#Eurovision 2000

[weaversweek]

"My star" and "IDGAF"

Another part of the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

My star - Brainstorm

The first of five songs from the Eurovison Song Contests; something like sixty songs come out every year, enough to fill three CDs, I make no apology for including five of the 650 songs from Eurovision - it could have been so many more.

"My star" is the oldest song in my 50, older than a few of the performers on the list. It was first presented at the end of February 2000 in LTV's selection show Eirodziemsa. It's a post-grunge song, offers cautious optimism for the future while being honest that life can be a bit shit.

Renars Kaupers, the singer and songwriter, is an affable and geeky chap. Made a connection through the screen, enough to have the song rise to an unexpected third place, and got a small release over here a month or so later.

Like the best songs, it has made itself at home in my brain, the gentle lifts, the possibilities never get tempered by too much optimism, so I associate it as a song of the realistic. Brainstorm continue to record - Prata Vetra in their home language.

IDGAF - Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa gave me difficulty. Which is the best track to summarise her career? Dua has cornered the market in disco pop, with any number of songs to soundtrack the last few years.

In the event, "Idgaf" continues to be the strongest point in Dua's catalogue. It's a song about your own personal contradictions and battles, and how they can leave you stronger.

It's a breakup song, it's an empowerment anthem. You speak, I don't have to listen. It's a song about how you're never alone with friends: Dua stands with a phalanx standing in fierce solidarity.

The song was originally written by MNEK, re-written by Dua Lipa, with input from Larzz Principato,Skyler Stonestreet, and Whiskey Water. Lots of songwriters is a hallmark of modern pop; when the result's as sharp and incisive as this, I don't give a fig.

[vintageurovision]

Tell Me! , August & Telma | Iceland, Eurovision Song Contest 2000

12th place with 45 points

[wardrobeoftime]

Eurovision Song Contest + Costumes

Joost Klein's blue suit and white shirt when performing Europapa for The Netherlands in the 2024 contest.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

I love the whimsy and charm My Star brings. It reminds me of riding a bicycle on a warm, summer's day.

2000 Stockholm - Number 17 - BrainStorm - "My Star"

Back to Latvia and for a performance that is one of the most popular of Eurovision 2000 among Eurofans. It's one of the best-performing debut songs for a country ever and is from a band that is possibly Latvia's biggest. Latvia may have been the last of the Baltic countries to enter Eurovision, but here they are showing Estonia and Lithuania how its done.

Brainstorm (aka Prāta Vētra) are a band of school friends who by 2000 had been big in the Latvian music business for at least seven years. Later in 2000 they released their first best-of album. My Star is (unusually for 2000) a straightforward love song. The genre is alt-pop/folk and stands out a mile from absolutely everything else in Eurovision that year. It's a gentle, almost whimsical song lead by jangly guitars and the unmistakable voice and dancing style of singer Renārs Kaupers, more of whom later.

At Eurodziesma 2000, the first Latvian national final, this won by a large margin although the scoring was heavily weighted in favour of juries over the televote. Perhaps not surprising for one of the biggest bands in Latvia. At Eurovision, it had a good draw and went on in what was the far stronger second half. Even if it had gone on in the first half, it would have done well, purely because of how much it stood out.

Brainstorm subsequently have had a stellar career. They've released more than 15 albums in Latvia, more than 10 in English and at least 5 in Russian. They seem to be constant writing and recording new songs and touring, sometime simultaneously. They're huge across the Russian speaking world which has lead to some controversial concerts in Russia, especially after the invasion of Crimea in 2014. More recently however, they cancelled all planned tours and concerts in Russia and have made clear their support for Ukraine.

In the Eurovision world, they're the band that launched Latvia on the Eurovision scene and Renārs would go on to co-host Eurovision 2003 after Latvia's win in 2002. The band have also played Glastonbury (second on the John Peel stage on the Saturday in 2013!) making Renārs the only Eurovision host to have gone on to play Glasto. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[yujkuro]

Joost Klein Blinkies

[dita-vt]

Dita Von Teese performs on stage at the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest with German entry Oscar Loya Moscow, Russia on May 16, 2009.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Why does Andorra not participate in Eurovision anymore?

Andorra participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, but it has never come back since.

-

What happened?

In 2004, ATV (Andorra’s public TV channel) sent Marta Roure, who sang in the Catalan language for the first time in Eurovision history. Catalan is the native language of Andorra, but also of the rest of the Catalan Countries: Catalonia, the Valencian Country and la Franja in the state of Spain; Northern Catalonia in the state of France, and the city of l’Alguer in Italy. ATV didn’t have enough money to send a participant alone, but Andorra wanted to take part in the contest and to promote their language (Catalan) and culture.

For these reasons, they decided to partner with TV3, the public TV channel of Catalonia. This makes sense, given that it’s part of the same nation, with the same language, and Catalonia has a bigger population and a music industry that’s a bit more developed, and TV3 has more money than ATV because of its population and size. The contest to choose who would be sent was made in collaboration between ATV and TV3 and aired simultaneously in both TV channels.

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Spain’s threat to not air Andorra’s song

When TVE (the Spanish TV) saw that Andorra was working with Catalonia and one of Andorra’s purposes for participating in ESC was to promote Andorra’s language (Catalan), the director board of TVE threatened that they would not air Andorra’s performance because they considered it was a way for Catalan people to be present in Eurovision, which they didn’t think should be allowed. Basically, TVE would air the whole contest as usual, but cut to commercials when Andorra performed as if they did not exist.

