Americans React to Eurovision | Her first time!

[@AC-um2mk]

Countries cannot vote for their own song.

[@jules.8443]

I think Steve was referring to the viewers. They wanted their country to win, even though their government wont have wanted it.

[@michellehardman50]

Or as Ulrika Jonsson once add at end of that sentence, at euro vision 1997 “You fooools” and Terry Wogan to remind viewers “you’ve only yourself to blame” 😂

[@Ross-df6ge]

​@@jules.8443Viewers can't vote for their own song either.

[@StewedFishProductions]

@@Ross-df6ge If you DO try to vote for your own country, the vote won't be counted BUT you may still get 'charged' for the call or vote...

[@matsand4719]

@@StewedFishProductions same old

[@seandonohue6793]

Eurovision was in my city (Liverpool, UK) last year on behalf of Ukraine and it was insane the amount of planning and events held in the city. It must have cost an absolute fortune but we had a week of free concerts on the waterfront and tonnes of activities around the city. It was brilliant.

[@seanmcmichael2551]

@seandonohue6793 I came over from Dublin for the Ukrainian/Liverpool final. Totally fantastic time. 'Village' location great, infrastructure great, people great, musical heritage great. Liverpool had it all. Would recommend UK repeating Liverpool (if they win again).

[@robt2778]

Liverpool spent £4M on hosting Eurovision, but it generated £55M for the region. Something in the order of 300 000 people visited the city for competition and the accompanying events (the city has a population just about 500 000)

[@airs1234]

I went for my 40th and such a good time. Liverpool really put on the best show.

[@bmyattuk]

@@robt2778 pity the council screwed over a lot of the local traders to put it on. it was a great event, but some of the stuff they pulled left a bad taste.

[@lindseymercer7833]

I was on holiday at the time . And I live really near Liverpool . I live on the wirral . I was watching it in bed after a really tiring day we all fell asleep watching it because it goes on for hours .

[@nigelhosier4729]

The contest was originally conceived in the early days of TV to help a post-war europe come together

[@emrk6517]

Yes. Also, it's less than half a million tourists, foreign and domestic, a competition attracts to the location, and around 170 million watch it on TV or stream it or something.

[@kari9354]

@@emrk6517 that came way later but true

[@onakochafiołki]

not the eastern bloc though originally

[@barrypegg3070]

The competition is so popular in Australia the organiser invited them to join. Israel is allowed to compete as members of European Broadcasting Union.

[@artistjoh]

Ultimately all participants have to be members of the European Broadcast Union according to the rules. SBS is a member of the EBU, which is why they were successful in lobbying to get an Australian invitation. They supported their campaign by pointing out Eurovision's popularity in Australia, but they would never have gotten in except for their membership in the EBU.

[@user-ig4ki2hh4x]

Also they paid a lot of money

[@tirex3673]

@@artistjoh​​⁠SBS is only an associated member, and as such has to be invited. Full members have to be in the European Broadcasting area (basically europe + a box around the mediterranean sea).

[@cynic7049]

@@tirex3673 Yes A full member have the right to participate. An associated members are allowed to if they get invited. A non-members are not allowed.

[@keithrichardhallam]

Eurovision Song Contest: Down Under (Interval Act by Australia; Jessica Mauboy) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qobWe5xuo7CmoJI

[@williamdfr1715]

It's a song contest. The singer can come from anywhere, it's the song which represents the country

[@stuartlydes-uings4034]

Hence why Celine Dion was allowed to represent Switzerland in 1988. She would go on to win that years contest for the Swiss.

[@cynic7049]

@@stuartlydes-uings4034 Yes, as of today the Swiss have won thrice, the first Eurovision, the latest Eurovision and with Celine Dion.

[@chrismackett9044]

It’s a song contest, not a singer contest, so it doesn’t matter where the performer comes from.

[@liamtornqvist]

True, but the song doesn’t have to be composed by local song writers either

[@CHRISTSPIRACY.comJESUSwasVegan]

bad idea big time

[@productjoe4069]

Few points of clarification: * The Eurovision Song Contest is meant to be (everyone else say it with me) a songwriting contest. This means that it is the song being judged rather than the performer. In practice though, the scoring criteria for the judges (and most of the votes from the public) do include a lot of performance aspects. This feeds into the looser connection between country and performer. Really, given how the music industry has always worked, what matters is what that industry can commission (homegrown or otherwise) * Eurovision is run by the European Broadcasters Union (EBU). This is one of the bodies (delegated to by the International Telecommunications Union) that regulates how radio/microwave spectrum is allocated globally. Israel is in Eurovision because they’re within the catchment area the EBU is responsible for, so their state broadcaster belongs to it * Australia isn’t a full EBU member, but rather an associate member. Apart from their regulatory role, the EBU also provides a range of outside broadcast services to its members especially in sport. In fact, that’s how Eurovision got its name: Eurovision was the name of the packaged TV channel that it first aired on. The main channel the EBU makes today is EuroSport. Australia has lots of people interested in European sports. Rather than sending outside broadcast teams around the planet, they buy a lot of coverage from the EBU becoming an associate member. Other associate members include Canada and, surprisingly, the US. Australia got invited to participate in the 60th year because Eurovision broadcasts have long been very popular there. They sort of hung around afterwards, but since their initial multi year deal elapsed, they now must be invited formally each year (associates don’t have automatic participation rights) * The event lasts a week, with two televised semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday and then the final on the Saturday. There are also jury finals and dress rehearsals you can buy tickets for. Most people only go to see one show in the venue and watch the others from one of the public viewing areas or just a bar. The whole city usually gets transformed for the event, with a Eurovision village, and lots of unofficial events too. It’s basically a week long party and plenty of people show up without a ticket to any show. The main attendances by nationality are usually the host nation, followed by the UK, then Ireland, then Germany with a smattering of superfans from other countries (although all nations are sufficiently represented). This year, UK attendees outnumbered the host nation. It’s a more… theatrical version of an international football tournament crowd. The best show to attend in person is the Jury Final on the Friday (IMO). You get the full performances, but can leave straight afterwards and get an early night before the intensity of the final on Saturday (from experience, doing the dress rehearsal on Saturday is exhausting as you’re all go for 18+ hours, and the actual final is expensive in terms of drinks as you are stuck in the venue for 5-6 hours) * Eurovision is the most watched regular non-sport event in the world, with a quarter billion live viewers each year. This includes a lot of Europeans of course, but there are sizeable audiences in many countries outside (even those without colonial ties, such as China). The logistics for this sort of broadcast are immense, requiring a random town in some country to host a crowd of hundreds of thousands with less than 12 months notice (usually less than 9, due to host city bidding processes). Sometimes it works (like Vienna in 2015, or Liverpool in 2023). Sometimes it doesn’t (like Turin in 2022). The EBU provides a lot of technical support, but not always enough or in the right way and the host broadcaster is ultimately in charge (except, controversially, this year where the EBU took more direct control and messed everything up) * Politics is much less of a factor than people think. A friend did their PhD on this topic, and he found that there was little evidence of statistically significant political biases in the voting. Most of the variance is better explained by cultural similarities (you’re more likely to like a song that’s more similar to ones that you already know), basic song quality, and some diaspora voting (expat communities in other countries who can vote for their home nation). Best to file it under ‘obvious but wrong/popular myths’. I myself thought it was more significant beforehand I’m not a Eurovision mega fan, although I am a member of the official UK fan organisation and have been to multiple Eurovisions in person (2014, 2015, 2016, 2022). There are many who go to every year, and can recognise and name every entry since the 1950s. I’m more casual than that (been watching since the mid 90s). Others here probably have a lot more insight to give!

