My Negative Review Of 2018
My negative review of 2018
So this is the part where I tell you how everything went wrong and everything was shitty! If I had to decide based on this experience whether to travel somewhere else for Eurovision the answer would be NO. I’m so glad I didn’t pay hundreds of euros for flights and accommodation in Lisbon and instead just happened to be here. I’m glad I did this - now I don’t need to wonder and I’m happy to continue my Eurovision love by watching it all from tv and/or online!
Organization could have been better from the fans’ point of view. The lining up hadn’t been planned properly, there were no fences so cutting in line was kind a easy. Inside the arena not all the screens were on so if you were short and didn’t have seat you might have not seen anything. Also sound quality wasn’t on point when the shows started on the May 8th. The difference between Tuesday and Saturday sound quality is like night and day! Missed several performances on Tuesday’s live show because of the screens and sounds problems. And it was my only live ticket! Just seriously disappointed.
Also the ticket sales went obviously down south. The arena was quite empty for even Semi I live show and Semi II jury show. The standing arena wasn’t nearly full. Blue ticket, the official one had sold out all tickets but apparently the tickets were being sold on other websites three times more expensive! And a lot of people didn’t apparently buy them for Semis even though the Final shows with its jury and rehearsals were sold out in reality. There could have been use for those tickets which weren’t sold. I’m so pissed about this also cause when we got there there were nothing else left than standing area tickets!
Overall never felt more left outside alone than this year when I was actually in Eurovision! But let’s move on to the actual songs and results! Obviously many of my loves left out already at the Semis but concentrating the main shockers and disappointments.
My ultimate favorite this year, Estonia. I was kind of disappointed that Elina didn’t get more points from the juries since her performance was so technically, vocally on point. And plus the visuals were memorable and standing out from the rest of the performances this year. Can’t believe she got less jury points than so many who were clearly worse singers and had less memorable performance.
Bulgaria which had an amazing hype around their song the entire spring came 14th! The jury votes were fine I guess but I expected the audience to bring them up. The performance as the song were really dark but I think it all looked really good and stylish. Televoters gave them only 66 points. Wow. But still love their song!
I’ve loved French entries for quite some years now and especially this year MadameMonsieur were the best find for me! But something goes wrong for France. They’ve had good songs, great singers and performers, also the visuality and the staging hasn’t been THAT BAD! But still they always fall down 10 positions at least in the actual results. Amir placed 6th in 2016 which was an amazing result for France but still kind of far away from the top 3 which he was originally favorite for. Alma (2017) and MadameMonsieur both placed 12th and 13th far away again from the what they were really going for and audience was cheering them up to. They seriously need to look into this. However France and MadameMonsieur remain for me the best find of Eurovision 2018.
My loves Spain and Portugal! I absolutely loved these songs! So beautiful and emotional, especially Spain! You could not watch that without smiling and feeling the song. But yeah.. I guess they took a hit because there were so many songs this year that went with stronger sounds and were instant hits where Claudia and the spanish couple were left behind and not many actually voted for them. Just sad.
And what about the UK invention! Again! Last year it was the winning artist from the previous year who was intervened. But last year the guy didn’t take the mic. Poor Sury! But seriously what’s up with the security unable to keep the STAGE are safe! It is the stage for god’s sake!
I loved Slovenian entry this year from the beginning. But apparently Lea felt her song was lacking drama since she added this cut in the middle of the song where no music or lights would work. In the semi it seemed like the host country screwed up but in the final she changed it to look like she stopped it. From the faces of the audience they didn’t get it or find it funny. Neither did I. Totally unnecessary.
For two weeks I was hanging around the arena and in Lisbon hoping to spot any artist or blogger for an autograph or a photo. I did see Ireland’s Ryan in Belem on Sat one week before the final. He was wearing his sunglasses so wasn’t sure if it was really him. I POLITELY asked about it and he LIED to me that he wasn’t him. Later on saw posts on Instagram with exactly same clothes and in the same neighborhood. And I liked Irish entry and defended it for others who doubted it! Jerk. There goes my points for Ireland forever. He was the only “Eurovision star” I spotted the entire time. Tragic.
Australia! I loved Jessica’s bubly performance and yes maybe her song was a bit generetic but it was so inspiring and uplifting! And the crowds at the arena seemed to appreciate it. But televotes! OMG so low! She did not deserve this even though her vocals weren’t on point on Saturday night.
Belgium! Not qualifying! How is this possible! Sennek’s song was not my personal top favorite but I know many people liked it. Definite OMG moment this year. Found her live performance cool and giving so much life to her song!
More Posts from Lageografiademicamino and Others
Saviez-vous que.. /Did you know that.. ?
Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
Canada is the coldest country in the world.
The USA has invaded Canada twice, failing both times.
There are 53 aboriginal languages spoken by 612 bands in Canada.
Ottawa was chosen to be the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1857 as a compromise between the anglophones and francophones. Previous capitals were Kingston, Montréal and Toronto.
Ottawa is the third cleanest city in the world.
In province of Ontario there are several namesakes for English towns like London, Whitby and Scarborough.
Toronto was known as the city of York untill 1834.
