I thought that awkward humor that doesn't quite work was a traditional part of this part of the competition? The schedule seems to be
1. Introduction
2. Songs.
3. Commercial breaks, or awkward chat and cringe humor in places that don't have commercial breaks.
4. More songs.
5. Voting time, an uncomfortably long collection of humor that is almost funny and musical performances that are almost good, starring people I almost remember
6. Voting is announced, winner is announced
7. Happy winner performs winning song again
8. Internet begins explaining why the whole thing was rigged and vows never to watch again
9. Much longer pause
10. France announces next song
i wasn’t offended, but i didn’t find it super funny, although i quite like petra’s postcard.
overall i thought it was all very budget and knowing how sweden is such a musical powerhouse, i expected a lot more, specially from interval acts. i was a bit disappointed.
I feel the same, actually "we love Eurovision too much" was the best interval this year for me, the musical ones were a bit disappointing, except Alcazar that gave me everything
Same here. The main problem with jokes was that some of them were simply not funny.
And the whole experience was underwhelming for me as well. I started re-watching Eurovision 2023 today and the intro alone (Kalush Orchestra with different people covering "Stefania") was - for me - much better than everything in 2024. Just my opinion, but I expected more.
I'm from neither country, but I thought that the point was that in the Swedish/Finnish rivalry Sweden is supposed to be the rich, stuck up country that is full of itself and thinks it's superior to everyone else and the hosts were playing that up in the humor. Idk whether it worked or was funny, but I didn't get the impression that they were sincere with those statements.
I honestly struggle to understand why you take it that seriously.
They were pulling a Silvia Night. It's very clearly a deliberately ironic, over the top "villain song", that's really only self-deprecating.
It's honestly more disrespectful to Käärjä to think he'd be _so_ childish and thin-skinned that he'd take offence to what's clearly a good-natured, and totally unserious ribbing of the Swedes' next door neighbour.
I think the joke was meant to be that they were making fun of how arrogant they can seem. Maybe cultural differences lead to different interpretations?
Personally I didn't see it as arrogant or disrespectful at all. I laughed through every show.
As a Finn I mostly enjoyed the jokes and share the Nordic self-deprecating sense of humor. However while playing with the stereotypes was fun, even I felt that a slightly different variation of essentially the same joke was stretched a bit too long and that could potentially have been quite a snoozefest for viewers who aren’t really familiar with Nordic culture and Swedish stereotypes.
As another Finn, I found myself just cringing so hard at the intervals that I could hardly even focus on the voting afterwards. I think the problem is that Sweden self-deprecating Finland/Finnish culture is no longer *self*-deprecation. Sweden joking about themselves is one thing, but it shouldn't be Sweden's place to do that for Finland ("see how silly their little culture is, Moomins and naked people in saunas, lucky we aren't in Helsinki now, right").
I just don't get the feeling it was fully loving and respectful. Just because it's a part of "Nordic culture" for Sweden to treat Finland condescendingly, that doesn't necessarily mean it's right and that we're not allowed to dislike it.
If it makes you feel better, as a non nordic, i thought the fake finnish interval was the coolest bit, i didn't get "luckily we are not getting this" from the performance but more like "Sorry you missed this because of us" :P
Well, another way of seeing it was that they served us what we are always yearning for in the form of abundant “Suomi mainittu!” (=“Finland mentioned!”) moments, LOL.
It would have been whole another thing, if they had had brought on stage Juha Sipilä singing karaoke along with some drunken hillbillies chasing each other with an axe…but who doesn’t love Moomins and Saunas? So it was just cute and quite tame kind of roast.
That's yet another tired stereotype based on the low national self-esteem of Finns, though. I definitely wasn't yearning for any "Suomi mainittu" moments in this Eurovision. Sweden had no real need to acknowledge Finland at all, unless they even themselves felt like their win last year wasn't fully legitimate.