[@productjoe4069]

Judging deserves its own comment. I’ll describe the current system, as it is most relevant. It changes (a little or a lot) fairly regularly although not every year. Each country votes in two different ways. There is a professional ‘jury’ vote, where the votes are cast by a group of alleged music industry professionals selected by that country’s national broadcaster. There is also the public televote, made by the general public choosing the songs they like. Both the jury and the public votes are used to rank all the songs (except their own country’s entry!) from top to bottom separately. The country that gets the most votes is awarded 12 points, then 10, then 8 down to 1. The remaining songs get 0 from that country (this process is repeated separately for both the jury and the televote). A song that’s consistently in 13th place among all countries’ juries and all countries’ televotes will get zero (‘null’) points. There are five people on each jury. Each phone number can vote up to 20 times. There is usually a bit of a split in the jury and televote because they’re both looking at different things (the jury often prefers technical or artistic aspects, while the televote often prefers spectacle and performance), but also because they’re watching different shows. For logistical reasons, the jury votes are based on a show the night before. Any country participating in that year’s competition (whether or not they make it to the final) is eligible to vote. There is also a ‘rest of the world’ vote as part of the televote for everyone else. Your vote doesn’t count for much though as the whole rest of world vote is used to produce a single ranking with a single set of points from 12 to 1 like any single country’s televote. For drama, the jury votes are announced first, going country by country declaring their jury’s picks. The order they give their scores is chosen to maximise the uncertainty about who is winning. After the jury votes, the televote is announced but this time going in order by point receiver rather than point giver. They start with the country that got the lowest number of points from the jury and then advance up. They simply say the total number of points received across all voting countries. This usually makes it almost impossible to figure out who is actually going to win until the very end (in the old way of announcing results they combined the jury and televote and did it in one shot, which meant you often knew the winner five or more countries before the end). The winning song is the one with the highest total of points. Since there are 30-40 participating countries each year, a theoretical maximum score is around 800 points (12 from each country except themselves, twice).

[@bottledupglory]

What a thorough answer 😮 It definitely needs more upvotes

[@neyoshu]

Do you have any links to your friend's PhD study about the political-ness of the voting? It genuinely sounds super interesting

[@elandamore]

"I’m not a Eurovision mega fan" I think you and I may have different definitions. 😛 Excellent summary of how Eurovision works though!

[@daveetheridge]

Whether you're a fan of Eurovision or not, it's an event that brings people together - and a huge number of people end up watching it on the night. At the very least, it's just an excuse to throw a party and have a laugh

[@jeanlongsden1696]

the only people who watch it are alphabet people.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Eurovision makes me cringe and I shall not be watching this video - and have already said my apologies to Steve and Lindsay but I would rather visit the Reptile House at London Zoo and hold a python than watch that or any song contest. Mind you. Good Luck to The UK every entry... Am not unpatriotic... I just like real music like Queen or The Beatles, or Bon Jovi, or Bryan Adams, or Exchange...etc. 👍🌝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🤭🖖

[@CeleWolf]

I never bother with it. Nor do most people I know.

[@becauseimbatman1391]

​@@brigidsingleton1596 Eurovision haters always sound so elitist. The phrase "not real music" is ridiculous to say regarding anything that a huge amount of people listens to

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@becauseimbatman1391 I don't care ... I just don't like the show. I haven't watched it for decades, have no intention of doing so and that's that.

[@malcomkumar]

Hosting Eurovision is a massive prize for any country that wins the competition. It's a huge event, and like the Olympics, is an honour to host

[@mondsgesandter]

Except for Germany, our media hates hosting Eurovision

[@anashiedler6926]

no,not really. Its really expensive, and of course, if you can manage it, you get the worth back more than three times, but because of the costs, many countries don't want to host - thats the main reasons for many of the extremely silly contenders. Those countries want to lose.

[@malcomkumar]

@@anashiedler6926 The UK is a strange place. We seem to like things like this. I'm not fussed either way really. I reckon Glasgow or Manchester would be great hosts for example. Can't speak for other nations but the UK definitely try and go into the competition with a hopeful winning song. Brexit then killed that. It's mostly political now and I just watch it to have a good laugh especially with Graham Norton hosting

[@bustabloodvessel5327]

It has become too expensive to host. A small country like Ireland which has won it 7 times just doesn't want to win it anymore.

[@kari9354]

in iceland its best to finish second, dont have the stadium/venue

[@diversemix]

If you watch a contest ... you need the complete experience... get a bunch of friends and some drinks and nibbles... the experience naturally emerges 😊

[@malcomkumar]

Yh agree with this. Plus the best part is actually the voting and crossing over to all the different point announcers around the world. This bit was missed in the explanation video

[@BramLastname]

I also highly recommend making bingo cards for each other

[@hayleyforth9186]

@@malcomkumar yes! There is that awkward lag with the sound connection and then when the country reps use that moment for their 2mins of fame and have so much energy it's so cringe but great

[@victoriarobinson3909]

Everyone can pick a country, come dressed as that countries flag and bring a food from that country as well. That's what I've often done.

[@KSmeaton1]

Gotta show her the Riverdance EUROVISION interval act now ;)

[@ericakate]

YESSS

[@pezlover1974]

I second this

[@rjjcms1]

I was waiting for that to come up in the video,but surpriingly it didn't.

[@ag4871]

Unless she's just hacked you off in which case show her Madonna.

[@littlebum2009]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWHZkKOra9KcgJosi=jGFv6Cp5jSxFQJ55

[@NelSunScot]

It started fairly modestly in the 1950s as a way of using music to bring together a Europe that had been ravaged by war. It was one of the first internationally live broadcasts of its kind for television. The public vote was only introduced at he 1998 contest hosted in the UK by the BBC. It is a huge event in Europe often with families and friends gathering to watch it and also those avoiding it at all costs! To put it into perspective, the Eurovision final in 2024 was watched live by 163 million people from 150 countries and the Super Bowl was watched by 124 million. The contest takes place in May every year over the course of a week with Semi-Final 1 on the Tuesday, Semi-Final 2 on the Thursday and the Grand Final on the Saturday. Countries begin announcing their artists and songs usually from January to March so you’re just in time to enjoy the build up to the 2025 contest and to find your local broadcaster/stream to watch it live.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

i am sure at least one year they had viwers over 200million

[@karlssonjlam]

@@jonathanpringle8238 when Russia took part the audience was over 200 million

[@germankitty]

Lordi winning Eurovision in 2006 for Finland was EPIC! Finland has a huge Heavy Metal scene (so a built-in fanbase just through genre), and the entry was SO far from the usual, rather bland generic pop songs you get, Lordi pretty much made a clean sweep of the popular vote from Iceland to Israel and Portugal to Lithuania. (And it was a pretty decent rock song, too!)

