yep thats a good way of summarising it. mediocre ballads get a pass too often with the jury

as a teen of the 70s, I can understand why; though I'll forever be salty about not getting Lolita Zero thru to ESC. .now THAT is waht ESC is all about, and would be a new edition of Verka Seduchka. I can hear that nearly demonic cacking laugh in my dreams 😅 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/geBlac2cm7GRmn0.html

@@ZakhadWOW I love Lolita zero so much too, I wish she had entered this year instead

I would like to hear the "Rest of the World" results from both the semis and the Grand Final be announced as a separate thing. However...I like the tension in the way the qualifiers are currently announced in the Semi-Finals. So maybe only show the scores of the "Rest of the World" voting, but still announce the qualifiers in the same way afterwards Love from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA 🇺🇸 AKA "Rest of the World"

@@rexation8952 it would be a really bad idea since knowing even some results in the semis could affect the voting in the grand final. That's why they are released only after the show

i'd love that but at the same time it might make it feel like their televoting is more important than any singular country's

@@ImStevan yea I can see that. But it's really only one set of points. I could imagine it being more rewarding for those voting outside participating countries and fun for eurofans to see how it goes.

@@lera_vasi COnsidering that Rest of the World will all be lumped into one giant pot.. the breakout would be insane to analyze! LOL I mean Latin/North America will be far far different than Asia or AFrica. As a 4 year member of OGAE Rest of World, I can tel you we are all thrilled to bits...

baby…

@@stefan6688 , baybah 🤪

@@justynafigas-skrzypulec3349 bejbaaa

It was well received by the fandom and not that she was a great vocalist, but dhe did OK, I think, there were much worse performances.

She still would have qualified without diaspora

Thanks Vithun 😊

Aren't they? Sometimes I feel like I could listen to Tom narrate the phone book 😂😂

Yea i wonder if it was it a "bonus" aspect for the producers that less ballads would go through. like last year that 13-18 slot ballad streak in the final was killer, and both songs on either end, Moldova and Ukraine, were number 1 and 2 in the televote either side of it. They were dying for some upbeat 2nd half songs last year - Ela and Sekret would have been heaven for them. So i dont think its the main reason,but i think its definitely a bonus for the producers

Now we have way too many upbeat.

Yeah, one of the best male vocalists on the Eurovision stage ever. And he came in 11th with the televote and finished 11th in the Grand Final as well, I'd be very surprised, if Greece had ranked higher than 20th this year, as it was 15th or 16th with the juries and just 10th with the public. I think that overall, more people were pleased to see Albania, not saying that Greece had a bad song, but it wouldn't have performed as well.

I loved Tick Tock! Although I loved Hooverphonic as well. For me personally I would have rather had Albina with Tick Tock in the final than Cyprus with El Diablo. But oh well. I totally agree with you. I always tell people that the ranking (especially at the bottom) doesn't really reflect which song the least liked was. It sometimes happens that the a song that finished 26th in the final with 0 had a better average ranking than some of the songs that ended up getting more points. That just doesn't seem completely fair. Obviously giving points from 26 to 1 in the final wouldn't make a huge difference, the bottom places still wouldn't make it on the left side of the score board but it would definitely reflect more accurately which songs were overall liked more. Also no one would end up with zero points.

yea i hope its something that they continue to tinker with, but i also see why they had to do something cos 6 countries were blatantly cheating and they cant just ignore it. Unfortunately they cant just rely on these delegations to just behave themselves and do the competition properly, so they needed to step in. Im worried about what will happen though when we (hopefully) get back to 18/19 sized semis. totally agree about combined in final. Plus keep in mind, they need 2 systems so that you can have the exciting televote

i think it will balance out with time - if fewer ballads are sent, they'll stand out more and do well - so delegations will think ballads=success

yep i agree 100%. thats why i completely support the Big 5

@@ESCTom Ikr 💕

Exactly how I felt, Switzerland became one of my biggest risers

im pretty sure it will be. I think they will try to avoid countries where bot factories are based in to avoid mass voting from those

@ESC Tom I reckon that will be a problem to some extent no matter what countries from the "rest of the world" are invited to vote because they simply don't have the same invested interest in the welfare of the competition. This obsession with growth I think is misguided & I fear it will change the ESC to the extent that it will lose its purpose of introducing us all to different cultural styles.

yea i was so surprised as well, i thought that there would be a HUGe difference. I think they should eventually bring back the juries in the semis but with much more modern updated criteria.

