TV Home Forum

Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008

(February 2008)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
IN
ImNotEricPrydz
Square Eyes posted:
Andy Abraham has no chance, song not great, 2nd act on, the block voting, no Ireland or Malta. Doomed.

Repeat over the next several decades or until a point at which we a) pull out or b) the songs become an integral part of the voting process.

Yes,I agree with you.Stupid block-voting is so unfair.Solution...I don't know,this system would be basiclly perfect if there won't be block-voting anymore...All countries from the semies are voting tonight....
DV
DVB Cornwall
The points will be presented in the following order:

UK, FYR Macedonia, Ukraine, Germany, Estonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Belgium, San Marino, Latvia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel, Cyprus, Moldova, Iceland, France, Romania, Portugal, Norway, Hungary, Andorra, Poland, Slovenia, Armenia, Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Malta, Ireland, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Sweden, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Montenegro, Georgia and Denmark.
GO
gottago
Tumble Tower posted:
Well I've said this previous years on DS and here, I'll say it again. I think that the countries eliminated at the semi-final stage (there are 18 of those this year) should have their 1 to 12 point scores electronically put on the final scoreboard right at the start, in one block without a spokesperson announcing them. The scoreboard would shuffle into descending order, and everyone would see who's in the lead after those countries (in this case 1Cool have "cast their votes" in this manner. After that, the finalists would announce their 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 point scores in the traditional manner in order of performance, with the scoreboard constantly shuffling.
You're forgetting that all countries have to go to the trouble of getting someone (and indeed a small production team) to announce the votes and probably often have to train them in English (or French occasionally).

Doing it your way would mean the EBU having to organise the order of which the votes are announced and from where they are coming etc etc in the space of 40 hours or something. It would all fall to pot!

Plus imagine how disapointing it would be for these spokespersons to find out that they won't be needed after all. At least the performers got their time on stage.
JO
Jon
gregmc posted:
Square Eyes posted:
Andy Abraham has no chance, song not great, 2nd act on, the block voting, no Ireland or Malta. Doomed.

Repeat over the next several decades or until a point at which we a) pull out or b) the songs become an integral part of the voting process.


I hear that the BBC have actually threatened to pull out, as they are one of the primary investors in the event, yet the political landscape is overcasting the votes, if things don't change, I wouldn't be surprised if the UK did pull out, for a few years at least.

But it's still a massive ratings winner regardless of the block voting!
TT
Tumble Tower
Square Eyes posted:
Andy Abraham has no chance, song not great, 2nd act on, the block voting, no Ireland or Malta. Doomed.

All 43 countries are voting, including those which failed to quailify from the semis. Therefore Malta and Ireland will be able to vote for the UK if they wish. Granted that being the second song in the line-up is a bad omen, as to-date no-one in that position has ever won a Eurovision final, but this year could be the one that record is broken. Don't forget, prior to 2003, no-one had won from 4th position in the line-up. In 2003, Turkey won, from position 4, with "Every Way That I Can".
Square Eyes posted:
Repeat over the next several decades or until a point at which we a) pull out or b) the songs become an integral part of the voting process.

So what if it's 11 years since we last won? Denmark won in 1963 and had to wait until 2000 to win again, a 37 year gap. We last won in 1997. Does it matter if it takes us until 2017 or even 2027 to win again? Remember the Olympic motto "The important thing is not to win but to take part". Coming last with nul points doesn't matter. It's the taking part that counts.
AG
AxG
Tumble Tower posted:
Remember the Olympic motto "The important thing is not to win but to take part".

The Olympic motto is: Citius, Altius, Fortius.
JO
Jon
Tumble Tower posted:
Remember the Olympic motto "The important thing is not to win but to take part". Coming last with nul points doesn't matter. It's the taking part that counts.

Well said!
NG
noggin Founding member
gregmc posted:
Square Eyes posted:
Andy Abraham has no chance, song not great, 2nd act on, the block voting, no Ireland or Malta. Doomed.

Repeat over the next several decades or until a point at which we a) pull out or b) the songs become an integral part of the voting process.


I hear that the BBC have actually threatened to pull out, as they are one of the primary investors in the event, yet the political landscape is overcasting the votes, if things don't change, I wouldn't be surprised if the UK did pull out, for a few years at least.


I think you have heard wrong. I think Spain and France feel much more strongly about the voting than the UK.

In the UK we still see the contest as a bit of fun - even though I suspect the Beeb would quite like to win and host again. However France and Spain - and to a degree Germany - take it a bit more seriously...

The Big Four have expressed concern that they are hosting a contest that they all usually come close to last in - but whilst the ratings are so strong in the UK (stronger than many other countries interestingly) the Beeb are unlikely to pull out.
NG
noggin Founding member
gottago posted:
Tumble Tower posted:
Well I've said this previous years on DS and here, I'll say it again. I think that the countries eliminated at the semi-final stage (there are 18 of those this year) should have their 1 to 12 point scores electronically put on the final scoreboard right at the start, in one block without a spokesperson announcing them. The scoreboard would shuffle into descending order, and everyone would see who's in the lead after those countries (in this case 1Cool have "cast their votes" in this manner. After that, the finalists would announce their 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 point scores in the traditional manner in order of performance, with the scoreboard constantly shuffling.
You're forgetting that all countries have to go to the trouble of getting someone (and indeed a small production team) to announce the votes and probably often have to train them in English (or French occasionally).

Doing it your way would mean the EBU having to organise the order of which the votes are announced and from where they are coming etc etc in the space of 40 hours or something. It would all fall to pot!

Plus imagine how disapointing it would be for these spokespersons to find out that they won't be needed after all. At least the performers got their time on stage.


Yep - co-ordinating the satellite contributions from the voting countries is tricky enough with a few weeks notice, doing it with less than two days would be a nightmare.

BTW - now the satellite in-vision presentation of voting is entirely cosmetic - with Digame getting all the votes electronically prior to the voting (yep - in theory they know who has won before the first vote is cast in-vision...) - you could just say here are the results and cut to the final scoreboard... Not much fun though.
TG
TG
So why DO they still do it?

Is it so much cheaper than it would be to send a spokesman with each delegation, to the host country?
DV
DVB Cornwall
It's always been the fact that the EBU know the result prior to the score presentation though. In the past the results have been faxed to a central point and in the prehistoric time they were phoned in. Tere have been occasions where the EBU scrutineer has intervened to get corrected versions from the National Spokesperson.

Agreed the DIGAME process makes this a lot less problematic.
NG
noggin Founding member
TG posted:
So why DO they still do it?

Is it so much cheaper than it would be to send a spokesman with each delegation, to the host country?


Because it is so much more fun - and you get the joy of seeing each broadcaster try and sell itself to Europe and get all their logos in the wrong place. You also see how seriously each nation takes it. (I particularly enjoyed the year Malta forgot to run the Beta tape of their CSO backing until they were in-vision...)

Newer posts