The inevitable Eurovision postmortem, then.
(Tl:dr - UK needs to be humbler, and a hell of a lot more interesting)
1) Yes, yes, nul points and a last place finish. No, Europe doesn't hate you - nil desperandum. Remember that the UK could have finished as high as 11th - out of 25 or 26 - in *every single* jury and public vote and still come back with nothing, and in some territories it might have come close to polling that high.
JAMES NEWMAN - Embers
In another strong year, however, there were always likely to be ten songs that resonated more with people than a proficient but unmemorable UK entry even if performed well...
2) ...which it wasn't. Whilst not the evening's worst technically (the Moldova entry sang flat throughout), James Newman's delivery got lost in the vastness of the auditorium and to a certain extent the song production also.
There are strong parallels with the Czech Republic's non-qualifier by Benny Cristo in that regard - like the UK's an okay enough track of its type, but the guy might as well have been singing it through a wall next door, so thinly did his voice carry.
BENNY CRISTO - Omaga
3) Calls - and there are already some - to draft in a big star "to win it for the UK" next year miss the point that such hubris, by *any* participating nation, is beginning to look at least as much of a turn-off to voters as any recent political missteps.
Again, in this the UK is not alone. San Marino's drafting in of Flo Rida in what was, by their own admission, a ruthless victory bid, was rewarded with a very underwhelming vote share from a public presumably unimpressed by such a calculated, cynical move.
SENHIT ft FLO RIDA - Adrenalina
James's long list of hit-writing accolades, his BRIT award, etc., were perhaps similarly assumed to impress, as if those shiny baubles are the envy of present-day mainland European music fans. They didn't, because they aren't.
(Yes, all you clever clogs out there, I *know* that the UK's last winner was an already established act. But Katrina & the Waves approached the contest with arms and hearts open wide, zero conceit, no hits to speak of for a decade prior, and as universally appealing an anthem as it's possible to imagine, performed magnificently).
4) Russia finished eighth in both votes. Israel managed twelfth in the jury vote. Neither track would be up with their very best recent efforts, but popularity for these nations' songs evidently still transcends at least in part any disquiet some voters may have with the ongoing polarising conflicts or situations in either territory. They're almost politics-proof.
In light of which, the idea that Brexit is an absolute bar to the UK prospering in Eurovision again simply doesn't carry. Voters just need the UK to offer them something worth voting for in sufficient number again.
MANIZHA - Russian Woman
5) Germany has finished in the bottom two in five of the past six years. If there are similar cries of "Europe hates us!" locally, they certainly aren't on the same scale as in the UK. FWIW, the Germany track is one of the ones I've been humming the most all week, and again right now. Involuntarily. So help me God.
JENDRIK - I Don't Feel Hate
6) Amanda Holden's brainless "I can't tell these languages apart!" attempt at humour might not have cost the UK any votes, but looked especially ignorant in a year where none of the top three finishers sang in English.
Italy's is also the second winner in the last four sung entirely in the singer's native language. Well done, Amanda...
MÅNESKIN - Zitti e Buoni
7) Last night's was additionally the tenth win in the last twelve renewals for one of the contest's longer standing, non-former Eastern Bloc/non-Baltic participants. Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark... the list goes on.
It won't stop some people screaming it's always an Eastern European carve-up if Moldova run away with it in 2022, though.
8) I have no strong feelings on the winner, but the performance of some of the other successful tracks on the night isn't as incomprehensible in the cold light of day as may perhaps have appeared.
Lithuania's track could slip seamlessly on to daytime 6Music and I'd probably mistake it for a Hot Chip or Fujiya & Miyagi track rather than a Eurovision entry; and whilst I didn't particularly warm to Ukraine, it shares no small amount of DNA with the likes of The Knife or Fever Ray.
THE ROOP - Discoteque
GO_A - Shum
9) I'd have liked to see Greece (memorable song, wonderful visuals) and the Netherlands (as angry and defiant a track as current rules permit) fare much better, but I can't think of too many hard luck stories this time - maybe Ireland in the first semi?
STEFANIA - Last Dance
JEANGU MACROOY - Birth of a New Age
Portugal and Belgium's very uneven points returns reiterate better than most that the national juries and the public are frequently a breed apart, hence once again the value of the two separate votes.
THE BLACK MAMBA - Love Is On My Side
HOOVERPHONIC - The Wrong Place
10) A good top five finish with just his second best track, and this despite a Covid case in the camp significantly inhibiting the promotional drive and attendance on the night. Dađi Freyr for president!
DAÐI OG GAGNAMAGNIÐ - 10 Years
Right, same again next year?
No comments:
Post a Comment