Something Actually Happened!!!!

I think it is fair to say that there has been a drought of news of late, however today it was announced that the televoting would be adjusted back to a televoting window. They are doing this because they believe that very few people cast their  vote in the early part of the show.


In my opinion they are very right to do so. It clearly seems that songs towards the end do well because no one really votes without hearing all the songs, this is not the case in other music competitions such as the X Factor were it is much more contestant orientated. However I think that the televoting window should be at least 15 minutes.


Comments are always welcome

Many Things

Until some real news about Eurovision actually appears you shall have to forgive me for not posting any real opinions on Eurovision matters.

The only  big news today was that Nikki/Nigar, whatever you call her, is to release an album on her own i.e. without Eldar/Ell. This surprising in a way I had expected that they would record four or five songs together and the to go their different ways. However even though she was the weaker of the the pair I really hope she does well  with her album.

I'm Back!

I'm back from my brief holiday, so I did not write a blog. However if you were in Ireland yesterday, you should not have been busy online but out in the sunshine. 


Anyway Eurovision goes on (with very little news). RTÉ has announced that they made a profit, albeit a small one, from Eurovision. To be honest I am delighted for them. I have long argued that it makes financial sense for Ireland to be in Eurovision. RTÉ are at the moment trying to save costs everywhere. When Eurovision makes profit or breaks even then RTÉ should be delighted. However as always, I firmly recommend that a larger national final is needed of at least 10 songs to attract big name artists with reasonably good songs. Shoving it in with The Late Late Show makes it to low key. Promotion should have started from before the national final. But it is unlikely that the Big wigs at RTÉ will be willing to change anyway.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 6

I am going away today for the weekend so there will be no posts until Monday. So until then I leave you with why Sweden may not win next - but they're going to come close:

Sweden

After not seeing a good result since 2006 this year Sweden came roaring back and were within two points of a win in the televote. Personally I would love to see Sweden make it win number 5. Melodifestivalen is without a doubt the best of all the National selections. However they have an annoying habit of picking a middle of the road song at the expense of more international friendly songs but the international juries should balance this out if they stick with 50% international juries. They also have given more power to these juries by the new way of giving the televote points. They are in the Scandinavian block however they did not score as well as you’d expect within the block given they came third this year. A win is far from out of the question. Personally, I think they should look to Sanna Nielsen but Timoteij or Le Kid could also conceivably win for Sweden. One of Sweden’s biggest problems is they don’t change entries from their Melodifestivalen performance. Not everything that works on the MF stage is going to work on the Eurovision stage. With Sweden having such a vibrant music industry and so much input into other Eurovision entries they should use the expertise from that to craft their entry on the Eurovision stage.

Stockholm 2013? There’s a good chance. However, I think Stockholm 2014 is more likely largely because I believe that they will be too confident this year and send a similar act to Popular. They also need to make their entries look a bit better on stage, which they largely did this year but have fallen down in the past.

In the autumn I hope to have an article about exact who I would like to see represent Sweden in 2012

What to write about?

The last week has seen a change in the amount of news being produced, so there was little to write about yesterday and I finished my exams so I didn't have the time to write anyhow. However, the marked decline in Eurovision articles means there is very little to talk about. Therefore, for today and tomorrow the is a And the winner of Eurovision 2012 is...? article. (Norway is below). After tomorrow I'm on holidays for the weekend so there will be no blogging til Monday. However over the summer I hope to build up a stock of articles on voting trends which will be the next series after And the winner is?. Blogging is much harder over the summer but I will try to do as much as I can.

Norway

After a landslide win in 2009 Norway seemed part of a new wave of western wins. However while their last two entries did well in predictions but once picked they slide a lot when they hit the ESC stage. Norway can hardly be pleased with their last two results, but they should not lose hope. MGP is the second strongest national final system, in my opinion. However, while excellent songs are entered they still don’t take risks with more modern sounding entries, like Vardlokk or Not That Easy. They have the ability to get points across the board but are still supported by a strong Scandinavian Anglo-Irish block. However, after this year, if bland songs are going to do well in the contest then Tone Damli Aabarge may be a good choice.

Oslo 2013? Unless Norway steps out of its comfort zone they may find the Top 10 out of reach, let alone a win.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 4/and some other stuff

Very little is happening at the moment and the post Eurovision Depression is well and truly set in. For those on the edge the weekly Podcast was out today and is well worth a listen.

Anyhow RTÉ have said that their Eurovision budget was €226,000. Now hear at The Best Eurovision Blog we are very pro-Ireland and openly so. This budget figure is excellent, when you consider that they got about 7 1/2 hours of TV i.e. about €30,100 per hour and this represents great value for money at a time when RTÉ are trying to cut costs. Especially if you consider Fair City costs about 3 times this per hour. This figure also excludes the amount of extra promotion on Radio etc.

In other news News.az is expecting 60,000 visitors to Azerbaijan for ESC. While this may seem a bit over optimistic, this is the first time I have seen them admit to the number of visitors they should expect.

Anyway as we are a little short of news I shall put up another country from our series And the Winner is... This one is dedicated to Portugal:

Portugal

Even if they are not best country in Eurovision they deserve a mention. Portugal does have a very strong selection process. However this year they had a minor setback from a hat trick of qualifications which was quite remarkable for Portugal. But in the next three years I think they will break the top 5. However one of the main obstacles is their highly conservative juries, blocking good songs like Tenaso, En Nom Do Amor, Canta Por Mim and Juntos Vamos Conseguir, if they diluted the jury input they may get a better chance. However still when I talk of Portugal I don't talk of them winning. I just talk about them qualifing.

Lisbon 2013? It’s a long shot, a very long shot. 

Small Bits Of Everything

I am always keen to see a Eurovision Song doing well in the charts. However this story is a little different. It seems Kelly Schembri has become an overnight sensation in Malta. Her rise to fame has been noted by some Big wigs in Britain who hope to make her a star and she has made a new video of her song "Love Me Like Your Money"

The Reference Group should have concluded  their meeting during the week and any information that should come from that will be commented on.

Sweden have been first out of the trap and have called for songs for Melodifestivalen 2012 (Wow, first time I've had to write about NF season 2011). As always they have many ways of getting to Melodifestivalen but this year the Web Joker has been reduced down to one entrant. This is probably a good thing as the Web Joker for me has always been a rather dull song. It simply takes away a place that could go to Sanna Nielsen or Timoteij.