#rules of Eurovision

[potatotalksculture]

Potato Tweet: Who still cares about Eurovison Song Contest? I barely do. I wouldn’t care at all, but some of my friends throw a party every year to watch it together and judge the contestants and their performances together. And there are snacks. So what the hell, let’s watch it.

And today, after being bombarded on my social media by news and posts about the eliminations, I watched the recap, or rather the half of it, of the performers competing for representing my home country. And oh my, did it break my brain! Voices auto-tuned to the end of time and back, videos that were probably put together in the Windows Movie Maker or edited by people still living in the 2000s and 2010s aesthetics, heavy accent by singing in English…

… this is the point that always surprises me. I never understood why almost every ESC contestant sings in English although they are representing their country, i.e. their culture and heritage? According to the rules of ESC they don’t have to perform in English. According to Wikipedia, these rules changed back and forth a lot over the years. At the moment a contestant may perform in a language of their choosing, but because English is nowadays the universally understood language, they more often than not decide to chose it. It’s also easier to secure a win with the use of a language that we, the audience, associate with music we like and listen to regularly. Like, I like Cesária Évora, but its more probable to hear Lady Gaga on the radio.

All in all, I don’t have high hopes for this years ESC. I didn’t have them for any past edition. But I’ll watch it with friend and snacks, having fun, being judge mental and witness this weird and oddly aged spectacle that still bares some relevance to the pop culture today.

And Måneskin was cool. I’ll give them that.

[kuruksenshi]

Yet another proof how disgusting and pathetic Israeli delegation is.

Keren Peles, Israeli delegation member and songwriter of their song, is still targeting Joost Klein on her Instagram stories.

Source: Twitter profile @IsrBreaksRules

(I didn't take these screenshots myself, credits to the person mentioned above.)

"No anti-Semitic has the right to sing or breathe next to us and won't come close."

I can't find words to express my disgust with EBU who's letting all of this happen without any consequences. Not the first or last poke at others contestants I'm sure and they get to run around free to do that.

Disgusting.

Pathetic.

Still ruining it for everyone.

Eurovision won't be the same after this, if it even continues to exist after this catastrophe that could've been easily avoided.

Shame on Israel

Shame on Keren Peles and the whole of Israeli delegation

Shame on EBU and any endorser of Israeli doings

[lahti111]

The best thing in this year's Eurovision is witnessing the meltdown people have over Ireland and Finland's entries.

Bambie and Windows95man came to slay and y'all just have to deal with it 💅

[karu-selli]

Some people are hating on No Rules!

I think they are just salty. Here is a meme i made.

[mymoominblog]

In honour of Finland’s Eurovision entry this year, I’m presenting

Snufkin - No Rules!

[joseline-woodhouse]

Finland is allowed to do this but Germany got censored for saying sh!t.

I guess for Finland there are... No rules.

[ya-boi-joule]

umk umk jeejeejee :)

[belle-keys]

I cannot think of a single valid reason why Israel should even be allowed to participate in Eurovision in any year much less this year...

[juuret]

Things that need to happen asap:

-Osterdahl needs to go. He fucked everything up in a way that you'd think it should be impossible at levels that high

-also everyone around him needs to go

-rules need to be changed so that kicking countries out if they're committing genocide it should be easy and even automatic. Can't believe I have to type this.

-also ethnic cleansing should be a no-no (yes Azerbaijan, I'm specifically looking at you)

-the rules need to be enforced strictly AND ALWAYS. If you're strict with a country but another can do whatever they want then clearly the rules don't matter

-massive televoting for a country should be considered suspicious.

-most countries (I think everyone but Italy?) has a limit of 20 televotes. THAT'S A LOT. Lower it.

[enter-the-phantom]

I cannot believe I drew the Windows logo this many times

(I do commissions!)

(Another cleaner version for folks with bad eyes below)

[negobeauriva]

The Windows95manifesto: In defense of Finland's performance for 2024

Happy first rehearsal week everyone!

The first wave of rehearsals is done, and with it, we have gotten a wave of comments about the performances. Some filled with praise and approval, but some others completely hateful and rude. And today I'm going to talk to you about this second kind of comments about one of this year's controversial entry: Finland's "No Rules!" by Windows95man (Teemu Keisteri) ft. Henri Piispanen.

Many people have said that this entry is a joke, or that it doesn't deserve to be in Eurovision because it's distasteful. But here I am, in defense of uniqueness and weirdness, not only because this entry is in my top 5 this year, but also because it's important to understand what "art" is about. Here's to all the "weird" Eurovision entries that have been called unworthy of stepping on stage because they've been misunderstood.

A special shoutout to @/tottakaibi on Twitter/X because she gave me one of the pointers for this article in particular! And she's constantly in the lookout for Teemu and Henri's projects.

Without further ado, step in and enjoy the read.

No Rules! is, undoubtedly, the most distruptive entry this year - the nudity, fast-paced music and unique mise-en-scene, all make for an entry that many have deemed nonpalatable or not artistic. But behind every art display, there is a story, and I'm here to tell you a little bit more about it.

To start, the staging of No Rules! refers to the Kalevala, a book of finnish folk poetry from the 19th century that contains the myth of creation: Earth was born from an egg, with the shells forming both sky and land. Goddess Ilmatar, mother of nature and creation, soon realized that whatever she touched would grow and her every move was an act of creation itself. And so, she gave birth to Väinämönen, the first man to ever walk upon Earth.

Teemu arising from an egg is a clear reference to the Kalevala myth of creation, and he's even referred to it in some way in a video recently posted by UMK, in which he tells the tale of how Windows95man was born and Henri, in the figure of an eagle, becomes his friend so he can walk on the rule-burdened Earth without caring much for the impositions. It's both a mythical reference and a song of liberation: to not care about what others think and what others say to live freely and happily. To disregard societal "rules" in order to pursue happiness (this, of course, in the sense that you shouldn't care about "neat" or "appropriate", and not about the lack of order).

