Fun fact. A guy in Wales thought he was betting for the UEFA Euros and chose Italy to win it. He however made a mistake and went to the Eurovision bets instead And he won
This weekend the Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest takes place. Because of the sentiment the Ukraine are given by bookmakers a 60% chance winning the contest. This sounds unfair. This is about artists giving their best to produce the best song for this contest's edition. If their efforts are diminished because of non artistic reasons, it's very unfair. We might as well give the stage solely to the contenders from the Ukraine and give the other contenders next year to compete. I'm curious how well the bookmakers have gauged the sentiment
https://www.billboard.com/pro/nemo-the-code-eurovision-global-chart/ The song Europapa by Joost Klein is not only popular in Europe, but also does well in the United States. Of the more than 23 million times the song was streamed last week, 7.44 percent of the listeners came from America, Billboard reports. That's the highest U.S. share for a Eurovision song since 2021, when Måneskin scored worldwide. It's a kind of weird as the song is mostly in Dutch.
People, the greatest show on earth kicks off again!!!!!!!!!!! https://apnews.com/article/eurovision-how-to-watch-guide-27895fca2545096c4489de24718b6440 The competition will be aired by national broadcasters in participating nations, on streaming service Peacock in the United States and in many countries on the Eurovision YouTube channel. Bars and clubs in many European cities will show the final at parties. Halfdan Helgi Matthiasson, representing Iceland as half of sibling duo VAEB, said his family watches the classic, way, “sitting on a sofa with popcorn and snacks.” Croatian contestant Marko Bošnjak said he was usually “the person who was hosting the Eurovision parties and forcing everybody to give me their scores and papers,” adding: “It’s my Olympics. I live for this.” Adonxs, this year’s competitor from Czechia, has fond memories of working in a London pub where staff were body-painted in the colors of a national flag. “I did get an allergic reaction on my face the next morning, which I did not appreciate,” he said. “But yeah, I guess it was worth it.”
Parade, protests kick off Eurovision Song Contest week The Jordan Times 3 hours ago The Eurovision Song Contest burst into Basel on Sunday, but a parade launching a week of build-up to the grand final was marked by protests over Israel's participation.The Swiss city is hosting the 69th edition of the world's biggest annual live televised music event,
1549 Eurovision queen Celine Dion didn't rule out a superstar performance at this year's contest in Switzerland in a video message broadcast during the first semi-final on Wednesday.
War reaches Ukrainian rock band Ziferblat even at the Eurovision Song Contest ABC News 20 minutes ago BASEL, Switzerland -- Ukraine's musicians can't escape war, even at the Eurovision Song Contest. Rock band Ziferblat were in Basel, Switzerland to represent their country when they learned the home of backing singer Khrystyna Starykova in a frontline region of eastern Ukraine had been destroyed by Russian shelling.
1621 Belgium and Spain want investigation into televoting at Eurovision because of surprising result Israel The public broadcasters of Belgium and Spain demand an investigation into telephone voting in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the vote among the audience, Israel finished first last Saturday and with that singer Yuval Raphael won the song festival by a hair's breadth. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is even calling on organizer European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude Israel, just as happened earlier with Russia. AvroTros, the broadcaster that broadcasts the Eurovision song contest in the Netherlands, will come 'probably Tuesday' with a response. "We are still in talks with the NPO," said a spokesperson. In the end, Austria took the win, thanks to a number 1 score with the professional jury. The result is determined by that result and the votes of the public. The Israeli entry fell outside the top 10 of the professional jury. "The VRT works well with the EBU in many areas, but without a serious answer to our concerns in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest, we do question our future participation," says a spokesperson on the site of the Belgian broadcaster. From Belgium, just like from Spain, 12 points went to Israel's entry on behalf of the public. In Spain, the public broadcaster has also asked the EBU for an investigation. The VRT has no indications that the scoring would not have been done correctly, but does ask for full transparency from the EBU. "The question is mainly whether the current voting system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinion of viewers and listeners," said the spokesperson. Each television viewer can vote up to twenty times by text message. Online campaign In Belgium, the online campaign that Israeli embassies in the participating countries have spread via social media is also blamed. 'Hey friends! I have put my heart and soul into New day will rise and I hope it appeals to you. If so, vote number 14. You can vote up to twenty times. Let's rise together," shouted Israeli participant Yuval Raphael in that message, which was distributed in English, Spanish and French. Ossi Menache, head of public diplomacy at the embassy in France, shared a screenshot of how she had voted for Israel several times. She called for the same to be done. Billboard in New York In recent days, there was even a billboard of Yuval Raphael on Times Square in New York, the Belgian newspaper De Standaard wrote on Monday morning. "The US does not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, but since the category 'rest of the world' was introduced last year, in which votes are bundled from all non-participating countries, every little bit counts," according to the newspaper. Of 'the rest of the world', Israel effectively received the maximum score of 12 points in the final. It is still unclear to what extent television viewers voted for political reasons, or out of sympathy with the singer, who survived the drama of October 7, or because they just thought it was a good entry. "There is no formal rule that prohibits calls to vote for a particular participant," says Eurovision expert Jonathan Hendrickx, professor of Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen to the VRT. "Only, if a government gets involved, then you get into the waters of the so-called apolitical nature of the competition. You could call that a form of manipulable outcome." Fine Belgium and Spain, together with Ireland, are the countries within the European Union where there is a relatively high sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Spain was also the first country to want a debate on Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, now that the Netanyahu government has been acting ruthlessly in Gaza for months. More than 53,000 people have now died there, since Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas there after the terror attack of October 7, 2023. Spain's commentators also briefly touched on Gaza during their introduction to the Israeli entry. The EBU has therefore imposed a fine on the Spanish broadcaster. Political expressions are prohibited during the Eurovision Song Contest. Spain wants Israel out In the meantime, politics is also getting involved. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is even calling on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest, just as happened with Russia before. "We can't apply double standards when it comes to culture," he said at a press conference on Monday afternoon. "I don't think anyone was shocked when we demanded that Russia be excluded from international competitions, including the Eurovision Song Contest. So Israel should not participate either." According to the prime minister, Spain and Europe must be "consistent" when it comes to human rights. Russia was excluded from participating in the music competition after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In Belgium, the governing party Vooruit, similar to the Dutch PvdA, called for an investigation into televoting earlier Monday. "A system in which everyone can cast up to twenty votes is a system that encourages manipulation," said MP Katia Segers. "Whether this manipulation has happened in our country and also all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated." The Greens have now supported the call. The EUBU responds The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) says in a response that they 'take the concerns seriously'. But: "It is important to emphasize that the voting procedure of the Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most advanced in the world," says EBU director Martin Green to the Belga news agency. "In each participating country, the result is carefully checked and verified to rule out suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent supervisor monitors the validity of both the jury and the public votes." The Eurovision Song Contest is working with the German technology company Once for the televoting. According to the EBU, Once has confirmed that a valid vote has been registered for the final in all participating countries and in the rest of the world.