Finishing off my thoughts on Eurovision this year, I wanted to share my top six (with two honourable mentions) based on performances/recordings I’d seen prior to the final, and then my reflections post-final!
The top six:
Australia – One Milkali
Switzerland – The Code
San Marino – 11:11
Czechia – Pedestal
Poland – The Tower
Netherlands – Europapa
And my two honourable mentions were Norway (Ulveham), and Croatia (Rim Tim Tagi Dim)!
Now, having watched Eurovision…my thoughts:
I was very disappointed when I saw the list of countries in the final, as only one of my top six featured (Switzerland), though my two honourable mentions were also performing (Norway and Croatia). I had especially been looking forward to Australia’s One Milkali, Czechia’s Pedestal, and Netherland’s Europapa!
Anyway, the actual performances. I thought Sweden, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Finland, Croatia and Switzerland did really well, with particular stand out LIVE performances from Estonia, Norway, and Finland! The UK sadly, of all the performances, to me was probably the weakest live, and seemed to me to be significantly worse than the recording.
Noting my above thoughts..I was obviously very shocked by the results, with most of the countries I’d liked not coming near the top! Fortunately, one of my favourites, from both the initial thoughts based on the music videos and pre-contest performances, and on the night, won – Switzerland. Congratulations Nemo, a deserved winner!!!
(Also, a few other musings: why did Netherlands leave the competition? I wonder how the current events re Israel affected scoring. There were far fewer countries singing in English this year, which I liked, as I love hearing different languages! The production didn’t feel as grand or fun as some years (sorry Sweden).
Obviously, there were many controversies this year, many political and relating to Israel’s war on Gaza, but also the usual fixings, alliances, raunchy outfits. I have chosen to not expand on these in this post and in my reflection, because I want this blog to just be a personal, for-fun kind of thing.
Did you watch Eurovision this year, and what were your thoughts?