Mangoes, Dice, Lawsuits: Eurovision 2024 reviewed, pt7 (Cyprus, Greece, Italy)

It's time to open the pandora's box that is Sanremo and find out how Angelina Mango could win Eurovision. Also today: Greek lawsuits, IKEA furniture, Walmart, Dice, and the Parthenon. And also Marina Satti.
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[@akmalbasyhaazis]

Gabe: gives Sanremo a C rating RAI: *and we took that personally*

[@rzaku5536]

Poland gave up entirely, and Romania didn't even start xd

[@tasosmosh]

When it comes to Marina's staging, it should be noted that apart from Fokas Evangelinos (who has stated in interviews that he hasn't been this excited about a Eurovision staging and its potential since he won with Helena Paparizou in 2005), her choreographer is Mecnun Giasar, who famously staged Rosalia's Motomami Tour with its single shot logic that was displayed on screens throughout the entire performance of almost 2 hours. He also did the choreo for the one shot performance of Loreen's This Is Love. Marina herself has also experience in one shot performances, having famously shot the video of her most famous song and viral sensation of 2017 in Greece "Mantissa" in the same way. That is kind of what made her famous in Greece in the first place, along with everything else, including her creating essentially her own genre of blending Greek, Arab and Balkan influences with contemporary pop. I am pretty confident we are going to witness something amazing on stage in what I think will be a potentially history making performance for the contest. The components are literally all in place for this to happen. As a Greek eurofan, I was hoping for years that Marina would represent us in Eurovision, and I am certain that she is one of the very few Greek singers that at the moment has exactly what it takes to bring a top 5 result or even higher. Regardless of the final result, in just 3 weeks, she has brought Eurovision back to Greece and to its mainstream pop culture. Eurovision was so in hibernation for more than a decade now. Even our recent top 10 finishes did not really struck a cord with many people. Most Greeks, aside from the fans, barely remember them, if not at all. Marina's song, on the other hand is literally EVERYWHERE, is being debated and discussed everyday and even managed to be the first n.1 song on Spotify solely sung by a woman in more than 7 years (aside of a duet from the queen herself, Eleni Foureira). In any case, I am so happy she is our entry this year! For me, she really represents the best of contemporary Greek music. Cyprus, on the other hand, well... Let's just say bless Silia's heart for taking such a challenge in such a young age!

[@hairyhunkcy]

Apparently it’s not go as planned. Just saying.

[@nint357]

One reservation I have about Zari placing high is that many needed to get used to it as a song and said that they considered it a bop after listening to it 2-3 times. So I'm kind of worried about how it might play out live to people who hear for the first time (staging aside) but hoping for a good result!

[@gmr6898]

Wasn't that kind of the same problem with Serbia in 2022 and look were it finished in public votes. Zari is actually 7th in the odds whereas Konstrakta was outside top 10 until the final too.

[@fm95master]

That's very true for many (not me, I loved it instantly) but I think that after the unplugged version that was released yesterday, many will really love it.

[@ioanniszachos927]

This year we go ta-ta-ta 🇬🇷❤️

[@StergianiPapoutsi-qv2in]

Greece Winner Alerz!!!

[@echtblikbonen]

For Zari I'm afraid of an EAEA effect, where it's a favourite among eurofans but just a tad too out there to do well with the general public

[@dasmysteryman12]

I am also afraid of an Eaea effect, both for Greece and Norway, which both sit at my top 2. Italy is a safe choice for a winner from my top 5 (the other countries are Lithuania and Estonia).

[@lefteris9741]

please vote for greece@@dasmysteryman12

[@thingybob4375]

The phrase "Eurovision Walmart" will never, ever leave me

[@erinnadia0409]

Me voting this year in the final; 🇬🇷🇮🇹🇬🇷🇮🇹🇬🇷🇮🇹🇬🇷🇮🇹😂

[@polypam23]

I'll vote only 🇬🇷 in the final, because I'm 🇮🇹. Maybe our dear neighbour 🇸🇮

[@misterjoven]

18:23 stabby twink, I can’t 😂

[@EmoBearRights]

I too love Greek food especially salads and I'm a vegetarian - Greek food is very veggie friendly.