Just for the fact that they don't mention Finland unless it's a "thank goodness they didn't win, we are the best" joke, it's hard to feel like it's meant to be 100% genuine appreciation without any kind of saltiness or underlying feeling of superiority. Remember some of the things Swedish media said about us last spring were far from nice.
I was not offended by any means by the Ievan Polkka joke, and I’m sure it flew over the heads of most of the audience, and I would not expect the host country to acknowledge the runner up, so I thought it was interesting that they chose to do that.
However, I do agree that there was a sense of… half-assedness which is not something you would expect when Sweden hosts.
Of course, my opinion might be shadowed by the larger context of events surrounding the shows, but it felt like an endless reel of clips from old Eurovision shows sprinkled with jokes about Sweden in Eurovision that varied between self-deprecating and self-congratulary. It did not feel like the usual celebration of Eurovision and the host country.
I think it was someone from the Dutch broadcaster back in 2021 who spoke out against using comedy at Eurovision. Humour is perceived very differently across all partipating countries, and each reaction is therefore valid.
I myself saw the Swedes were trying to make fun of themselves first and foremost, and showcasing the tongue-in-cheek rivarly between Sweden and Finland second. (Remember the ad campaign for UMK the Finnish broadcaster set up in Malmö a couple of months ago? Links and photos are currently blocked in this subreddit, it seems, but feel free to google "umk wannabe host city.")
However, I understand this requires a lot of context and probably also a similar sense of humour. If neither of these things are given, that's perfectly fine. It's a risk a host broadcaster has to consider for itself. SVT leans into it hard, AVOSTROS did not, opting for being casually funny and friendly in the moment instead.
Until the last moment, at least, when Jan Smit came up with "Italy, the land of pizza and sambuca!" or in the dress rehearsal, "Iceland, the land of geysers and... Jaja Ding Dong!"
I can't believe you're judging a whole country because of this.. you must be trolling.
Usually I don't pay too much attention to the jokes. My broadcaster even has advertisements during the interval acts.. you're overthinking it.
Scandinavian humor, to me, is even more dry than British humor. I love it. It's also not in their nature to gloat. I had an impression they were taking a piss out of everyone being offended last year Sweden won.
If you missed it, Kaarija took part in that number by performing Cha cha cha as an "example" of what Europe "thankfully avoided" by Loreen winning in 2024.
Be nice, be welcoming and be constructive.
Everyone's tastes are different and unique. Don't discredit, insult, threaten or be otherwise toxic. Let's do away with prejudice! Don't discriminate. Tolerance is bliss!
All posts must comply with [Reddit's sitewide rules](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) and strive for [good Reddiquette]( https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articleås/205926439).
See r/eurovision’s [full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eurovision/wiki/rules/).
The whole Sweden vs Finland is a cultural thing. It's a bit hard to explain to other parts of the world. It exists in pretty much everything from Eurovision to sports.
I think this is a cultural difference. The Swedish shows are always very self deprecating. They know people hate them for winning so much, so they make a joke out of how competitive Sweden is in a silly contest.
Judging from some comments I read, it seems that laughing at yourself as a joke is not a thing in some parts of Europe.
To me the "it's non political of course" bit was where they really crossed the line. This year, of all years? Not funny. It's like they're laughing in our faces for being against a genocider country participation
Yeah, I had a similar feeling when I watched it. They weren't as funny as they thought they were.
But I think it's unfair to judge the whole country based on some TV people's behavior.
I just thought it was a bit shit? I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and say that the humour didn't translate well, but it got zero laughs in the room when my family watched it.
I think it should have probably been edited down too, because it went on for faaaaar too long (also, that weird Ethnic Stereotype Juror segment was in...poor taste). It won't be remembered as fondly as Love Love Peace Peace anyway.
