CA
Most knew that on first listen of Electro Velvet that it was a turkey. Apart from the BBC.
Er trust me they didn't. Even GN made that clear the week before and after it was selected on his radio show. Strong rumours that they went to professionals very late in the day after discovering that the public submissions were appalling. (Yes worse than SILWY). Also quite a few credible new acts didn't want to touch It after Molly in 2014
Most knew that on first listen of Electro Velvet that it was a turkey. Apart from the BBC.
Er trust me they didn't. Even GN made that clear the week before and after it was selected on his radio show. Strong rumours that they went to professionals very late in the day after discovering that the public submissions were appalling. (Yes worse than SILWY). Also quite a few credible new acts didn't want to touch It after Molly in 2014
WO
In the past it's been the annual Eurovision 'let's see who are friends are this year' contest. We failed this year though, due to the song once again.
We're one of the biggest, if not the - exporter of music worldwide. If one big act took part and did well, it might just spur others on in the future. Although, I feel the days of established artists like Cliff and Lulu competing are over, sadly.
It really isn't rocket science to see what's popular and what's not. A cross between 'Doop meets Mika' this year just didn't work... although the UK entrants do deserve praise as they did perfom the song to the best of their ability.
On a side note, next year we should have Nigel Farage giving the scores from the UK to the rest of Europe - or have an alternative commentary from him on the Red Button. Having said that - best not.
The problem comes though, if the Big Five withdraw. The competition would have to scale down. Having said that, the BBC get good viewing figures out of screening it - so, if the Big Five didn't receive automatic qualification into the final and had to go through the heats, it might give them (the BBC) a bit of a kick up the... you know what.
We're one of the biggest, if not the - exporter of music worldwide. If one big act took part and did well, it might just spur others on in the future. Although, I feel the days of established artists like Cliff and Lulu competing are over, sadly.
It really isn't rocket science to see what's popular and what's not. A cross between 'Doop meets Mika' this year just didn't work... although the UK entrants do deserve praise as they did perfom the song to the best of their ability.
On a side note, next year we should have Nigel Farage giving the scores from the UK to the rest of Europe - or have an alternative commentary from him on the Red Button. Having said that - best not.
The problem comes though, if the Big Five withdraw. The competition would have to scale down. Having said that, the BBC get good viewing figures out of screening it - so, if the Big Five didn't receive automatic qualification into the final and had to go through the heats, it might give them (the BBC) a bit of a kick up the... you know what.
Last edited by Worzel on 24 May 2015 2:46am - 2 times in total
PC
This, really. It wasn't their fault. The song was decent to listen to on Spotify, the video was half-decent but the staging was awful and hugely over-ambitious. You don't need LCD lights and gimmicks - just look at the camera and connect to the audience. If you're going to do a gimmick you'd better have something hugely impressive (see Sweden) rather than look like you're running through the Finders Keepers house.
Fair play to Electro Velvet - they will be scapegoated for it but I hope they enjoyed the experience for what it was. They stepped up where established bands wouldn't dare. The problems with UK Eurovision selection go way beyond them.
I would say there was an element of political voting, and I'd suggest that had you switched the songs (so if Russia was singing Sweden's song and vice versa) then Sweden would still have won. It's not so much any grand conspiracy, just that people in the likes of the UK just won't want to see Russia win it. Ultimately, there's only so much you can do about that and the reintroduction of juries has done something to temper it.
The UK entrants do deserve praise as they did perfom the song to the best of their ability.
This, really. It wasn't their fault. The song was decent to listen to on Spotify, the video was half-decent but the staging was awful and hugely over-ambitious. You don't need LCD lights and gimmicks - just look at the camera and connect to the audience. If you're going to do a gimmick you'd better have something hugely impressive (see Sweden) rather than look like you're running through the Finders Keepers house.
Fair play to Electro Velvet - they will be scapegoated for it but I hope they enjoyed the experience for what it was. They stepped up where established bands wouldn't dare. The problems with UK Eurovision selection go way beyond them.