[@eva1585]

I was a 5 year old when I saw them on TV (Sweden) and it's still one of my favorite entires in all of Eurovision

[@germankitty]

@@eva1585 I'd stopped watching Eurovision by that time, but happened to catch the semi-final (which Lordi won, too, iirc). It was SO out there, I actually watched the contest again because I just HAD to know how they did. And if memory serves, they won by the widest margin ever! 😎

[@nekochanedits]

Cha Cha almost win too but they Steal their win

[@aleksisuuronen5969]

It's also pretty cool how the singer have made atlest his costumes by hand (I would think he would've have to have made everyones at the start) and also made comics about the character. Makes him more interesting, a lot of passion for the project for sure.

[@esclad]

It happens every May. The top 10 acts from each Semi-Final qualify for the Grand Final; joining 'The Big 5' and last years winner totalling 26 songs. The song has to be original (no covers), it can't be more than 3 mins long and can be in any language but no more than 6 people can be on stage at any one time. Semi-final 1: 13 May 2025 (2 hours) - Semi-final 2: 15 May 2025 (2 hours) - Grand Final: 17 May 2025 (4 hours). I've been to four contests - 2000/2006/2011 & 2023. The atmosphere is like nothing else I have ever experienced, it's electric 😃The contests are broadcast live on YT.

[@Ho_Lee_Fook]

W profile pic

[@thevonya3977]

6:45 Yes, ABBA got their big breakthrough from Eurovision and it skyrocketed their career from that point on. Though they had already released an album in Sweden a year prior they were still very much an unknown worldwide until their Eurovision win.

[@VillaFanDan92]

Eurovision is a Song Contest, not a Singing Contest. So as long as the song was written, produced and composed in your country, who actually performs it is considered irrelevant.

[@seanmcmichael2551]

You're right about the emphasis being a SONG contest. So the performer's origin doesn't matter. But even the song doesn't have to be written by the competing country.

[@phueal]

This is so simplistic... The performer actually does matter, and the songs are scored on performance as much as anything else. Not to mention there have been several instances of countries choosing a performer before they had a song for them to sing. The truth is that countries' broadcasters can select a song however they choose, they can send anyone they choose, and voters can judge the songs however they choose. Everyone who tries to impose limits on this like "oh it's about the song, not the singing", or "songs must be composed in your country" are either lying or mistaken, and simply trying to enforce their own made-up standards.

[@YukiTheOkami]

These days its more of a show contest there is so much emphasis on staging its actusly ninda sad and more so thsn the si ging sonething a song actually relys on

[@VillaFanDan92]

@@seanmcmichael2551 Didn't know that, fair enough.

[@seanmcmichael2551]

@VillaFanDan92 There's rule changes over the years, but I know that one because I've seen non-Irish writers of Ireland's Eurosong over the last few years

[@MLWitteman]

Eurovision is a multi-day event. And each show takes many hours to conclude. It often starts at 9 pm, and finishes at 11 or 12 o’clock. Especially the grand final is quite long, because of the voting process. There are professional judges from each participating country, and the general audience from all around the world can vote through texting and using the Eurovision app.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,Eurovision takes place every year in about the second or third week of May. There are two evenings in midweek,one for each of the semi-finals. Then the grand final is always on the Saturday evening. It typically starts at about 7 pm UK time and finishes around 10 to 11 pm, so that would be 2 pm - 5 or 6 pm in East Coast US time,or 11 am - 2 or 3 pm in West Coast/Pacific US time. The participating countries are whittled down to a final 26 for the grand final: the host country + the 5 permanent members who don't have to qualify + 10 successful entries from each semi-final. All 26 countries perform their song one by one. When the last song has been performed the telephone voting is opened to the general public. There is a musical interlude of performances featuring several different parts. At the end of the musical interlude the public voting is closed. Shortly after that the voting commences,with the first stage of voting being the jury voting. Each country's jury reveals their votes,by a video link to a celebrity or well-known person from that country who reveals the vote,some being quite straight about it and some a little goofy. Each jury awards 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10 and 12 points to one country of their choosing. The points are added to the leaderboard. Sometimes a clear leader emerges,other races can be closer with an unexpected change in fortunes. For the overwhelming majority of the Eurovision Song Contest's history,the outcome was decided solely by the jury vote,but thius changed a decade or two ago with the introduction of the general public being able to vote. The second and final stage of the voting is the public vote. This is usually very dramatic and exciting. The public vote carries the same weight as the jury vote,as the song voted for the most by a country's citizens gets the coveted Douze Points (12 points),the next most popular 10,then 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and 1. The country which received the least points from the jury stage has their points from the public vote revealed first,and it then runs in order up to country which was in the lead after the jury vote having their total from the public votes revealed last. Fortunes can shift dramatically during this stage,so countries can suddenl;y shoot up much higher or fall much lower in the race. Everyone will want to avoid being left with the dreaded Nul Points (zero points)! The country which has the most total votes after both the jury and public vote results are completed is the winner,and they then perform their song again.

[@izzygj]

you absolutely need to watch käärijä's 2023 performance for Finland! so many of the public believed him to be their winner even though he came second. He's a personal favourite of mine.

[@SteamboatW]

Even, Sweden - who won - loved the Finnish entry so much so that he was the only non-Swedish entry to have a tribute act in Stockholm in the finale shows of 2024. Well... and the Moomins. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoekgJx8j8aehrMsi=DdaNSSN9YRARqS8h

[@ppppp789]

Theres a Father Ted episode about Ireland constantly winning Eurovision

[@LeopardPrintCherry]

My lovely horse!!! Banger.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,hilarious.

[@catherinerobilliard7662]

“I want to shower you with sugar lumps”

[@strider6920]

It was so true. One can remember Dustin The Turkey and Jedward showing RTE sabotaging Irelands chances like ‘My Lovely Horse’ 🤣. That episode is brilliant!

[@jessieb7290]

“Ireland, nil points”….😂😂😂

[@HarshRao-mp7nq]

So Steve and Lyndsey.. I’m from Near Liverpool.. trust me whilst we didn’t win it cos Ukraine did (for obvious reasons), lpool was alive for that week.. and I mean ALIVE!!! We were proud to host it.. it’s the best party for the 3-4 nights… you have to find a way to stream the show next year and watch it live

[@ag4871]

Sadly, the UK would have come 2nd that year anyway even if you exclude the solidarity televote for Ukraine. It's not as simple as Ukraine 1st, UK 2nd so if you drop Ukraine down then UK gets 1st. I did a deep dive into the detailed televoting which Eurovision put on their website. Although Sam Ryder won the jury vote, Ukraine overtook and Spain came within a few points of overtaking him after the televote was added. The vast majority of countries had UK way down the list in the televote while Spain had a large quantity of 2nd places behind Ukraine. Going from 2nd to 1st gains you 2 extra points. This means if you drop Ukraine down the list there would have been enough first places for Spain to overtake the UK. Sorry, I'm a stats nerd an find this sort of nonsense interesting.

[@RockabellaSterrrn]

Swedish fan (who was team Finland in 2023) here! I would've LOVED to be in Liverpool last year, for so many reasons!

[@asfdhahhahaha]

for obvious reasons of ukraine's song being a banger!

