Belatedly, Eurovision 2025.
May. 19th, 2025 08:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessAs with last year, and for the same Reasons, sadly, I watched all the songs in the Eurovision final this year and voted. Then I went to bed and found out who’d won in the morning. (I meant to post this yeserday.)
There were some songs that were directly comprable – what’s Italy done to Estonia and San Marino? – some that were total outliers, many that were very Eurovision. There was the one with the sand, the one with subtitles and a harmonica, the one with the dragons (that the singer was in her fifties was staggering, given what she was physically doing when singing the long notes, although Finland’s singer outdid her on ‘most spectatular ending performance-wise.’) I don’t remember any of the male performers doing a costume change and only Greece’s wasn’t to wear something more revealing. On that, one topless guy from Armenia didn’t really balance out how gendered the amound of clothes going on was.
Being positive and subjective: I liked Lithuana’s entry ‘Your Eyes’ (a bit emo indie sound with some wailing, definitely my favourite of the first five songs.) I really liked the Ukranian song ‘Bird of Prey’ (the costumes made me chortle, but the staging was clever and the melody was distinctive.) Some of Latvia’s song was beautiful, (they were the other female vocal harmonists), the staging and cozzies emphasised their otherworlliness.
Of the earnestly-singing-a-ballad bunch, I thought the Netherlands’s representative was engaging, Greece’s staging was a bit ropey, but their bespectacled singer sang with conviction and a Mediterranean flavour, and Switzerland’s song sounded like something you’d hear on the radio (well, if they played more French-language songs on British radio.)
Denmark’s song was my favourite banger (bonus points for body positivity), and Sweden’s ‘Just Take A Sauna’ was actually funny, and how, even when it’s a comedy song, does it have a catchy chorus? (Because Sweden & pop.)
I voted once for Ukraine, because it was my favourite, but then I voted twice for Sweden, even if Malmo doesn’t want to host it again, because, unlike Ukraine they could stage it. And I really didn’t want the fourth country in the running order to win.
So, as I said, I went to bed, and missed the voting drama. Phew, Austria won (I disliked it, but I have an aversion to counter-tenors and was making ‘referencing original Star Trek, are we?’ cracks at the staging) although I don’t know what their far-right contingent will make of the country hosting Eurovision. I am mortified that the UK public (or those not boycotting the show) gave Israel 12 votes. I feel sorry for what the singer went through on October the 7th, but I found the song was distasteful, basically, what Israel’s democratically elected Government is doing amounts to war crimes. Also, seriously, if they had won, it would have broken Eurovision.
I am sorry for the British entry that they didn’t do better than Olly Alexander. Their harmonies were tight and I didn’t think their staging was as much of a mistake as last year’s.
Have lost my extra icon space, or I'd have selected the Kylie one.
There were some songs that were directly comprable – what’s Italy done to Estonia and San Marino? – some that were total outliers, many that were very Eurovision. There was the one with the sand, the one with subtitles and a harmonica, the one with the dragons (that the singer was in her fifties was staggering, given what she was physically doing when singing the long notes, although Finland’s singer outdid her on ‘most spectatular ending performance-wise.’) I don’t remember any of the male performers doing a costume change and only Greece’s wasn’t to wear something more revealing. On that, one topless guy from Armenia didn’t really balance out how gendered the amound of clothes going on was.
Being positive and subjective: I liked Lithuana’s entry ‘Your Eyes’ (a bit emo indie sound with some wailing, definitely my favourite of the first five songs.) I really liked the Ukranian song ‘Bird of Prey’ (the costumes made me chortle, but the staging was clever and the melody was distinctive.) Some of Latvia’s song was beautiful, (they were the other female vocal harmonists), the staging and cozzies emphasised their otherworlliness.
Of the earnestly-singing-a-ballad bunch, I thought the Netherlands’s representative was engaging, Greece’s staging was a bit ropey, but their bespectacled singer sang with conviction and a Mediterranean flavour, and Switzerland’s song sounded like something you’d hear on the radio (well, if they played more French-language songs on British radio.)
Denmark’s song was my favourite banger (bonus points for body positivity), and Sweden’s ‘Just Take A Sauna’ was actually funny, and how, even when it’s a comedy song, does it have a catchy chorus? (Because Sweden & pop.)
I voted once for Ukraine, because it was my favourite, but then I voted twice for Sweden, even if Malmo doesn’t want to host it again, because, unlike Ukraine they could stage it. And I really didn’t want the fourth country in the running order to win.
So, as I said, I went to bed, and missed the voting drama. Phew, Austria won (I disliked it, but I have an aversion to counter-tenors and was making ‘referencing original Star Trek, are we?’ cracks at the staging) although I don’t know what their far-right contingent will make of the country hosting Eurovision. I am mortified that the UK public (or those not boycotting the show) gave Israel 12 votes. I feel sorry for what the singer went through on October the 7th, but I found the song was distasteful, basically, what Israel’s democratically elected Government is doing amounts to war crimes. Also, seriously, if they had won, it would have broken Eurovision.
I am sorry for the British entry that they didn’t do better than Olly Alexander. Their harmonies were tight and I didn’t think their staging was as much of a mistake as last year’s.
Have lost my extra icon space, or I'd have selected the Kylie one.
