#2023 ranking

[eurovision-del]

6. Romania – D.G.T. (Off and On)

Ok, so a bit of preface for this one – I locked in my final ranking right before starting to post these write-ups in mid-April, and I’d already outlined my notes for why I loved D.G.T. so much and why I thought it worked so well – and then a revamped version was released. I decided to stick to my original ranking based on the version we’d heard in the national final, and wait until the rehearsals to see whether the revamp was really what we’d hear in Liverpool or not – and unfortunately it looks like it is. While I’m sticking to my rule to not let rehearsal footage influence this ranking, since the new version technically came out just before I finalised this list, this review has been hastily reworked to cover both versions.

I honestly love the original version of this song! The blues rock sound is right up my street, and it’s the perfect music to convey the messy emotions this song delves into. It’s gritty and raw, hard-hitting from the very first note, full of attitude. I love how it’s structured in a way that gives it variety while still creating a tension that never lets up throughout the entire song. When I first heard this song I wished it was all in Romanian, but actually I think the language shift to English at the start of the second verse works to highlight that moment without altering the intensity in the music. Then when the song does strip it back after the second chorus the staccato piano notes and snappy vocal line keep that tension building, and before you know it the descending baseline kicks in and you’re thrown back into the mess of it all! This entire song is a gut punch – painful and raw from start to finish, as messy and toxic as the relationship it sings about, and I cannot get enough of it.

This is also why, as far as I’m concerned, swapping out all that tension for a minute long acoustic opening is a huge mistake. It saps all that energy out and messes up the structure of the song. The language shift no longer serves any purpose as it’s now happening as the music is completely switching gear and the song finally gets started in earnest. From there, the song continues as in the original and I’m fully into it again, but there’s a lot less time with the intensity I love.

Regardless of what version he’s singing, Theodor is a great vocalist – he's got a powerful, rough voice, a little imperfect at points, but it’s perfect for this style and he puts so much grit and emotion into it. He’s also got such an impressive range, and this song shows it all off, switching between his mid and lower register throughout, before nailing those high notes at the end. I also love how committed he is as a performer, he throws everything into it! He’s pretty much carried his entire production with little to no support from the broadcaster, and while it hasn’t always worked (I agree with pretty much everyone that the national final staging was rough) I love how earnest and unbridled his approach has been. And in the end, even if I have big issues with the revamp, I honestly think D.G.T is a great song and easily one of my favourite entries of the year.

[laforzadelvoila]

My Eurovision 2023 Ranking

My ranking will always be subject to change.

1. 🇪🇸 Eaea [Blanca Paloma]

2. 🇸🇮 Carpe Diem [Joker Out]

3. 🇸🇪 Tattoo [Loreen]

4. 🇱🇻 Aijā [Sudden Lights]

5. 🇬🇪 Echo [Iru Khechanovi]

6. 🇦🇲 Future Lover [Brunette]

7. 🇫🇮 Cha Cha Cha [Käärijä]

8. 🇲🇩 Soarele și Luna [Pasha Parfeni]

9. 🇦🇱 Duje [Albina & Familja Kelmendi]

10. 🇱🇹 Stay [Monika Linkytė]

11. 🇦🇺 Promise [Voyager]

12. 🇬🇧 I Wrote A Song [Mae Muller]

13. 🇵🇹 Ai Coração [Mimicat]

14. 🇫🇷 Évidemment [La Zarra]

15. 🇳🇴 Queen Of Kings [Alessandra]

16. 🇮🇹 Due Vite [Marco Mengoni]

17. 🇮🇸 Power [Diljá]

18. 🇺🇦 Heart Of Steel [TVORCHI]

19. 🇩🇪 Blood & Glitter [Lord of the Lost]

20. 🇪🇪 Bridges [Alika]

21. 🇦🇹 Who The Hell Is Edgar? [Teya & Salena]

22. 🇳🇱 Burning Daylight [Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper]

23. 🇲🇹 Dance (Our Own Party) [The Busker]

24. 🇨🇿 My Sister's Crown [Vesna]

25. 🇷🇸 Samo mi se spava [Luke Black]

26. 🇦🇿 Tell Me More [TuralTuranX]

27. 🇬🇷 What They Say [Victor Vernicos]

28. 🇧🇪 Because Of You [Gustaph]

29. 🇮🇪 We Are One [Wild Youth]

30. 🇨🇾 Break a Broken Heart [Andrew Lambrou]

31. 🇷🇴 D.G.T. (Off And On) [Theodor Andrei]

32. 🇨🇭 Watergun [Remo Forrer]

33. 🇮🇱 Unicorn [Noa Kirel]

34. 🇵🇱 Solo [Blanka]

35. 🇭🇷 Mama ŠČ! [Let 3]

36. 🇸🇲 Like An Animal [Piqued Jacks]

37. 🇩🇰 Breaking My Heart [Reiley]

Last updated on July 08, 2023.