[@erinnadia0409]

Yes I'm veggie too! I love the options

[@user-dd5hg6dt3s]

I’ve just subscribed. Gabe you are amazing. I really enjoyed watching you . I’m 64 and started watching Eurovision in 1967 !!!! Aagghhh. I’m looking forward to following you . Grazie Mate !!!

[@RanESC]

Hey Gabe! I'd just like to tell you that I love your videos! You're really entertaining, funny, always find the right words and bring so much background information about the contest that we could die for. Everything is so compact, yet so deeply thought. You cover a Eurovision section we don't have that much on KZbin - Discussions/DiveDeeper etc. Such a niche category and you're doing an incredible job at creating videos about our burning passion. I really respect and appreciate that! l'd also love to give a big shout-out to your video editor Jay! As an editor myself, I know how much power lies beneath the editing style and how much energy it can take. Jay is doing an amazing job at emphasizing the entertainment, humour and meaning of your videos. You two are incredibly talented who put their hearts into their creations. I'm looking forward to more videos and wish you two a lovely Eurovision season, filled with a lot of joy and fun! ❤️

[@ajmxna]

omg this comment has made my day thank you so so so much!!!!!🫶🫶🫶🫶

[@jacobomarinlago7192]

I think exactly the same as you! Whenever I see one of their videos it’s the first thing I click on. Thank you so much

[@RanESC]

@@ajmxna Omg Jay

[@ajmxna]

@@RanESC @/jayisok 🥰

[@UnoriginalEurovisionCritic]

Omg it’s the Ronela fanboy😮🫵

[@aleqxsz]

I'm not the biggest fan of Greece's song this but i can appreciate the greek theme and greek influence that the song has, Italy's song is a goddamn treasure and i love it all

[@Theodoros.K.Mouchtaris]

Unfortunately Marina's father passed away (at the age of 68) two days before my comment. My condolences to her obviously. Her father's 40 day memorial will coincide with her performing in Eurovision. She stopped rehearsing until April 15th. What a "test" will be for her performing on stage ...

[@burnsdaylight]

One more thing about Angelina - her covers night performance was absolutely incredible - one of the best I've ever seen

[@StergianiPapoutsi-qv2in]

Many thanks from Greece❤❤❤

[@armandofabioivaldi8346]

Great Angelina ! great performer ! and great live orchestra ! better to see a little bit more of Angelina live performance in Sanremo ... 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@eurovisionella8380]

I was prepared to fight you on the Sanremo topic but I was pleasantly surprised ahah! It was the first time I watched the whole competition and I absolutely loved it. I adore Italian music and it is so much fun when you actually understand what they're saying and get their jokes (I'm Polish btw). That said Italy is my 2024 winner and I can't wait to see how it goes in May! Appreciate your hard work and great video as always! Kudos to Jay for entertaining editing as well!

[@TimeG37]

If Italy wins this year I'm gonna eat mango (the fruit, not the person) everyday until ESC next year (and very happily so)

[@simmyminelli8479]

The night of the covers Duet with other artists was the beautiful😢Beautiful performance of Annalisa,😮 and the Santi Francesi, The best of Mr Rain, il Volo Crazy, But the most beautiful And moving by all was Angelina Mango She sang the song of her dead father while performing on stage in 2013 (Angelina was there, Pino's brother also died shortly after during the funeral.He is also a musician, his mother is a singer That's why she didn't run away and move to Milan at the age of 13,) an Italian singer, writer and musician famous for his vocal range skills.. That night, the whole of Italy is moved by the father's song 😢"La Rondine" Angelina He manages to strike hearts with his interpretation. Also with "Fila indiana" (Autobiography song where he talks about the period of his death and the traumatic events experienced in that period) gives goosebumps and even if you don't understand the lyrics ❤❤

[@Marii1S]

Gabe, I only knew you from ESC United and didn't know you have a channel of your own but HOLY GYRO PITA WITH TZATZIKI your videos are seriously some of the best researched, entertaining and yet cohesive ESC content on here😍 And these info cards on the artists- 💀10s across the board

[@escgabe]

Thank you!!!