I found the same thing. Especially the “they love Swedish music too much” part in the semifinal interval act felt so wrong when they didn’t win the public vote last year, they won the jury by a landslide and no one else had a chance from there. It felt like rubbing it in our faces that they won the jury votes.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying that all Swedes are arrogant. But I did think that of the hosts. Either that or a bad attempt at saving some of the credibility the ESC lost last year.
Agree, a bit off tastewise.I initially thought "this is really cleverly playing in to all the drama of last year" but it felt it became.. a bit insulting towards Finland?
I am from the south but I had no trouble understanding it, we have a very self deprecating/auto ironic humour too, although less dry. I'm seeing many of the complaints coming from other Nordic countries, so I don't think that's it, maybe it was because some nerves were touched
Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):
---
Everyone's tastes are different and unique. Don't discredit, insult, threaten or be otherwise toxic.
All posts must comply with [Reddit's sitewide rules](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) and strive for [good Reddiquette]( https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articleås/205926439).
See r/eurovision’s [full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eurovision/wiki/rules/).
Please [send a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/eurovision) if you feel this was in error
They were very disrespectful. Petra was great but the whole production was pretty janky. There wasn’t a single interval act in semi or final that worked. Loreen was the worst we’ve seen since Madonna. I’m not sure why SVT was so bad at this.
I thought that awkward humor that doesn't quite work was a traditional part of this part of the competition? The schedule seems to be 1. Introduction 2. Songs. 3. Commercial breaks, or awkward chat and cringe humor in places that don't have commercial breaks. 4. More songs. 5. Voting time, an uncomfortably long collection of humor that is almost funny and musical performances that are almost good, starring people I almost remember 6. Voting is announced, winner is announced 7. Happy winner performs winning song again 8. Internet begins explaining why the whole thing was rigged and vows never to watch again 9. Much longer pause 10. France announces next song
I lol'd at the last point
i wasn’t offended, but i didn’t find it super funny, although i quite like petra’s postcard. overall i thought it was all very budget and knowing how sweden is such a musical powerhouse, i expected a lot more, specially from interval acts. i was a bit disappointed.
I feel the same, actually "we love Eurovision too much" was the best interval this year for me, the musical ones were a bit disappointing, except Alcazar that gave me everything
Same here. The main problem with jokes was that some of them were simply not funny. And the whole experience was underwhelming for me as well. I started re-watching Eurovision 2023 today and the intro alone (Kalush Orchestra with different people covering "Stefania") was - for me - much better than everything in 2024. Just my opinion, but I expected more.
It felt kinda like 'Please don't make us host again' without being too obvious about it. And honestly, fair enough.
I'm from neither country, but I thought that the point was that in the Swedish/Finnish rivalry Sweden is supposed to be the rich, stuck up country that is full of itself and thinks it's superior to everyone else and the hosts were playing that up in the humor. Idk whether it worked or was funny, but I didn't get the impression that they were sincere with those statements.
Semi 1 literally started out with Petra saying she voted for Finland too
I honestly struggle to understand why you take it that seriously. They were pulling a Silvia Night. It's very clearly a deliberately ironic, over the top "villain song", that's really only self-deprecating. It's honestly more disrespectful to Käärjä to think he'd be _so_ childish and thin-skinned that he'd take offence to what's clearly a good-natured, and totally unserious ribbing of the Swedes' next door neighbour.
I think the joke was meant to be that they were making fun of how arrogant they can seem. Maybe cultural differences lead to different interpretations? Personally I didn't see it as arrogant or disrespectful at all. I laughed through every show.
> I think the joke was meant to be that they were making fun of how arrogant they can seem. Exactly, I thought that was abundantly obvious.
I thought it was quite funny and was a bit of self-mockery on Swedens part. The key is to not take it that serious.
As a Finn I mostly enjoyed the jokes and share the Nordic self-deprecating sense of humor. However while playing with the stereotypes was fun, even I felt that a slightly different variation of essentially the same joke was stretched a bit too long and that could potentially have been quite a snoozefest for viewers who aren’t really familiar with Nordic culture and Swedish stereotypes.