@@ESCTom Yes, the juries are unfortunately lacking quite often. There is no way to ever make a jury function in the way you would actually want, but it does not help to put people there that are known and therefore can be corrupted. We do need a counterbalance to offset the effect of votes that are quite clearly bad sportsmanship, like diaspora votes. Obviously I feel the criteria should be set up in such a way that I end up as a jury member. My votes are literally the best I can think of.

Omg yea I forgot about that! Oh it was from the Czech juror putting her points wrong!

That’s very frustrating. That would have been the only perfect semi since 2016

@@ESCTom ikr

Yeah, they would have made it, if it wasn't for that mistake. Sad, I preferred Poland, but Zena actually wasn't that bad either, I'd have had a bigger issue with Lithuania qualifying over Denmark, tbh, so I'm grateful it didn't happen.

Ehm, no. Juries are there to judge music.

I think there is a lot of ignorance about it. The Big 5 qualify directly to the final because they are the ones that contribute the most financially. Without their help, small or low-income countries would not be able to bear the costs of the competition and would not be able to participate. That is the rule that was established. Thanks to the solidarity of the Big 5 many countries can participate.

Yeah I think it will continue evolving over the next 10 to 15 years

Absolutely! I'm wondering if there is any way they can present the "rest of the world" vote during the show? I think that is something viewers would very much like to see - especially those from non-EBU or non-participating countries who had bothered to vote. Perhaps they could be tagged on the end of the jury vote? if they just get encompassed in the amalgamated televote it really loses a connection and involvement with that audience, and also for the rest of us. In the future? Perhaps separate continental tele-votes (re-branding and marketing on a worldwide scale) and, as technology moves on, other ways to vote rather just by phone or app

I think that could happen in the future, but for the first one I think theyll just want it to quietly happen in the background so it doesn't cause too much fuss

I heard “story of my life” in Starbucks once in china. There’s definitely someone on the inside putting Eurovision songs on the playlists 😂

Yeah, that's what happened.

Thanks Andrew 🥰

oh wow yea thats harsh

Because you need 2 systems so that you can have the exciting televote at the end. If you only have one system, then you go back to knowing who the winner is 3/4 of the way through the show and it's very boring they Also need something to counter diaspora songs and songs that are just aimed at drunk people

@@ESCTom I think the best option is that the jury can only vote in the grand final but the percentage balance between televote and jury vote should change not 50/50 as it is now but 60/40 also the jury should have at least 10 members. Songs aimed at drunk people? That are my favourite kind of songs, and I'm not kiding. I think that diaspora voting isn't that huge problem, bigger problem is political jury voting.

Aww thank you sixtiessyl, that's really lovely of you 🥰🥲

@@ESCTom you deserve it, you put so much effort into your videos, your analyses are on point and intelligent and you are just a joy to listen to. Keep it up :)

thanks 🥰

Gimmick and joke entries are a thing of the past. The televote has been very clear about this for several years now.

​@@trildi When I say 'gimmick songs' I don't mean the old troll entries that used to come in dead last place like Euro Neuro (Montenegro 2012), Ireland Douze Points (Ireland 2008), Leto Svet (Estonia 2008), Aina Mun Pitaa (Finland 2015) etc. etc. When I say 'joke entries' and 'party songs' I don't mean that in a negative way, I'm just trying to highlight the upbeat, unserious entries that capture the attention of the Televote either through their staging or through the song itself - most casual European viewers think Eurovision isn't that serious and rally behind songs they think are funny. For example Trenuletul (Moldova 2022), Party for Everybody (Russia 2012), We are Slavic (Poland 2014). There's nothing wrong with any of these entries and there really aren't many of them each year. But this year has a MASSIVE split between the quality, memorable top 10-15 songs, and the really mid, forgettable entries at the bottom half. People are finding are actually finding hard to pick their top 10 semi-final qualifiers not because they have to decide between 12 great songs, but because they've picked 6 qualifiers and have to pick 4 boring, forgettable songs to qualify instead. I just have a feeling that these boring entries will start to come up with gimmicks (like hamster wheels, bad projections, props and unusual dancers) to try and get some attention from televoters. It makes for an interesting contest but also makes me think their could be some awful stagings this year :)

