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Let's talk about Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The contest is still 6 weeks away, but the national finals season is over and all songs have been released. So let's hear your favourites, predictions, opinions, hot takes, and wild speculations!
I've watched every Eurovision in my living memory, as my parents would take me to Eurovision parties as a baby and child, and I carried that tradition over after leaving home.
I've always held the position not to listen to the songs beforehand, not really for any worthy reason, just simply because that's how I've always experienced it. Modern music streaming plays an increasingly bigger part of the contest with each year, and so you don't even need to watch the heats to get the full picture.
I enjoy the excitement not knowing what you're about to get, but I'm wondering if I'm slipping away from how the contest is meant to be enjoyed? I know there's no 'right' way to enjoy anything, but I could still be handicapping myself.
I tend to go to YouTube the next day and watch the music videos after the fact, and more-often-than-not the performance on the night gives a wildly different impression of the song. Staging, choreography, vocal performance - they're all things that don't translate into a more crisply prepared music video. I'm almost certain my opinion of each song would be influenced if I'd heard the studio recording first, and some songs don't really 'click' until you've heard it a few times.
Seems like half the fun is being surprised on the night, for me at least. Graham Norton says 'get ready for the dancing moose on this one' (or something) and it's all new to you. I guess there's the fun rooting for your favourite, or feeling the nerves of the night, and no one performance will be the same as another. Getting through 26 songs sober can be herculean enough, I honestly can't imagine doing it having already heard everything before.
Sorry to do a 'hmm well actually' post that's not in the spirit of the thread - Genuinely curious what folks think!Maybe I could give it a try this year and see how it goes.
I could pretty much have written everything that you wrote above. I have largely the same history with the competition, the same insistence of not listening to songs beforehand, and the same habit of checking some music videos afterwards.
Correct me if I remember things wrong, but I think still back in the 90s, it was explicitly forbidden to release a competing song in any form before the competition, including radio play. Does anyone remember if this was actually true, or have I made it up? Of course, nowadays, with the internet and the national competitions that are used to select the songs, this would be impossible.
I love being surprised and hearing the songs for the first time in the semi-finals. It's also really interesting how a song that I didn't really care about in a semi-final suddenly sounds much better in the final, or the other way around. You learn new things about yourself. Eurovision can be educational.
Also, for some reason, Thursday's semi-final almost always sounds much better than Tuesday's. I'm not sure if it's the song selection, or does watching Tuesday's semi-final calibrate my brain to accept Thursday's songs easier? It's been a bit of a mystery to me over the years.
Not the strongest crop this year in my opinion, but there are some fun ones.
My favourite song this year is Switzerland, but I haven't been able to find a live performance of it, so I really hope they put on a good show. If they nail the live performance, this could potentially win the whole thing.
The bookmakers' favourite at the moment is Croatia, which seems to be made to appeal to fans of Finland 2023. Personally, I predict this will underperform. It's just not as good or as interesting as Cha Cha Cha.
I'm happy with my own country's contribution this year. Folky and cool, mystical, heavy. If I was a betting man, this may be a dark horse to win.
I tend not to listen to the songs until the semi-finals (which I contest are the true Eurovision), but I've been really liking the vibes of the Ukrainian entry this year
Of all the ones I've heard so far (which is most of them), that's my favorite song this year too. I've even listened to it multiple times over the last few weeks, which says a lot. We need more rap in Eurovision! :P
I'm also going to wait until the show starts to actually experience the songs live, but I've inevitably heard snippets online. Kind of underwhelmed by what I've heard, so I hope there's an unpopular song waiting that's actually a banger.
Oh, i did actually listen to Olly Alexander's song, I'm a Years & Years fan and I couldn't wait to listen to it. It's a good song and I love it, but it's not for Eurovision. I expected something dancier from him.