[@debblackwell2750]

Came off the Isle of Man boat into the fan park people were having a blast. Liverpool knows how to put a show on and get the local people involved. Sadly the competition is not about the music anymore.

[@Deano-Dron81]

@@asfdhahhahahaIf it had not been catchy people would still say Ukraine deserved to win, why? Because people pick any other European over the UK these days. They think it’s cool to and a trend. Sorry, it’s just to truth. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@geoffwright3692]

There's little mention of the legendary Buck's Fizz entry for the UK in 1981

[@paulmoore4223]

I was going to say that but I couldn't make my mind up

[@AndrewwarrenAndrew]

or the year when Spain cheated and came first, then were disqualified and it was given to Cliff richard who came 2nd.

[@chrisbodum3621]

@@paulmoore4223 Right

[@strider6920]

The video producer was probably making their mind up whether to add it 😉

[@davebyrne1980]

The Eurovision Song Contest is run by the EBU (European Broadcast Union) which is funded by the member countries. By contributing, the national broadcasters can sydicate their content, and it also allows them to access the Eurovision Song Contest. The National broadcasters of countries like Australia & Israel are paying into the EBU, so therefore qualify to participate. The "Big 5" (Germany, Spain, France, Italy & UK) pay the most into the EBU, and automatically qualify direct to the Grand Final, while the remaining countries have to qualify through a Semi-Final

[@jonathanpringle8238]

many people think bbc pay millions, but in reality its only 350k a year. how often can you get access to broadcast 10 hours of peak time live tv for that smal amount.

[@tonys1636]

The 'Big Five' were also the countries that set up the EBU after WWII to enable live radio news reports to be broadcast from Europe without having to use telephone lines back to their countries. Only the UK had TV back then, had been shut down in 1939 as the signals was thought at the time could be used to navigate to London (Alexandra Palace) by the Luftwaffe. The RAF proved it could be done by triangulation by two or more aircraft. The signal range was around 50 miles from the transmitter.

[@RobertClaeson]

The EBU is for syndicating European content, but it's not limited to European broadcasting countries. Any country in the world that has a keen interest in taking part can. That's how Australia and Israel are members. The US, Canada, New Zealand and other countries could as easily become members - and be able to take part in this competition. It would be fun. The membership fees are very, very low. In the (unlikely, although not impossible) case the US would become a member, I would actually favour each individual state to submit their own contestants, most likely making the entire Eurovision ordeal a 24 hour ordeal.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

@@RobertClaeson if usa was to take part only one person would take part. so they would have to find somone to represent all 50 states. if they did win, they would have to find a country in europe to host it. Anyway a few years ago america tried l loosely based format of the show and it was a failure.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

@@RobertClaeson agree, costs are low. uk only pays 350k a year and they get access to 20 hours live peak time music show. how often can you get something that cheap, one eastenders soap cost 500k for just one episode.; It is winning and hosting that cost the millions

[@SarahH-ns6ly]

Eurovision is very popular in Australia. We have a soft spot for fun and quirky pop songs and lots of European immigrants. We contributed the interval act for the 60th anniversary and have been competing ever since. The whole competition is rather long but there are some compilations of the winners and runners-up over the years which should give an idea of the variety of songs in the contest.

[@moondaughter1004]

We love having you guys compete. You usually send good and unique song and you're just as crazy as we are if not even more

[@MrsLynB]

Sam Ryders song was brilliant. Liverpool hosted for Ukraine & was great for the city. X

[@lisab9734]

In my opinion Sam still one that year.

[@MINKIN2]

There are two big pieces of media that people and fans of Eurovision like. The first was an episode from the the 90s TV show Father Ted A Song For Europe. This played up how Ireland was on a winning streak in the contest for so long. The other is the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. A spoof on the contest that starred and created by Will Ferrel in conjunction with the Eurovision Broadcasting Union. Will Ferrel was/is a big fan of the Eurovision and was introduced to it by his Swedish wife. He wanted to make something that would bring awareness to the contest for Americans and got the permission to film on location at the 2019 events with the stage, some previous contestants and audiences used in the filming. It was planned that the movie would debut along side the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, but as the pandemic happened the contest was not held (the only year in its history to not). They decided to release the movie anyway and became 2020s must watch Eurovision for every fan. Neither of these are highly accurate to the contest itself, but they do give a sneak peak to what happens behind the scenes.

[@boblar_creative]

Fire Saga was amazing 😂

[@harbl99]

The Father Ted episode was only a little removed from the truth. Hosting Eurovision was bankrupting RTE (the Irish national broadcaster). IIRC Desmond the Turkey was their 'throw the contest' entry.

[@cobaltmale]

​@@boblar_creative Tho they did fake the host city of Edinburgh (which did host in 1972) as it was filmed in Glasgow

[@goonerbean4680]

The majority of artists are from there own countries. Also something to add, it is 100% the song Olympics! And taken EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY. No joke

[@lyralea2457]

Yes, yes, yes! The Eurovision KZbin channel has recaps of each years songs compiled together, but I would love it if you watched the full show in May (even if its just the final!). The legal streaming in the US is on Peacock, but SVT usually have a non-geoblocked stream

[@emileriksson76]

And now also for free on KZbin live from 2024!

[@jeanneale9257]

Peace love from England ❤ Its a song contest not a singing contest

[@ag4871]

That's not entirely true. That's what it claims to be but when it comes to televoting there's just no saying what's in people's minds when it comes to picking up the phone or going on the web - performance, staging, politics all play a factor. Even the guidelines for the juries have performance and overall appeal as considerations.

[@MartinaPapi]

Don’t you mean Love Love Peace Peace😉

[@ag4871]

ABBA had been making music in Sweden for a few years before hand. They attempted to be Sweden's entry in 1973 with 'Ring Ring' but didn't get chosen. In 1974 'Waterloo' won and the rest is history. Cliff Richard was frontman of The Shadows. Also made movies like 'Summer Holiday'. The UK used to submit artists who were previously well known and were relatively successful but in the last couple of decades it's generally been people who had no track record as established artists wouldnt want to be involved. Over the week of Eurovision there are the two semi finals and a heap of rehearsals before the contest itself on the Saturday night. Each one is ticketted seperately.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,as well as Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton John in the late 60s - early 70s,Lulu,Sandie Shaw,Cilla Black all had a shot at it in the 60s.

[@CompaSystem]

The Shadows also, of course, entered in 1975.

[@RoachIndited]

Conchita Wurst won on pure talent not just a gimmick of being a drag queen, he absolutely deserved the win that year, His song Rise like a Phoenix was INCREDIBLE

[@ErisstheGoddessofmanhwas]

😂😂😂

[@dirkjanrulez23]

It was off key and only won cuz of drag Dutch one was so much better

[@Ellisepha]

Yeah, his vocals in this song were amazing. Pure talent!

[@almason6864]

British person here, I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee Eurovision! Watch Windows 95 man!! 😂❤🎉

[@cranberrybe]

was that this year's finnish entry? i prefered last year and käärijä who had the guts to rap in finnish and won the popular vote.

[@MattMcQueen1]

It's a song contest - the song writers/composers have to be from the country that is entering, but the singers/performers can be recruited from anywhere in the world. I really like Eurovision - every year there are some really great songs, but also some songs and performances that are funny or bizarre. It's very mixed.

