Some reflections.
The UK entry: It could have been everyone's eleventh fav artist. Not least fav. And still come last. It DID go down amazingly well in the arena. I don't think you can overlook this. A lot of us really liked it for being different.
What issues did it have?
- it was punk pop - it's not musically technical nor classically aesthetic. It was a quirky entry and the problem with that is they rarely do well in the jury vote
- his vocals weren't great on Thursday. They were better tonight but we don't know if they were ropy at the jury final on Friday. There's every chance he could have fluffed it. That means you aren't hitting the points the jury's score on.
- the lyrics were problematic and made references that unless you were British you possibly wouldn't understand. A Pony for example. This is a cultural issue. Our lyrics were unlucky to have cultural appeal outside the UK. We forget that shared cultural understanding matters.
- he had no momentum in the run up. He didn't do the euro pre party tour. If you want to win this is a must. It sets up all your publicity and fan traction.
- the fact he literally had a baby a month ago is less than ideal in this context. The six week run in to Eurovision is massive. He wasn't doing the media run.
If you want to win you have to get both the jury and the public onside (stating the obvious but needs to be pointed out in terms of selection. It was an entry that never could have won).
It was a departure from our ultra boring entries which are safe and won't win either. That's a plus. If we are going to do badly let's have fun anyway.
I think this year the BBC just wanted an entry that wasn't going to court controversy.
Bulgaria are interesting because no one saw it coming. It was so well done though. The staging was simple and the choreography excellent. She belted it and didn't miss a note or breathe. These are all things the jury do look for. The song was catchy and bad wide cultural appeal (it had a Turkish / north African/ almost Bollywood vibe to it so it's going to appeal to a lot of different parts of Europe).
When I looked at the betting on Thursday it was nowhere. By close of the final it was third. That means it had huge momentum and traction between Thursday and Saturday. It must have been genuinely popular.
We joked about a couple of very obvious things. But honestly I think it was also a case of playing to obvious strengths too (she can't do anything about her boobs, so why not just go with it? It's nice that she has the confidence to do it. I don't like dancing etc because I have a similar issue).
The thing is Eurovision's audience isn't really heterosexual males. Men do watch with their wives and family but they aren't the main voters.
I voted for it. It was catchy, well done and professional. It had real technical difficulty to it too which I recognise. I normally really dislike the dance troop style numbers. It stood out against the other entries which were ballad heavy and tbh a little unoriginal. Everyone is bored of the heavy operatic style I think. Finland didn't quite have that something I was looking for tbh. Australia was very good but also was very unoriginal and a bit dry really.
Re voting system changes. It really changed how I voted this year. In previous years I'd have maybe done one telephone vote. It's a faff to ring up. I thought it would be harder to vote online and enter card details (you can use apple pay etc set up on your phone but I used my laptop).
The way it's set up means it was as easy to vote ten times as it is to vote once. And because it shows you all the contestants who you just 'add to basket' it lends itself to you voting for more than one artist. I really like this. I spread voted. By the time you have made the effort to vote, you may as well spend £1.50 rather than 15p. I didn't vote in the semis and I think most people don't - there's different voting patterns for the two. I think this makes it a lot harder to predict the results which is good. It has been frustrating the last couple of years in its predictability.
The UK model is how Eurovision wants voting in every country going forward. Not everyone has moved from phone to online system yet. I think it's good for the contest.
One final thing re Israel. Politically I'm fairly neutral on the subject. I think Israel is in the wrong but I very much see Hamas as a significant and on going issue. The conflict's roots go back generations and unpicking any sense of right or wrong in it, is frankly somewhat hopeless and pointless. Israel inclusion in the competition I see arguments for and against - their inclusion is helping to protect the free media in Israel in a way that's too often overlooked. But I really don't like how it's being used a propaganda either. My experience in Malmö was it felt like being caught up in someone else's domestic argument. It ruins what should be a fun night and a sense of bridging political divides. I'm very aware that Israel winning any time soon will kill the contest off which I really don't want. I don't think it's helpful to actual wider politics. I don't think this is really appreciated or said in conversations.
What really upset me last year was I was getting paid for adverts through MN itself. I screenshot it and posted it. It was happening. (This year I've had Swarovski adverts! The product placement is effective)That felt like cheating and against the spirit of the contest. It was the final straw after a number of incidents. It was about voting for a country because of your political beliefs not because you actually like the song. It feels like cheating. I want a Song Contest. That's it. That killed me having much sympathy for the way Israel's contestants have been booed tbh. That's going to happen now because of everything, either get on with it or don't compete. And this is after what was done personally to Joost Klein which was shameful on Eurovision's part without considering the motivation of the Israeli delegation
(I have said previously one of my friends is Dutch, and has inside knowledge of the Dutch music scene and warned ahead of the contest that he was vulnerable and would struggle with it. This was widely known and Klein had got the Dutch broadcaster to write in protection clauses in his contract which Israeli journalists flouted without regard and Eurovision failed to acknowledge their duty of care to Joost on this matter because they were too busy only trying to protect the Israeli entry. It's interesting to note that Sam Battle has said this year the BBC put him through a resilience test before his ultimate selection. This is new.)
It will take me a long time to get over what I see as something of a deliberate hijacking by the Israeli government. It's a betrayal of the idea of the contest. This absolutely is not remotely anti-semitic. It's a classic alienation process from your own hand. As a political neutral Israel's behaviour regarding the song contest itself affects how I view their song and whether I would consider voting for it - the Israeli government buying adverts poisoned their own well and undermined themselves. Objectively, their entry this year was average and nothing special. It's not worthy of second. I just want to move past the whole bullshit and get back to the fun.
Last night was nerve-wracking. We cheered Bulgaria winning here, because it meant a good song won (we all liked even if it wasn't our Fav which was Moldova) and because it meant the contest survived another year. Just. I think there's a somewhat silent majority of Eurovision fans who fall into the same camp as me in this view and have become more or less Anyone But Israel to win by begrudging default even though we want to stay out of the whole damn argument. This point needs to be verbalised and said.
I also think the result will not help get Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain or Slovakia to return next year. This upsets me. I want them back.