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Another year, another edition of Eurovision, and if you read a couple of my posts here in Aliferous, you know that I am a big Eurovision fan. Last year Portugal won, and I made a post in which I shared some of my opinions of the contest (click here). Today I intend to do the same thing.
To begin with, this year I started following the news and developments of the competition even earlier than the previous year. That's one of the reasons why the final results of the contest were a letdown for me, and you will understand why I am saying this while reading this text.
Anyways, after months of wait (in which I saw countless interviews, performances, tops on YouTube...), Eurovision week arrived. This way, I had my expectations high for my favourites and I was ready and excited to watch the semi-finals and final. Further, my country, Portugal, was the host, so I was quite curious to see how we were going to respond to this major role. Likewise, I can already say that I found the stage artistic, and in my viewpoint, the hosts Catarina Furtado, Filomena Cautela, Daniela Ruah and Sílvia Alberto, with the exception of some awkward jokes, did a decent job presenting. Also, this year I didn't watch the opening ceremony, so I can't talk about that, but I saw some press conferences with Pedro Granger (he was the first person to come to my mind when I thought who could host Eurovision, I think he would do an awesome job) and Pedro Penim, and they were great.
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| Daniela Ruah - Sílvia Alberto - Catarina Furtado - Filomena Cautela |
I start watching the first semi-final last Tuesday without the intention to see all the show because I had to study. However, my intentions were completely crushed, and in the third music, I already knew that there was no way out. "I can study when it's finished" - I thought happily, oh if I only knew that two hours later I would be so angry that I would not even want to take a book. Well, firstly I enjoyed the show, the problem is that a lot of the songs of the first semi-final were in my big favourites, and unfortunately, I knew that I would have some disgusts by the end of the program since it was a strong semi-final.
Namely, I was shocked that Belarus and Greece didn't pass to the final. Believe me, I was genuinely angry. I am still, to be honest. I never thought that they would not go through. For me, ALEKSEEV and Yianna Terzi had two of the best songs of the contest this year, and both performances were amazing! ALEKSEEV improved so much since his actuation in the national final. In fact, his voice was flawless, he was gorgeous (yes, as always and even with his back filled with roses) and the performance was so unique and crazy, in a good way of course. Forever is a song that I will certainly keep listening, the melody and the lyrics have a dark touch, it's addictive and I love it. In addition, Oniro Mou from Yianna Terzi is a beautiful song with an ethnic vibe that I adore. With the exception of 2016 (yes, I was one of the few persons that enjoyed Utopian Land by Argo) Greece songs in recent years were not my cup of tea, so I was fascinated when I first heard Oniro Mou. I was disappointed that neither of these wonderful songs passed, especially when I consider that their quality was better than some songs that won their tickets to the final.
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| ALEKSEEV |
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| Yianna Terzi |
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| ZiBBZ |
In my perspective, Ireland and Albania going to the final were of the few good points of that night. I was not anticipating. Before the show, I was commenting with my sisters how low I thought the chances of these two countries of going to the final were, sadly, and later I was even talking with Jesika saying how much I wanted that to happen but didn't believe that it would occur. Good that I was wrong. Ryan O’Shaughnessy's song Together was lovely, I actually liked it since the first time that I listened. Eugent Bushpepa has such a strong voice, and Mall is a great song.