[@williamdfr1715]

Actually the broadcast company makes the rule, but generally the song writers can come from anywhere too. Last year RTL decided that for their return they wanted only Luxembourg residents to enter

[@MattMcQueen1]

@@williamdfr1715 I think you are right. The rules seem to be ever changing.

[@germankitty]

As long as "native-language songs only" was in effect, the nationality of the singer didn't matter as long as they were able to sing in that language. Greek Vicky Leandros won for Luxemburg with a French song, and Germany sent Scandinavians and Bits to the contest -- all singing in German. It's not recent, going on since the 1960s, and the thing is, the SONG represents the country, not the artist(s). Back before there was a phone-in popular vote, the criteria used for judging by a jury of professionals were lyrics and music -- in fact, the composers often conducted the live orchestra (when ABBA won and had to get a different conductor (as the guys who wrote the song were on stage performing), the guy actually showed up in a replica uniform of Napoleon Bonaparte's. 🙂) Performance started to gain importance around 1980 or so -- even ABBA were just standing quietly on stage. Oh, and fun fact? Riverdance, a world-famous dance troupe, made their TV debut as an *interval act* in 1984, showcasing Irish dancing as the contest was held in Dublin that year. They pretty much eclipsed most other acts.

[@lisasmith2660]

What makes the Eurovision in the uk for me is the commentary by Graham Norton he makes it fun talking about the weird acts, it's been on tv for so long its something you grow up with, it's like a family tradition to watch it - the good and bad songs 😂

[@deniseadams1703]

No matter how good Graham Norton is no one can be as wonderful as Terry Wogan was.

[@dyread]

@@deniseadams1703 Neither of those is as good as Marty Whelan who at least has respect for the countries participati

[@andybaker2456]

@@deniseadams1703 I was about to say the same thing!

[@MonstehDinosawr]

​@@deniseadams1703 I'm 27 and only ever remember Graham doing it. Terry was for children in need.

[@karenblackadder1183]

​@@MonstehDinosawrWell, I'm 68, and Terry's commentary and ridicule of it's stupidity made it a must watch. Now, I don't know a single person in 4 generations who wastes any time on it.

[@meticulousgeek]

Always fun to see people learn about the ESC. Thank you for the reaction and be sure to tune in next year around May! It's gonna be a riot. And don't worry about too much which countries are associated. Everyone can join if you join the EBU, European Broadcasting Union, which you can do even if you are not in Europe (for example Australia).

[@audiocoffee]

that whole thing about Ireland winning the Eurovision was a bit of a thing - and parodied brilliantly in 'Father Ted' (look up 'my lovely horse') still hilarious even today 🤣

[@jeffreyscholte4737]

Sweden is also on 7 victories, they won in 2023 with Loreen (2nd time she won) and in a week from now i go here in Amsterdam to the Big Songfestival Party with about 25 acts from several years from Eurovision! Even Katrina is coming and Nicole (winner 1982 with Ein Bißen Frieden)

[@jeanlongsden1696]

"that band from the 80's" "oh you mean KISS" that made me laugh, as KISS started in '73.

[@harbl99]

I was thinking GWAR.

[@MaterialGurl16]

I'm so glad you reacted to a different Eurovision guide this time around.

[@Kate-v9d]

Hi Steve and Lindsay, this is also how "Riverdance" came about. "Riverdance" was the Interval Act and it was such a success that they went global, see link below Thanks as usual for the great upload, love from Ireland xx kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKqaan6BpbZsbpo

[@Jacko_486]

I'll second that

[@Kate-v9d]

@@Jacko_486 Cheers Jacko 😘😘

[@KSmeaton1]

@Kate-v9d been. Begging him to show her Riverdance lol 😆

[@Randomner2562]

Liverpool was truly at its finest that week. I spent the entire week going to various pop up shows around the city, watching free concerts and spending time in the “European village” Absolutely phenomenal week all over town.

[@Emraz]

To someone from the UK hearing any woman saying ABBA is not their cup of tea is crazy. There are so many girls from pre teen to elderly who could tell you their favourite ABBA song. You would have many fans in agreement about ABBA though as even their own country hated them because they are poppy and in the 70s Sweden (their native country) they loved rock/metal.

[@andybaker2456]

Not just girls. Many men love ABBA too, they just might not freely admit it! I had a cousin who absolutely loved ABBA, and he introduced me to a lot of his favourite album tracks, when at the time I was only aware of their chart singles. But it seems he only admitted his love of ABBA to me. He sadly passed away six years ago, and it was only in a recent conversation with his sister and his widow that I found out they had absolutely no idea he was such a big ABBA fan!

[@brigidsingleton1596]

I am a (71yo) English woman (born and raised in SE London) who can and will say quite confidently / truthfully, that ABBA is/ are _not my cup of tea_ either. I _don't_ dislike their songs, but it wouldn't bother me one iota if I never heard any of them ever again.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🖖

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

Not everyone has milquetoast taste in music. Lindsey even references Slipknot earlier in the video 😂

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@TheOrlandoTrustfull What the heck is milquetoast taste?!!

[@andybaker2456]

For any Brits looking in who (like me) will likely have no idea what "milquetoast" means, apparently it's this: "A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated.". Make of that what you will, ABBA fans!

[@ashleyrules1]

Eurovision happens over a week (although the artist rehearsals start a week earlier). The opening ceremony is on the Sunday. Semi final 1 is on a Tuesday, Semi final 2 is on a Thursday, and the final is on a Saturday. Thereare also evening preview shows (when the jury's vote, although there is no longer a jury vote for the semi finals (100% televote), but jury's still vote for the final) the nights before and famiy shows the afternoon before the live shows. I went to the jury show for semi finals 1 (the night before the actual semi final) and semi final 2 in 2022. I went to all shows apart from the final in 2023, and then I went to all the shows including the final in 2024.

[@jenniferdundon5491]

Ukraine won in 2022 but the Eurovision board decided they could not host it in 2023 due to the war so the UK hosted it in Liverpool on their behalf. Hosting the competition can bring in so many tourists in. In Liverpool lots of Americans came over for it as well people from all over the world it so popular.if you cannot get a ticket, they sell out fast, fan zones are usually set up all over the host city so people can watch live on large screens with lots of other entertainment through the day in these zones.

[@bellshooter]

One of the best UK songs 'Spaceman' by Sam Ryder came 2nd in 2022 to Ukraine. Recognized as the real quality winner by pretty much everyone. Check out the Eurovision video for that.

[@54joevans]

Strangely I don't think most of us cared we came second that year... and then we hosted for Ukraine anyway due to their war ongoing.

[@neadod2902]

Hmm, a lot would argue Chanel would've been up for that title given her public vote was looking stronger than the UK's..However, 🤷🏻‍♀️ C'est la vie.

[@janiceturton7756]

The Uk although a big financier of the contest, do treat it as a bit of a joke. A lot tune in the hear the commentary from the late great Terry Wogan and now Graham Norton . They basically takr the P9ss out of it.

[@richieb7692]

Terry was actually banned by three countries from ever commentating on the competition if their country won, because they got upset when he couldn't take their performances seriously.... It was more of a honorary ban, as those countries would never win anyway...

[@carolineskipper6976]

But in a very British loving way!

