So who will win?! Will they deserve it?
There will be many questions being asked this year in Belgrade and as with previous years, most will centre around the votes and finalists/winner.
As more and more Eastern Europeans embrace the Eurovision, it seems that we are seeing a lot more resentment against the winners - whether it be a western or eastern European country. I've read with a sense of shame numerous comments on eurovision websites or chatrooms, where fans have taken patriotism to a different and wrong level, where patriotism is substituted for hatred of other countries.
So after a number of years of complaints, the EBU have finally changed the qualification process in an attempt to stamp out friendly voting. However, with so many variables in the contest, have they just changed the process just to appease the moaners?!
So how do the EBU count for.....
1. The migration of Eastern Europeans into the western countries after being accepted into the EU,
2. The quality of the song,
3. The music scene of Europe (i.e. Russian artists may be big stars in ex-USSR countries, Greek ones in Cyprus and vice versa.)
and we could go on and on with variables.
Also, with the apathy of some countries, come songs which are never going to win! How can Estonia, Cyprus, Croatia or Ireland ,to name a few,ever hope to win with the songs they have entered? And one thing we can say for certain, is that when they don't win and totally flop - their country's press will be questioning why they are continuing in the contest when they never win.
So lets say we had stayed with one semi final this year instead of going to the two semi-finals, how different could it have been (the qualifiers from the semi-final are my own opinions and obviously will change from others)........
1. One Semi final.
Automatic qualifiers to final...... Serbia, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Belarus, Greece, Armenia, Hungary and Moldova.
Semi-final winners.... Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Denmark, Albania and Andorra
2. Two Semi finals.....
Automatic qualifiers to final...... Serbia, UK, France, Spain and Germany.
Semi 1 winners.... Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Ireland, Andorra, Netherlands, Romania & Russia
Semi 2 winners.... Iceland, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland, Belarus, Denmark, Malta, Hungary, Czech Rep. and Portugal
So here is how the finals would line up....
1. Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and UK.
2. Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and UK.
So there's quite a bit of a difference in the qualifiers for the final, who knows if it would make for a better final or not. With one semi you have 12 eastern countries and 12 western ones, which if my predictions were correct then you have a totally balanced final. Obviously, my predictions are based on my liking of the songs and not on the countries. With two semi finals, we have 11 eastern countries and 14 western countries, so a bit more biased towards western countries.
So back to my earlier question...."Have the EBU changed the process to appease the western European countries to make it easier for them to qualify?" On my prediction, you could get to thinking that the answer is yes, but obviously, the Eurovision is never that simple.
Having attended the last two Eurovision Song Contests, I welcome the creation of two semi-finals, as it was getting stupid with all countries trying to qualify on the same night! What I do not welcome is fixing the semi-finals to include some and exclude others. The Eurovision should be on a level playing field for all countries and not an artificial one for some countries to have a better chance of qualifying. We should never forget that the contest was originally designed to bring countries together rather than splitting them apart. ENJOY IT!
A final thought.... I wonder if maybe the EBU could fix it to make some countries as unpopular as the UK so that we get a chance of winning it again! Ah well, we can dream eh?!
Your comments are welcome.
As more and more Eastern Europeans embrace the Eurovision, it seems that we are seeing a lot more resentment against the winners - whether it be a western or eastern European country. I've read with a sense of shame numerous comments on eurovision websites or chatrooms, where fans have taken patriotism to a different and wrong level, where patriotism is substituted for hatred of other countries.
So after a number of years of complaints, the EBU have finally changed the qualification process in an attempt to stamp out friendly voting. However, with so many variables in the contest, have they just changed the process just to appease the moaners?!
So how do the EBU count for.....
1. The migration of Eastern Europeans into the western countries after being accepted into the EU,
2. The quality of the song,
3. The music scene of Europe (i.e. Russian artists may be big stars in ex-USSR countries, Greek ones in Cyprus and vice versa.)
and we could go on and on with variables.
Also, with the apathy of some countries, come songs which are never going to win! How can Estonia, Cyprus, Croatia or Ireland ,to name a few,ever hope to win with the songs they have entered? And one thing we can say for certain, is that when they don't win and totally flop - their country's press will be questioning why they are continuing in the contest when they never win.
So lets say we had stayed with one semi final this year instead of going to the two semi-finals, how different could it have been (the qualifiers from the semi-final are my own opinions and obviously will change from others)........
1. One Semi final.
Automatic qualifiers to final...... Serbia, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Belarus, Greece, Armenia, Hungary and Moldova.
Semi-final winners.... Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Denmark, Albania and Andorra
2. Two Semi finals.....
Automatic qualifiers to final...... Serbia, UK, France, Spain and Germany.
Semi 1 winners.... Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Ireland, Andorra, Netherlands, Romania & Russia
Semi 2 winners.... Iceland, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland, Belarus, Denmark, Malta, Hungary, Czech Rep. and Portugal
So here is how the finals would line up....
1. Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and UK.
2. Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and UK.
So there's quite a bit of a difference in the qualifiers for the final, who knows if it would make for a better final or not. With one semi you have 12 eastern countries and 12 western ones, which if my predictions were correct then you have a totally balanced final. Obviously, my predictions are based on my liking of the songs and not on the countries. With two semi finals, we have 11 eastern countries and 14 western countries, so a bit more biased towards western countries.
So back to my earlier question...."Have the EBU changed the process to appease the western European countries to make it easier for them to qualify?" On my prediction, you could get to thinking that the answer is yes, but obviously, the Eurovision is never that simple.
Having attended the last two Eurovision Song Contests, I welcome the creation of two semi-finals, as it was getting stupid with all countries trying to qualify on the same night! What I do not welcome is fixing the semi-finals to include some and exclude others. The Eurovision should be on a level playing field for all countries and not an artificial one for some countries to have a better chance of qualifying. We should never forget that the contest was originally designed to bring countries together rather than splitting them apart. ENJOY IT!
A final thought.... I wonder if maybe the EBU could fix it to make some countries as unpopular as the UK so that we get a chance of winning it again! Ah well, we can dream eh?!
Your comments are welcome.
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