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| Ryan O'Shaughnessy |
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| Eugent Bushpepa |
Finally: the grand finale. From a general point of view, it was a pleasant spectacle, the Portuguese performances in the opening and interval act were beautiful (although I was expecting a little more for the interval act), and with the exception of the accident with the United Kingdom, it was well organized. With this said, the final results, as I said before, were a huge disappointment. I was aware that Israel and Cyprus were relevant candidates for the win this year, but in my opinion, they would reach top 10, yet not the victory. Sincerely, I was never much a fan of Fuego by Eleni Foureira (albeit, I admit that the performance was powerful) and Toy, by Netta, I enjoyed listening to a couple of times when it first came out, but I got quickly tired of the music until I reach the point where I could not even hear the sounds of the chicken! I mean, I don't understand how Netta won when Eurovision this year was filled with wonderful music. I am not saying that Netta was bad, I am just saying that her song doesn't have any sense and there were better songs - in my opinion, of course. Personally, my favourites for the win were Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro with Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente. I fell in love with the beautiful music in Sanremo, I heard it countless times after that, and I appreciate the melody and lyrics more and more every time. The singers have strong voices that combine very well, and their stage presence is passionate. Even if you don't understand what they are singing, you feel their emotions, the rage and simultaneously the hope that they are trying to transmit. You automatically know that their message is important. Fabrizio and Ermal deserved better.
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| Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro |
Hungary and Denmark were other countries that I would rather see win. AWS with Viszlát Nyár were astonishing! The group perform with such passion, they are so talented, and the music is a masterpiece, with a deep meaning actually. I believe that I might continue to follow their work after this. Rasmussen, for its part, represented Denmark with Higher Ground. The song is inspiring, his voice is impeccable, and the performance is one of those that make you follow the action without looking away from the screen.
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| AWS |
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| Rasmussen |
Moreover, Bulgaria (EQUINOX - Bones), Estonia (Elina Nechayeva - La Forza) and Ukraine (MELOVIN - Under The Ladder) were other entrances that I truly valued this year. I understand and can appreciate the lyrics of Mercy by Madame Monsieur, but I find the song a little bit repetitive, and I prefer France's last entry. I still like to listen to F.Y.R. Macedonia's Lost And Found by Eye Cue, but their performance was such a letdown for me, I wish they would just focus on the song instead of pacing the stage trying to do something but doing nothing special at all. Belgium's entry with Sennek's A Matter Of Time was equally a disappoint: I adore the music but the performance was not appealing. Lastly, although I didn't think it was fair the number of points that Sweden received from the jury, Benjamin Ingrosso with Dance You Off was a grower for me, as well as Switzerland since in the beginning for some reason I didn't like the song at all, but it ended up being one of my big favourites. The Czech Republic with Mikolas Josef's Lie To Me was my guilty pleasure of the year.
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| Elina Nechayeva |
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| MELOVIN |
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| Mikolas Josef |
I also want to mention Alexander Rybak return to Eurovision. I was so happy when I hear the news that my favourite winner (apart from Salvador Sobral) was coming back. Being completely honest, when I first heard That’s How You Write A Song I didn't know what to think, but I remember saying to my sisters "Let's wait for his performance, it will certainly be awesome". I was right: in my evaluation, the performance elevated the music. Rybak has so much charisma, undeniable talent and excellent voice. I was delighted with his participation.
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| Alexander Rybak |
Lastly, about Portugal... I understand that O Jardim by Cláudia Pascoal was not the strongest entrance this year, but the last place? I was shocked. The music is in my top 10 of this year! Oh well, Cláudia and Isaura should be proud because they represented well our country.
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| Cláudia and Isaura |
To sum up, 2018 was a year of surprises. Both the jury and televoting results were unexpected, and I am very dissatisfied with the place that some of my favourites got. There were entries that, for sure, deserved better. Did I like that both Israel and Cyprus got first and second place respectively? No, but I can't do anything about that. The fact that we don't like the winner or any other entry is not a reason to disrespect the person as an artist. Eurovision this year was a disappointment for me, but I get to know some amazing singers and marvellous music, that's a victory. For next year there is more!
Here's a recap of all songs from Eurovision this year in case you are interested:
What did you think about Eurovision 2018?
Do you agree with Israel victory?
What was your favourite performance of the year?
Do you agree with Israel victory?
What was your favourite performance of the year?
Nb: I do not own any of these images and video and I am not trying to infringe copyright here.
Hope you’re having an amazing week!
Mariana Nunes
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