I would say there was an element of political voting, and I'd suggest that had you switched the songs (so if Russia was singing Sweden's song and vice versa) then Sweden would still have won. It's not so much any grand conspiracy, just that people in the likes of the UK just won't want to see Russia win it. Ultimately, there's only so much you can do about that and the reintroduction of juries has done something to temper it.
RD
...and actually managing to kill 298 mainly European (and, ironically, Australian) citizens in the shooting down of flight MH17 last year.
If you'd believed the British media since MH17 last July you'd think Russia was hated by Europe on a greater scale than Britain was hated during the Iraq war, yet it seems to have had no effect on last night's voting.
Agreed! Russia, despite wanting to kill everyone, managed a second.
...and actually managing to kill 298 mainly European (and, ironically, Australian) citizens in the shooting down of flight MH17 last year.
If you'd believed the British media since MH17 last July you'd think Russia was hated by Europe on a greater scale than Britain was hated during the Iraq war, yet it seems to have had no effect on last night's voting.
WO
This, really. It wasn't their fault. The song was decent to listen to on Spotify, the video was half-decent but the staging was awful and hugely over-ambitious. You don't need LCD lights and gimmicks - just look at the camera and connect to the audience. If you're going to do a gimmick you'd better have something hugely impressive (see Sweden) rather than look like you're running through the Finders Keepers house.
Fair play to Electro Velvet - they will be scapegoated for it but I hope they enjoyed the experience for what it was. They stepped up where established bands wouldn't dare. The problems with UK Eurovision selection go way beyond them.
I would say there was an element of political voting, and I'd suggest that had you switched the songs (so if Russia was singing Sweden's song and vice versa) then Sweden would still have won. It's not so much any grand conspiracy, just that people in the likes of the UK just won't want to see Russia win it. Ultimately, there's only so much you can do about that and the reintroduction of juries has done something to temper it.
I still think the biggest problem is that the UK gets automatic qualification into the final and the BBC's lack of promoting the song abroad. They make a big fuss about promoting the song on BBC radio when UK listeners can't vote for the thing.
On the point of automatic qualification. All the other acts perform in the heats and this gives them the edge. The songs become more familiar and you know what to expect, come the final. The likes of the UK have one shot to get the song perfect on the night and that's it.
A good strong song which represents the current music scene by a well known artist/group, promoted heavily in Europe on the lead up (not revealing the song a month before the competition) with decent staging on the night... who knows, we might just end up in the top 5.
The UK entrants do deserve praise as they did perfom the song to the best of their ability.
This, really. It wasn't their fault. The song was decent to listen to on Spotify, the video was half-decent but the staging was awful and hugely over-ambitious. You don't need LCD lights and gimmicks - just look at the camera and connect to the audience. If you're going to do a gimmick you'd better have something hugely impressive (see Sweden) rather than look like you're running through the Finders Keepers house.
Fair play to Electro Velvet - they will be scapegoated for it but I hope they enjoyed the experience for what it was. They stepped up where established bands wouldn't dare. The problems with UK Eurovision selection go way beyond them.
I would say there was an element of political voting, and I'd suggest that had you switched the songs (so if Russia was singing Sweden's song and vice versa) then Sweden would still have won. It's not so much any grand conspiracy, just that people in the likes of the UK just won't want to see Russia win it. Ultimately, there's only so much you can do about that and the reintroduction of juries has done something to temper it.
I still think the biggest problem is that the UK gets automatic qualification into the final and the BBC's lack of promoting the song abroad. They make a big fuss about promoting the song on BBC radio when UK listeners can't vote for the thing.
On the point of automatic qualification. All the other acts perform in the heats and this gives them the edge. The songs become more familiar and you know what to expect, come the final. The likes of the UK have one shot to get the song perfect on the night and that's it.