[@annakobuk3618]

Few addititions: About Cyprus: their video looks how it looks because it's a "discreet" product placement/ad for a hotel and casino in one of Cypriot cities. About Greece: two things, Marina wrote the song herself but with some help of 8(!) other people, at least the song credits show that. I hope she had a really huge part in its creation though. I love totally loooove unhinged experience the music video is. About Italy: amazing song selection this year. I still listen to almost half of this year's Sanremo songs. La Noia grows on me slowly but steadily.

[@elaifull]

What a great analysis of Sanremo and Angelina Mango’s song. That’s simply a great work. You pick every salient moment of Sanremo and you really understand Angelina’s potentials. By my side I am so glad to have press and radio vote in Sanremo😂. They often saved the situation. Like 2019 with Mahmood. And thank god they saved this year. Geolier is great but not the best. Especially for Europe public. Thank again for your work, not all Eurovision KZbinrs work like you do. ❤🇮🇹

[@erinnadia0409]

lol as an Aussie I am super into this new era of Cyprus picking us to represent them at Eurovision 🇨🇾🐨❤

[@rosalina528]

She is a Greek - Greek Cypriot, who lives in Australia

[@erinnadia0409]

@@rosalina528 she was born in Sydney!

[@rosalina528]

@@erinnadia0409 still..

[@erinnadia0409]

@@rosalina528 yeah so you're wrong! But Australia is very multicultural, most of our population (myself included) are first generation meaning out parents immigrated before we were born. I grew up in a town where the majority were Croatian or Irish, my friend group now is of Greek, Italian, Egyptian and Chinese Australians, my partner was born in Iran, and I work with Ukrainian refugees trying to help them get drivers license and other paperwork/documents they need in this country, so this is one of the reasons I think Australians love Eurovision as a lot of us have heritage, but Silia was born, grew up and went to school in Sydney, has the Australian accent, she just has Greek, Cypriot parents.

[@rosalina528]

@@erinnadia0409 I know Australia is multicultural, dear! No need to explain.. My point was that Cyprus picked not just Aussies, but Greek-Aussies. As about Silia, we cannot tell if she feels a plain Aussie or rather a Greek Aussie. I reckon the latter..

[@yourcow135]

Italy is my winner and I never thought I would say that

[@llamaboy]

Agree, I normally think Italy is a bit overrated but this year is just so spot on and so much better than the rest

[@helenewei4232]

I don't think she will win (clearly she will end up in the top but I don't think it's the first place ) but she is on all my playlists and I honestly think that she will be more timeless than some Eurovision hits

[@isimerias]

Italians not being the absolute crusty salty crusty bottom of the barrel disgusting at southern Italians challenge (impossible). I’d disagree with you about how he should’ve approached the snub. It was pretty much a middle finger and all he said was basically “screw them we know what we did” like that doesn’t really even seem that bad? How can you change the show from the inside when everybody inside already said you’re trash?

[@Cosmopavone]

Do you think that a loud little minority represent an entire country? Lol... I think that here the crusty bottom of the barrel is you...

[@StergianiPapoutsi-qv2in]

Greece Winner Alert!!!! You forget for Evaggelinos Helena Paparizou Winer 2005 with Number One❤❤❤❤❤

[@ReddoLeoMeme2401]

It's worth mentioning that in the superfinal at Sanremo both the radio and the press jury received a massive buff when it came to their voting system: from the 1st night to the 4th every member of them simply gave a rank from 1 to 10 to each song and the results were averaged, while in the superfinal it kinda worked like the televote since each juror could pick ONLY their favorite song among the five remaning ones. That change (which was know well before the beginning of the show, it's not something RAI changed during it) in the voting system is what allowed the jury to completely counter Geolier's landslide victory in the televote. Welcome to another episode of the Sanremo jury saving us from a bad result ❤ Also I should point out that ignoring all the classism and north vs south accusations, the reason why a lot of people got mad after the results of cover night (night 4) were published is that SO MANY performances were much better than Geolier's (Angelina Mango, Annalisa and Clara to name 3)

