Eurovision - Today I will be ashamed to be Polish

....but I've heard that the singer complained with the song about the bad quality of hospital care in Serbia....people die needlessly....a serious problem there it seems!

@Bratwurst Boy, yes, it was said on Polish TV that it was a commentary on the bad situation of healthcare in Serbia... I still don't like the song itself though, I can't help it...

....maybe it still makes the waves in Serbia and things change for the better....the power of music, you know?

I was surprised that Ukraine got still 7 points out of Serbia, from the public vote at that...with all that Putinistas there! :)

@BB, yeah, true! It was still the lowest vote for Ukraine of all the countries though ;D


Let us hope that music has some power and not only in the Serbian case... :)

Mama Stefania is actually a good song. Plus, don`t forget that many Ukrainians originate from Serbian medieval refugees during Turkish occupation.


You have prejudices. Serbs have most balanced stance of all Slavs and Europeans.

Guys, I didn`t watch the contest or whatever it is called. But after the controversy with the Polish song appeared, I listened to it and found out two things:

- the singer`s voice is excellent, like his grandpa`s, ex opera singer.
- the musical value of the song is close to zero to me- it certainly isn`t a song I would like to listen to again. Just one of many.

Without the virtue signalling and sympathy votes, the winning song would be near the bottom of the poll in a normal year. Such a dreadful piece of "music" which, I hope never to hear again. Sorry if this offends some people, but I think there were better songs.

Nothing wrong with that at all. It's a good thing. Better to signal that than lack of virtue.


Probably mid table or a bit higher. There were many that were worse. Not my taste either, however some do like that sentimental neo-folk. And of course in wartime, musical taste does tend to get sentimental.

None were especially good this year. Perhaps I'll listen to Sweden's again to see if it has the hidden depths that some suggest. The Polish one shouldn't have been in it at all. One day, Poland will realise that their depressing music full of existential angst and thwarted longing isn't worth exporting.

This one deserves to go viral though. A shame it wasn't an entrant.

youtu.be/2gCgluVD0Aw

Sorry, but that is completely wrong.
No virtue signalling from me but it was a song that was strong enough to win in any year, in my opinion.

@pawian

The Polish song was good but not as strong as the UK.

The most interesting thing for me, is how European political voting played out in Eurovision.
We all know that this is not really a music contest but political competition, right?

Number 1 Ukraine.
Number 2 UK.
Second from last France.
Last Germany.

That says it all for me.

Europeans have gained respect for Ukraine and the UK.
And lost respect for France and Germany.

Yes, I took pains to listen to the Ukrainian song and endured one minute. :):) It is also musically worthless. But Ukraine needs to be supported so they won. :):)


If you say so. :):):) The last time I took interest in Euro singing contest was in 20th century when heavy metal Saxon performed.

I meant from European countries with their jury voting


Oh dear...

In 2007 Ukrainians had a much more appealing song which I listened to dozens of times coz it was so funny. The song featured the mysterious phrase :Lasha Tumbai which some people interpreted as RuSSia Goodbye. Prophetic message. :):):)

youtu.be/hfjHJneVonE

Nah....France got zero points last time....there was no war in Europe back then....and Germany ended down there before too before, or won with Lena in the meantime....to put it all on political reasons doesn't explain everything...it's to easy..."they don't like us sniff sniff* is crap!

We send sh*it regularly....that's all there is....the german broadcaster NDR is to blame for that (Lena for example was managed by a private station for a change to make all the difference, but it was the same Germany which got low or no points before and again afterwards with entries from the NDR, heh:)

This very much reflects soft power in Europe (most people can't count current bands or singers from both of the last two places on their fingers).

And of course soft power and hard power can never easily be separated.

Eurovision is very political indeed.

Ukraine's winning song was partly political but they put on a show (also an important consideration) and this is very far from the worst winner...

I loved Ukraine's techno-folk entry last year (more the live performances than the video).

This year my favorite was Moldova... accordions for the win!!!!! Anyone who looks down on this (or didn't enjoy it at some level) is dead inside.....

I detest music that sounds like it's from nowhere (or could be from anywhere) so I didn't much like Sweden (or.... Poland for that matter, guy's got the pipes but he needs better material). I like Estonia cause it was goofy and he was having a great time (spaghetti western vibes didn't hurt).