A good strong song which represents the current music scene by a well known artist/group, promoted heavily in Europe on the lead up (not revealing the song a month before the competition) with decent staging on the night... who knows, we might just end up in the top 5.
PC
Yep, there is an issue with automatic qualification. We don't get to polish the song before the final (for example, Serbia seemed to improve between the two heats) and there isnt the same familiarity.
However, there's the other side of it - many countries deliberately pick safe songs just to get themselves into the semi-finals which have no chance in the final. Not having to do that should give us an opportunity to try something different.
The problem is that, as a nation, we don't take it seriously, and it's hard to imagine that changing. The BBC isn't going to lead this, the public would have to, and most of the public clearly still think Eurovision is Boom-Bang-A-Bang-Puppet-On-A-String. Also, we have one of the strongest music scenes in the world and there is a natural platform to promote your songs here, so there isn't the need for bands to put themselves forward. Compare all this to Sweden, which goes through a huge national selection process and takes the thing deathly seriously. And gets results. Sweden always do relatively well and I'm sure there was Swedish involvement in the Russian entry.
Or we could go back to Plan Molly and have a long-term strategy of building from the ground up. But we need to get some people in who know how to direct a Eurovision performance - the last two have been amateurish.
However, there's the other side of it - many countries deliberately pick safe songs just to get themselves into the semi-finals which have no chance in the final. Not having to do that should give us an opportunity to try something different.
The problem is that, as a nation, we don't take it seriously, and it's hard to imagine that changing. The BBC isn't going to lead this, the public would have to, and most of the public clearly still think Eurovision is Boom-Bang-A-Bang-Puppet-On-A-String. Also, we have one of the strongest music scenes in the world and there is a natural platform to promote your songs here, so there isn't the need for bands to put themselves forward. Compare all this to Sweden, which goes through a huge national selection process and takes the thing deathly seriously. And gets results. Sweden always do relatively well and I'm sure there was Swedish involvement in the Russian entry.
Or we could go back to Plan Molly and have a long-term strategy of building from the ground up. But we need to get some people in who know how to direct a Eurovision performance - the last two have been amateurish.
DO
I think there's certainly an argument for the pre-qualifiers to perform in the semi's - possibly as the interval act.
Overall, I think this year suffered from there being so many years in a row raising the bar on the quality of the programme. The direction was certainly tidied up somewhat from the semi's, and they dealt with the (overly) complicated voting sequence with aplomb. But it seemed very much a case of having all the right elements, but not that special something to make it a great show.
Looking forward to another SVT show next year, but they set the bar pretty high the other year. Beating it will be a challenge.
Overall, I think this year suffered from there being so many years in a row raising the bar on the quality of the programme. The direction was certainly tidied up somewhat from the semi's, and they dealt with the (overly) complicated voting sequence with aplomb. But it seemed very much a case of having all the right elements, but not that special something to make it a great show.
Looking forward to another SVT show next year, but they set the bar pretty high the other year. Beating it will be a challenge.
DV
The voting was not without problems ......
The jury results of F.Y.R. Macedonia and Montenegro for the Grand Final have been excluded after consultation of PwC, the contest's independent voting observer, and upon the decision of the Executive Supervisor and the Chairman of the Reference Group.
In both countries, televoting applied for 100%. The exclusion of two juries will be further discussed in the next Reference Group meeting in June.
(Eurovision TV)
The jury results of F.Y.R. Macedonia and Montenegro for the Grand Final have been excluded after consultation of PwC, the contest's independent voting observer, and upon the decision of the Executive Supervisor and the Chairman of the Reference Group.
In both countries, televoting applied for 100%. The exclusion of two juries will be further discussed in the next Reference Group meeting in June.
(Eurovision TV)
MA
They could have had a bog standard phone line feed in parallel running that they could cross fade to, belt and braces and all that ?
I wonder how many contributions were 'IP', some had that nasty 25p look ?