[@nbartlett6538]

I do wonder if our dismissive attitude to Eurovision was just a coping mechanism since we were so terrible for so long! Funny also how the contest has always been covered in the UK by an Irishman.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

the bbc only psy 350k that is cheap as one episode of eastenders costs 500k +

[@audiocoffee]

I do miss Terry Wogans bone dry commentary. He was on point for the finals every single time and told it like it is. You didn't need to see his face to be able to read what he was thinking. his words painted the scene with a clarity you never knew existed - and by the end, your brain was hardwired to think like him - although, if you did accidentally 'out loud the quiet bit', you'd either get stared at and punched for a comment, or you made someone laugh. 🤣

[@lisab9734]

As a kid, we always watched Eurovision, as I got older I kind of didn’t watch it anymore. But we have watched it the last few years, it’s ridiculous! We have our own little fun voting game and get some foods from different countries in and make a night of it. 😂

[@psychosoma5049]

3:41 Australia has only recently entered, I think it was just because they supported the contest so much that they were given an honorary spot. 17:08 there’s plenty of KZbin videos with a compilation of all winners from the start till now. I’d love to see your reaction to them x

[@Deano-Dron81]

They are part of the EBU.

[@bambit08]

Definitely worth watching some wonderful songs - my two favourites: Käärijä from Finland ‘Cha Cha Cha' 2023 (my winner but came second) and Lordi Finland 2006 winners 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. Mega! 🇫🇮💙🇫🇮

[@barawen_who]

Reacting to Eurovision gives A LOT of viewers and we love it, so please do more videos 😄

[@darrenuk]

The semi finals take place over a couple of days and the grand final takes place on Saturday night what lasts around 4 hours in the U.K. It is shown on the bbc and iPlayer

[@susanpearson-creativefibro]

Regarding professional singers being allowed, it is not a singing contest but a song writing one.

[@YukiTheOkami]

Ah come on u dont belive thst eight? If a si ger fsils hiting the notes becouse the singer has an issue thst day or is so medioker he csnt get a pitch higher or simply doent fir the song the country will naturally get less points even if the song is a amaizing piece pf lore And dont let me get stsrdet on hoe importsnt staging became for the points 😅 song contest ho estly is a fslse flagg these days its a performsnce contest

[@susanpearson-creativefibro]

@ of course a good quality singer can improve the chances of the song being well received and visa versa. I was just clarifying that it is not a singing contest. The public vote may behave in this way but the professional panels will be judging the composition.

[@Loulizabeth]

There's definitely a compilation video of all the songs and their singers over the years from it's first year up to three present day. It really does give you a real insight into how it's changed over the years in reflecting the music of the time and from being a more serious competition to less so.

[@juliemartin4267]

Israel made its Eurovision debut in 1973. It became eligible after becoming part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is behind the event. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited SBS to participate in the contest representing Australia for the first time in 2015, as a guest participant to celebrate the 60th edition of the event.

[@rebrox6545]

Eurovision is a serious event i can tell you

[@steven54511]

Eurovision has a huge following across the world and generates a lot of money.

[@carolthomas6334]

Yay, i love eurovision ❤️ ❤❤. My profile picture is from when i went to Liverpool to watch the first semi final. It was an amazing experience. X

[@andrewobrien6671]

The economic benefit to Liverpool a few years ago was somewhere in the region of £58 million

[@ashleyrules1]

The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano Switzerland in 1956 :)

[@leohickey4953]

Entry is open to countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union, which naturally includes those that are physically within the continent, but also nearby countries that can receive broadcasts from European countries (Israel, Morocco, Armenia, and Azerbaijan have all entered, and other North African and West Asian countries would be eligible). Australia was invited to join in 2015 because of the big audience in that country who watched a delayed broadcast. It has nothing to do with the Commonwealth.

[@anlu22]

You guys are so wholesome 🫶🏻Enjoyed watching this even as a Finn who is of course familiar with Eurovision

[@mybo1142]

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers globally with around 200 million viewers worldwide

[@karlssonjlam]

It`s not one of the most-watched, it is the most.

[@lucyprevo]

Ireland of 2024 was absolutely incredible, one you should definitely check out!

[@Joseph13163]

Thats a matter of opinion steve i would stay away from it

[@fmcm7715]

@@Joseph13163I’m Irish and I’d second that😂 but it is very unique!

[@Mucrush]

You guys should reacto the winners, 2nd placers (especially since most recent 2nd placers were the public's winner). Heck you could also just react to a compilation of the 2024 songs and maybe pick your own top 10!

[@juliecowen3641]

Steve you should show her the video of River Dance i bet she would love it.

[@richardk.4503]

Get ready to go down the Eurovision rabbit hole. 😅

[@GuidoHenry1985]

You can watch almost each and every Eurovision Song Contest from 1956 to today on KZbin. I've watched them all last Year to catch up until 1998 when I started watching it live

[@ESCJayne]

How long it lasts .... Depends on how deep you want to go! The actual Eurovision performances that determine the winner are over the course of one week in May; two semi-finals, one grand final. You can buy tickets for each concert, and also some rehearsals. Otherwise the semi finals and finals are televised/streamed, and millions of people watch across the world (not just the participating countries). But for die hard fans there are a tonne of national finals, like mini Eurovisions for just the country, to determine who represents them at Eurovision. These are run by the national broadcaster. They start as early as November/December the previous year. And there are also pre-parties, where the acts perform for fans in the lead up to Eurovision. These are held in different large European cities, like Madrid, London, Amsterdam, etc, and organised by fan groups.

[@buttersky4451]

Thanks so much for reacting to this vid, its way better than the other one floating around

[@ivylasangrienta6093]

This video is a little bit outdated. Sweden's Loreen now has also won it twice. Australia was allowed to enter for the 2015 song contest (the 60th year) because the country are massive fans of the show and outside of Europe it is most watched in Oz. They've been in ever since. The reason Israel is allowed to enter is because they're a member of the European Broadcasting Union. All countries entering must belong to EBU (except for Australia). For obvious reasons Russia (and Belarus) were barred for the last two years and I believe Russia even withdrew from EBU. EDIT: You can't vote for your own country. Every country has their own "professional" jury who vote, and then the general public vote via text message, calling or using an app.

[@samhilton4173]

Ridiculous to ban Russia. The competition is meant to be about coming together, now it's being used as a political tool. I mean, it was always a bit political, but to ban a country because of the political climate is ridiculous.

[@williamdfr1715]

@@samhilton4173 The 'political climate' is why Israel stills gets to enter. Not sure that starting an invasion and a war is simple political climate though...

[@AnniCarlsson]

​@@samhilton4173they had politics controll the media and thats not allowed.

[@thepify3539]

@@samhilton4173 You're right, banning Russia but not Israel is hypocritical. They should ban both countries until they stop genociding their neighbours.

[@Goddessmother47]

Eurovision is an excuse to have a huge European party with a couple of invited guests. It’s fabulous.