[@mattiasughi8310]

Exactly. I feel this analysis is a bit tipped towards Geolier. It doesn't mention the cover night situation which explains a LOT. We had Clara beautifully sing the lion king song with the original Italian singer, I santi francesi Hallelujah with Skin, Angelina smashed it with her father's song, a beautiful duet between Alfa and Vecchioni and many more that got fucked over by an enraged televote that wanted to make Geolier win out of spite for night 3. The rage was right but why punish everyone else for it. Also why put Geolier in that position? Poor him...

[@ReddoLeoMeme2401]

@@mattiasughi8310 Indeed, i feel some of the anger towards Geolier was justified because of what happened in cover night and the fact there were so many other good entries (including the ones you mentioned) makes everything even worse

[@polypam23]

And, above all, Amadeus stretched too much the rules to accommodate a song not sung in Italian. That's it.

[@wemestros]

honestly even though zari is topping the charts greeks are still kinda divided on it i think people that dont like it will change their minds if the performance turns out to be amazing (which im sure it will be)

[@sarahpine6861]

Gabe you are so insightful, thank you for this analysis!!! Can't wait to see the choreography

[@vaiellyvintage3089]

Your content is AMAZING keep on doing what you doing 👏👏

[@erinnadia0409]

Greek food is my favourite European food too 💙🤍 Though Thai and Indian curries will always be the way to my heart!

[@mec0013]

I love these videos. Gabe you're great and looking forward to listening to more of your commentary! You didn't mention the jokes about Neapolitans having like 30 burner phones each to vote on. No way Geolier had 66% of the Italian vote with his generic song without something fishy in the much law abiding region of Campagna :D

[@user-qc7ye2bi8y]

Fifth and la noia is the best song this year😊

[@Theodoros.K.Mouchtaris]

For Dimitris Kontopoulos: He also participated in 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with Azerbaijan. His song "Hold me" performed by Farid Mammadov came second with 234 points, the most points that Azerbaijan has ever received at the Eurovision Song Contest. It received the maximum 12 points from 10 countries. Kontopoulos in 2014 was one of the two composers of the song "Shine" of The Tolmachevy Sisters which represented Russia. For the 2017 Eurovision he wrote "This is Love" performed by Demy and represented Greece. In 2018 he wrote the song "X my Heart" sung by Aisel Mamadova representing Azerbaijan. For the 2021 Eurovision he wrote the songs "Sugar" for Natalia Gordienko (Moldova) and "Last Dance" for Stefania (Greece). In 2020 he won the Moldovian pre-selection O melodie pentru Europa for Eurovision with the song "Prison" by Natalia Gordienko. He also wrote the song "Super Girl" for Stefania, which was to represent Greece. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the contest was cancelled and the songs did not compete on stage.

[@tjyoutube4654]

So much respect to you for not choosing to ignore speaking about hypocrisy of Israel's participation in ESC!

[@idraote]

This is my first video from your channel and I appreciate the research and attention to detail. I will add a couple of controversial points. Geolier won the televote because people hacked the system by acquiring a huge number of sim cards to multiply their voting chances. This is why other people were so salty about it. About Palestine, public opinion in Italy is acritically biased in favour of Palestinians. The reasons of Israel are never considered. Ghali is also of Tunisian origin and he is doubly biased. Be it as it may, it is impossible to have a civil discussion on the topic here.

[@polypam23]

I can confirm everything you wrote

[@hermannivision6222]

Agree about Georgian, Greek and Italian food being best in the world! Especially Sulguni cheese from Georgia❤

[@Fatima502]

Thank you for describing San Remo in a nutshell

[@user-vx8qz9bw4d]

Zari is winner

[@seleniaactimel]

Souvlaki in shoreditch is even better, or at least it was a couple of years ago!

