United Kingdom 2024: Olly Alexander - Dizzy (1 Viewer)

Left you Dizzy?

  • Total voters
    42
VoR said:
If you go back to the posts from the day Dizzy dropped, you can see how the vast majority of us are really having to talk ourselves into liking it. :D
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I don't think I even managed that :D

Dizzy is current-sounding, sure. But all that ever really meant to me was that it wouldn't have sounded out of place on the latest Years & Years album. I probably wouldn't skip it, but equally, it's not a song that I can imagine jumping out as a potential single, let alone a Eurovision entry.

Anyway, I know I'm going to come across like a right old PRUDE, but the more I've read people's thoughts about the staging, the more I feel Dizzy embodies a show that came across as a little bit TOO sexualised at times this year. Titillation is part and parcel of Eurovision, sure, but I lost count of the number of times Graham Norton mentioned a performance containing male 'nudity'.
 
Regarding Mae Muller, she had a very "easy to listen to and instantly love" song performed very weakly on stage.
Olly had an ok-ish song without a lot of radio-friendliness or that "grabbing you by the brains"-pull of a song, really coming to life on stage.
Neither had good voices to perform the song live, yet Mae murdered her chances when she sang it live, whilst Olly made the song shine with the staging and his own stage presence.

What I see here is the UK really trying to find the right formula. It doesn't matter if it failed in the final ranking.
For me, this is much better than sending wet t*rds like Jemini or Josh Dubovie.
 
Havada Kedavra - I Hak to Destroy! said:
I do remember hearing that he was approached and interested the same year as Sam Ryder but either pulled out or was declined due to lack of a suitable song.
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Yes, that's right. I heard an interview from his staging director Theo Adams, who said that Eurovision was on the cards two years ago but it wasn't the right time for Olly due to touring/lack of songs etc.
 
ZZ said:
What I see here is the UK really trying to find the right formula. It doesn't matter if it failed in the final ranking.
For me, this is much better than sending wet t*rds like Jemini or Josh Dubovie.
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Exactly. For all the valid criticisms - which I think everyone accepts, to a degree - it's surely the UK is better failing as a result of actually trying. I know it's scant praise, but I'd rather this than try to salvage positives from the bin fire of something like Embers.
 
Slave said:
Exactly. For all the valid criticisms - which I think everyone accepts, to a degree - it's surely the UK is better failing as a result of actually trying. I know it's scant praise, but I'd rather this than try to salvage positives from the bin fire of something like Embers.
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Of course - this was an effort, it didn’t land. Hopefully it is part of a learning curve (but it remains strange that the biggest takeaway from last year wasn’t dealt with).
 
Una Kratz per San Marino said:
Of course - this was an effort, it didn’t land. Hopefully it is part of a learning curve (but it remains strange that the biggest takeaway from last year wasn’t dealt with).
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Yes, true. Although I suppose for me, the wider question it begs is how Olly Alexander has managed to sustain a high-profile pop career for a decade. It isn't as if Years & Years shied away from live gigs; he's been lacklustre as a live performer since they released King, yet artists like Elton John and Kylie Minogue are willing to work with him. It isn't as if Eurovision was the point where someone was going to turn around and say, 'Actually no, you're a bit shit live'. I suspect they just crossed their fingers and hoped the audience would hear whatever it is that's kept him on a major deal because there are evidently people willing to look beyond his glaring limitations.
 
I'm hearing a lot of "noone with a high profile is going to want to touch this next year", whilst that might end up being true - it really isn't the issue - CAN THEY SING?

A lot of people slept on Portugal this year, but as soon as she started singing there was a unanimous consensus at our watch party of "that's going to do VERY well with the juries"

Back to basics I say.
 
Slave said:
Yes, true. Although I suppose for me, the wider question it begs is how Olly Alexander has managed to sustain a high-profile pop career for a decade. It isn't as if Years & Years shied away from live gigs; he's been lacklustre as a live performer since they released King, yet artists like Elton John and Kylie Minogue are willing to work with him.
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I don't understand the question. Madonna has managed it for half a century.
 
Olly is a great personality and live performer, he's just an average vocalist and a bit off-putting at times. Same as Madonna.
 
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Baby bypasanga said:
I'm hearing a lot of "noone with a high profile is going to want to touch this next year", whilst that might end up being true - it really isn't the issue - CAN THEY SING?