To paraphrase someone else Italy didn't send a song, it sent an overwrought argument by two drama queens waiting for the night bus outside a gay nightclub at 3 am.... I respect them for that.

*nods*

One of the main reasons Germany ends up so often where it does....instead of skilled artists with experience and a fanbase and a style and a recognition factor we send nobodies with totally interchangable, generic songs/lyrics written by people who just don't care....not even a show is thought out.....nothing to capture the people....totally forgettable....

But it seems that is exactly what the old people on top of the NDR want and like....it boggles the mind! *throws hands up in the air*

And do you remember the Aussie song? Foul. I'm impressed that the frogs put a song on in Brezoneg, however the quality of the song reflected the poor attitude there to minority language rights.

I did think that the Polish one was probably among the worst that got through to the final - it just shouldn't have been there - however Lithuania's would have worked with a better singer.

The results of course don't entirely reflect the songs or singers; they are political soft power issues and reflect which countries are on the rise and which are waning.

....keep that in mind when UK lands next time again down at the bottom! 😁

I like what piers morgan said on the subject of eurovision.
"This predictable landslide was just a gigantic piece of unctuous Euro virtue-signalling - the TV equivalent of people sticking a Ukraine flag on their Instagram with a hug emoji and thinking they've done their bit.""

....what else would have been better in his opinion? Ignoring Ukraine?

Ignoring Eurovision? never watched that kitsch garbage ! and australia always sends our worst! ;)

We win it far more than we lose; in some ways a metaphor for our history. It does look like the BBC's new selection procedure helped a lot.


Fevers little bit helps. I prefer 'virtue signalling' (whatever that means) to Piers Morgan's hacking of a murdered schoolgirl's voicemail messages which delayed the police investigation and could have led to another child's life being lost.


That's the whole point...

A few years ago Australia was my favorite entry (with the lady singing coloratura on the swaypole).


Not so sure, it was heavily influenced by ye-ye* (or so it seemed to me) and a whispy not-very-strong voice is one of the defining features of the genre.... I don't think it would have worked with a stronger voice...

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C3%A9-y%C3%A9

I have to partly take back my statement about eurovision as the Ukranian winners are going to be touring europe , with the money raised going to the Ukranian army. that's pretty hardcore, glad they chose that instead of the safe option of some humanitarian org.

tvpworld.com/60223901/ukraine-eurovision-winners-to-tour-europe-to-raise-money-for-army


You know exactly what it means, isn't that the exact definition of what novi does on his FB page?

I don't. I see it being used online by people who also use the word 'woke' and have a pessimistic attitude to life. I suspect it means very little.


This is an excellent thing.


If she'd done it in the French Whisper (not that easy to get right) it would actually have been better. Otherwise it needed a more colourful voice.

Virtue Signalling
To take a conspicuous but essentially useless action ostensibly to support a good cause but actually to show off how much more moral you are than everybody else.

Fred: I see George has changed his profile picture to show his support for refugees.
Barbara: Has he donated money or time? Is he giving English lessons? Is he making a room available?
Fred: No, no, he's just virtue signalling.

A phenomena where someone campaigns for or otherwise shows their support for an often popular position without actually doing anything meaningful to further the cause that they claim to champion. This is one of the main signs of late democracy and otherwise shows the prevalence of cult figures in a society: political or otherwise.

Also takes form with "thoughts and prayers", and other meaningless statements.

I doing don't mind that.

It's better than doing nothing.


I always prefer ethics to morals however it's always best to fight pessimism, negativity and the dark side of human nature. Eurovision is a positive thing and things like the people's vote are in a sense people power without hatred.


Every little bit is meaningful, even an sms vote in Eurovision. Sort of like the widow's mite parable. Not everyone is an activist.

About late stage democracy, no empire lasts more than about 300 years. Have you heard of Cliodynsmics? Invented by an orc however I found it fascinating.

Not "useless" in this case. One Ukrainian guy wrote to me that it means a lot to them.

Support that cannot be measured in dollars is bs. You are correct. I "support" those howitzers but I can't claim any credit for it because I am forced to by the humorless IRS.


If it was for sale, how much do you think he would be ready to pay for it? 50 cents?

How much money are you sending to Russia?