Eurovision 2018

I think the Israeli hype has died down a lot from multiple factors so I don’t think they’ll do it. I think Cyprus could do it.

I noticed a few other members shared their semi-final favourites on this topic… I guess I can do the same. I was delighted to see that my four most favourite songs of the 2nd semi-final all won their access to tonight's final.

I ranked the 2nd semi-final's 18 songs in the following order, from most enjoyed to most disliked (yup, this means I took notes on paper during the whole show last Thursday haha). I bolded the now-finalists.

1st: 05 Denmark
2nd: 07 Moldova
3rd: 03 Serbia
4th: 18 Ukraine
5th: 10 Georgia
6th: 06 Russia
7th: 02 Romania
8th: 01 Norway
9th: 17 Slovenia
10th: 12 Malta
————
11th: 13 Hungary
12th: 09 Australia
13th: 15 Sweden
14th: 08 the Netherlands
15th: 16 Montenegro
16th: 14 Latvia
17th: 04 San Marino
18th: 11 Poland

I'm a bit sad I couldn't watch the 1st semi-final entirely, but after all it was the only semi-final for which I couldn't vote (because of being French) so no big regrets. The Israelian candidate didn't disappoint and the Estonian singer's performance was breathtaking for me.

As much as I'd love my country to host the Song Contest next year, I have low hopes about Madame Monsieur's song Mercy 's chances of victory. I think their song is wonderful (I could play it on repeat) but I don't really see how well it could work on stage. But hey, maybe I'll get surprised… We'll see.

Anyway, I find this year's Contest to be very exciting. A lot of the songs are of nice, if not outstanding, quality; and also quite diverse in style. I am very happy about this!



You could say I shouldn't really be surprised, but I am actually shocked by Chinese broadcasting authorities lumping same-sex relationships together with abuse and sexual assault.

Will be a shame to see Cyprus go bankrupt though. I really don't rate their song at all.

I don't actually think Cyprus will do it, I think Ireland has a better chance with it's placing.

If Cyprus do win, they only have the Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center in Limassol. They hosted the 2008 Junior Contest there, but I am guessing it won't have the infrastructure to host the full sized contest - would there even be enough hotel capacity? It currently holds 6,500 spectators, and I think they aim for about 8,000.

More interestingly, I noticed from Graham Norton's radio show that Tony Hall (BBC DG) is there tonight 'to see how the show is made'. This is really interesting. I know he likes it when the BBC hosts and covers large events - it guarantees the BBC exposure and coverage. There is an EBU meeting going on in Lisbon, however I think it's probably the first time since 1998 that a DG has watched it in the arena.

It got me thinking of a RTE/BBC co-production if Ireland do it - the SSE Arena, Belfast would be a great location and very symbolic for 2019 (capacity 10,000 for concerts, so with green room etc, down to around 8,000). Perhaps too political though. I hope at least, he may make it a priority again for the BBC to win, and our selections will continue to improve.

People are expecting it to be Cyprus, but I have a funny feeling we're in for a shock this year. I think the televoting and judges will be out of sync more than ever before. Ireland's song isn't spectacular but the message is pretty strong. Also, Norway has been written off now, but the Rybak effect will no doubt get a substantial amount of votes, even though the song's pretty dreadful.

I can see Finland doing quite well this year also. Funnily I not a big fan of Cyprus' entry, on the other hand, the Estonian entry might get a vote or tow from me.

That is interesting. Maybe he's willing to invest more money and make the UK a serious contender in an effort to show the UK as a welcoming nation to the rest of Europe in the post-Brexit era.

I think either if Ireland or Australia won it, then there would be BBC involvement in some way.

They might have a spare shipping warehouse they could convert a la Copenhagen and in Malta for the same year’s JESC which actually looked really impressive.

I do hope Tony Hall has not gone because of the opposite, that the BBC are considering withdrawing and handing over to ITV or Channel 4 just so they can get positive headlines in certain newspapers.

It is usual for ITV to be covering it on the news and only on the likes of This Morning in the way they have done this week? I've never seen this much coverage of it on another channel. Surely ITV aren't looking to take it on...

As much as I adore this forum for reading all sorts into his trip, the old cynic in me would point out that Portugal's a better holiday destination than most of the cities that have hosted Eurovision in recent years.

If that were the case I think at the contest is the last place he’d want to be.