[@samgeller1967]

It’s all about winning! And whatever it takes to get there, hiring famous singers works

[@Tsuliwaensis]

the spirit of the contest and the main central point of it all is to come together and have a big fat party with each other. I think, keeping that in mind and letting go of ideas like fierce ambitions to win, patriotism, making money, gaining recognition etc., helps a lot to understand where this is coming from. there might be an individual participant or two here and there suffering from those notions, but it certainly isn't what the contest is for. it was created to bring a war-torn Europe back together and it's continued to keep it that way. to varying degrees of success over the decades, but we're still not done trying.

[@lynnek9080]

Your faces 😂 people have parties here in UK on the night so you can watch it with all your friends 😊

[@jeanlongsden1696]

only alphabet people do.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

​@@jeanlongsden1696 My twins travel to different towns to watch the closing heats for the British entries, and my daughter - the eldest twin by twenty-one minutes (!!) - goes to her (twin) brother's flat to watch it with him (& his partner...who only slowly has come to like the Eurovision too, as he never used to like it, and _I still don't_!!) 🌝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🤭🖖

[@Mahoolipoodles]

@@jeanlongsden1696no they don’t, maybe try hiding your bigotry.

[@jeanlongsden1696]

@@Mahoolipoodles you do know that facts are not bigotry ... right?

[@emmarogers948]

​@@Mahoolipoodlesmy thought exactly

[@dennislindqvist1265]

The riff in "Seven Nation Army" was done by another artist, not Jack White so it's strange that he got all the royalties from Israel's song.

[@MrTrevcarter]

Check out the movie, Eurovision Song Contest with Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. Absolutely brilliant fun.

[@MrTrevcarter]

Do it TONIGHT. You'll thank me forever and this competition takes place in my beautiful hometown Edinburgh. There's plenty of Eurovision on KZbin. Enjoy.

[@hellsbells8689]

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020). I love that film. In fact I might go and watch it again now. 🎶Ja Ja Ding Dong🎶

[@user-bq9rz9fw5x]

My favourite moment of Eurovision 2021 was when Iceland's juror was revealed to be the very passionate fan of JaJa Ding Dong 😀

[@jessieb7290]

I love the “there’s a Starbucks everywhere you look”.😂😂😂 its a great movie ❤

[@MikeTotem]

Danish guy here :) Eurovision is, for many, THE biggest occasion of each year. Myself included. I will take 10 days off from work every year around Eurovision, meeting up with friends, going to the locations, meeting the locals, and just enjoying everything around Eurovision. Eurovision is first and foremost a song competition, but in recent years it's been more a performance competition. The singer/performer is not representing the nation, the SONG does. But, above all, Eurovision is a united party. Several of my closest friends has been met at Eurovision. It's one big amazing party!

[@billy_5658]

Please do more Eurovision videos 🎉

[@jessieb7290]

Or the movie about it 😂

[@TheAquarius1978]

" ...Some contestants will be really really good, some will be very funny... " and some become LIVING LEGENDS, looking at you Epic Sax Guy.

[@Scottistic]

It’s important to bare in mind is the stadium isn’t the only people who come to watch if. In the host city there entire city is more or less set up to be a huge street party. With screens to watch it set up around the place 18:21 It is hundreds of thousands to millions as Europe has hundreds of millions of people

[@brigidsingleton1596]

*bear (in mind) - _not bare_ *their (city) - _not there_ (Sorry but am a lifelong pedant and cannot bear to see words and names misspelt or mispronounced). 👍🌝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🤔🖖

[@williamdfr1715]

@@brigidsingleton1596 if the person is a native English speaker I would say bravo. If they're not, you have quite a cheek though

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@williamdfr1715 I don't agree with you. As for non English speakers...it will help to improve their English. As for your opinion of me... I couldn't give a flying duck. If you don't like it. Don't read it.

[@Scottistic]

@@brigidsingleton1596 i am a native english speaker but I have difficulty writing without using the wrong words. They look right to me at the time.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@DeeFourCee Then my comment was helpful, surely. I always appreciate being helped if I need it and thank people for their edits. I mean no disrespect.

[@n.q163]

Eurovision also have great interval acts. I personally loved the Dutch interval acts. It's great to watch

[@eiv-gaming]

You need to watch the Will Ferrell film "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga". Will's wife is nordic and introduced him to Eurovision and he fell in love with it. The movie is hilarious and entertaining.

[@jessieb7290]

“The lion of love”; literally a real Eurovision song 😂

[@vickkibradfield4592]

I love Eurovision. The bonkers songs and acts, the political voting, the campness, the commentary! It's just amazing. You should try to watch it in May.

[@johnf8067]

if you want to react to more eurovision, I'd suggest reacting to the winners of the contest from 1956 to 2024 by a youtube channel called Schlager Lucas. I think it's worth checking that video out

[@keithrichardhallam]

All winners 1956-2024: kzbin.info/www/bejne/javEepaAqLycq8k - SchlagerLucas has many other such compilations, including all last places.

[@carolthomas6334]

^This^ definitely the best channel for complications. X

[@marcusfridh8489]

And Geography Now has made a very good 1O1 on it too

[@johnf8067]

@@marcusfridh8489 only problem with geography now is that it's a bit outdated imo (came out in 2017 or sth like that) and also doesn't say a lot more than what this video did

[@MaviBlueArt]

Please do more eurovision content! I love seeing what people think about the songs and the gossips of it. Maybe you can react to eurovision crack videos after seeing some songs and get a grasp of the show. I wouldn't mind watching along to a whole reaction of last year's finale or both semi-finale's either. ❤

[@leohickey4953]

@10:00 The UK has been criticised by other entrants for *not* having its song sung by established artists from the mid-1970s onwards, despite having a very successful commercial music business. That has also encouraged other countries to avoid voting for the UK entry ("If you guys don't take the contest seriously, why should we vote for you?"). The biggest UK performers simply don't want to risk their reputation by joining in, so recently our song has usually been sung by acts beyond their peak, or by newcomers, or by acts from other countries.

[@williamdfr1715]

Valid point about the quality of recent UK entries, and yet you still read the usual comments about it being because of Iraq, or Brexit. It's because the BBC has no need of a song to pull in viewers, they know they are going to get audience figures thanks to Graham Norton. Choose a song that would be able to place on the UK chart and people will vote for it

[@ivormctin6367]

But when Morrissey wanted to do it, they were going to make him 'qualify'

[@Lubikit]

2024 was a particularly good year for quality songs. Songs worth checking out from all time: Domenico Modugno: Nel blu, dipinto di blu Mans Zelmerlow: Heroes Baby Lasagna: Rim Tim Tagi Dim Loreen: Euphoria Alexander Rybak: Fairytale Kaarija: Cha Cha Cha Lordi: Hard Rock Hallelujah Verka Serduchka: Dancing Lasha Tumbai Bambie Thug: Doomsday Blue Nemo: The Code Brotherhood of Man: Save Your Kisses for Me Dana international: Diva Netta: Toy FYI there are loads more, and not all of these won, but this is a good start.

[@patriciaperrin8757]

Try watching a YT video of Riverdance, the interval act at the 1994 Eurovision in Dublin, Ireland. It launched the huge Riverdance worldwide phenomenon and is still great to watch even after 30 years.

[@carolineskipper6976]

I think Steve already watched that a while ago.