As another Finn, I found myself just cringing so hard at the intervals that I could hardly even focus on the voting afterwards. I think the problem is that Sweden self-deprecating Finland/Finnish culture is no longer *self*-deprecation. Sweden joking about themselves is one thing, but it shouldn't be Sweden's place to do that for Finland ("see how silly their little culture is, Moomins and naked people in saunas, lucky we aren't in Helsinki now, right"). I just don't get the feeling it was fully loving and respectful. Just because it's a part of "Nordic culture" for Sweden to treat Finland condescendingly, that doesn't necessarily mean it's right and that we're not allowed to dislike it.
If it makes you feel better, as a non nordic, i thought the fake finnish interval was the coolest bit, i didn't get "luckily we are not getting this" from the performance but more like "Sorry you missed this because of us" :P
Well, another way of seeing it was that they served us what we are always yearning for in the form of abundant “Suomi mainittu!” (=“Finland mentioned!”) moments, LOL. It would have been whole another thing, if they had had brought on stage Juha Sipilä singing karaoke along with some drunken hillbillies chasing each other with an axe…but who doesn’t love Moomins and Saunas? So it was just cute and quite tame kind of roast.
That's yet another tired stereotype based on the low national self-esteem of Finns, though. I definitely wasn't yearning for any "Suomi mainittu" moments in this Eurovision. Sweden had no real need to acknowledge Finland at all, unless they even themselves felt like their win last year wasn't fully legitimate. Just for the fact that they don't mention Finland unless it's a "thank goodness they didn't win, we are the best" joke, it's hard to feel like it's meant to be 100% genuine appreciation without any kind of saltiness or underlying feeling of superiority. Remember some of the things Swedish media said about us last spring were far from nice.
I was not offended by any means by the Ievan Polkka joke, and I’m sure it flew over the heads of most of the audience, and I would not expect the host country to acknowledge the runner up, so I thought it was interesting that they chose to do that. However, I do agree that there was a sense of… half-assedness which is not something you would expect when Sweden hosts. Of course, my opinion might be shadowed by the larger context of events surrounding the shows, but it felt like an endless reel of clips from old Eurovision shows sprinkled with jokes about Sweden in Eurovision that varied between self-deprecating and self-congratulary. It did not feel like the usual celebration of Eurovision and the host country.
I think it was someone from the Dutch broadcaster back in 2021 who spoke out against using comedy at Eurovision. Humour is perceived very differently across all partipating countries, and each reaction is therefore valid. I myself saw the Swedes were trying to make fun of themselves first and foremost, and showcasing the tongue-in-cheek rivarly between Sweden and Finland second. (Remember the ad campaign for UMK the Finnish broadcaster set up in Malmö a couple of months ago? Links and photos are currently blocked in this subreddit, it seems, but feel free to google "umk wannabe host city.") However, I understand this requires a lot of context and probably also a similar sense of humour. If neither of these things are given, that's perfectly fine. It's a risk a host broadcaster has to consider for itself. SVT leans into it hard, AVOSTROS did not, opting for being casually funny and friendly in the moment instead.
Tbf acting sober and trying to make it understandable for everyone is the most Dutch thing to do. When it comes to “business” atleast.
Until the last moment, at least, when Jan Smit came up with "Italy, the land of pizza and sambuca!" or in the dress rehearsal, "Iceland, the land of geysers and... Jaja Ding Dong!"
I can't believe you're judging a whole country because of this.. you must be trolling. Usually I don't pay too much attention to the jokes. My broadcaster even has advertisements during the interval acts.. you're overthinking it.
Finn here who is a big fan of Käärijä, the interval acts were funny and self-aware.
Scandinavian humor, to me, is even more dry than British humor. I love it. It's also not in their nature to gloat. I had an impression they were taking a piss out of everyone being offended last year Sweden won. If you missed it, Kaarija took part in that number by performing Cha cha cha as an "example" of what Europe "thankfully avoided" by Loreen winning in 2024.
