What next for Eurovision? (1 Viewer)

Kaleen

Kaleen

We rum-di-dum-dum-da
Pronouns
He/Him
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
26,870
Location
Malmö
This year has been a culmination of events which has left a really sour taste and the reputation of both Eurovision and the EBU has been seriously damaged. But what can be done to save Eurovision?

I think this has been brewing for a while, Eurovision has become a victim of its own success. Before it was almost a niche fun event but it has become so big and mainstream that I’m not sure it can carry on in its current format. Israel aside, the whole event just seems too pressurised for the acts and social media is eating the contest from the inside. It seems like all the fun has disappeared from the contest and it’s a shadow of its former self.
 
Kaleen said:
It seems like all the fun has disappeared
Click to expand...
Said by the same people who thought that The Netherlands and Finland were heralding the demise of Eurovision.

Anyway, change at the top, and make rules for competing slightly stricter, to give more options for the EBU to prevent a country from taking part. e.g. If you cannot reasonably guarantee security in the case of your country winning, you can't take part. Solves the Ukraine and Israel problems currently without being too politically motivated, and you could always offer any country affected a few minutes at the interval or something so they can still have a platform of some description
 
This edition must have been unprecedently painful for the artists.
It was never easy but next year is going to be even more difficult to find interesting artists that will accept to put themselves through this tremendous pressure.
 
It feels like they dodged a bullet with Switzerland winning and Croatia also beating Israel on the televote, but the Israel (and to a lesser extent Ukraine) problem isn't going away for the foreseeable so they need to sort that out. They also need to be more transparent and better at issuing statements in good time - although a lot of the fan drama goes totally unnoticed by the general public of course (NL's disqualification aside, which will no doubt rumble on for some time). They also need to do something about the cost as it feels like we're at the absolute minimum of competing countries now, a semi of 15 just feels too small.

The social media environment is indeed toxic for artists, but I'm not sure how much control they can really exert over that - unfortunately it seems like a part of life for anyone in the public sphere now. Although that's not to say they can't try somehow.
 
ZenGiraffe said:
Said by the same people who thought that The Netherlands and Finland were clarion calls for the demise of Eurovision.

Anyway, change at the top, and make rules for competing slightly stricter, to give more options for the EBU to prevent a country from taking part. e.g. If you cannot reasonably guarantee security in the case of your country winning, you can't take part. Solves the Ukraine and Israel problems currently without being too politically motivated, and you could always offer any country affected a few minutes at the interval or something so they can still have a platform of some description
Click to expand...
But we don't want to lose Ukraine. It punishes victims.

If a country suffers a run of major terror attacks (say France, as the most notable nation to experience such events), do they also get excluded?
 
Poor SertAg (39) said:
But we don't want to lose Ukraine. It punishes victims.

If a country suffers a run of major terror attacks (say France, as the most notable nation to experience such events), do they also get excluded?
Click to expand...
That's why I am saying give them an interval slot. Things need to be balanced with the reality on the ground. We were in Liverpool for a reason and it just doesn't make sense to have that as a lingering potential outcome for another few contests.
 
ZenGiraffe said:
That's why I am saying give them an interval slot. Things need to be balanced with the reality on the ground. We were in Liverpool for a reason and it just doesn't make sense to have that as a lingering potential outcome for another few contests.
Click to expand...
Interval is nothing compared to competing though.
 
ZenGiraffe said:
I agree, but also, competing means potentially winning, and the problems that come with that.
Click to expand...
Ukraine co-hosted and fortunately got the UK, a country they have good relations with. That wasn't an issue, despite a few internal protestations.

I agree that Israel winning would have been a fucking nightmare.

An interesting outcome would have been Ukraine winning and Israel second. That's a fairly questionable pairing.

Either outcome would come down to the EBU, who I suspect would say Israel wasn't safe enough and offer it to second or third nation. Ideally France because they're gasping for the bigger broadcasters to host.
 
Poor SertAg (39) said:
Ukraine co-hosted and fortunately got the UK, a country they have good relations with. That wasn't an issue, despite a few internal protestations.
Click to expand...
As a one off we got away with it, yes, but Zelenskyy was making interventions up until the week of the shows. It has such a large potential to go wrong, and the only reason it didn't really is because Ukraine has almost unanimous good will. Israel would have been an absolute disaster because they don't. So I'm arguing a rule that would allow the issue be sidestepped would be useful.

And I'm saying this as someone who thinks Ukraine is one of the best Eurovision competitors going.
 
ZenGiraffe said:
As a one off we got away with it, yes, but Zelenskyy was making interventions up until the week of the shows. It has such a large potential to go wrong, and the only reason it didn't really is because Ukraine has almost unanimous good will. Israel would have been an absolute disaster because they don't. So I'm arguing a rule that would allow the issue be sidestepped would be useful.

And I'm saying this as someone who thinks Ukraine is one of the best Eurovision competitors going.
Click to expand...
I certainly think Ukraine getting slotted second was a sign the EBU isn't keen to repeat the experiment again
 
There are small changes you could make.

Why can you vote up to *20 times* for the same country? Does the EBU really rely on the profits from the televote?

Plus the rest of the world vote is a gimmick that explicitly encourages political voting, and hamstrung Joost-related decision making.
 
Madisön said:
There are small changes you could make.

Why can you vote up to *20 times* for the same country? Does the EBU really rely on the profits from the televote?
Click to expand...
according to their financial statements they make a loss every year.
 
I wonder if another organisation could ever take over Eurovision. I know it's literally a product of the EBU, but does it HAVE TO BE?

All very UNLIKELY I KNOW.
 
I imagine the thing notionally makes a loss, but it makes a massive gain for pretty much everyone involved at the broadcaster/full time work level, so
 
I'm personally hoping it forbodes the return of the SULTRY GEM after this year's low rations :disco:
 
Madisön said:
There are small changes you could make.

Why can you vote up to *20 times* for the same country? Does the EBU really rely on the profits from the televote?

Plus the rest of the world vote is a gimmick that explicitly encourages political voting, and hamstrung Joost-related decision making.
Click to expand...
Absolutely this. It should be one vote per phone and the RoW vote is as self-destructive as when the Labour party allowed anybody to vote for the leader simply by paying £3
 
(I suppose in the most formal sense it is as destructive, in that the exact same result would have happened without it.)
 
The fandom is toxic and is starting to spoil the experience. The attachment some people have to the artists is quite disturbing. I had a lot of fun last night but I am not itching for Eurovision to come around again too soon.
 
Madisön said:
There are small changes you could make.

Why can you vote up to *20 times* for the same country? Does the EBU really rely on the profits from the televote?

Plus the rest of the world vote is a gimmick that explicitly encourages political voting, and hamstrung Joost-related decision making.
Click to expand...
This really just feels like griping about something that there isn't really any indication has caused any problems so far.
 
The thing is all the problems this year were caused (or at least fostered) by one delegation which didn't see fit to have even an inch of diplomacy and class in how it went about participating in this year's contest. Plenty of others lacked that too, but my word - if you're going to have your participation granted on the premise of being apolitical, the slightest bit of effort to behave with some grace would really have been welcome. The member of the delegation who actively went around backstage goading everyone they could find should have had their accreditation withdrawn and the broadcaster given a warning, at the very *least*.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top Bottom