Today is the day of the Eurovision song contest 2015! I haven't watched the semi finals as I want it to be a surprise but I have noticed that Australia is in this years contest which I don't understand however an Aussie told me on Twitter that they are obsessed with the Eurovision song contest over there. This year marks the 60th Eurovision song contest which is why Australia is taking part as a wild card entry and it will be very interesting to see how they fair as neighbouring countries seem to have a inclination to vote for their each other, in my opinion. So while part of me doesn't like the inclusion of a non-european country in the Eurovision song contest, part of me also wants to see how it will affect the voting and Eurovision 'politics'.
Watching Eurovision is a tradition in our house, I've watched it since I was a child and I do always wonder what it looks like to non-europeans as it is...flambouant to say the least; however as I am English it is also quite humiliating to watch, especially in recent years, as we are always last *or second to last*. To be fair though we have had some very poor entries! I shudder thinking about the 'flying the flag' song we had years ago - I don't know who came up with the idea that off key air hostesses prancing around with paddles would be a good idea; if you haven't seen it then head to YouTube now and cringe-a-long...
In my opinion, there is an element of bias within the Eurovision song contest as countries that are 'neighbours or friends' always tend to vote for each other every year regardless of the entries. I am not alone in my opinion as my friends and family have said this for years and it is one of the reasons why some of them don't watch it anymore. Although My Voucher Codes have conducted a survey into opinions regarding Eurovision and which countries vote for which acts and the results are in. Check out the full results on the Echo News site.
- Former Russian states have a tendency to vote highly for Russia.
- Greece's neighbours, Albania and Cyprus, give tremendous support to Greek entries.
- Eastern European countries tend to not vote for the UK, such as Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
- However, in my opinion, the most surprising result from their survey was that nine countries have voted for the UK which is more than any other nation, even though average scores for the UK may not be very high.
Maybe the English assumption that we are alone in the Eurovision song contest and are seemly unpopular is unfounded and in fact we have done pretty well over the years! The UK has actually won the Eurovision song contest five times and is one of the most successful countries to compete along with Ireland and France.
Good luck to all of the countries that made it to the final and now it is time for brits across the land to relish in the cheesiness that is the Eurovision song contest and to pray that we don't come last...again!
Are you going to watch the Eurovision song contest? Which country do you think will win? What are your opinions on Eurovision voting?
*collaborative
It's so nice to find a blogger that shares my love of Eurovision! I always feel like a cringebag when I get all excited haha! Tbh, I think our historically low scores are simply due to really bad entries. When you look back at the winners, we're out of their league. It's been a while since we've entered anything I've really cared for! Still extremely excited for tonight's final though!!
ReplyDeleteJess
Philocalist.co.uk
Same, myself and my sister seem to be the only ones in our family that like Eurovision! x
DeleteI love the Eurovision! I'll have to watch it on catch up tomorrow though!
ReplyDeleteclaresloves.blogspot.com
Me too x
DeleteI think there's definitely a huge bias with the votes, but it's so fun and ridiuclous to watch anyway, you can't help but smile along. I love the voting section too! X
ReplyDeleteThere is but I still love Eurovision - I hope next years has less ballads! x
DeleteAbsolutely love Eurovision, such a huge night, 3 hours goes so quick! The voting this year was slightly different however there is usually quite a political bias, with the addition of Australia this year made the whole voting slightly strange. I wouldn't have though Russia would have done as well as they did considering the the right to gay marriage vote in Ireland yesterday and today! I'll be sure to check out that article on Echo news! x
ReplyDeleteThree hours does go quickly apart from when the awkward, cringing presenters are taking and the voting! x
Deletenice post, I just watched Eurovision and it's kind of weird that EVERY country had same 3 favourites. Not Eurovision, but Eurocorpution LOL :D Plus I hated Sweden's song xD
ReplyDeleteIt is mainly about politics, especially with Russia but I actually liked the Swedish song but I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone x
DeleteWe watched Eurovision, and as usual love it! It always so exciting to see all the countries perform
ReplyDeleteM + K
I love Eurovision although I think this year was more about politics (mainly because of Russia - twitter was the best for comments!) x
DeleteI was sooo gutted for the UK entry this year as the girl has Cystic Fibrosis like me and we go to the same hospital so I extra wanted them to do well! You're right though it's alllll about politics which is a real shame as it's supposed to be about building bridges x
ReplyDeleteJosie’s Journal
I really liked the UK entry although it was a little slow, I think if the song had a faster pace then it would have been better x
DeleteMy friend is a huge Eurovision fan so we had a bit of a party and all watched it together, was lots of fun. She is Russian so was really happy with how well the Russians did, although the Swedish song was great. My favourite was probably Australia or Belgium I think. Lots of good songs this year though, although it is all about the politics which does make it a bit annoying.
ReplyDeleteEmma x
Writing Essays With Wine
I loved the Australia, Belgium and Sweden entries the most x
DeleteI didn't watch Eurovision 2015 because I had no time, even though watching Eurovision is my tradition with family. And I regret that I didn't watch it this year because Latvia had good chance to win, it was first time after so many years when we sent pretty good performer and song as well to Eurovision, also I haven't heard no other song. Going to check out other songs in Youtube for sure. And talking about voting.. When I was a little girl me and my sis always voted! But not for our neighbors but for the songs we actually liked. How others vote - I don't know and actually I don't care anymore, because at the end watching Eurovision is tradition of most of our families and we should enjoy music that every country brings to us!
ReplyDeletehttp://happinessvictim.blogspot.com
x
Watching Eurovision is a tradition for us too - we used to vote but not anymore because it doesn't really make a difference! x
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