asterblogseurovision - Tumblr blog

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We are still waiting for a formal explanation of why Portugal hates Sweden.

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Still in love with Kaliopi and her personality!

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Gabriela Gunčíková in the dress she will wear in Stockholm

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Eurovision Song Contest 2016 countdown: one song a day

Say Yay! - Barei, Spain        [preview video | lyrics]

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MY CURRENT TOP 10

Kaliopi - Dona (Macedonia)

Barei - Say Yay! (Spain)

Poli Genova - If Love Was A Crime (Bulgaria)

Amir - J’ai Cherché (France)

ZOË - L’oin D’ici (Austria)

Greta Salóme - Hear Them Calling (Iceland)

Lidia Isac - Falling Stars (Moldova)

Gabriela Gunčíková - I Stand (Czech Republic)

Frans - If I Were Sorry (Sweden)

Nicky Byrne - Sunlight (Ireland)

there’s a massive lead for Macedonia, then a gap again after Spain and Bulgaria, and France and Austria are streets ahead of the next five...

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i am so concerned about the semi finals i’ll be at work or just going about my day or something and i’ll remember

and my heart will start racing and i’ll need to just take a moment

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3 stages of Eurovision

Getting excited: some might say it's an ordinary day, but not for me....NOT FOR ME

The day arrives: I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS NIGHT

When your favorites don't qualify from semis: don't throw my heart away, i want you to staaaaaaaay...

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Eurovision Song Contest 2016 countdown: one song a day

Say Yay! - Barei, Spain        [preview video | lyrics]

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Watching the vote results come in

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The only song from a Nordic country that a lot of people seem to actually like is from the one that has never won.

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Good afternoon, folks! Today’s statistical map looks at something that is a passionate cause of mine, and something to which I dedicate a fair bit of analysis every year. It is language diversity at the Eurovision, or rather, the lack thereof. Every year, I analyse the number of songs in languages other than English, and every year the statistics grow more disheartening for those of us who love linguistic diversity. 

Last year, we had 6 songs entirely or almost entirely in a language other than English (15% of all songs). This year, we’re down to just 3 out of 43 songs completely in another language. That’s just under 7% and is quite frankly, lame. If we put together all the songs with at least a substantial part of the lyrics in another language than English - thus, disregarding Bulgaria’s promise of “10% Bulgarian” - it’s just 7/43 songs (16%), down from the previous all-time low of 17.5% in 2015, and much reduced compared to 21% in 2014 and 44% in 2013. It is becoming evident that delegations think English is necessary for a good placing at Eurovision - if you do the maths, as I did, it most certainly is not.

I’ve been watching the contest every year since the late 80s, and part of what I loved of pre-1999 Eurovision was the delectable buffet of linguistic delights it offered each year. When else in the year would one hear Turkish, Estonian, Romanian, and even minority languages like Breton and Neapolitan in quick succession? Out of my all-time favourites, only one of twenty is in English, and my all-time favourite is not even in a language I speak (and I speak several), because I didn’t need to understand the lyrics to feel the emotion of the performance. The creators of Eurovision designed the contest as an exhibition of Europe’s cultural diversity - united not by a single language, but by music. I feel sad to see even previously steadfast countries like Serbia jettison their beautiful languages and the contest I love with all my heart becoming more and more an Anglovision each year.

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Eurovision 2016 - Czech Republic

Gabriela Gunčíková - I Stand (x)

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Good afternoon, folks! It’s come to that time of year when the last national finals have taken place - the time to begin the Eurosong blog for another year, our 4th year of providing a bunch of original Eurovision maps, odds and statistics here! I’m starting off this year in the traditional way, by looking at the gender of performers- something that has been particularly commented upon so far at this year’s contest.

I have noticed some intriguing circular trends at the Eurovision with regards to the continuous shift between contests where female soloists or all-female duos/bands comprise the majority, and where the ratio of male to female performers is closer to parity - a lot of it has to do with jumping on the bandwagon due to previous winners, but that is something I shall explore in future posts. In this one, let’s focus attention instead on trends this year:

◿ Mixed groups are so last year, or so it seems! Last year there were ten mixed-gender groups, a lot of whom were duets. It was the biggest number of such groups in the past ten years, with duos such as Norway, Estonia and Slovenia getting a lot of fan attention. This year could not be more different - there are only two groups of mixed gender and no true duet. 

◿ Near-perfect geographical splits. The UK, Russia, Ireland, the Netherlands, half of the Nordic countries, and nearly all of NE Europe including all the Baltics opted for male soloists or all-male groups. Compare that to the Balkans, where only one nation opted to send all-male participants, or central Europe, which almost solidly chose female soloists. Nations where German is an official language (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and because of its minute German speaking community, Belgium) all went for female soloists - which took me as surprise because of their higher-than-average inclination to send male soloists over the past 10 years.

◿ One small curiosity: out of last year’s top ten, only 3 countries decided to send the same gender performer(s) as the previous year - Sweden, Israel and Serbia. 8 of the 12 non-qualifiers taking part again this year also decided to send different gendered performers to the contest.

◿ A slightly increased number of countries chose to send the same gendr performers for another year. Spain, Germany and Albania keep sending female soloists in the hope that one day, it’ll work (only once in 6 years has either country not sent a female soloist); Denmark decided to relive last year’s disappointment by sending another boy band; but the shining example of keeping to the same format is that of the Ukraine - the last time it didn’t send a female (or, at least, a female character) was 11 years ago!

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Romania: We’re not vampires and don’t appreciate that stereotype. Romania at Eurovision: