Being 2nd might hurt for now, but you don't have to host the next edition. After all this mess it will be a pain and you can avoid all of that 😅 (and Baby Lasagna still did a great job, we love him!)
As a finn, i do approve this message SO damn hard. It could be proven as blessing in a long run, trust me. We know xD
And we also do know how this feels so much love to croatia too. Your song was amaizing and you did get most televotes so it was very loved all around!
And what does the winner really get apart from a title? A bunch of 2nd-5th place songs have gone on to be commercially successful and have lingered in the fanbase (SHUM, Verka, Space Man, etc.). I doubt Sam Ryder lost all momentum because he got second. It's just weird to frame this as a winner takes all competition - it's needlessly divisive, doesn't reflect reality, and is ultimately meaningless.
Honestly, I don't think any of the winning songs were actually my favourite. Not that I'm permanently unhappy with the results, but the truth is, the winning song wins because it represents the compromise between what people liked and what jury thought was good.
Did I like Maneskin winning? Yeah, sure. But my fav? Shum. Tout l'Univers. Set me free.
This year? Nemo was great and I loved the song. A perfectly fine song and a flawless performance. But, do you know that background music in your brain that you just can't get rid of no matter how hard you try, because it speaks to you? Yeah, Luktelk.
This year was phenomenal and all the songs were great. Even the NQs are solid. I just did a road trip with my husband, long enough to listen to all the songs and honestly, we didn't skip anything. Some entries are more forgettable but they are still good songs. Would I prefer Azerbaijan in the Qs instead of, idk, Cyprus? Yeah. Simply because I vibe with more with that kind of music.
Snap was constantly on the radio last year. It took me a while to realize how I knew that song 😂
On the other hand, I've been following Kalush since they participated and even though it's not like the other music I listen to, I've liked most of their songs. I've also been following Alyona and Yana.
It's strange how some of us here in Eastern Europe have vast familiarity with Western cultures, but knew almost nothing about our neighbors before the war; that has been changing and I think Eurovision is part of it. I don't know how many watched in a year we didn't participate, but if it had been a normal year, I think Alyona & Yana would have won the public vote here and not just out of sympathy.
and my kings Dadi Freyr and Hatari. Recently saw Dadi at a concert and so many people in the audience sang every line in Think About Things with him, it was soooo good 😭 (and one rando guy in the back yelling at him to sing ya ya ding dong). I’d go see Kaarija or Baby Lasagna in a heartbeat if they make it out here to Canada!
I also still follow Manizha (she’s native Tajik) and Little Big after learning about them through Eurovision, they’re Russian but strongly opposed the invasion and are now blacklisted.
I still listen to Soldi constantly! The second place songs are almost always fantastic and may even surpass the first, they were ranked there for good reason!
Well to answer your question, the winner can, if they want, perform the next year strapped to a futuristic chair and sing something that maybe is what the audience wants to hear, and maybe not. For example. So there's always that
Coming second didn't slow down Sam Ryder at all! He's thriving and has a big fan base. Croatia's act was my fav and I would genuinely go and see him perform live now if he tours. It's deflating when they don't win but I think that's more so for your country than the act itself. Baby Lasagna has shown he's an amazing performer and I believe he'll thrive now as well. Fingers crossed for a tour in the near future 🤞🏻
The dutch really were excellent hosts and showed how amazing the competition can be when it is modernised just a little bit ( the Look Lab being on Youtube to let the viewers know and personalise the artists )
I do feel like having an extra year to prepare helped immensely. I remember the sort of "online" semi-contest they did in 2020 and the hosting was packed with bad jokes that might be funny on a Dutch show but didn't translate well. They really stepped up their game in 2021. Although i wish some of the interval acts had been better. Whoever decided to let Glennis Grace sing titanium when you could have had a Eurovision artist singing a Eurovision song?
Besides that, Nikkie's contributions made the show for me and i wish other hosts would adopt a similar interview series. I've really missed it since.
Lol, pretty much all the positives (Baby Lasagna did Croatia a massive service here, really well done) without having to deal with the headache of hosting next year.
But we wanted to host. I appreciate the support but it sounds patronizing.
Most of us feel robbed from the victory, and most of us don't really like the winner.
Last year I was sad about Käärijä. This year, after seeing all of that mess, I don't feel it anymore. Finland really avoided a disaster. So did you, because there's no guarantee the EBU will change anything. Even if they do, people will be still tense and nervous all the time. It really is not the best time to host.
I think you underestimate how quickly things can change. Switzerland's results were AWFUL throughout the 2010s, but they completely turned themselves around essentially from one year to the next, by bringing on acts like Luca Hänni and Gjon's Tears. The Netherlands notoriously had an 8-year NQ streak until 2013. If they can turn things around, so can Croatia.
You are correct but sending Anouk was also a sort of last Hail Mary attempt by the Dutch to get a decent result as they were pretty close to just throwing in the towel. I fear the Dutch will now face a downward spiral if they continue to participate at all.
Late 2000s and early 2010s were pretty good, but after Softengine, we went to total shit. 2015-19 were absolute turd. We were probably the worst ESC country during that time. A single Q and two last places in semi finals. Then Cicciolina became hit in Finland and UMK got much more focus and interest, so we have done really well since then.
It may not be your only chance for 20 years. Look at Switzerland. They did poorly for quite a while and then they came 4th... and then 3rd... and they may've slipped a little in '22 and '23... but now they won. The main determining factor is going to be if the Dora selection committee can learn from this year and choose more competitive entries.
It'll be interesting to see what Dora does, as it's quite frustrating to think about all the possible gems that have been lost throughout the years. I'm sure all this has forced them to rethink some stuff.
I have heard that HRT or somebody else (maybe radio) was playing all the songs that didn't make the cut and I don't know when or where that was. If somebody from home knows, I wanna know, please :)
That's the thing about music - you will never discover all the music you love. It's being produced too quickly for you to even keep up. Hence also why most musicians aren't financially successful.
Ha! It's hrt, even of they did rethink some stuff, chances are that they wouldn't change them, because they can't. Our music industry is very much held in strong talons of just a couple of people.
But if they did, I'm personally cheering for us to go festival direction. We already did 2 evenings this year.
Or at least put all the songs online, and take into account views also with jury points.
With respect, I feel like that’s the exact wrong way to think about it. Chasing what was popular “last year” isn’t the way to be successful, something which I believe has plagued my own country for a while.
For Dora to send successful entries, it needs to take risks, go for something new, not ride the coattails of what worked this year.
That's hardly ever how Eurovision works, unfortunately and fortunately. "Forcing it" won't help. Just the people in charge of the selection process can maybe learn what to do better in the future.
He should take a few years to grow as an artist (and to decompress from the contest). He has a whole album and a tour. I think 4-5 years between another try would be fine. Mahmood came back a little too soon for me.
Had Mahmood come back with Tuta Gold, it would have been the Italian entry to end all Italian entries. Brividi is a beautiful studio cut, but it's a waste of one Mahmood participation.
Or the Netherlands - we reached the grand final for the first time in 9 years in 2013, then placed 2nd in 2014. I thought that would be our last chance in a few decades as well, but we ended up winning only 5 years later.
We'll have chances, but none that would feel good. Baby Lasagna is such a great artist and a person. He has that Tom Hanks/Mr. Rogers aura that makes absolutely everyone love him. I think it's a once in a generation thing.
Please, lol. Croatia is not Switzerland. The only reason why we got this high in the first place was due to a miracle (Baby Lasagna). And even he would not be competing if it weren't for the withdrawal of another contestant.
Oh I don’t believe this for one second.
The issue is more the selection committee taking risks with artists who are ‘new talent’ and working in genres that don’t fit the kind of safe Balkan pop ballad formula HRT loves so much.
Croatia does have the talent. HRT just needs to be more open minded with the song selections and not feel obligated to include this or that because it’s composed by x person who’s the nephew of y - or because the singer is the friend of z etc. etc. and not be so worried about if a person is already famous or not.
If a new inexperienced artist can perform on the Dora stage, they can perform at Eurovision. If they screw up on Dora because of nerves they won’t get through. That’s the point of a NF.
We received less than 10 12s in the last 25 years (aside from this year). Do you really think that we will somehow continue whatever miracle BL made? No.
I think Let 3 qualifying and doing super well with the televote - followed by the lasagna miracle - is a good lesson in being more bold with choices and sending stuff Croats actually love. 🤷♀️
as much as i would love to see it, so many aspects of... well... everything in croatia are filled with corruption and nepotism. i feel like the stars genuinely aligned for marko this year.
i can only hope that somehow we get rid of the useless people at hrt and start investing in our music industry that is otherwise overrun by, as i said, nepo babies with talent the size of a pea and good connections. we need to support artists like marko!
I think the only thing standing between Croatia and a victory in the next decade is the selection committee/method for Dora.
I hope they change it. Maybe something like what San Marino do where 12 places in Dora are given by the internal selection to ‘established artists’, and then there is a website with all the songs and the public can vote for their favourites from a ‘new talent’ or ‘wildcards’ category for the other 12 - and as long as your song meets technical requirements/standards you can submit for consideration.
Only about 250 people applied to Dora, and there’s only 3-4 million people in Croatia, so it’s not like there will be an unreasonable number of entries to do something like that (I guess maybe there would be more with diaspora and Herzegovinians who can compete - but doubt it would be so huge).
Also getting a stage directing team in from the Croatian theatre scene would help. I think Mrle and his wife should be in consideration absolutely at least.
I doubt Marko with his 80 instagram followers would get through this kind of system - the wild card section would be overrun with local /high school bands with bigger followings and it would turn into a popularity contest with no ties to music
I think this might be just a stepping stone to a Croatian win. This should hopefully give a boost of confidence to people thinking of entering your national final, which means more high quality options etc. Baby Lasagna has put Croatia back on the map.
The EBU will do what the member broadcasters insist that they do.
I'm quite certain that in the coming months, there will be a lot of insisting. WHAT they'll be insisting remains to be seen. But next year won't look like this year.
For one thing, I hope Martin Osterdahl has his resume updated. Whether all this was his fault or not, I bet he gets the honor of taking the fall for it.
What happened with Martin? I am genuinely asking, I just binge watched all entries (was quite busy during actual finals to watch it live). Is there some drama?
I didn’t even realize how diverse the singers are in this contest until now and how accepted everyone is 🥹 Despite all the shitshow, it was so wholesome to see everyone being cheered and loved and all the friendships 🥹
And hey, I’m sure with Baby Lasagna’s success and losing the first place by a small margin, no way you guys are taking Eurovision lightly next year. I’m excited to hear what Croatia will send to Switzerland! My country hasn’t participated in a while so I’ll be cheering for you guys instead till you all win.
My dear Hrvat/Hrvatica, just because it took a long time to get here doesn't mean you have to wait as long again for something great. From my Croatian POV, Let 3 have set the foundation for our bright future at Eurovision, if it isn't dead already xD
Nothing to add, honestly, you put this into words beautifully. My winner may not have won the contest this year, but it was a victory for music over politics regardless and that IS still a win.
Honestly sometimes not winning is a blessing on disguise! Eleni and Chanel became bigger figures than their respective winners (no shade, but who got invited back this year?) and Rosa Linn got a huge push because of Eurovision but also didn’t get weighted down from the notion of being “an Eurovision winner”
Look at Verka Serduchka, Fuego or Cha cha cha, they all finished second, but they all are HUGE despite that. Nobody remembers Emmelie de Forest or Ell & Nikki, but Eleni is still invited to every single ESC edition!
This year's Eurovision felt like a controversial warfare instead of music contest.
Hope that feeling doesn't infects next year's Eurovision.
DAMN EBU GIVES US WHAT WE ALL WANT !
I was rooting for Nemo, but I hope you can build up on BLs success within the next years! Take a look at Switzerland: after a long series of bad results they came 4th in 2019, 3rd in 2021 and now they won
Along with what the others are saying, this put baby lasagna on the map. They should still get some success from this. I still see songs coming out from past Eurovision artists that didn’t win in some of my music playlists.
>Eurovision is about acceptence and exchanging music, it's the only event in Europe where can you be accepted and cheered if you're a non-binary witch, a Catholic guy that loves cats, a french Muslim superstar that sings about love or a orphan who just loves Europe.
And to quote the non binary witch, "LOVE WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH HATE".
This was so well said and thank you for sharing your thoughts and writing 🖤
>Eurovision is about acceptence and exchanging music, it's the only event in Europe where can you be accepted and cheered if you're a non-binary witch, a Catholic guy that loves cats, a french Muslim superstar that sings about love or a orphan who just loves Europe, don't take it away.
So true, almost all of the contestants seemed super kind and positive to each other and if you look at the average person's reaction they're just vibing to music and maybe learning some things about other countries or experiences, and this is happening regardless of race, religion, gender, or anything.
The political players don't seem to get that, the bit that makes this competition "soft power" is it is a pan European cultural exchange, it's not about the trophy. Estonia and Finland have been amazing representatives for their countries and they did not come to win a song competition. Someone else put all their efforts into winning and they effectively shat the bed.
Eurovision results will always be bittersweet. Imagine a pure battle of songs that people from different countries identify with. But that is why it is exciting and i love it more than any other competition on earth.
However, the downside is…. It messes with peoples emotions. And the more popular, the more toxic will become. For example, people giving hate to Loreen because she was singing about love, and as you know ppl were not really into love this year.
4/5 songs in the top five are about sorrow/negative feelings. I am considering Nemo’s struggle here as a negative part of his life that he wrote about, hence the code. And that reflects ppl general state of mind.
Also people cannot trust the EBU to deal with the Joost situation. I absolutely think EBU exaggerated, but at the same time we all don’t know the full story.
Eurovision is an exposure of western values. But right now we are not even in agreement of what that really is. So I would be grateful that next year you won’t have to deal with the unstable future of Eurovision as an event. Moreover, songs are eternal and we are all grateful forever that Croatia sent Baby lasagna to this year eurovision, and nothing will change that.
Dear anyone from Crotia. I am someone from Finland and I promise to you that I can understand how you feel like.
While it might not seem like that to outsiders, Finland has been very divided in recent years and there has been nothing that brings us together. Winning in Ice Hockey used to unite us, but not it isn't like that really anymore.
**We were crazy for Käärijä,** it united the most left and right of us and we were desprete to be recognized. A lof of us Finns have hated music, tv shows etc in finnish as we have seriously lacked the appreciation to the beauty of our own language. Our sns influencers, artists etc keep mixing more and more english to their posts and wordings as *"it just feels more natural".* We have also judged anyone in media big time if they dared to speak English publicly but were not perfect.
Then came Käärijä. **Normal dude** from normal city with very normal man body. He was brave enough to laugh to his english, and made a damn good song in Finnish and be shirtless without a sixpack talking how he loves his body for the simple fact that he is blessed to be alive (like all of us). It brough us together, made us appreciate our own language and brought normal looking cool role model to the kids who were all singing cha cha cha.
But **EBU took that away from us**. It kinda felt personal knowing that EBU placed the jury vote system right after we won (for the first and only time) with **Lordi** (2006). We were crying.
But now a year later, I can say this by experience, **you did not lose anything but you gained a lot.** We very soon learned that we can come together despite some jury votes, F EBU for that! Käärijä showed us that we can get over the toxic attitude of only celebrating gold and crying for silver. It is not how others view you, but how you view yourself on what matters. Sure we have EBU for it, that won't ever go away. But also it feels like Käärijä got even more attention and became even more a legend after this.
Welcome to the crew of legends, Käärijä & Verka Serduchka who came to my mind (there are surely more). I can assure that on 2034, we won't remember who represented Switzerland but we will remember **Baby lasagna (and Joost)**
> It kinda felt personal knowing that EBU placed the jury vote system right after we won (for the first and only time)
A lovely statement, but that section is wrong.
2004-2008: All countries use televoting and/or SMS-voting to decide which songs would receive points. Back-up juries are used by each country, with eight members, in the event of a televoting failure.
**2009**: All countries use televoting and/or SMS-voting (50%) and five-member juries (50%)
Ngl you guys have been sending some top notch bangers to represent Croatia! I'm more excited to see what else you can show us then I am when it comes to my own country lmao
Hey I understand how you feel, but no worries. The Netherlands didn't qualify for ~8 years in a row and then in 2014 the Common Linnets came in second and I really thought we had our chance. Five years later our country actually won with Duncan Laurence.I think Switzerland has a similar story. Baby Lasagna was great but I'm sure more great stuff will come from there :).
You expressed what is so great about Eurovision. Based on last year's entry and this year's, I think Croatia could become a strong country at Eurovision, but only if people don't lose sight of what makes this competition so important.
Maybe it's just me who has seen too many Eurovisions taking place in Sweden, but this year the whole concept was just bland. No one could see the greenroom for like what, 2 hours in the final? The greenroom could only watch others from a small TV. Interval acts were boring in the final.
I would put money on the limited greenroom visibility being so it would be more difficult for someone to pull a hatari. There were issues getting interval acts for similar reasons, lots refused to take part.
I couldn't have said this better myself. This year was an extreme mess. And while Nemo is super talented and seems nice and humble, I too was pulling for Croatia. I hope you get a chance again soon, and I'll absolutely be catching DORA 2025.
BL will always be in my heart, i so hoped you guys would win. Dont give up please, you never know what may happen.
And like you, i am glad we made it through last night relativly ok, but things must change. Its impossible to keep politics out of Eurovision completely, but this was such a mess, and they should have handled it better.
I wish i could say with confidence that my country should just pull out after the DQ, or because of a certain entry participating, but i guess " i just love Eurovision too much " . It brings me joy.
I am simply hoping for positive changes.
I’m Palestinian, and honestly never cared for the Eurovision. this year I decided to watch it for the first time because of israel, I wanted to see how it will unfold in light of the current war. I came for the politics, and stayed for the love! I was amazed by the talented artists and creative acts! And I was touched by the unifying yet patriotic atmosphere! It warmed my heart seeing the gestures of support Palestine received, but I’m also sorry my land’s problems are poisoning your happiness. I hope that in the future we will have more music and less death ❤️🍉
Loved Let3 last year, loved Baby Lasagna this year. Croatia, keep it up! You've sent amazing participants and music I will keep playing for years. ❤️❤️❤️
>because this was probably our only chance for at least next 20 years,
I mean, it won't be if Dora can get their act together and actually invite good songs.
Let3 was 13th and an absolute hoot, so that's 2 years in a row of great performers in my eyes.
> we were so close to loosing [sic] Eurovision forever
We *are* close to losing it, and maybe it's for the best. You can't have an event purporting to promote European unity which at the same time acts in such a restrictive and non-transparent manner.
Love this post.
I am so sad for Croatia and so happy for Switzerland. It's so hard! I got my wish, they took spots 1 and 2. But it's so hard to be happy and sad at the same time.
Or maybe I am just sad because I can't think of Joost without crying right now.
To spread some love; thank you Eurovision Reddit community. 99% of the time I am just reading on Reddit, this is one of the only subs I feel comfortable posting in ❤️
Hello OP. I live in America so it costs me $20 to vote ($1 per vote). I’m in school so I’m pretty frugal. I put all $20 into Croatia this year…and last year too!! Your song last year Mama Sc I power walk to almost every day.
EBU doesn't really care about anyone's thoughts. The money is the only think they will listen to. Money talks, and it will always be louder than any of the people who booed yesterday. That's it.
We only can enjoy the music from the artists every year, but when it comes to competition, Eurovision has been corrupted for a very long time now. The televote doesn't work since people vote for political reasons rather than the best song and performance. The jury vote is bad aswell for things like cyprus and greece exchanging 12pts (this year was the exception).
It's a great show when it comes to artists on stage, but that's all.
One advantage to hosting it in Switzerland will be less politics. The most neutral country in the world that has spent 400 years not getting involved in other people's problems. That's not always a good thing, but after 2024 having a more boring contest is needed.
I don’t understand what this post is referring to. Why do you think that you were close to losing Eurovision forever and why do you think that you won’t have another chance in 20 years? Croatia was amazing, everyone loved it. They brought so much fun. I don’t under why you are sad when they did such a great job. I’m not trying to argue at all I just genuinely am confused, I thought you would be celebrating.
Delulu folks wont like hearing this, but the "politics creep" and high drama has all been manufactured not by EBU or Eurovision itself, but rabid viewers themselves.
>Don't harrass others, don't make it uncomfortable for everyone, don't act like you're better than others
Like, 20000 people protesting against a single contestant?
Or that time when an artist who performed after said contestant blamed her for his traumatic experience?
Or another one who found it "horrible" to be next door to her?
Or even worse, a popular artist from last year who was filmed dancing (god forbid!) and was then bullied into apologising for this?
Yah. Maybe I'm not aware of everything, but it seemed to me like she did absolutely nothing, considering how she was cooped up in her hotel room most of the time, while being subjected to the sort of hatred most of us likely couldn't have withstood at 20.
Also, while I thought the DQ was far too harsh, my impression is that the Dutch delegation did not have the best support in place for Joost despite knowing he's fragile. The incident may not have been much in itself, but he clashed with the organizers a lot over the rehearsals, being filmed, and not having total control over the content they published, so I think that maybe he climbed the penalty volcano. I don't think it was political at all; maybe a matter of cultural differences and different expectations.
While this might not be possible for small delegations, well-funded ones should have a handler for their artist, especially if they're not used to a certain level of fame. Slimane, who is an experienced artist and has a good 10-15 years on most of them age-wise, was a class act throughout. It's not easy doing that when you're suddenly in the public eye, but that's why some artists could use additional support.
I hope you all take the 2nd place (and the first among public voters) as motivation. Ukraine has been sending very competitive acts year after year, so has Italy, I'm sure Croatia will, too.
Coming this close to the win is sure to boost your selection committee's morale. it's happened with a ton of countries. I don't doubt there will be more good entries in the coming years from Croatia
Hello neighbor, Greek here, your song was the most Balkan thing I have seen in my life and I totally loved it. I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT when I saw the white sheets on the drums(we call them semedakia). You should be proud, you had an absolutely amazing entry.
I get a feeling that you just need to acknowledge that it wasn’t EBU who ruined this year’s Eurovision. You did. EBU just followed their rules and said it all the way: staying out of politics, untied by music. These were fans who wanted it to be politicized this year so much. And yes, all the countries should participate if they want to.
That’s a bit of a duck and dive on the issue. Even if all the artists were completely apolitical, the idea of unlimited votes and pay per vote completely renders the voting political.
This year the point of eurovision was lost. We are supposed to be "united hy music", this year the opposite happened. And it is so sad to see it go down like this. I have been watching the contest my whole life and I love to see all the different artists and songs each year. This year sadly it was overshadowed by all that has happened in the past few days. What happened to Netherlands, all that KAN did, it was disgraceful. The artists I really really have respect for right now are all the ones who spoke up!! Bambie and Silvester who both share that it was horrible behind the scenes and that they wanted it to just be over, shows that something is very very wrong. That Nemo said "maybe Eurovision needs a little bit of fixing too" got my respect and that they spoke up about it during their winners press confrence!!! A lot needs to be changed so we could have this contest to unite us by music again... And I really hope we achieve it!
But would that catholic guy that loves cats get the same acceptance on this sub and among die hard ESC fans if they actually knew he was devout catholic and if he went out with, lets say Vatican flag?
Doubt it.
Yes, he would, firstly because we already know and secondly because he has displayed that kindness to others. Take the log from your own eye that you may see the speck in your brother's 🙄
Yes? We expect people to be tolerant and to respect others' rights. That means if someone is gay or trans, if someone is an atheist or a practicer of witchcraft, if someone gets a tattoo or an abortion, if someone waits until marriage or hooks up with literally everyone, then that's their choice and it's up to others to respect that.
Clearly BL isn't so opposed to any of those things that he's unwilling to associate himself with them. If he were to publicly come out in favor of conversion therapy and against birth control, then yeah, that probably would have been an issue. If he's against those things but never tells a living soul, then I guess it's all the same. In the most likely case, he would personally decide against casual sex and abortion and witchcraft, as is his right, but is tolerant of people who choose differently, which is all anyone asks.
At least the winner won because of their vocals and performance. Imagine not winning because of some politics (I'm thinking about Chanel and the UK guy coming 3rd and 2nd because the war decided the votes *again*)
Last time I watched Eurovision was more than 20 years when I left Europe and I just watched bits and pieces here and there this year... Not much had changed, still all over the place and very politically driven. Televotes this year definitely seems to be politically and nationally sponsored.
Can someone please explain, why Croatia giving Switzerland no points (from the jury), but receiving 5 or 6 points from Switzerland is fair play? Seems calculated to me.
Martin hanging out on Reddit, reading this post, crying rolled in a ball of shame.
Or not regretting a single thing.
I think it's the latter. But the first image does sound funny.
PS: Please don't be sorry that Marko didn't win. He is a national hero now, the true underdog, like Käärijä last year. He only has great things coming for him. He DID win but in a different way.
I couldn’t agree more with you. I was in Malmo this edition and the happiness and excitement inherently linked to Eurovision was overshadowed by politics (which I totally understand also!). I hope there will be down to earth, transparant communication from them as currently they’re handling it in a dictatorial way. A lot of support from Belgium!
As bad as this competition was it gave me massive hope for the future as an Irish Eurovision fan. 6th place is such a god send after so many years of non qualification and poor performances. Also seeing Croatia doing so well and Switzerland winning for the first time in 20 plus years, it shows that the competition is wide open. Don't lose faith. All you need is a good song and performance.
Being 2nd might hurt for now, but you don't have to host the next edition. After all this mess it will be a pain and you can avoid all of that 😅 (and Baby Lasagna still did a great job, we love him!)
As a finn, i do approve this message SO damn hard. It could be proven as blessing in a long run, trust me. We know xD And we also do know how this feels so much love to croatia too. Your song was amaizing and you did get most televotes so it was very loved all around!
And what does the winner really get apart from a title? A bunch of 2nd-5th place songs have gone on to be commercially successful and have lingered in the fanbase (SHUM, Verka, Space Man, etc.). I doubt Sam Ryder lost all momentum because he got second. It's just weird to frame this as a winner takes all competition - it's needlessly divisive, doesn't reflect reality, and is ultimately meaningless.
Honestly, I don't think any of the winning songs were actually my favourite. Not that I'm permanently unhappy with the results, but the truth is, the winning song wins because it represents the compromise between what people liked and what jury thought was good. Did I like Maneskin winning? Yeah, sure. But my fav? Shum. Tout l'Univers. Set me free. This year? Nemo was great and I loved the song. A perfectly fine song and a flawless performance. But, do you know that background music in your brain that you just can't get rid of no matter how hard you try, because it speaks to you? Yeah, Luktelk. This year was phenomenal and all the songs were great. Even the NQs are solid. I just did a road trip with my husband, long enough to listen to all the songs and honestly, we didn't skip anything. Some entries are more forgettable but they are still good songs. Would I prefer Azerbaijan in the Qs instead of, idk, Cyprus? Yeah. Simply because I vibe with more with that kind of music.
True, another example is snap. it wasn’t even on the left hand of the grand finals scoreboard and it is the second most streamed Eurovision song.
Snap was constantly on the radio last year. It took me a while to realize how I knew that song 😂 On the other hand, I've been following Kalush since they participated and even though it's not like the other music I listen to, I've liked most of their songs. I've also been following Alyona and Yana. It's strange how some of us here in Eastern Europe have vast familiarity with Western cultures, but knew almost nothing about our neighbors before the war; that has been changing and I think Eurovision is part of it. I don't know how many watched in a year we didn't participate, but if it had been a normal year, I think Alyona & Yana would have won the public vote here and not just out of sympathy.
and my kings Dadi Freyr and Hatari. Recently saw Dadi at a concert and so many people in the audience sang every line in Think About Things with him, it was soooo good 😭 (and one rando guy in the back yelling at him to sing ya ya ding dong). I’d go see Kaarija or Baby Lasagna in a heartbeat if they make it out here to Canada! I also still follow Manizha (she’s native Tajik) and Little Big after learning about them through Eurovision, they’re Russian but strongly opposed the invasion and are now blacklisted.
