Eurovision Song Contest 2015 ("Building Bridges", Vienna)

[Charlie Brown]

It's that time of year again - Eurovision is coming! The semi-finals will be happening on the 19th and 21st of May, and the final on the 23rd of May, in Vienna, Austria. This year marks the 60th year of the Contest, with 40 countries participating, including Australia (which I'm obviously excited about haha).

Figured we could all use a thread to hype ourselves up about the event and discuss it as it gets closer! I personally haven't listened to any of the entries yet but heard from a friend who said he was disappointed at the low number of songs sung in languages other than English. For those who have listened to the entries yet, any favourites so far? Do you think your country stands a chance of winning? Will the UK get anywhere near the Top 10?

 

[Dreg]

I'm always excited to see the final of Eurovision... to see what variety of music that we have this year. Finland last year stood out as being the best but didn't get a 12 pointer from anyone, which was very disappointing. One thing that kills the vibe about Eurovision is when it is always the Bookie's favorite that wins. It's like "SPOILER ALERT!"

 

[Squirrel]

Weeeeeeeeeeeee Eurovision ♥ I'm pretty busy so will keep this brief but I'm mega excited for Euro! Always one of the best nights of the year and this year has a lot of good tracks coming up. The UK's entry is pretty hilariously bad once again so I'm pretty sure we'll never do well again by this stage (Molly was the exception, she was cheated with her score </3), the song is literally the guy saying "DON'T CHEAT ON ME YOU ALCOHOLIC but I still love you" and her replying "ok hun I won't :D" so.... yeah. Australia entering is exciting but their entry is kinda bland too so that's disappointing :( I'll post more later about the great songs I've heard so far but that's the notable points for now :D

 

[Charlie Brown]

Finland last year stood out as being the best but didn't get a 12 pointer from anyone, which was very disappointing.

Yeah I loved Finland's entry last year! It was definitely in my top three, alongside Austria's and probably Sweden's or Latvia's entry.

Australia entering is exciting but their entry is kinda bland too so that's disappointing :(

I completely agree :/ Guy Sebastian is a lovely guy (heh) and has a good voice and everything but he's just kind of... bland, too bland for Eurovision imo. We have so many quirky artists that would have been able to bring something interesting </3

 

[tittlemouse]

Eurovision with Austrailia, ok then last time I checked a map they were not in Europe..... I kind of want to see them win now purely for the mess it would make with winners hosting the next edition

 

[Charlie Brown]

Eurovision with Austrailia, ok then last time I checked a map they were not in Europe..... I kind of want to see them win now purely for the mess it would make with winners hosting the next edition

Um please Australia is clearly in Europe!

From memory, if Australia (somehow) wins, Eurovision will be held in a country of Australia's choice.

 

[moon]

Hahhaha imagine if it was to be held in Australia... Say, why are they in anyways? I'm happy about it, I really am, I just have no clue as to why they joined.

I read this: https://thenib.com/your-illustrated-introduction-to-eurovision-207db27a989b

It was cute :3 I'm gonna watch the finals now because of that. Even though Sweden's entry sucks big time. I don't even know if he reached the big final.

 

[Gardevoir the Dragon Slayer]

I love Eurovision, its great fun and a great foil to how serous the music industry normally takes things.
I missed last years (not really bothered as it felt to political with the bearded lady winner and the whole anti Russia vibe the audience and contest had).
However hopefully I can catch it this year.

 

[Hikamaru]

Hahhaha imagine if it was to be held in Australia... Say, why are they in anyways? I'm happy about it, I really am, I just have no clue as to why they joined.

Australians love Eurovision, in fact I've heard about the viewer figures the event draws in and it's a big sign that we may not be true Europeans but we love the content. As for how we got the chance to participate this year, we got a wildcard entry. The fact we have a contestant means we now get the chance to actually vote, but it comes with a catch, we can't vote for our own participant aka Guy Sebastian. I do wonder if the organizers were so impressed with Jessica Mauboy's guest performance last year that they wanted us to actually be in the competition. Just my assumption here.