I agree and disagree with you. I myself hate joke and gimmick entries. But party songs and humorous songs are not the same as them. And those are the ones that the televoters rally behind. Also, even if a “joke” entry won cause of televote, doesn’t that tell something about the other entries that year? I feel like ESC has always been kinda of a good indicator of how the people in Europe are feeling about certain subjects. So even if an entry I don’t particularly like some year wins, there’s usually some sorta deeper/prevalent reason for it. And so I think that’s good. I don’t think that the ESC is Idol/Talent/Voice whatever. It’s so much more and not necessarily about finding the next “star” of Europe or even the best performer. As cheesy as it is, it’s about finding the act that speaks the most to the masses and unity amongst countries (🤮🫣😄). I mean it is kinda crazy, if you think about it, how so many of us are tuning in at the exact same time all over Europe. Just to watch some television show and that so many of us are also voting and participating? Just kraizi

​@@oonanas6507 I 100% agree with you - I think I've got myself lost along the way trying to overexplain what I meant by 'fun' and 'gimmicky' performances. I really don't mean those words as positive or negative at all, they just are what they are. I think it's just a fact that the entries with the biggest gaps between Juries and Televotes every year have always been those entries that are fun, poppy, catchy, upbeat songs with a memorable prop, concept or idea that the Televoters back. I am always so much happier to see entries that are unloved by the Jury but loved by the Televote (Moldova 2022, Norway 2019) than entries that are unloved by the Televote but massively pushed forward by out-of-touch juries (Azerbaijan/Australia/Switzerland 2022) Back to my original point haha - my main worry is that we'll see some random entries this year trying to come up with bad, stupid, goofy ideas that don't match the artist or song, just to stand out in the SemiFinals that are now 100% televote. I personally hated everything about Subwoolfer's 'Give that wolf a banana' last year (it was truly cringe-inducing) but I could respect that they had a fully-thought out idea and had the concept ready when they first made the song. What I'm dreading to see this year, is entries with like a random giraffe costume onstage or a silly tennis racket prop just to capture attention when it has nothing to do with the song. I'm probably completely wrong to try and police what each artist does, and I do want to be encouraging of new ideas and the for the delegations to try and use these higher budgets to come up with something new. I just don't want to see the artists transparently trying to pander to the public to try make it out of the Semis because we'll all be able to tell when they're not being authentically themselves etc. that's all haha

@@yepitsthatguy5278 mm yeah I got you! And I agree. I wouldn’t want the weird entries to disappear completely, cause they’re hella entertaining 😄 BUT when their sole purpose is to be weird to get “joke-votes” I think we’ve gone to the wrong direction. Bonus: The jury votes should just be more in-tuned with the current music and the tastes of the audiences. Because the biggest differences don’t always come from the “weird” entries. Last year there were juries that didn’t give any votes for Ukraine, but then the countries televoters gave full 12p. My country did that and I’ve never been more embarrassed for my jury 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yea early 2000s was an absolute and utter disaster. 2000-2002 in particular was the dark ages. In 2021, all 4 of those 0s were automatic qualifiers. theres nothing that can be done if Auto QFs arent bringing good enough entries. we still need the Big 5 in the contest to fund it. Anyway this year all big 5 have brought it

Haha yea someone mentioned that to me. So frustrating! 😂 it would have been a perfect semi!

yep so even if they had their own network, they still wouldnt meet the threshold

yea no problem ill check it. ive been having some ongoing problems with my throat lately, so i think its more that than the video. my voice is bassier than normal

@@ESCTom get well soon

yea i just saw your post on Twitter, ill check out that article you posted

I think it works this year, but in the future running order could just become such a major issue that pisses delegations off

Yeah and that is my main concern is if we continue this televote only thing, is that when we get back to bigger Semis, it's not going to work as well. So I'm hoping that they're just using it as an intermediate solution while they tried to come up with a more long-term way on how to stop the jury cheating. But I think the show will keep on evolving in how it delivers the results over the next 20 years

