General : Our Licence money wasted -again (Eurovision)

[denphone]

l watched a bit last year when the great Engelbert Humperdinck sung and they placed him second last and that in my mind just shows what the buffoons of Eurovision know about real music and that is zilch.

[Taf]

...so rigged its turning into a farce.

It turned into a farce many, many years ago AFAIC.

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Why is it that the BBC waste so much money on yet another competition.

Yes, l am talking about the policital Eurovision Song Conest, which is so rigged its turning into a farce.

Yet again we are going to finish in the bottom five - by the looks of it. Total waste of out licence money.

You post this every year and yet you keep on watching it ,presumably to prove it is a farce thus (along with the other whingers)boosting the audience figures ensuring it is shown next year .Anyway with any luck in few years time we won't qualify by virtue of not being in the EU ,then what you gonna moan about

[joglynne]

We ended up watching it last night, .....I know, I know, sad old age pensioners , ..... it had been on in the background but some of the songs caught out attention and several hours later John and I both agreed that the entries had been a lot better and the voting a lot less political.

Shame that our entry was so lack luster .. maybe it's our failing TV but Bonnie seemed to fade into the stage set and her lungs appeared to be the most animated items on the stage. Looking on the bright side we will be spared 'certain people' moaning about the waste of money it would have cost if we had by some miracle won and had to stage the show next year.

I have been a long time critic of this show but last night's offering was, IMHO, a lot better than it has been for many years.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by techguyone

I think it's something to do with the areas of the world the Euro Sat TV falls to - which apparently includes Israel.

It was around long before satellite

Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Broadcasting_Area

The boundaries of the European Broadcasting Area have their origin in the regions served and linked by telegraphy cables in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

As well as the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU are responsible for a lot of the technical standards used in digital TV. Money well spent!

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I only watched it as it was Bonnie who was singing, and as she is a Worldwide Star, l though that it could have been something.

But Graham Norton summed it up when going through the counties, he said what countries would get top vote and he was right.

The whole show is a solid block of bias in political terms, and yet the BBC spend out licence money on that crap.

Wont watch next year.

No, he didn't - he thought one of the Eastern Bloc countries would win, due to block voting, and they didn't.....

[danielf]

Originally Posted by spreadsheet

I always wonder why Israel is in it as it is not in Europe

Same reason they are in European football presumably. They don't get on with their neighbours very well

The block voting is annoying, but there isn't enough of it to completely rig the result. None of the little groups of friendly countries is big enough.

Denmark won because it was widely believed to be the best song. It has done well in download charts across Europe since being unveiled and it was the bookie's favourite to win. It won because lots of people liked it and voted for it, not because of block voting.

As a one-off evening of daft entertainment, Eurovision is great. The songs and performances are getting better as well. Bonnie Tyler had an average song and a shaky start to her performance. The UKs offering on the night was nowhere near a top 10 performance and it was voted on accordingly.

If we ever want to win the thing, we need to concentrate on getting the right song and the right staging. Finding someone to sing it is almost an afterthought - look how well Jade Ewen did in 2009, she finished in 5th despite a shaky performance and being unknown anywhere, because the song's pedigree was top rate and it was well crafted. Looking for sympathy votes from people who used to like Bonnie Tyler/Englebert Humperdink 30-odd years ago clearly doesn't work.

[weegiegeek]

I can't say I'm a fan, but I'd rather see money spent on ESC once a year than on Eastenders, Mrs Brown's Boys and a pile of other stuff that gets aired.

Luckily though, the BBC also show things I do like, and not only does my television receive more than one channel, it has a button on the remote that turns it off.

Of course there's political voting, but maybe we should look into the reason people don't like the UK, rather than complaining about voting patterns in an inconsequential singing contest?

The things is that it's not really a European contest anymore and there probably isn't a typical Eurovision song.Boom bang a bang is long gone.

I've been wondering why there isn't an international version?That really could be fun.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I've been wondering why there isn't an international version?That really could be fun.

What's not international about a bunch of European countries competing against each other?

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

I only watched it as it was Bonnie who was singing, and as she is a Worldwide Star, l though that it could have been something.

But Graham Norton summed it up when going through the counties, he said what countries would get top vote and he was right.

The whole show is a solid block of bias in political terms, and yet the BBC spend out licence money on that crap.

Wont watch next year.

The 9.6 million people who watched it on the BBC last night may disagree with you, Arthur.

[GrimUpNorth]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Why is it that the BBC waste so much money on yet another competition.

Yes, l am talking about the policital Eurovision Song Conest, which is so rigged its turning into a farce.

Yet again we are going to finish in the bottom five - by the looks of it. Total waste of out licence money.

Not my cup of tea either, but if I were you Arthur I'd be more worried about the money our government wasted on some of its daft policies before the cost to the BBC of transmitting a satellite feed....

Cheers

Grim

[rogerdraig]

my kids loved it leave it alone :P