Younge street in Toronto being 1,896 km long is the longest street in the world.
Ottawa
The name Québec comes from the Alconquin (native Canadian inhabitants) word “Kébec” - where the river narrows. Today Québec is also known as the “Belle Province” – The beautiful province.
Québec, three times of a size of Spain, is the largest province of the country.
There are 37 National Parks in Canada which 24 are in Québec.
Québec is the biggest producer of Mapel Syrup in the world.
Québec’s “fleurdelise” was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada in 1948. The white cross comes from the ancient royal flags of France when the fleur-de-ils stands for a symbol of purity.
Tourism is the 5th largest industry in Québec and the province welcomes over 3 million tourists annually. Most of them from the US and France.
The capital of the province is Québec City, 230km from Mtl.
Québec City holds the biggest Winter Carnival annually.
Québecois motto: “Je me souviens” – I remember.
Québec City, founded in 1608, is not only the oldest city in Canada but one of the oldest European settlements in North America.
The city of MTL is an island.
MTL is the 2nd biggest French city in the western world after Paris.
Montréal is told to have more festivals/events than any other North American city.
MTL was originally called Ville-Marie but was renamed after the “mountain” Mount Royal.
The Mount Royal Parc was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed New York’s Central Park. Don’t still be mistaken to imagine that Montréal’s parc is a copy of New York’s one.
Bixie (bicycle sharing system) which can now be found in several metropolitan cities of the world, was developed in Montréal.
The oldest brewery of Canada, Molson was founded in Montréal in 1786
Château Frontenac in Québec City is said to be the world’s photographed hotel.
(Château Frontenac, Québec City)
Olympic Stadium, also known as “The Big Owe” is one of the costliest one in the world with 1,61 billion dollar expenses.
Mtl is a popular location, especially the old town, to shoot movies. For example movies like X-Men: Days of Future Past, Catch me if you can and many others have been filmed partly in the city.
Cursing in québecois includes several religious expressions such as tabarnac (tabernacle), criss (Christ), sacrament etc.
With 6 universities and 12 junior colleges Mtl has the highest number of post-secondary students in North America.
Mtl is one of the gay friendliest cities in the world.
Sources: LonelyPlanet, Wikipedia
Any canadian/québecois readers correct me, if I'm wrong in anything :)
Catching the clouds in Tallinn..
"..and when you’re in your twenties, i hope you buy a plane ticket to paris. i hope you get lost wandering all of the streets. i hope you travel the world and read lots of new books. i hope you have interesting conversations over warm cups of tea. i hope you drink out of mason jars while dancing barefoot in the grass. i hope you have a water fight in central park. set goals and change them. quit your day job. i hope you don’t do any of these things or that you do them all. write a book. change your mind. start new friendships and let go of the ones that you need to. say goodbye to all of the things that have kept you stagnant and vow to keep moving forward..."
Oriente train station and Vasco de Gama Brige in Lisbon.
The buildings of Helsinki. Loving the colour and small details in them.
The Old Town of Tallinn in colours..
Lisboa / Sintra before covid
Lahti sunsets from last May :)
Random shots, many faces of Lisbon.
UMK 2023 Song review - Portion Boys
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Liverpool continues with glam rock anthem!
Portion Boys - Samaa taivasta katsotaan
Portion Boys have been around for a while. They originally started from Youtube back in 2010 and by releasing regurarly singles slowly but surely made theirselves a name in Finland. Especially the few last years have been succesful for them. They’ve become known as a positive dance-pop group with a lots of personality.
Samaa taivasta katsotaan represents quite well the band’s musical repertoire and style. It offers a great ending to UMK23 series (as it was released as the seventh and the last track) and also to UMK23 show on February 25th. This is a very rich song, we have several elements and genres mixed in this one and it is the thing that might keep the viewer hooked for the entire 3 minutes but it might also be the thing that breaks charm.
I get the feeling of the song trying too hard. It’s trying to please everyone - we have the rock rap, anthem like instrumental parts, heavy metalish screaming going on. Even the lyrics mention several countries and make references in foreign languages. It’s a mess and it’s up to one’s personal taste whether it’s a mess for your taste.
The song reminds a bit of Eurovision Movie: Fire Saga by its vibes and with its to be honest Eurovision clichés. Even reference to Latvian Pirates in 2008 has been made in social media. There’s a certain sillyness in here but also the spirit of becoming one despite all our differences. Usually these kind of entries haven’t done very well in ESC.
However, this might be one of the rare UMK23 entries that I do not wish to advance to ESC. On another year yes but not in 2023 when we have better options. However, I have to admit it does hold the strongest hook in UMK23. This might go against the lovers of Cha Cha Cha as it musically and spiritually stands completely on the other side of the edge. However, I can see this becoming a true Finnhit classic and bringing people together on the dancefloor.
What do you think of the seventh UMK23 track and would you vote for Portion Boys’ Samaa taivasta katsotaan to go all the way to Liverpool? UMK final takes place on February 25th!
Finnish traveler. Experienced Montréal and la vie québecoise 2013-2014. Living in Lisbon, Portugal since July 2017. Into photographing, eurovision, pop music, ice cream, coffee and travelling. MASTERLIST
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