This song has also been called an anthem of liberation for LGBTQ+ members: No Rules! refers to the absence of gender norms ("Quiet, as I speak / I am the king, I am the queen" // "Is there something wrong with the way I look? / Is there something wrong with who I am?") and to live your life expressing yourself in the way you deem the best fit for you. As an agender person who's constantly told what to wear, what to say and how to act, this song is very meaningful and close to me. It makes me feel a bit better about my identity.

Now, to the point that interests you the most - how can No Rules! be considered an artistic performance, with the disruptive elements that make many shriek in disgust?

Let's begin with this - art is subjective and it's meant to make you feel something, whether good or bad. Art is meant to move something inside you, to make you question things. Have not many artists in the past made paintings about poor people's lives to protest poor living conditions or to showcase how hard it was to get on by? To many, art forms like paintings and sculptures that we now consider artistic were once considered scandalous or distasteful. This is the exact point of this performance.

In a recent documentary called "No Shame", Teemu referred to this - the point of his art is to appeal to disgust, to weirdness and to what makes you question what's tasteful or not. Shock factor also plays an important part in modern art performances. It's about going into the raw parts of your psyche and make you uncomfortable.

Teemu has been a visual artist since 2008, under the name Ukkeli. Vibrant colors, strange outfits and drawings, uncovered butts as part of his art installations and the message "No Rules" as one of his oldest mottos (not surprising, considering that in an interview he said he grew up with hippie parents that were very permissive) are the main features of his work. It's reminiscent of early 2000's adult animation shows, who also had a big shock factor and were frowned upon back then.

In this appeal to weirdness resides the charm of Windows95man's performance - in making you feel uncomfortable and weird, you're proving the exact point of the song. You will be bitter about how Finland could've "sent something better", but that won't change the fact that Teemu and Henri were chosen by his people because they understood the art beyond the shocking display. They understood what living with no rules means, to embrace weirdness, to embrace unique, and not care about what others say. If it makes you feel happy, who says that you're not allowed to like or pursue it?

Let's take a look back - Go_A's Shum, who was also catalogued as weird due to Kateryna's bewitching voice and vocalizations, made it to 5th place with no problem in 2021. Zdob si Zdub & Advahov Brothers' Trenulețul 2022 got to number 7 in 2022, after being called disruptive noise, and Konstrakta's In Corpore Sano made it to 5th place even when it was called creepy by some. Mama ŠČ! by Let3 made it to an impressive 12th place last year, and 3rd place in Dora this year with their strange Baba Roga.

If every country sent the same cookie-cutter type of "safe" song to Eurovision, the contest would be very repetitive and monotone. Let's face it, the public loves unique, loves something that will blow your hats off for three minutes and wondering what happened. They love songs that go off the "normal" standard because it takes you for a trip and makes you jump off your seat. It's no wonder that, in contrast with No Rules! getting so much hate, along with Doomsday Blue (another of the misunderstood entries, reduced only to its wrongly called "satanistic" character), 5Miinust and Puulup seem to be favorites this year, along with Joost Klein, who is rumored to win. People either love or hate weird and unique. Sadly, Finland got the worst end of the stick, and I think that's very unfair.

There's also the double standard, many think that it's inappropriate for Teemu to show up in nude-colored underwear, but they had no problem with female contestants in revealing outfits in previous years. Here's the thing - it's either okay for everyone to wear revealing outfits, or it's not. The argument that 2022's Chanel is given a pass to wearing revealing clothes because "she's a sexy girl speaking about being sexy" is invalid. Beauty, much like art, is subjective. And I do think that Teemu is very beautiful. He is allowed to wear what he wants (of course, according to EBU's standards, and they seem to have approved of the performance as is) and you don't get to say what's tasteful or not based off an aesthetic standard settled in sexism.

To finish this off, let me sum up the most important points of my mini-essay: No Rules! is an artistic performance because it's disruptive, it has elements that refer to Finnish myths and it's a liberation anthem that is meant to reach all those who feel like being themselves is wrong, to make them forget about this world's standards for three minutes and remember that the only person they need to please is themselves. As such, this song accomplishes its goal perfectly and beautifully. To call Teemu and Henri's performance a joke is to bypass every element of its artistry and to insult the artist standing on stage. Finland chose them, and so we must respect their decision and refrain from sending hateful comments.

I do think that we need to keep high hopes for this performance. I know that the two of them will go beyond everything we know and expect and will blow us all away when the Semifinal 1 comes in May 7th. After all, Henri's vocal skills have improved greatly since UMK, and Teemu's charisma can only grow by the second. These two have everything to go far and to show everyone that sometimes, all you need is to not listen to your surroundings and act as your heart commands.

Sometimes, the only rule is no rules.

[staraviiasartblog]

The man who has 95 windows or something.. Idk I dont do music

[killingboredom]

EBU is a joke, so you are telling me that you disqualify Netherlands because a comment (because apparently it was a mean comment the incident) but you let Israel participate??? Israel who is at war, who's crew made ill comments against Joost and were nasty to the spanish crew??? Are you for real???

[tampon-on-the-sidewalk]

Ways the live audience could truly make an impact:

1. Turning around/ walking out the minute Eden’s postcard comes on

2. No booing when she’s shown in the beginning, just absolute silence. She doesn’t deserve a reaction at all,

3. Everyone blast ‘1944’ on their phones at full blast or singing said lyrics

[webwanderer]

Needless to say, "The Code" - Nemo is the new ENBY ANTHEM!