[@giannis7123]

Zari zari zari zari!!

[@walktroughman1952]

Don't tell him who produced Austria's entry pls

[@nick_5791_GR]

Jimmy Joker will take over Central Europe 😂

[@wibbliams]

12:40 this is the most detailed throwaway joke (pun intended) i have ever seen

[@escgabe]

it took longer than i am willing to admit to make it

[@wibbliams]

​@@escgabe I dread to think

[@N-L.]

there’s not a map org uk link in the description!

[@ajmxna]

added it now🥰 thank you!

[@katerinad5460]

Reaaally hoping that Zari wins this years! It deserves it for so many reasons. Unique and fun❤Go Greece❤🎲🎲🇬🇷

[@jockey7069]

cannot believe Cyprus had a year to do something nice but instead took something that bad which was already here for a year

[@aikaterinifakari269]

Greece winner love it Zari !!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@andrijahreljanovic2078]

Good video Gabe!

[@polypam23]

About the freedom of speech at San Remo. Last year nobody could express himself about Ukraine. Above all Tananai, who wrote a song about people displaced by the war. But he can't say it.

[@myjunkdrawer8014]

That entire press jury should be fired next year.

[@polypam23]

Absolutely NOT!

[@diekommentarekommentiererin]

I always call the platform in Greece 2009 a giant stapler

[@ameliab9391]

Thank god juries exist

[@labro2014]

Greece 🇬🇷 🇬🇷 🇬🇷 is my number one 🏆🏆💖💖🥰🥇 the

[@garydavies8307]

Greece will win

[@andsometimesigoupstairs]

Unpopular opinion, but idc 😂 Italy is genuinely overhyped, absolutely not worthy of winning Eurovision and thinking of Turin… yeah nah, we dont need another Italian hosting.

[@DiegoWes10]

Oh come on, I think they learned the lesson! We can't do the same mistakes twice!

[@Rob-xf7gq]

There a reason your opinion is unpopular

[@dimitrisalexiou5567]

Kudos for speaking up your mind when it comes to Israel's participation in this year's contest. No one should be prevented from expressing their opinion especially when it comes to innocent people's lives. Everyone should take a stance for that no matter what the nationality and religion of these people is.

[@Neji4GR]

Cyprus will not qualify . If you know, you know

[@renanbp]

wow you made so many assumptions from the fact Silia is 17 lol like, there are younger people slaying Junior Eurovision every year...

[@escgabe]

Where did I say she wouldn’t slay? She is inexperienced. That’s a fact. It doesn’t mean she’s bad and I never said she would be bad. I said that it means there’s more uncertainty which, again, is a fact.

[@renanbp]

It was just funny how you listed so many things that could go wrong due to her being 17 😂 we never know, maybe she’s training in her room since she was 5, it’s the case of so many young singers. To me the concern has more to do with the song itself, with those lyrics and the lack of identity, as you mentioned.

[@th5841]

The thing that draws La Noia down imo, is that it is too «wordy». Almost like singing rap. And with no rest to let the song breath. The melody isn’t very interesting as well. So not my favourite.

[@lucypagano2454]

Zitti e buoni was the same and it won

[@th5841]

@@lucypagano2454 Not quite. It has some instrumental breakes. But before the final in 2021, it was only in my top 10, just like La Noia. But in the final I got it and it clicked with me. Perhaps the same thing will happen this year with La Noia?

[@invidusspectator3920]

too bad that malta is not in this one too

[@ioanniszachos927]

Italy is a bit overrated, while Greece is so unique and different

[@georgios3113]

La noia is a nice Italian song, but that's its problem: it's yet another nice Italian song we've heard before. Zero authenticity. Nothing new. Greece's Zari will do better than Angelina's La noia

[@JamieJooESC]

Love both Greece and Cyprus, but I feel Italy is, for the first time ever since they came back, overrated imo

[@dianas3627]

Sorry you could say Greece is overrated also because Italy (class as always )and Greece are popular this Eurovision,so there will be matter of opinions..Italy is not overrated but a good ,catchy song,just say you don’t like it instead of saying it’s overrated.Always suspicious when people say Italy is overrated,I think it’s jealousy,my opinion only.

