Eurovision 2022

[staffordian]

I was a little puzzled by the voting process.

Am I right in thinking all 40(?) entries, including those eliminated in the semi finals contributed to the jury vote, but only the 25 finalist countries had a popular vote?

I was half heartedly trying to work out the total number of points available for the popular vote but couldn't summon the enthusiasm to do the maths.

[moorfield]

- but this was a charade for the innumerate watching the illiterate and the tone deaf.

Harsh but fair summation of typical BBC Saturday Night viewing...

[mc2fool]

I think Ukraine was actually about 6th after the first round. Of course the vox pox vote was always going to heavily go to Ukraine. At the end they were a very easy winner. After the Ukraine vox pox vote had come in, there was no way the UK could win - there was just not enough votes left. Of course, Norton and the main hosts tried to keep the tension going - but this was a charade for the innumerate watching the illiterate and the tone deaf.

Ukraine was 4th after the jury votes, after UK, Sweden & Spain, and while I agree that it was unlikely that the UK would win after the Ukraine televotes had come in, it wasn't impossible.

At that point Ukraine had a combined (jury + public) score of 631 vs the UK's jury-only score of 283, leaving a shortfall of 349 to win. Then the public gave 228 votes to Spain, 180 to Sweden and 183 to the UK, so there was a total of 591 votes left that the 349 could have come from. So, possible, although as I say, I agree unlikely.

Detailed numbers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2022#Final_2, click on "show" next to "Split results (Final)" for the simpler presentation.

[mc2fool]

I was a little puzzled by the voting process.

Am I right in thinking all 40(?) entries, including those eliminated in the semi finals contributed to the jury vote, but only the 25 finalist countries had a popular vote?

I was half heartedly trying to work out the total number of points available for the popular vote but couldn't summon the enthusiasm to do the maths.

No, all 40 had both jury and public votes. See the wikipedia page I linked to above.

[terminal7]

I think Ukraine was actually about 6th after the first round. Of course the vox pox vote was always going to heavily go to Ukraine. At the end they were a very easy winner. After the Ukraine vox pox vote had come in, there was no way the UK could win - there was just not enough votes left. Of course, Norton and the main hosts tried to keep the tension going - but this was a charade for the innumerate watching the illiterate and the tone deaf.

Ukraine was 4th after the jury votes, after UK, Sweden & Spain, and while I agree that it was unlikely that the UK would win after the Ukraine televotes had come in, it wasn't impossible.

At that point Ukraine had a combined (jury + public) score of 631 vs the UK's jury-only score of 283, leaving a shortfall of 349 to win. Then the public gave 228 votes to Spain, 180 to Sweden and 183 to the UK, so there was a total of 591 votes left that the 349 could have come from. So, possible, although as I say, I agree unlikely.

Detailed numbers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2022#Final_2, click on "show" next to "Split results (Final)" for the simpler presentation.

mc2fool - of course statistically you are correct - but against by definition a distribution between UK and the no 2 and no 3 'songs' and a well known international antipathy (no names no pack drill) - thus once the Ukraine vote was announced game over.

T7

[Hallucigenia]

Strangely, given the unhealthy obsession with Eurovision I remember from Scandinavia, I really didn't think that much of the Swedish entry this year (and the less said about Finland the better)

As per usual the ones I picked while watching (Lithuania - I'm a sucker for a retro dynamic filter/auto wah and Switzerland ) did pants

The Swedish one was the other one I didn't really like on first listen but I gave it another chance based on where it was in the betting and it grew on me. It's not my favourite - if you're going to do Adele-wrapped-in-a-Cardigan then I'd prefer a lot less angst and a lot more Nina Persson - but I can see it's a song that the Adele-buying masses will like.

Lithuania's was OK, but the time for cute ballads was 30 years ago, you need something with a bit more of an X factor to stand out these days. Either vocally or in the staging.

I am going to stick my head over the parapet and say that I thought Ukraine's was a crap song too. For once I am agreeing with Piers Morgan, the whole thing felt like a rigged farce. I think there are better ways we can virtue-signal our support for Ukraine, we could all stand out in the street and clap once a week, for example.

It may not have been to your taste, but it was decent enough. In normal times it would have scored highly among the Eastern European countries (who have a lot of voting power) but was catchy and quirky enough that it would be picking up lower placings from western countries. It wouldn't have won but I could see it beating Serbia's hand-washing woman for 4th.

I don't know what Piers Morgan thinks about Eurovision and I really don't care, but it's not rigged if it's the result of millions of people voting. Yes it would be nice if it was a "pure" vote on the merits of the performance, but at the same time who wins Eurovision...Doesn't Really Matter. So I don't have too much of a problem with people giving Ukraine a 5-minute adrenaline rush, it's harmless enough and they need the boost more than the rest of us.

Actually, I think it's probably a blessing in disguise for Sam Ryder in the same way as not winning X Factor tends to be better for your career than actually winning it. Maneskin being the most recent example, losing in 2017 to Lorenzo Licitra who went on to be the Italian Matt Terry.

Ryder could do without the burden from the British media that comes with being a Eurovision winner, but has had great exposure and I'm sure that he'll go on to a successful career in music.

[CliffEdge]

Shame Puddles can't enter

[pje16]

Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian band which won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, have sold their trophy for $900,000 (£712,000; €838,000) to raise money for the war in Ukraine.
Nice one
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61628590