Delta Goodrem representing Australia in the Eurovision

[Dogladyloveswine]

Delta Goodrem is an existing pop star, worth $24 Million. I thought the Eurovision was meant to be for singers who weren't already pop stars.

I mean, why don't we just send the Rolling Stones then? Or Ed Sheeran? Where does it end? 😳

Why in gods name would an Australian soap star know me?
Oh I see…you were being facetious! Very supportive!

Of course you're highly unlikely to actually know her; but you did strongly suggest that, because you haven't heard of her and don't personally like her music or rate her talents, that's somehow 'proof' that she's rubbish.

Millions and millions of fans across the world clearly feel very differently from you.

I genuinely don’t understand why you would make a dismissive comment and then expect people to be “supportive” about your rudeness rather than call you out on it.

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about Delta Goodrem as much in my entire life as I have during this thread, but she’s immensely popular in her home country and has had a successful career. People who sneer “never heard of him/her” only make themselves look stupid and insecure.

I don’t think I’d heard of any of the other Eurovision entrants, but there’s no need to go shouting about my ignorance of other countries’ pop culture, let alone expecting people to be “supportive” of that.

Lulu and Sandie Shaw were already established pop stars when they entered it . In fact wasn’t Cliff Richards our entrant one year?

I'm originally from a mainland European country and that country sends their 'stars' all the time.

One thing I don't think enough people realise about the UK always doing so shit, is that aside from sending bad songs, they are terrible on the marketing side. One of the reasons Sam Ryder did so well was that he was an exception to this. People knew the song and his story as an artist prior to him going into contest. There was a buzz on social media about his hair and everything; he used his platform to advocate for himself.

This is something that serious contender countries all do. They have competitions to select their entry, competitions to write a song, social media campaigns etc. People in general have already heard and liked their songs well before finals day. The UK usually does none of this; this years applicant just wrote to the BBC that he'd like to represent us and that was it. I hadn't even heard anything about the UK entry until last week. On top of that, the UK is part of the big five and therefore skips the semi-finals. This is another issue, as the semis build additional hype. Of course there is political voting and wink wink nudge nudge neighbours doing each other favours, but not to the extent that the UK would come last every single contest if they weren't also incredibly shit at the contest. Like 4 years ago, where we actually put in some effort and immediately came 2nd.

The main issue is persuading Brits with currently-successful careers to take part and risk a bad result. It's seen as something of a poisoned chalice.
I remember there used to be a show called "Song for Europe" where the entry was selected by public vote - but the demographics of the people watching the show were definitely not the cool-kids, so we always ended up with entries that were an old person's idea of what current pop should look like - all a bit embarrassing.

Surely there aren't only two groups, though: globally-successful pop stars and completely talentless chumps? What about all of the amazing young up-and-coming stars of the future, who are fantastic singers and songwriters but not yet well-known?

If you aren't famous yet, you have nothing to lose; and if you're brilliant, even if you don't score highly, there will be a massive potential new fanbase out there who will appreciate your talent and want to hear lots more from you.

Are there really countless millions of viewers out there who would lament "I thought she was amazing and I can't get that banger out of my head; I would definitely love to hear lots more of her music... but she wasn't in the Top 10 of favourites for the majority of strangers across Europe and beyond in one week of time, so I'll not only not bother checking her on Spotify and YouTube, but I'll also decide to join in with hating and ridiculing her for evermore instead." ?

The only way to completely bomb and drink from the famed 'poisoned chalice' is if you score terribly AND you're rubbish too - and if that's the case, you were never destined for stardom anyway. You're terrible so people will think you're terrible; so what have you lost?! Why is there no 'poisoned chalice' for the big established stars from other countries who represent their countries; why only for the UK? Sounds like a huge excuse to me.

No, it was an Irish entry, no his entry.

I’d never even heard of her before last week! I didn’t for one second suggest she was rubbish…how on earth did you reach that conclusion?

“So I watched her performance…now I understand why I’ve never heard of her!“

From this probably.

My reasoning is countries in Europe according to the UN. Azerbaijan is in it. The case for Armenia is shakier, but both it and Georare in the Council of Europe.

Israel and Australia are not in Europe.

What does it actually matter, though? Yes, it's a Europe-based contest, but if they want to participate and can do so fully and successfully within the rules and customs that already exist - as they clearly do, given the many votes that they regularly receive - then what's the actual problem?

Why is it just fine for the UK to turn up with a woeful, insultingly-terrible entry; but it's outrageous for Armenia, Australia or any others to come along with a banger of a performance that the crowd and viewers at home love? Even with Israel, the elephant in the room and the reason for the boycotts and protests is the war in which they are currently involved; not the geographical location of their country.

I'm absolutely not suggesting for a moment that it's your thinking, but it just makes me think of the certain brand of Reform supporters who will petition for the hard-working members of the community with brown or black skin to be 'sent back where they came from' (even if they are British-born); whilst any of the wastrels, petty criminals and general ASBO class who happen to be white can firmly stay without any question whatsoever.

Well probably just because I am autistic and it really jars me! Either change the name or make it make sense!

That’s a fair enough reason! I don’t have the issue with Eurovision in particular, but I can relate to certain words/phrases that are used incorrectly and give me the rage… or I just don’t like them and they give me the rage anyway!

Are you her mum?

Eh? 1in3 was just answering your question.

If it was the wrong conclusion to reach, maybe you could explain to us what you actually meant by “So I watched her performance…now I understand why I’ve never heard of her!“ ?

Yes @Gall10 your comment wasn't exactly subtle and we all got the same from it!

Agree! And the attempt at back pedalling is quite amusing.