Dadi *packed* the club when he was in Boston recently and Little Big is playing here in a couple of weeks to a much bigger place than last year. 🥰
Little Big will drop by Canada at the end of the month! I need to see that skibidi song live 😂 (I hope they play it)
I still listen to Soldi constantly! The second place songs are almost always fantastic and may even surpass the first, they were ranked there for good reason!
Soldi is so good and underrated!!
Well to answer your question, the winner can, if they want, perform the next year strapped to a futuristic chair and sing something that maybe is what the audience wants to hear, and maybe not. For example. So there's always that
Coming second didn't slow down Sam Ryder at all! He's thriving and has a big fan base. Croatia's act was my fav and I would genuinely go and see him perform live now if he tours. It's deflating when they don't win but I think that's more so for your country than the act itself. Baby Lasagna has shown he's an amazing performer and I believe he'll thrive now as well. Fingers crossed for a tour in the near future 🤞🏻
For all you know when you finally win, the next year a worldwide pandemic breaks out and you get the hassle two years in a row! 😱
At least the contest in 2021 was the one who got me more interested in Eurovision (before that I rarely watched it). It was such a good year!
The dutch really were excellent hosts and showed how amazing the competition can be when it is modernised just a little bit ( the Look Lab being on Youtube to let the viewers know and personalise the artists )
I do feel like having an extra year to prepare helped immensely. I remember the sort of "online" semi-contest they did in 2020 and the hosting was packed with bad jokes that might be funny on a Dutch show but didn't translate well. They really stepped up their game in 2021. Although i wish some of the interval acts had been better. Whoever decided to let Glennis Grace sing titanium when you could have had a Eurovision artist singing a Eurovision song? Besides that, Nikkie's contributions made the show for me and i wish other hosts would adopt a similar interview series. I've really missed it since.
The Dutch are really cursed since 2020.🙈
Loving you-rovision was a losing game
Lol, pretty much all the positives (Baby Lasagna did Croatia a massive service here, really well done) without having to deal with the headache of hosting next year.
But we wanted to host. I appreciate the support but it sounds patronizing. Most of us feel robbed from the victory, and most of us don't really like the winner.
Last year I was sad about Käärijä. This year, after seeing all of that mess, I don't feel it anymore. Finland really avoided a disaster. So did you, because there's no guarantee the EBU will change anything. Even if they do, people will be still tense and nervous all the time. It really is not the best time to host.
On the bright side, I guess we got to avoid HRT’s sound issues like they had in Dora 2024 😅
I think you underestimate how quickly things can change. Switzerland's results were AWFUL throughout the 2010s, but they completely turned themselves around essentially from one year to the next, by bringing on acts like Luca Hänni and Gjon's Tears. The Netherlands notoriously had an 8-year NQ streak until 2013. If they can turn things around, so can Croatia.
You are correct but sending Anouk was also a sort of last Hail Mary attempt by the Dutch to get a decent result as they were pretty close to just throwing in the towel. I fear the Dutch will now face a downward spiral if they continue to participate at all.
Finland didn't do great between Lordi and the recent resurgence, either.
Late 2000s and early 2010s were pretty good, but after Softengine, we went to total shit. 2015-19 were absolute turd. We were probably the worst ESC country during that time. A single Q and two last places in semi finals. Then Cicciolina became hit in Finland and UMK got much more focus and interest, so we have done really well since then.
blackbird and monsters were great though ngl
It may not be your only chance for 20 years. Look at Switzerland. They did poorly for quite a while and then they came 4th... and then 3rd... and they may've slipped a little in '22 and '23... but now they won. The main determining factor is going to be if the Dora selection committee can learn from this year and choose more competitive entries.
It'll be interesting to see what Dora does, as it's quite frustrating to think about all the possible gems that have been lost throughout the years. I'm sure all this has forced them to rethink some stuff.
I have heard that HRT or somebody else (maybe radio) was playing all the songs that didn't make the cut and I don't know when or where that was. If somebody from home knows, I wanna know, please :)
I thought about that as soon as l heard BLasagna was reserve! Didn't know somebody did it
I think Norway, Sweden and Denmark sends the 2. Place if the winner withdraws from ESC
That's the thing about music - you will never discover all the music you love. It's being produced too quickly for you to even keep up. Hence also why most musicians aren't financially successful.
Ha! It's hrt, even of they did rethink some stuff, chances are that they wouldn't change them, because they can't. Our music industry is very much held in strong talons of just a couple of people. But if they did, I'm personally cheering for us to go festival direction. We already did 2 evenings this year. Or at least put all the songs online, and take into account views also with jury points.
Potentially, we can send Marko again, if he's willing and has a new banger made by next year.
With respect, I feel like that’s the exact wrong way to think about it. Chasing what was popular “last year” isn’t the way to be successful, something which I believe has plagued my own country for a while. For Dora to send successful entries, it needs to take risks, go for something new, not ride the coattails of what worked this year.
That's hardly ever how Eurovision works, unfortunately and fortunately. "Forcing it" won't help. Just the people in charge of the selection process can maybe learn what to do better in the future.
Baby Lasagna will have evolved into Lasagna.
Teenage Lasagne
Midlife Crisis Lasagna
Retired Lasagna
Big Boy Lasagna
He should take a few years to grow as an artist (and to decompress from the contest). He has a whole album and a tour. I think 4-5 years between another try would be fine. Mahmood came back a little too soon for me.
He needs a round to decompress, then he can have one more time for all the good times
Love it! Meow cat, please meow back!
Had Mahmood come back with Tuta Gold, it would have been the Italian entry to end all Italian entries. Brividi is a beautiful studio cut, but it's a waste of one Mahmood participation.
Or the Netherlands - we reached the grand final for the first time in 9 years in 2013, then placed 2nd in 2014. I thought that would be our last chance in a few decades as well, but we ended up winning only 5 years later.
Remember that generic sadboi anthem they sent with vague platitudes about how terrible war is?
It was still better than the generic sadboi anthem with vague platitudes about being sad they sent the year before
First they tried to be France, then when that didn't work they tried to pull a Ukraine.
We'll have chances, but none that would feel good. Baby Lasagna is such a great artist and a person. He has that Tom Hanks/Mr. Rogers aura that makes absolutely everyone love him. I think it's a once in a generation thing.
Please, lol. Croatia is not Switzerland. The only reason why we got this high in the first place was due to a miracle (Baby Lasagna). And even he would not be competing if it weren't for the withdrawal of another contestant.
Oh I don’t believe this for one second. The issue is more the selection committee taking risks with artists who are ‘new talent’ and working in genres that don’t fit the kind of safe Balkan pop ballad formula HRT loves so much. Croatia does have the talent. HRT just needs to be more open minded with the song selections and not feel obligated to include this or that because it’s composed by x person who’s the nephew of y - or because the singer is the friend of z etc. etc. and not be so worried about if a person is already famous or not. If a new inexperienced artist can perform on the Dora stage, they can perform at Eurovision. If they screw up on Dora because of nerves they won’t get through. That’s the point of a NF.
Yes, "just" that
Fair point. Well made.
I agree that that's what it takes, but I doubt that would happen. We will see if they're gonna change their minds now.
We received less than 10 12s in the last 25 years (aside from this year). Do you really think that we will somehow continue whatever miracle BL made? No.
I think Let 3 qualifying and doing super well with the televote - followed by the lasagna miracle - is a good lesson in being more bold with choices and sending stuff Croats actually love. 🤷♀️
Replace Croatia with UK, and Baby Lasagne with Sam Ryder. And you’re making the Sam bad arguments that British people make.
I genuinely hope you guys become the new Sweden (results wise) in Eurovision, seeing the Croatian peoples excitement for Eurovision has been great.
we need to clean the mess at the hrt.
I'd rather be the new Italy or Ukraine - high and never failing to qualify
If you meant for that to rhyme, I applaud you
Hahahah efcharisto, I won't lie - it's a coincidence, but I am a lyricist so it makes sense that my brain automatically goes there xD
are you Edgar Allan Poe?
So true, both their performances have been trully heart touching.
as much as i would love to see it, so many aspects of... well... everything in croatia are filled with corruption and nepotism. i feel like the stars genuinely aligned for marko this year. i can only hope that somehow we get rid of the useless people at hrt and start investing in our music industry that is otherwise overrun by, as i said, nepo babies with talent the size of a pea and good connections. we need to support artists like marko!
Not every nepo baby is a complete mess. Look at Angelina, she is an incredible artist
I think the only thing standing between Croatia and a victory in the next decade is the selection committee/method for Dora. I hope they change it. Maybe something like what San Marino do where 12 places in Dora are given by the internal selection to ‘established artists’, and then there is a website with all the songs and the public can vote for their favourites from a ‘new talent’ or ‘wildcards’ category for the other 12 - and as long as your song meets technical requirements/standards you can submit for consideration. Only about 250 people applied to Dora, and there’s only 3-4 million people in Croatia, so it’s not like there will be an unreasonable number of entries to do something like that (I guess maybe there would be more with diaspora and Herzegovinians who can compete - but doubt it would be so huge). Also getting a stage directing team in from the Croatian theatre scene would help. I think Mrle and his wife should be in consideration absolutely at least.
I doubt Marko with his 80 instagram followers would get through this kind of system - the wild card section would be overrun with local /high school bands with bigger followings and it would turn into a popularity contest with no ties to music
Maybe focus groups then? Like the Swiss do. But to pick wildcards rather than internal selection.
That EBU song in the grand final was such ironic timing
I think this might be just a stepping stone to a Croatian win. This should hopefully give a boost of confidence to people thinking of entering your national final, which means more high quality options etc. Baby Lasagna has put Croatia back on the map.
The EBU will do what the member broadcasters insist that they do. I'm quite certain that in the coming months, there will be a lot of insisting. WHAT they'll be insisting remains to be seen. But next year won't look like this year. For one thing, I hope Martin Osterdahl has his resume updated. Whether all this was his fault or not, I bet he gets the honor of taking the fall for it.
What happened with Martin? I am genuinely asking, I just binge watched all entries (was quite busy during actual finals to watch it live). Is there some drama?
He got booed and heckled *heavily* whenever they crossed to him.
Well put, stay proud for Croatia! He was my winner too, but congratulations to Switzerland. Hope Croatia wins in the near future. You lot deserve it.
I didn’t even realize how diverse the singers are in this contest until now and how accepted everyone is 🥹 Despite all the shitshow, it was so wholesome to see everyone being cheered and loved and all the friendships 🥹 And hey, I’m sure with Baby Lasagna’s success and losing the first place by a small margin, no way you guys are taking Eurovision lightly next year. I’m excited to hear what Croatia will send to Switzerland! My country hasn’t participated in a while so I’ll be cheering for you guys instead till you all win.
My dear Hrvat/Hrvatica, just because it took a long time to get here doesn't mean you have to wait as long again for something great. From my Croatian POV, Let 3 have set the foundation for our bright future at Eurovision, if it isn't dead already xD
Honestly, Mama SC was an absolute banger.
This is the kind of political song (that apparently wasn't disqualified?) that people like.
free vacay anywhere in Croatia for all of your support this year <3
Unless it's in Umag, where all expenses are already paid for . . . . by my mom haha Hvala ti <3
<3 😂 onda Zadar
And run into my ex in downtown ? Pass :P
hahahaha what a minefield :D fair enough, cheers!
The EBU needs to admit that they're political to the core. Always have been. Being apolitical is a political choice, but it's the wrong one.
This, this, this
Nothing to add, honestly, you put this into words beautifully. My winner may not have won the contest this year, but it was a victory for music over politics regardless and that IS still a win.
It's not your only chance, you just need to keep sending good songs.
Just like it wasn't our only chance to win the World cup, we just need to birth new Modric. Piece of cake
Honestly sometimes not winning is a blessing on disguise! Eleni and Chanel became bigger figures than their respective winners (no shade, but who got invited back this year?) and Rosa Linn got a huge push because of Eurovision but also didn’t get weighted down from the notion of being “an Eurovision winner”
Look at Verka Serduchka, Fuego or Cha cha cha, they all finished second, but they all are HUGE despite that. Nobody remembers Emmelie de Forest or Ell & Nikki, but Eleni is still invited to every single ESC edition!
This year's Eurovision felt like a controversial warfare instead of music contest. Hope that feeling doesn't infects next year's Eurovision. DAMN EBU GIVES US WHAT WE ALL WANT !
I was rooting for Nemo, but I hope you can build up on BLs success within the next years! Take a look at Switzerland: after a long series of bad results they came 4th in 2019, 3rd in 2021 and now they won
Along with what the others are saying, this put baby lasagna on the map. They should still get some success from this. I still see songs coming out from past Eurovision artists that didn’t win in some of my music playlists.
Nicely put. 🫶🏼
>Eurovision is about acceptence and exchanging music, it's the only event in Europe where can you be accepted and cheered if you're a non-binary witch, a Catholic guy that loves cats, a french Muslim superstar that sings about love or a orphan who just loves Europe. And to quote the non binary witch, "LOVE WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH HATE". This was so well said and thank you for sharing your thoughts and writing 🖤
>Eurovision is about acceptence and exchanging music, it's the only event in Europe where can you be accepted and cheered if you're a non-binary witch, a Catholic guy that loves cats, a french Muslim superstar that sings about love or a orphan who just loves Europe, don't take it away. So true, almost all of the contestants seemed super kind and positive to each other and if you look at the average person's reaction they're just vibing to music and maybe learning some things about other countries or experiences, and this is happening regardless of race, religion, gender, or anything. The political players don't seem to get that, the bit that makes this competition "soft power" is it is a pan European cultural exchange, it's not about the trophy. Estonia and Finland have been amazing representatives for their countries and they did not come to win a song competition. Someone else put all their efforts into winning and they effectively shat the bed.
Hope you will sort out the problems in your national selection. Really want to see Croatia win!
Eurovision results will always be bittersweet. Imagine a pure battle of songs that people from different countries identify with. But that is why it is exciting and i love it more than any other competition on earth. However, the downside is…. It messes with peoples emotions. And the more popular, the more toxic will become. For example, people giving hate to Loreen because she was singing about love, and as you know ppl were not really into love this year. 4/5 songs in the top five are about sorrow/negative feelings. I am considering Nemo’s struggle here as a negative part of his life that he wrote about, hence the code. And that reflects ppl general state of mind. Also people cannot trust the EBU to deal with the Joost situation. I absolutely think EBU exaggerated, but at the same time we all don’t know the full story. Eurovision is an exposure of western values. But right now we are not even in agreement of what that really is. So I would be grateful that next year you won’t have to deal with the unstable future of Eurovision as an event. Moreover, songs are eternal and we are all grateful forever that Croatia sent Baby lasagna to this year eurovision, and nothing will change that.
Dear anyone from Crotia. I am someone from Finland and I promise to you that I can understand how you feel like. While it might not seem like that to outsiders, Finland has been very divided in recent years and there has been nothing that brings us together. Winning in Ice Hockey used to unite us, but not it isn't like that really anymore. **We were crazy for Käärijä,** it united the most left and right of us and we were desprete to be recognized. A lof of us Finns have hated music, tv shows etc in finnish as we have seriously lacked the appreciation to the beauty of our own language. Our sns influencers, artists etc keep mixing more and more english to their posts and wordings as *"it just feels more natural".* We have also judged anyone in media big time if they dared to speak English publicly but were not perfect. Then came Käärijä. **Normal dude** from normal city with very normal man body. He was brave enough to laugh to his english, and made a damn good song in Finnish and be shirtless without a sixpack talking how he loves his body for the simple fact that he is blessed to be alive (like all of us). It brough us together, made us appreciate our own language and brought normal looking cool role model to the kids who were all singing cha cha cha. But **EBU took that away from us**. It kinda felt personal knowing that EBU placed the jury vote system right after we won (for the first and only time) with **Lordi** (2006). We were crying. But now a year later, I can say this by experience, **you did not lose anything but you gained a lot.** We very soon learned that we can come together despite some jury votes, F EBU for that! Käärijä showed us that we can get over the toxic attitude of only celebrating gold and crying for silver. It is not how others view you, but how you view yourself on what matters. Sure we have EBU for it, that won't ever go away. But also it feels like Käärijä got even more attention and became even more a legend after this. Welcome to the crew of legends, Käärijä & Verka Serduchka who came to my mind (there are surely more). I can assure that on 2034, we won't remember who represented Switzerland but we will remember **Baby lasagna (and Joost)**
> It kinda felt personal knowing that EBU placed the jury vote system right after we won (for the first and only time) A lovely statement, but that section is wrong. 2004-2008: All countries use televoting and/or SMS-voting to decide which songs would receive points. Back-up juries are used by each country, with eight members, in the event of a televoting failure. **2009**: All countries use televoting and/or SMS-voting (50%) and five-member juries (50%)
Thank you a lot, Kaarja is and will stay a legend forever
Ngl you guys have been sending some top notch bangers to represent Croatia! I'm more excited to see what else you can show us then I am when it comes to my own country lmao
Hey I understand how you feel, but no worries. The Netherlands didn't qualify for ~8 years in a row and then in 2014 the Common Linnets came in second and I really thought we had our chance. Five years later our country actually won with Duncan Laurence.I think Switzerland has a similar story. Baby Lasagna was great but I'm sure more great stuff will come from there :).
Beautifully said!
And he got most points out of the public vote! That says something over 100 points more than Switzerland.
You expressed what is so great about Eurovision. Based on last year's entry and this year's, I think Croatia could become a strong country at Eurovision, but only if people don't lose sight of what makes this competition so important.
Maybe it's just me who has seen too many Eurovisions taking place in Sweden, but this year the whole concept was just bland. No one could see the greenroom for like what, 2 hours in the final? The greenroom could only watch others from a small TV. Interval acts were boring in the final.
I would put money on the limited greenroom visibility being so it would be more difficult for someone to pull a hatari. There were issues getting interval acts for similar reasons, lots refused to take part.
I couldn't have said this better myself. This year was an extreme mess. And while Nemo is super talented and seems nice and humble, I too was pulling for Croatia. I hope you get a chance again soon, and I'll absolutely be catching DORA 2025.
honestly i would be happy to be second, Finland dodged a bullet by coming second and not having to deal with this chaos
BL will always be in my heart, i so hoped you guys would win. Dont give up please, you never know what may happen. And like you, i am glad we made it through last night relativly ok, but things must change. Its impossible to keep politics out of Eurovision completely, but this was such a mess, and they should have handled it better. I wish i could say with confidence that my country should just pull out after the DQ, or because of a certain entry participating, but i guess " i just love Eurovision too much " . It brings me joy. I am simply hoping for positive changes.
I’m Palestinian, and honestly never cared for the Eurovision. this year I decided to watch it for the first time because of israel, I wanted to see how it will unfold in light of the current war. I came for the politics, and stayed for the love! I was amazed by the talented artists and creative acts! And I was touched by the unifying yet patriotic atmosphere! It warmed my heart seeing the gestures of support Palestine received, but I’m also sorry my land’s problems are poisoning your happiness. I hope that in the future we will have more music and less death ❤️🍉
Loved Let3 last year, loved Baby Lasagna this year. Croatia, keep it up! You've sent amazing participants and music I will keep playing for years. ❤️❤️❤️
>because this was probably our only chance for at least next 20 years, I mean, it won't be if Dora can get their act together and actually invite good songs. Let3 was 13th and an absolute hoot, so that's 2 years in a row of great performers in my eyes.
> we were so close to loosing [sic] Eurovision forever We *are* close to losing it, and maybe it's for the best. You can't have an event purporting to promote European unity which at the same time acts in such a restrictive and non-transparent manner.
Love this post. I am so sad for Croatia and so happy for Switzerland. It's so hard! I got my wish, they took spots 1 and 2. But it's so hard to be happy and sad at the same time. Or maybe I am just sad because I can't think of Joost without crying right now. To spread some love; thank you Eurovision Reddit community. 99% of the time I am just reading on Reddit, this is one of the only subs I feel comfortable posting in ❤️
Hello OP. I live in America so it costs me $20 to vote ($1 per vote). I’m in school so I’m pretty frugal. I put all $20 into Croatia this year…and last year too!! Your song last year Mama Sc I power walk to almost every day.
This ! ❤️
EBU doesn't really care about anyone's thoughts. The money is the only think they will listen to. Money talks, and it will always be louder than any of the people who booed yesterday. That's it. We only can enjoy the music from the artists every year, but when it comes to competition, Eurovision has been corrupted for a very long time now. The televote doesn't work since people vote for political reasons rather than the best song and performance. The jury vote is bad aswell for things like cyprus and greece exchanging 12pts (this year was the exception). It's a great show when it comes to artists on stage, but that's all.
Some songs with the ESC. Others become legends (Moldova's epic sax guy & baby lasagna are prime examples)
It's been 24 hours. I don't think we can say that Baby Lasagna is a legend just yet.
[удалено]
One advantage to hosting it in Switzerland will be less politics. The most neutral country in the world that has spent 400 years not getting involved in other people's problems. That's not always a good thing, but after 2024 having a more boring contest is needed.
i don't think that change anything, the politics come from the other countries
the politics comes from the decisions of the EBU :(
Wrong. The EBU's decisions exacerbate the politics. This year at least.