But as for Guy himself, I actually hate him because I've been exposed to tons of his massive hits over the years and I feel like he's losing quality all the time (his recent stuff has him collaborating with big-name rappers such as Lupe Fiasco, which makes me feel like there's no effort put into his music anymore and that makes me cringe) but the song entry he's recorded for the competition is somewhat decent. And as mentioned, if he does win for Australia then we get to choose the country to co-host next year's event with, which will be held in said country.

I'm catching a snippet of some of the coverage right now. Currently watching Serbia's entry, not a fan of the chubby lady there although I have to give credit for her having a pretty good voice.

Caught a bit of Hungary's performance there just right now. That lady they entered looks really beautiful and with quite the voice to boot.

 

[moon]

I'm catching a snippet of some of the coverage right now. Currently watching Serbia's entry, not a fan of the chubby lady there although I have to give credit for her having a pretty good voice.

Caught a bit of Hungary's performance there just right now. That lady they entered looks really beautiful and with quite the voice to boot.

What I gather from this is that you judge contestants based on what their bodies look like xD Personally I don't give a rat's ass about what they look like in that way, only their clothes and overall show on the stage and of course their voice and the song itself. Talent does not always go hand in hand with natural looks.

Sure, Conchita Wurst is gorgeous, but I fell in love with her song long before I saw her perform. I love it to bits, actually.

 

[Hikamaru]

I can say these countries from the first semi-final got through to the Grand Final if you missed it: Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Serbia.

I even recall the hosts wanted Belgium to go through, don't know why their entry impressed the so much. The main shocker imo was Hungary getting in, I never thought it would have been a contender. Although Finland with their punk "rubbish" missing out means people might not enjoy hearing punk on the Eurovision stage anymore and tastes must have definitely changed.

 

[Blu·Ray]

I even recall the hosts wanted Belgium to go through, don't know why their entry impressed the so much. The main shocker imo was Hungary getting in, I never thought it would have been a contender. Although Finland with their punk "rubbish" missing out means people might not enjoy hearing punk on the Eurovision stage anymore and tastes must have definitely changed.

I only saw the performances yesterday and missed out on the voting, and I must say that I was only mildly underimpressed by most of the entries in that semifinal. The big surprise for me personally was how amazing Belgium was. Between the song, the performance, the fact that the singer can actually sing (!), and it's general uniqueness, Belgium is definitely my favorite so far!
Sad to see Finland go, they were great!

 

[LaVida]

I happen to be from Vienna so I'm really excited about the Eurovision Song Contest being held here this year :3

I went to the first Semi-Final Jury's show on Monday and wow, I can tell you that it was so much fun to see the show live!

My favorites were Belgium, Russia, Estonia and Serbia (:

Also, I think it's pretty cool that Australia participates this year for the first time.

 

[Ivysaur]

Second semifinal saw Montenegro, Lithuania, Norway, Israel, latvia, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Cyprus, Slovenia and Poland through, which will join the usual suspects of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in the final, along with this year's guest, Australia! Can't wait for the show to start :D

 

[Aslan]

I haven't watched much Eurovision this year but I'm really sad Australia didn't enter more unknown bands or artists like Birds of Tokyo. Guy Sebastian's a great guy (... THAT WAS NOT INTENTIONAL) but his songs are very underwhelming in comparison to a lot of the artists we have here. They're definitely catchy but I'd of loved to see the people who sang 'Lanterns' represent us instead.

As for favourite entries, can't say I have any since I've only heard bits and pieces of each song. The sixteen year olds representing their country this year are extremely talented for having made it at such an age though, woow. Also all I can think of when I hear 'never let me go' in Germany's song is that one Florence + the Machine song. oops :D

 

[blue]

I love Eurovision, even though the UK next come close to the top 10, it's always fun to watch. We've been having Eurovision parties for the last 3 years now, so that should be fun too.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

am i the only person here who thinks eurovision is rigged and the quality of the songs has gone down dramatically in the past few years

at least WWE admits it and is still entertaining to watch

 

[Ivysaur]

Beautiful opening show, I must say.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

B A S E D U K
A
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[maccrash]

at least WWE admits it and is still entertaining to watch

apples & oranges, my friend. I'm kind of half-heartedly watching it with some friends and it's pretty bad though.