A lot of people slept on Portugal this year, but as soon as she started singing there was a unanimous consensus at our watch party of "that's going to do VERY well with the juries"

Back to basics I say.
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At the same time, a show of 25 Portugals would be SO BORING.
 
GNL said:
At the same time, a show of 25 Portugals would be SO BORING.
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Also true, but I think that(rightly or wrongly) the audience increasingly expects the fun entries to come from certain quarters and the UK isn't one.

It's also one of(in addition to a fantastic performance of course) the reasons why Sam Ryder resonated- because that sound is very much in line with what we are known for and what people expect from us.

Not saying our entries should all be Rock/Queen knock offs but you only need to look at France to see that playing into stereotypes(2021, 24) hasn't exactly hurt them.
 
Baby bypasanga said:
Also true, but I think that(rightly or wrongly) the audience increasingly expects the fun entries to come from certain quarters and the UK isn't one.

It's also one of(in addition to a fantastic performance of course) the reasons why Sam Ryder resonated- because that sound is very much in line with what we are known for and what people expect from us.

Not saying our entries should all be Rock/Queen knock offs but you only need to look at France to see that playing into stereotypes(2021, 24) hasn't exactly hurt them.
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For what it's worth, Olly's song WAS a Pet Shop Boys pastiche.

I don't know how much Europeans think of Blackpool's greatest export, but I hope it's a lot and often.
 
cwej said:
Mentioning Olly Alexander and Madonna in the same breath just invalidates any argument you're trying to make. Ridiculous.
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Olly is a better vocalist than Madonna sorry.

Even if Madonna has the songs and charismah.
 
Just popped in to say that Olly Alexander does not have a better voice than Madonna.

Madonna might struggle live sometimes and doesn’t have the most powerful vox in the world. But she has one of the most emotive, nuanced and recognisable vocals the world has ever heard, make no mistake. I don’t mince words with that. Not so much now, but between maybe True Blue and American Life, it was very special. Whether that’s by design or just a sound she was accidentally born with doesn’t matter. You don’t get the career she has had by being ‘average’ vocally.
 
Madonna is good at emoting and was at her peak around Evita but is not as good a singer than Olly Alexander (who isn't amazing but is proficient). But I won't argue about it.
 
funky said:
Just popped in to say that Olly Alexander does not have a better voice than Madonna.

Madonna might struggle live sometimes and doesn’t have the most powerful vox in the world. But she has one of the most emotive, nuanced and recognisable vocals the world has ever heard, make no mistake. I don’t mince words with that. Not so much now, but between maybe True Blue and American Life, it was very special. Whether that’s by design or just a sound she was accidentally born with doesn’t matter. You don’t get the career she has had by being ‘average’ vocally.
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Plenty of people have great careers with average vocals. She's amazing at plenty but she is not a naturally great singer.

And super technique doesn't matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of pop music but let's be honest.
 
Is this really degenerating into an Olly v Madonna discussion for no apparent valid reason? How reductive, if we were all 15 and posting 20 years ago then maybe.

A lot of the comments I’ve read on social media about Olly’s performance was that it was too (gay) sexual and whilst that’s not something that sits with me it may have affected votes. Kitsch and camp seem more accepted still. That’s not to say I think the performance was wrong as visibility brings about normalisation but it is something I’ve seen said quite a few times.
 
BoysForSeles said:
Is this really degenerating into an Olly v Madonna discussion for no apparent valid reason? How reductive, if we were all 15 and posting 20 years ago then maybe.

A lot of the comments I’ve read on social media about Olly’s performance was that it was too (gay) sexual and whilst that’s not something that sits with me it may have affected votes. Kitsch and camp seem more accepted still. That’s not to say I think the performance was wrong as visibility brings about normalisation but it is something I’ve seen said quite a few times.
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Eurovision is plenty sexual, but what that performance was was a gay porn pastiche, which is rather next level.
 
BoysForSeles said:
Is this really degenerating into an Olly v Madonna discussion for no apparent valid reason? How reductive, if we were all 15 and posting 20 years ago then maybe.

A lot of the comments I’ve read on social media about Olly’s performance was that it was too (gay) sexual and whilst that’s not something that sits with me it may have affected votes. Kitsch and camp seem more accepted still.
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Just like Madonna!
 
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