[@kai-uweschmidt7615]

To be honest, how Sanremo ended frustrates me. Geolier wasn't my favourite. But he landslided with the Televote and he didn't win Sanremo because of juries. This feels so wrong with me, even if a song benefited that I liked more. But if that are the rules of Sanremo, I have to accept it. Italy will do great at Eurovision, that is for sure.

[@Unknown-dr4bk]

well to be honest Geolier's song wasn't loved by Italy as a whole. his song was catapulted to first place by Neaples' patriotic voting. to be fair, many people treated Sanremo as a football match with a us-against-them mentality (from both ends!). had it won the festival it would've become probably one of the most controversial winners ever. while I don't think the song is bad, I personally have never seen the hype it got from the televote. it was truly nothing revolutionary.

[@polypam23]

I tried all night to vote for Annalisa, with no avail. And so baby other people like me

[@hatsunemiku99990]

Second

[@ajmxna]

first

[@Sruge]

third

[@reddinareddika3624]

I'm sorry but what you said about Geolier is just straight up wrong. He's been nothing but respectful towards the show and the press jury, which did nothing but disrespect him. They even told him "don't you feel like you have stolen the victory?" during the cover night press conference doubling down on the stereotype that neapolitan people steal and rob. He was nothing but polite with them, saying "I only sang a song, it's not like I voted". Even when angelina won he was nothing but kind and celebrated with her. What he said on the balcony was that "he feels like a winner because he is loved by his fans anyway", not that he wasn't accepting the results of Sanremo. Hea meant that as long as he had his fans he didn't care for victory. And he said it multiple times. Thai is a straight up episode of racism by the press, and if you looked at the numbers of his streams both on spotify and youtube, you would understand it's simply not possible that ONE city of Italy can cause all that. Since the beginning of his career he's one of the major trappers in Italy, he does numbers like his music is mainstream. Italian mainstream just refuse to acknowledge this very simple fact.

[@reddinareddika3624]

One last thing: the reason for the hate is not just because he is neapolitan, it's because for the first time in a very long time in sanremo a song was allowed to have 100% neapolitan dialect, and no one cared, NO ONE, until he scored first place. No one is pointing that out, but on the second night of sanremo, before the cover nights, people were already complaining about "Neapolitan votes" because they thought it's impossible for a Neapolitan song to be so well liked and voted all over Italy. If I EVER substituted "Neapolitan" with "african language" everyone would be very quick to point out the racism. But for some reason "it's just about the music" in this case. I'm sorry but that is not just about that. It's that Italy accepts people as long as they conform to their dumb conservative standards and just refuse anything new and different. You want to be a musician in Italy? you HAVE to sing in Italian, you have to make ballads or pop, you have to live in Milan or Rome, it's impossibile to be successful if you don't fit in these categories. If by any chance you are a rocker, you are not 100% italian, you don't conform to something "your song is not all that good".

[@polypam23]

Che 🏉🏉

[@kirkhoffman3945]

you contradict yourself because you say that you like Italy but in one of your recent top 10 you only give it 2 points

[@escgabe]

yes because i like about 30 of the songs. i can't give them all 12

[@domiiinik4320]

Cyprus - after first listen I was disappointed, but the more you listen to it, the more it stays in your head and I kinda like it now Greece - it's just a copy of all those latina songs from Rosalia and Karol G or other similar artists, but in Greek instead of Spanish, nothing new, nothing great Italy - similar to Cyprus, first listen was meh, I thought it was the worst Italian entry since 2013, but now I love it

[@mia-oq6qf]

i actually really enjoy your videos but you're bringing up politics way too much and its very distracting to me.