Oh, and the Dutch results presenter was stood here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.234206,5.173248,3a,58.2y,12.78h,89.3t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seGcJU3VURdpt-nQ4MQNRfA!2e0!6m1!1e1
That's the Hilversum Broadcasting Museum, that glass building to the right of
the fountains contains an early NOS OB Van
You can wander about on Google
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.235364,5.172747,3a,75y,238.07h,75.12t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s0CN3UdvgHYYAAAQW438CtQ!2e0!3e2
Not one but two lines have gone down, unheard of.
They could have had a bog standard phone line feed in parallel running that they could cross fade to, belt and braces and all that ?
I wonder how many contributions were 'IP', some had that nasty 25p look ?
Oh, and the Dutch results presenter was stood here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.234206,5.173248,3a,58.2y,12.78h,89.3t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seGcJU3VURdpt-nQ4MQNRfA!2e0!6m1!1e1
That's the Hilversum Broadcasting Museum, that glass building to the right of
the fountains contains an early NOS OB Van
You can wander about on Google
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.235364,5.172747,3a,75y,238.07h,75.12t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s0CN3UdvgHYYAAAQW438CtQ!2e0!3e2
Last edited by Markymark on 24 May 2015 9:32am - 2 times in total
AJ
The BBC's approach to selection and promotion needs to change.
We have hundreds of popular acts, who are popular worldwide and could potentially garner a decent score if not a win - question is whether any popular act would want to do it after the last few turkeys we've had at Eurovision.
Personally I think they need to open up selection and bring back A Song For Europe. Let the public have a say again. Then promote the damn thing across Europe. It's no use promoting the song in the UK and nowhere else when we can't ever vote for it.
The BBC have been trumpeting BBC Music and the talent and reach it has for the last year and a bit now - so why don't they use it more effectively (or at all!) when it comes to Eurovision?
We have hundreds of popular acts, who are popular worldwide and could potentially garner a decent score if not a win - question is whether any popular act would want to do it after the last few turkeys we've had at Eurovision.
Personally I think they need to open up selection and bring back A Song For Europe. Let the public have a say again. Then promote the damn thing across Europe. It's no use promoting the song in the UK and nowhere else when we can't ever vote for it.
The BBC have been trumpeting BBC Music and the talent and reach it has for the last year and a bit now - so why don't they use it more effectively (or at all!) when it comes to Eurovision?
HA
They could have had a bog standard phone line feed in parallel running that they could cross fade to, belt and braces and all that ?
I wonder how many contributions were 'IP', some had that nasty 25p look ?
Oh, and the Dutch results presenter was stood here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.234206,5.173248,3a,58.2y,12.78h,89.3t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seGcJU3VURdpt-nQ4MQNRfA!2e0!6m1!1e1
That's the Hilversum Broadcasting Museum, that glass building to the right of
the fountains contains an early NOS OB Van
You can wander about on Google
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.235364,5.172747,3a,75y,238.07h,75.12t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s0CN3UdvgHYYAAAQW438CtQ!2e0!3e2
Aren't all those country feeds from satellite there were lots of voting feeds on 7e well it was in the past.
harshy
Founding member
Not one but two lines have gone down, unheard of.
They could have had a bog standard phone line feed in parallel running that they could cross fade to, belt and braces and all that ?
I wonder how many contributions were 'IP', some had that nasty 25p look ?
Oh, and the Dutch results presenter was stood here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.234206,5.173248,3a,58.2y,12.78h,89.3t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seGcJU3VURdpt-nQ4MQNRfA!2e0!6m1!1e1
That's the Hilversum Broadcasting Museum, that glass building to the right of
the fountains contains an early NOS OB Van
You can wander about on Google
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.235364,5.172747,3a,75y,238.07h,75.12t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s0CN3UdvgHYYAAAQW438CtQ!2e0!3e2
Aren't all those country feeds from satellite there were lots of voting feeds on 7e well it was in the past.