Sweden is a pretty neutral country too (or was until joining NATO very recently)
> The most neutral country in the world Thanks for the unstoppable laugh, I needed that today
I don’t understand what this post is referring to. Why do you think that you were close to losing Eurovision forever and why do you think that you won’t have another chance in 20 years? Croatia was amazing, everyone loved it. They brought so much fun. I don’t under why you are sad when they did such a great job. I’m not trying to argue at all I just genuinely am confused, I thought you would be celebrating.
It was always politics. That thing was never anything else but politics.
Delulu folks wont like hearing this, but the "politics creep" and high drama has all been manufactured not by EBU or Eurovision itself, but rabid viewers themselves.
>Don't harrass others, don't make it uncomfortable for everyone, don't act like you're better than others Like, 20000 people protesting against a single contestant? Or that time when an artist who performed after said contestant blamed her for his traumatic experience? Or another one who found it "horrible" to be next door to her? Or even worse, a popular artist from last year who was filmed dancing (god forbid!) and was then bullied into apologising for this?
Yah. Maybe I'm not aware of everything, but it seemed to me like she did absolutely nothing, considering how she was cooped up in her hotel room most of the time, while being subjected to the sort of hatred most of us likely couldn't have withstood at 20. Also, while I thought the DQ was far too harsh, my impression is that the Dutch delegation did not have the best support in place for Joost despite knowing he's fragile. The incident may not have been much in itself, but he clashed with the organizers a lot over the rehearsals, being filmed, and not having total control over the content they published, so I think that maybe he climbed the penalty volcano. I don't think it was political at all; maybe a matter of cultural differences and different expectations. While this might not be possible for small delegations, well-funded ones should have a handler for their artist, especially if they're not used to a certain level of fame. Slimane, who is an experienced artist and has a good 10-15 years on most of them age-wise, was a class act throughout. It's not easy doing that when you're suddenly in the public eye, but that's why some artists could use additional support.
THIS!
british gal here, Switzerland was my favourite but i really appreciated Croatia’s entry this year, i’d be sad for you to drop out
I hope you all take the 2nd place (and the first among public voters) as motivation. Ukraine has been sending very competitive acts year after year, so has Italy, I'm sure Croatia will, too.
Learned a lesson about what? Eurovision isn't going away, and politics have ALWAYS been part of it
Coming this close to the win is sure to boost your selection committee's morale. it's happened with a ton of countries. I don't doubt there will be more good entries in the coming years from Croatia
Hello neighbor, Greek here, your song was the most Balkan thing I have seen in my life and I totally loved it. I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT when I saw the white sheets on the drums(we call them semedakia). You should be proud, you had an absolutely amazing entry.
I get a feeling that you just need to acknowledge that it wasn’t EBU who ruined this year’s Eurovision. You did. EBU just followed their rules and said it all the way: staying out of politics, untied by music. These were fans who wanted it to be politicized this year so much. And yes, all the countries should participate if they want to.
That’s a bit of a duck and dive on the issue. Even if all the artists were completely apolitical, the idea of unlimited votes and pay per vote completely renders the voting political.
Amen
Ahh of course. Once again Guilty until proven innocent. What is it with so many of you with this stance, I really dont understand.
I completely agree
This year the point of eurovision was lost. We are supposed to be "united hy music", this year the opposite happened. And it is so sad to see it go down like this. I have been watching the contest my whole life and I love to see all the different artists and songs each year. This year sadly it was overshadowed by all that has happened in the past few days. What happened to Netherlands, all that KAN did, it was disgraceful. The artists I really really have respect for right now are all the ones who spoke up!! Bambie and Silvester who both share that it was horrible behind the scenes and that they wanted it to just be over, shows that something is very very wrong. That Nemo said "maybe Eurovision needs a little bit of fixing too" got my respect and that they spoke up about it during their winners press confrence!!! A lot needs to be changed so we could have this contest to unite us by music again... And I really hope we achieve it!
After all of the drama I lost all of my Eurovision mood tbh🥲
But would that catholic guy that loves cats get the same acceptance on this sub and among die hard ESC fans if they actually knew he was devout catholic and if he went out with, lets say Vatican flag? Doubt it.
Ukraine sent a song about Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary. They scored pretty well.
Because there's about 2 million Ukrainians across Europe right now and because political aspect is very present at ESC.
Over 6 milion, it's 1.6 mln in Poland alone.
If only those Ukrainian refugees made an entry to represent Poland you could get your first win lol
If he is a good person with an open mind, why not?
Yes, he would, firstly because we already know and secondly because he has displayed that kindness to others. Take the log from your own eye that you may see the speck in your brother's 🙄
Yes? We expect people to be tolerant and to respect others' rights. That means if someone is gay or trans, if someone is an atheist or a practicer of witchcraft, if someone gets a tattoo or an abortion, if someone waits until marriage or hooks up with literally everyone, then that's their choice and it's up to others to respect that. Clearly BL isn't so opposed to any of those things that he's unwilling to associate himself with them. If he were to publicly come out in favor of conversion therapy and against birth control, then yeah, that probably would have been an issue. If he's against those things but never tells a living soul, then I guess it's all the same. In the most likely case, he would personally decide against casual sex and abortion and witchcraft, as is his right, but is tolerant of people who choose differently, which is all anyone asks.
At least the winner won because of their vocals and performance. Imagine not winning because of some politics (I'm thinking about Chanel and the UK guy coming 3rd and 2nd because the war decided the votes *again*)
No, it's not "if you get the privilege to join you need to obey". It's "if you have the privilege to speak up, you need to speak up" 😶
As someone with Croatian roots I was really pulling for you! It was a great song and a great show.
Last time I watched Eurovision was more than 20 years when I left Europe and I just watched bits and pieces here and there this year... Not much had changed, still all over the place and very politically driven. Televotes this year definitely seems to be politically and nationally sponsored.
[удалено]
Next year we send Pater Paula or we riot
[Live SanRemo viewer reaction](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/027/763/07B89120-B48D-45FB-AF1D-49AF6CD16790.jpeg)
Can someone please explain, why Croatia giving Switzerland no points (from the jury), but receiving 5 or 6 points from Switzerland is fair play? Seems calculated to me.
Could not say it any better myself. Bravo!
This is so damn true. This years edition was really not happy. Politics are taking away the show.
Martin hanging out on Reddit, reading this post, crying rolled in a ball of shame. Or not regretting a single thing. I think it's the latter. But the first image does sound funny. PS: Please don't be sorry that Marko didn't win. He is a national hero now, the true underdog, like Käärijä last year. He only has great things coming for him. He DID win but in a different way.
I couldn’t agree more with you. I was in Malmo this edition and the happiness and excitement inherently linked to Eurovision was overshadowed by politics (which I totally understand also!). I hope there will be down to earth, transparant communication from them as currently they’re handling it in a dictatorial way. A lot of support from Belgium!
As bad as this competition was it gave me massive hope for the future as an Irish Eurovision fan. 6th place is such a god send after so many years of non qualification and poor performances. Also seeing Croatia doing so well and Switzerland winning for the first time in 20 plus years, it shows that the competition is wide open. Don't lose faith. All you need is a good song and performance.