[bearpillowmonster]

Sixteen 2023 Movies Ranked

I didn't say top, because I only saw 16 movies that actually released this year. There are some really good ones that technically released at the end of last year (like Puss in Boots) that I didn't see until this year but I guess I won't count those. But I will include Suzume because it released in the US this year.

16. The Boogeyman - This one wasn't even my choice, it was my dad's and I told him it was going to be stupid and it was yet it has great reviews. I just can't get into horror movies though, it's very rare there will be one that spikes my interest.

15. Rebel Moon - Ugh, yuck, regurgitated Star Wars.

14. Shazam - It wasn't as horrible as some people make it out to be and I wasn't that big of a fan of the first one but it just didn't make the villains all that interesting, except Anthea, felt like it did some things right and other things wrong, never really "improving".

13. Ladybug and Chat Noir - It's really just how you like your burger done, because it does a lot of what the series already did and then recontextualizes it, adds cruddy music, and a few new scenes and ending. It's an origin but also an ending, it's a franchise all in one movie. Really weird how it's set up, the animation is good but really best suited for the Youtube clips.

12. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Mindless, doesn't really accomplish anything, becomes really cheesy.

11. The Marvels - Wow, this is weird putting this so high but once again, not as bad as they say, the villain is pretty bad though despite a cool set-up. It has the gimmick too but doesn't make as much fun with it as I would've liked. Ms. Marvel is the highlight, the ending sucks and really I'm just reiterating popular opinion.

10. No Hard Feelings - Another one I'm surprised is this high. The premise could've been better as well as the twist but I can't say it wasn't memorable or a fun time.

9. Five Nights at Freddy's - Not a horror movie, more a kids movie. Some changes I liked, most I didn't. Cool to see all this on screen though.

8. The Flash - The CGI is horrendous but it has Supergirl, it has Flash, I don't care much for Michael Keaton's Batman, I just really like the fast scenes and the ending.

7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Yeah, it wasn't the end all be all like everyone was saying for me. I look back at the others and think how great they are, even during the film I questioned myself. Rocket's story is really the only thing I liked about it, cut away way too much from what you actually want to see and replaced it with goofy stuff you don't care for. Even the music was weak for the most part.

6. Suzume - I was invested with the chair and the doors and cats were cool but it switched to a different movie for the second half and tried focusing on her relationship with her aunt where it didn't seem earned, needed more conflict in that area where not everyone is the good guy.

5. Super Mario Bros. - Mario and Luigi and a Donkey Kong too, A thousand troops of Koopas couldn't keep me from you- I just really wanted this movie. It was fun but for one, Chris Pratt did a really good voice in the beginning then it just became Chris Pratt. The whole dad thing was shoehorned and was unneeded, they could've had some characters be actual characters when they were stock NPCs and very generic music choice, would've been better to just keep it all score.

4. Barbie - Already? Wow, this was one of the highlights too. Great music. Great style and personality, smart dialogue and plot.

3. TMNT Mutant Mayhem - I saw this in theaters and I just couldn't stop laughing because of how it's a kid's movie and all Superfly ever says is "What the hell?" It got my sister to be a fan of the franchise, the animation was excellent, we have some of the best versions of these characters (I said some). Really fun.

2. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - I'm a fan of Ghost Protocol but the rest are just action flicks to me, I just really like the setpieces of some of them is all but this one actually gave me a run because it kept my attention steady and on the edge of my seat despite the strange plot. This is where I actually felt it could be matched up against the likes of any other spy thriller like James Bond.

Across the Spider-Verse - As if it could've been anything else but in all seriousness one of my favorites of all time and really stepped up the game. I haven't stopped thinking about it and it was summer when I went to go see it in theaters. I didn't think I would experience something like that again and here's to hoping its sequel is just as good or dare I say that it's even possible to be better.

[plutos-one]

Play the best of 2023 polls and win coins to unlock exciting vouchers. Grab amazing offers & vouchers from your favourite brands. Hurry up play polls now!

[listieshadows]

Since the year's halfway over (month-wise, anyway), I may as well share my current 2023 ranking.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Creed III

John Wick: Chapter 4

Scream VI

Elemental

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

Fast X

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

Renfield

SHAZAM! Fury Of The Gods

And I'll say for record, by the way, that I don't really truly dislike any of these films. Even SHAZAM! Fury Of The Gods, the worst it gets out of me is just, "Meh. It's... Alright. Coulda been worse."