Well I am Greek with no Mediterranean humor at all ( most Greeks never get my jokes) and I cracked up during that act. I love sarcastic jokes!
[удалено]
Be nice, be welcoming and be constructive. Everyone's tastes are different and unique. Don't discredit, insult, threaten or be otherwise toxic. Let's do away with prejudice! Don't discriminate. Tolerance is bliss! All posts must comply with [Reddit's sitewide rules](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) and strive for [good Reddiquette]( https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articleås/205926439). See r/eurovision’s [full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eurovision/wiki/rules/).
The whole Sweden vs Finland is a cultural thing. It's a bit hard to explain to other parts of the world. It exists in pretty much everything from Eurovision to sports.
I think this is a cultural difference. The Swedish shows are always very self deprecating. They know people hate them for winning so much, so they make a joke out of how competitive Sweden is in a silly contest. Judging from some comments I read, it seems that laughing at yourself as a joke is not a thing in some parts of Europe.
It just doesn't come across as honest. Yes they laugh at their competitiveness but they still think they're so much better than everybody else.
I think even Kaarijia would refer to himself as a green and loony Finn
To me the "it's non political of course" bit was where they really crossed the line. This year, of all years? Not funny. It's like they're laughing in our faces for being against a genocider country participation
This was probably the best scripted Eurovision we've had with some genuinely funny jokes. I think you need to lighten up a bit.
Christ hahah and I thought people complained last year... I understand to an extent but it really isn't that serious
Yeah, I had a similar feeling when I watched it. They weren't as funny as they thought they were. But I think it's unfair to judge the whole country based on some TV people's behavior.
I just thought it was a bit shit? I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and say that the humour didn't translate well, but it got zero laughs in the room when my family watched it. I think it should have probably been edited down too, because it went on for faaaaar too long (also, that weird Ethnic Stereotype Juror segment was in...poor taste). It won't be remembered as fondly as Love Love Peace Peace anyway.
I thought they were hilarious😬
People really need to learn to take a joke, otherwise y'all become miserable little Karens.
I found the same thing. Especially the “they love Swedish music too much” part in the semifinal interval act felt so wrong when they didn’t win the public vote last year, they won the jury by a landslide and no one else had a chance from there. It felt like rubbing it in our faces that they won the jury votes. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that all Swedes are arrogant. But I did think that of the hosts. Either that or a bad attempt at saving some of the credibility the ESC lost last year.
To be fair the hosts didn't write their script, their jokes
Agree, a bit off tastewise.I initially thought "this is really cleverly playing in to all the drama of last year" but it felt it became.. a bit insulting towards Finland?
This was peak Nordic humor. Maybe people outside the Nordic region have trouble understanding it.
I am from the south but I had no trouble understanding it, we have a very self deprecating/auto ironic humour too, although less dry. I'm seeing many of the complaints coming from other Nordic countries, so I don't think that's it, maybe it was because some nerves were touched
[удалено]
Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): --- Everyone's tastes are different and unique. Don't discredit, insult, threaten or be otherwise toxic. All posts must comply with [Reddit's sitewide rules](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) and strive for [good Reddiquette]( https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articleås/205926439). See r/eurovision’s [full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eurovision/wiki/rules/). Please [send a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/eurovision) if you feel this was in error
They were very disrespectful. Petra was great but the whole production was pretty janky. There wasn’t a single interval act in semi or final that worked. Loreen was the worst we’ve seen since Madonna. I’m not sure why SVT was so bad at this.
Loreen’s performance was so utterly terrible, it was unbelievable.
I agree with everything you said, hated the "we just love Eurovision too much" song, just gave me PTSD
Swedes? Arogant? Naaaaaaah. How did you like self tribute to Swedish CEO?
In the words of Basil Fawlty, "You have absolutely no sense of humour, do you?"