[@Joseph13163]

@@carolineskipper6976 They would be better off watching a bit from the show

[@susanashcroft2674]

I think if you want to see a full Eurovision Song Contest, buckle up as it goes on for hours. Although I think you need to see a full one to get some context. I would suggest Eurovision Song Contest held in Liverpool 2023 on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine who for obvious reasons couldn't hold it in their country. So the UK stepped in (as we came 2nd with Sam Ryder- Spaceman) and the city of Liverpool IMO did a good job. The city was buzzing, embraced the Ukraine culture and was a success. Just a brief clip of the Flag Parade where each participating country that reaches the final is introduced and on this occasion it was combined with previous Ukrainian entries to the contest. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGOoZ4Osd8ypqZIsi=_pgIn8JHmbbJNqEG

[@HappyRedCake]

17:54 we can’t vote for our own country in this competition x

[@reactingtomyroots]

Okay didn't realize that! Thanks

[@freemansteinslab]

Its also worth pointing out that while the contest is now run by the EBU and open to EBU member countries (or others by special invitation), the name Eurovision was not purley invented cintaining the prefix "Euro" for the competition...with it instead just being the name of the Swiss TV station that first began the contest with just a small handful of participating countries

[@jules.8443]

Has Lyndsey ever seen Riverdance? They weren't an entry into the competition, they were the interim act while we were waiting for the votes to be counted. But they are good. Especially if Michael Flatley & Jean Butler were the leading dancers.

[@mintygrey]

4:33 "haha Finland 😅😊" about sums up Eurovision, tbh!! Lordi, The Rasmus, Blind Channel, Käärijä, Windows 95 Man... I love them all. (Mostly Käärijä... 💚)

[@tamielizabethallaway2413]

*Hello my Beauties!* 🤩 Eurovision is NUTS! But, us Europeans are nuts, in case you hadn't figured that out yet! 🤪 It used to just be on for one night, but now they split it into two semi finals and the final. The public votes, as well as official panels from each country. Prior to the Eurovision Contest, we have a mini type of round for the UK. It's important to note, that it is a *SONG* contest, not a *SINGING* competition. First songwriters and musicians enter their songs, and we get to vote on which lyrics/music/melody we like best, and which we think best represents us. Then the winning songwriter gets to choose who they want to sing it. And *THAT* is why they can choose anyone to perform it for them. Lots of people started their singing careers doing this, or certainly took their fame internationally, such as Celine Dion. There's many more though besides her. BTW I love ABBA! 😁 We hosted the contest last year, but on behalf of the Ukraine who won it in 2022, and the UK actually came 2nd. It cost about £10 million or so to expand and coordinate the venue, and there were half a million audience viewers attending the contest. There was also a EuroFestival set up and Eurovision Village. Liverpool made about 5x that much in revenue from all the extra tourism. When we scored zero points after Brexit, I think it was because it was all up in the air, and worldwide nobody understood exactly what it meant or would entail...which is not surprising because neither did we! 😳 There were SOOOO many rumours around it also, that some of our own UK idiots, still think it means we left EUROPE! 🙄 Many people were concerned as obviously we have a ton of international workers and students, and they were no longer certain if that meant they'd have to leave. Some thought we voted to leave the E.U, (51% Leave Vs 49% Stay) because we didn't want visitors here or are racist. The vote was so split it caused arguments here. Some Brits working and living abroad experienced a shift in welcomeness towards them, being where they were, if the UK didn't want any of their people etc. It was a big old mess. I still don't think it's entirely sorted out, or not to the degree that it should have been according to what was voted for. If anyone has finally figured it out, please send your answers on a postcard! Thanks! 😂 Our current traitor Prime Minister still has his tongue up E.U politician's arses, and still pushing laws and regulations according to the E.U's, but the least said about him the better. 🤬 Lastly, the winning country hosts the next year, and Lindsay thought that's not much of a prize. Well no in terms of initial outlay, but yes in terms of profit. The Host Country has intervals between song performances, and they use those slots to highlight the very best local produce, heritage sites, and location history. Which broadcasts mini tourism style videos to an ENORMOUS worldwide audience. They also fill the main middle interval, and the vote-counting interval with live performances... Leading me to something I have told you before THAT YOU AND LINDSAY WILL *LOVE!* If you don't love it, there's something wrong with you! 😛 It's from a few years back when Ireland won the contest. It's an Irish dance, singing and music performance and it is INCREDIBLE! The music and singing starts in that typical Celtic, haunting, ethereal sound, sounds like voices from another world in a long ago place, just beautiful. Then the drums start...the energy rises, and the dance begins. The whole performance is literally electric! I beg you to not pause the video whilst watching, let us enjoy the look on your faces. It's only around 7 minutes for the First halfway interval performance, and 5 minutes for the Second performance during vote counting. Please choose a video that says it has BOTH performances live from the Eurovision Song Contest, it's called RIVERDANCE. Once seen, it will stay with you forever so please please please don't pause midway during one of the two parts. Pause and chat between the two of course, just don't interrupt during as I want you to absorb the whole thing. Thank me later. 😉 On that note I shall say bye for now! Sending you 3 lots of love, 😘😘😘 xxxxx

[@reactingtomyroots]

haha thanks, Tami! Always appreciate your insights. Hope you're doing well. :) I've seen Riverdance, but Lindsay has not. It's something I've been wanting to show her so maybe in the near future we can get to it!

[@fxaman]

It's the biggest non-sport event on TV. Every year almost 200 million of people watch it. It's absolutely massive. If you have to host it, you are inviting 40 interprets with their teams, you have to have the stage, accommodation for everyone etc, so the price of the show is insane.

[@kellysnowdon7736]

Stephen you should get Lindsey to watch the one where Riverdance was introduced to the world

[@rjjcms1]

1994.

[@joelsmall8471]

SBS is a channel in australia that broadcasts the event, they are also part of the European broadcasting union which organises Eurovision, plus Aussies have always supported Eurovision from a viewing standpoint so we get special entry.

[@joelsmall8471]

israel is also part of the EBU which is why they are there too, they were first technically back in 1973

[@petersheppard6085]

Check out the comedy show "Father Ted" set in Ireland, where they set out to lose at a singing contest, loosely based on Eurovision

[@gbulmer]

"My Lovely Horse" 😂

[@paulguise698]

@@gbulmer This is a travesty, It was the same note over and over again

[@ppppp789]

@@gbulmer running through the field

[@petersheppard6085]

@@gbulmer Oh Yeah....."Let's DO this Mother...!!" LOL

[@gbulmer]

@@petersheppard6085 😀😆

[@milu1982]

Australian TV network SBS has been a huge supporter of Eurovision since the 80s I think. The show is really popular in Australia. Also.. the SBS is an associated member of the European Broadcasting Union, who organise the event. Because of this, Australia was invited to the 60th anniversary of the Eurovosion Song Contest in 2015. And they have been a part of it ever since

[@steven54511]

Back in the day, Eurovision was taken as seriously as cancer but in the last fifteen years or so it's become more of a joke. People dressed in outrageous costumes and singing both political and "comedy" songs have been more prolific. Take it for what it is, a semi serious "song" contest that generates a huge amount of money and coverage for both the promoters and the winners.

[@janinemhall6922]

You should totally try and watch the next one! It is so much fun. Me and my family all get snacks and score all the acts. We only watch the final on the Saturday and it is a wonderful weird ride!