(Also, fun fact—I've seen eleven of these in theaters, and that's handily a new record for me for number of current films I've seen in theaters. At least since I started keeping track, anyway (the old record was 8, by the way).)

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Best Prompt Lists of 2023!

good traits gone bad

seeking out physical affection

make 'em swoon

short & impactful

Drunken Love Confessions

Touch Starved Prompts

Six Word Sentences

Angry Confessions

Five Word Sentences

Super soft intimacy

The year 2023 is coming to an end. I wish all of you only the best for 2024!

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[mmelolabelle]

Anakin Skywalker, almost 30 years late, rocking up with a starbucks and a point to prove, “You are going to finish your training and then I am going to finally be a master, even if it kills us.”

“…you’re already dead.”

“Sounds like a ‘you’ problem Snips 🤷🏻‍♀️”

[absolutebl]

It is WILD to me that GMMTV is fielding OffGun AND TayNew in the same quarter

That Last Twilight is airing AS WELL

That they optioned 3 JBLs

That The Sign is up there licking kicking ass and taking names (and Saint is behind it!)

That there's a high heat omegaverse BL staring Pavel

That there are 20 BLs airing right now and none of them Korean.

With 5 VAMPIRE BLs announced for next year

Thailand legit looked at 2023 and thought "yeah but we could make it worse better weirder"

[temeyes]

capt mactavish beard era (one that rivals capt garrick's LMAO)

[f1-stuff]

Spanish GP '23 // Drivers Guess F1 23 Rankings

[petit-papillion]

2023 F1 Driver Rankings | The Race

Source: The Race

[eurovision-del]

1. Finland – Cha Cha Cha

I am obsessed! I mentioned when ranking Austria that there’s one song that’s better at hyping me up this year – of course it’s this one! What do I even say!? I love Cha Cha Cha so much, my clear favourite in a year where I struggled to fit all the songs I wanted into my top 10!

The energy is incredible, the tension that builds in the first half is delectable, this is perfect pump-up music. The first half treads the line between musicality and blaring noise and it's so my jam – and then right when it seems it can’t get any better, it transitions beautifully into the second half where that ridiculously catchy tune kicks in. Both iterations of ‘cha cha cha’ are so memorable and will have you singing them for days, from the chanting in the first half to those bright little three notes in the second.

I like when songs do interesting things with structure, and this one is structured perfectly to convey the mood of getting drunk and partying! It captures the way stress and inhibitions get released as a night transitions into a fantastic one while teetering on the edge of collapsing into a messy one. The more I listen the more I want to praise it! All the sounds used are perfect, I love the way it blends genres with the tight electronic production and metal guitars – deliberately chaotic and crazy without ever losing control. Käärijä more than matches the manic energy of the music in his performance, and I loved everything about the UMK staging. It more than succeeded in providing a visual intensity to match the music!

It would be incredible for my personal winner to win again so soon after Måneskin, and I don’t want to get my hopes up too high – but I’m sure this will do well. It's super fun, I think that melody in the second half helps make this song just accessible enough that it will have wide appeal, and it's certainly impactful! No matter what, it’s going down in Eurovision history, and it is easily my number one this year!  

[fashionlouist]

You already knew this was coming.

The Faith In The Future World Tour across Europe and the UK has come to an end — however, there’s still something very important missing.

This is YOUR chance to choose your top three outfits from this leg !

Vote here.

[il-predestinato]

Those who got Lestappen correct: 😍

Almost correct (reverse order!): 😁

(Everyone else needs to go back to school! 😬)

[artichow]

I can finally share my work I did for @constellationsbeybladezine This is one of 2 illustrations I made, little Gingka running with also little Pegasus <3

[twinliches]

First of all, I am enamoured by your fuck around attitude to life, namely that time you just up and left and ended up in a different country or whatever in the middle of the work week (something I’ve been thinking about ever since I witnessed it happening firsthand on my dash)

Second, my go-to weirdly specific intimate small talk question is “what is your earliest memory?” By asking a bunch of people this, I have concluded that generally you either don’t remember too much from your early childhood, or you have a weirdly specific memory that confuses people because how could you possibly remember that, you were a literal baby

that is an amazing go-to question, what a beautiful kaleidoscope of memories to collect...

and thank your for admiring my fuck around lifestyle. i try to find out as little as possible but where there is darkness there is shadow or whatever they say in lion king