Well televote agrees 90% with what already went through so they aren’t that different 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@ESCTom Yes we'll see. I just hope the quality of the contest doesn't drop 😅

they did try that system before with a Golden Jury qualifier rule i think in 2009 and 2010. It didnt really work then but it might work now

I think they need to change what the jury are looking for. Get rid of the "vocals" scoring and swap it for "enjoyment/memorability" - there are already plenty of singing contests and the televote shows that the song is more important

@@Georgie_R respectfully, I have to disagree with you now 😅 I don’t mind the jury having to rate “vocals” but I mind that they obviously have very antiquated rules about it. Rules that clearly make it so that they can’t give high points to anything other than “traditional” singing (aka opera and pop). The rules are clearly not meant to give points to rock, metal, rap, alternative, trap, r&b, ethnic sounds, ect. So it’s very disproportionate and unfair atm. If they fix that and also have BETTER juries with experience in the music industry as a whole during the current times, then I’m all for it. Having juries is better television=more money=the show will go on.

Ronela's performance was vile though

@@vincentstef5708 am I the only one that liked it 😢

@No No I really like the song it's my favourite studio version and I still listen to it regularly, but unfortunately the staging and performance was embarrassing and vulgar. I was shocked at it, her vocals were screechy, the dancing was horrible, the costumes and camera angles were way too promiscuous. I was so disappointed with it and I didn't want it to qualify anymore. Andromache was really good tho I loved her

Both of them had good songs but showed up with bad live performances/staging. If anything I'd say their NQ were warranted and is an example of juries doing something good.

Yea I’m largely pro jury as well but I almost feel like different scenarios can work based on different amounts of countries competing. Also they need to fix the jury cheating thing cos it’s just not acceptable at this point. So I’m happy for them to bring back jury but they need to have fixed that situation

@@ESCTom i agree on that, they need to 'reform' the juries, but i rather have a 'new' jury back in the semi's than none. It's next to an entertainment show also a music competition which require juries in my view

Same. I was already mad at juries before that, but that was the final straw 😭 It was the second time I lost my winner (it happened four times overall)

yea i suppose they could. but theres only 33,000 people in San Marino and id say very few of them actually care about Eurovision. meanwhile Italy has 60 milllion people, thats 2000 times more people

yea and they dont actually stop for 30 seconds and explain the system, they just expect the casual viewer to understand. they should really have a graphic explanation explaining how it works

I think that's too much fuss just for the sake of getting rid of zero point songs. Television only semifinals is a quicker way to do it, and the quickest way to do it is that countries just send better entries

@@ESCTom You say that because you haven't heard my idea for making Formula One more exciting. It involves three drivers per team, but then an interesting way to schedule.

no, she was 15th in the televote. those numbers are their ranking in the Televote in the final

I think something like that is a bit too messy. I've previously suggested in the past something like the songs earlier in the running order being able to have a longer recap. A more controversial other solution is that voting is open as soon as the first song performs

@@ESCTom Thanks for the answer. For sure something needs to be changed.

Well I think with what you're highlighting that this shows why the juries are so important

What politically motivated intentions do you mean?

@@leendertjanw7540 The way I have been perceiving Eurovision I‘ve noticed for example politically motivated (block) voting / nationalistic voting patterns, political messages in song lyrics (and some are clearly supported), showcase of values and attitudes that are desired (LFBTQ culture etc.), national branding, prejudices and more… Would you say that politics don’t play a certain part at the Contest?

@@Werderina absolutely they do; however I would say that the televoting is actually a lot more susceptible to it than the juries. I've seen a lot more block/nationalistic voting from the televote.

@@leendertjanw7540 yes, maybe you are right. Guess nobody really knows how „neutral“ juries are😂

I think the jury criteria just needs to be modernised so theyre treating it less like a music exam and more like an entertainment show

Ive heard a rumour from an insider that Georgia's staging will be BIG

The only exact number I have is that in 2008, the total of all participation fees from all countries was €3.5 million

@@ESCTom from all countries together, still a lot of money.

😂

I was working there for four years