lot less trashy. Yes, there will always be a few elaborate costumes and stage gimmicks but the visual element is arguably an integral part of each performance. I don't think there were any "novelty" entries this year, or last year for that matter; nothing as blatant as the Latvian pirates or the Ukrainian tin-foil drag queen alien, for example, that we've seen in previous years. You could argue that Lordi and Conchita Wurst were gimmicks but their songs were actually quite decent too.

I think Loreen's win brought some credibility back to Eurovision; a well-written, well sung and well performed pop song that got quite a lot of radioplay and won over people who otherwise would scoff at the idea of Eurovision.

Some people like the whole gimmick, cheesy, car-crash element of Eurovision, and that's fine. But for me it's more about finding some genuinely good songs/artists that I would otherwise have never heard of.

RedemptionZ

I can't think of any song in the last decade, probably more that the Irish song has sounded like it could win. There's been a few "that could do well" songs, which for the most part did and a lot of terrible or utterly generic songs that didn't do well.

PressRun

I can't believe they let Australia in it. And not only are they in it, but I think they're in with a decent shout of winning.

Israel were utter ****e. Don't know how that and Poland got through.

Georgia are the only other ones I remember, just cos the end of the song went a bit mad-sounding at the end.

There seems to be a good few Justin Bieber type male pop singers in it. Feckin' boring.

All in all, it just doesn't seem as funny as it was a few years ago. Most of the songs are no craic.

Bring back these guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5YOhQZtlA

Austria!

Why would anyone care if countries outside europe perform? What difference does it make to anything?

Eugene Norman

clairewithani wrote: »

The Azerbaijani song was ****e. And didn't they get caught cheating the year after or something. But agree, block voting is not the reason Ireland are not winning. The songs have been poor.

It was a great pop tune. I don't remember hearing anything about the year after.

Eugene Norman

Austria! wrote: »

Why would anyone care if countries outside europe perform? What difference does it make to anything?

It would be great if the Arabic countries did perform, but might be difficult these days.

Say Your Number

I said it last year, but send Cruachan next year, mainly because they'd be entertaining and they have the WTF factor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEH0j9KsjCw

clairewithani

Eugene Norman wrote: »

It was a great pop tune. I don't remember hearing anything about the year after.

Google it. I don't know how to do links.

maude6868

It's as simple as this, a good song will always do well. From the second I heard it months ago Ireland's song was bland, boring and going nowhere. Add to that a weak voice and no surprises there. I've listened to all 42 songs as they were released and Ukraine stood out as different so that will do very well. Netherlands very wisely went Country so will do well. I loved Latvia tonight and Bulgaria and Belgium. Bloc voting won't touch a great song that stands out from the rest. Russia won't win in my opinion and I'm pretty sure of that. Australia will be up there. I have money on Ukraine, Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Armenia, Australia, France and Malta. I bet on them as soon as they were released so odds were good for most of them. Ukraine and Netherlands were instant bets for me because they were different. France could do it this year,though his rehearsal wasn't too good, other than that Malta or Ukraine for me. Would love Netherlands to win, I got 60/1 on them and same for Latvia. I just know, totally know Russia won't win, not a strong enough song, it will be in top 5. We just have to be different or else have a brilliant song. The uilleann pipes would be great in the intro to the song and then a good traditional Irish singer with a haunting voice like Sibeal from the Centenary celebrations, I say send her for sure but have Davy Spillane on the pipes too.

Broken Hearted Road

PressRun wrote: »

I can't believe they let Australia in it. And not only are they in it, but I think they're in with a decent shout of winning.

Israel were utter ****e. Don't know how that and Poland got through.

Georgia are the only other ones I remember, just cos the end of the song went a bit mad-sounding at the end.

There seems to be a good few Justin Bieber type male pop singers in it. Feckin' boring.

All in all, it just doesn't seem as funny as it was a few years ago. Most of the songs are no craic.

Bring back these guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5YOhQZtlA

That video you linked to. Christ on a bike.

Also, what is it with the Eurovision theme tune using the Queen's trumpets.

dogcat

Eugene Norman wrote: »

It would be great if the Arabic countries did perform, but might be difficult these days.

Morocco competed in 1980. Lebanon also nearly competed in 2005 and they probably could've won should they have sent this. They were disqualified for saying they may not broadcast Israel.

Broken Hearted Road

Eugene Norman wrote: »

It would be great if the Arabic countries did perform, but might be difficult these days.

They might blow up the stage alright.

ThisRegard

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

I honestly believe both Nicky and RTE thought Ireland were a shoe-in for the final, simply because he used to be in Westlife.

I flicked over to the 9 o'clock news and in their coming up on tonight's news bit they had how Ireland's entry has gone down a storm in the semi final. See that was embarrassing.

paleoperson

Austria! wrote: »

Why would anyone care if countries outside europe perform? What difference does it make to anything?

Not sure what age you are or anything but it's called the eurovision, first of all it would require changing the name. Are you going to say next why does it matter if outside of europe are allowed in the Euro championship "what difference does it make to anything". The whole competition would have to be transformed.

One country I'd wholeheartedly defend being admitted is Israel.... after all it's the rightful and natural home of Israelis, if only they'd stay there.

Red Alert

We should just enter Marty Whelan himself... sounds and looks like a bad Butlins' MC.

Strazdas

The Irish result shows that sending a faded pop star 'name' from the past is a complete waste of time in trying to pull in votes. Many of the big favourites this year are up and coming relative unknowns and have come from the TV talent shows : France, Germany and UK were on The Voice and Australia and Italy came via the X Factor (local versions).

RedemptionZ

Will this be on RTE player anyone know?

uck51js9zml2yt

Strazdas wrote: »

The Irish result shows that sending a faded pop star 'name' from the past is a complete waste of time in trying to pull in votes. Many of the big favourites this year are up and coming relative unknowns and have come from the TV talent shows : France, Germany and UK were on The Voice and Australia and Italy came via the X Factor (local versions).

I take it we're not in the finals then

paleoperson

Wow, why do you guys care so much about how Ireland did? It doesn't even matter, god, people have different tastes. It was always viewed as an ironic competition, don't tell me you actually took it seriously?

If RTE wanted to be surgical about it, they should send a dozen songs to people all over europe and pay them for taking part in a survey as to which was the best one. However that wouldn't really be in the spirit of the competition and you'd have to ask yourself, what's the point.

yermanoffthetv

Strazdas wrote: »

Agree with all this. You can tell that their approach is half arsed at the moment and one of not taking it seriously. If they don't get the finger out, we could end up failing to qualify for four, five or six Eurovisions in a row.

I dont think its that its half arsed or they dont take it seriously, I think its that they are so out of touch and formulaic in their approach what results is contrived ****e. Lately, its pick the biggest "artist" to hand, slap together some vague meaningless lyrics and expect success. There is neither the unique talent of an artist, the quality (or catchiness) of a song or the spectacle of the performance anywhere to be seen.

What we should send next year is a group like the prodigy...with accordions, flamethrowing chellos and operatically trained pole dancers. Youd feckin remember that.