After negotiations, the directors of TVE did not change their mind, but for unrelated reasons the director was changed in April 2004. The new directors didn’t care as much about Andorra’s participation and they decided to air the whole festival.

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Andorra’s results and TVE’s meddling

Andorra’s songs never did well in the classifications, they never had enough votes to pass to the final. The change arrived in 2009, the song chosen was “Get a life / La teva decisió” by the Andorran-Danish singer Susanne Georgi. After its release before Eurovision, the song was a success in Andorra and in the state of Spain. The hopes were high for the song receiving many votes!

But, last minute, TVE (Spain’s TV) decided to not air live the Eurovision semi-final where Andorra was taking part. TVE decided to record the semi-final and air it on a different day. This means that Spanish citizens (including most Catalan people), who could have voted for Andorra, had no way to watch the semi-final and, as a result, they could not vote.

Once again, Andorra didn’t get to the final. And this was when they thought they had a chance with a successful song! After this, Andorra has never come back to the song contest. The fact that they never qualified for the final, Spain’s continuous meddling, and the high economic cost of participating in ESC (which is very difficult to afford for a microstate’s TV) grew even more difficult with the economical crisis that was starting in all the continent.

However, Andorra has always maintained that they would like to come back to ESC.

Andorra has been the only country to sing in the Catalan language in ESC. Even though most Catalan-speaking territories are under Spanish rule and about 10,000,000 Catalan speakers live in the state of Spain, Spain has never sent a song in Catalan. In fact, when they chose the Catalan singer Joan Manuel Serrat in 1968, he said he would sing the song (called “La, la, la”) in Catalan. Then, the Spanish TV decided to take him out of the contest because they would only allow songs in Spanish. The song was given to the Spanish singer Masiel, who sang the same song in Spanish and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968. Spain has never sent a single song in one of the languages of the territories its state occupies, even when some like Catalan and Galician have millions of speakers, and Basque has hundreds of thousands.

[yourdailyqueer]

Ethan Torchio

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: 8 October 2000  

Ethnicity: White - Italian

Occupation: Musician

Note: Won Eurovision 2021 for Italy as part of Måneskin

[xemocatgirlx]

I FINALLY FINISHED COLOURING IT :D

This is Mikleo if he's a Myspace Scene King and idol (human form)

I use Procreate btw

[vogelmeister]

Eurovision 2024: my experience as a fan

One thing about me is that I love Eurovision. I have all the winners plastered on my door at home, I can beat anyone and everyone at European geography. Each year for a week in May, I am people’s go to for anything and everything Eurovision, from explaining the big five to promoting my favourite songs. I willingly get up at 5am to tune in live, I have written two academic essays on Eurovision, and both essays have a sense of passion running through them where you can tell I love the topic- may or may not have been called out once on that. I knew so much about the topic that neither essay required much research. When I lived in the Netherlands, I attended Het Grote Songfestivalfeest, probably killing my seat neighbours with my singing and poorly articulated Dutch when De Diepte came on. As well as that, my friends and I took a trip to Rotterdam and visited where the contest was held in 2021. Having me, an Australian, alongside a Dutch person and a Greek, exploring Rotterdam highlighted to me exactly what Eurovision should be about. Unity. 

Being in a room of Eurofans gave me joy that is unexplainable. I just remember realising, ‘hey I found my people’

However, I always knew ESC 2024 was going to be a hard watch for me, even before the boycotts begun. About a year ago I went through a massive friendship breakup with one of my closest Eurovision friends, and their villianisation of me meant that watching with them wasnt an option. I didn’t want to watch alone. That’s all I will say on that. I had a year to deal with that, anyway, and even when people were boycotting the event after October 7th, I thought, theres actually no way that Israel is actually competing this year. They surely will send something too political and get dq'd, right? Most of the knowledge I have of Palestine and Israel comes from my year 12 modern history class, which as my friend and I discussed today, was taught neutrally- and it’s not in Israel’s favour. I was there when Hatari spoke out in 2019 and did the banners, and I remember the shock and understanding what a big deal this was.

I toyed with the idea of boycotting myself. I had my reasons. I auditioned for a play, which didnt work out for me, as I was too distracted by Eurovision week to care. I was less invested in Eurovision as a whole, and I would get sleep. But in the end, I decided not to. My friend (who found out I liked Eurovision after I bitched about my ex friends not enjoying that I had other interests asides from Taylor Swift) was already coming around to watch.  I decided my mental health came first, before boycotting and before being an activist. If I could save this one piece of my mental health, I would be fine. Stupid delusional me, well she had hope. I wanted to support Joost, and the other artists who were stuck in this shitshow of a year. I staunchly boycotted Isreal’s song, I have only heard it in full once, and that was against my will. I even blocked her on Spotify. 

I looked at it all positively- this all meant I was going in more blind than ever. I bought my 2024 CD, but I also broke a lot of traditions- I didnt do my predictions like I do every year on my whiteboard, I didnt film the first semi qualifications with the caption ‘im in spain’ and put it on my story, and I hardly watched the NFs. I liked Eurovision, but this year, with all going on, I felt guilty and ashamed. I have been ashamed of being a eurofan before, but not on this level. I felt like I was trapped in a glass box, kicking and screaming at the ebu but they had airpods in. The answer was so obvious. Ban Isreal, like you did with Russia. People were harassing artists for competing, especially Olly, who I realised had no choice in the matter anyways. I ended up thinking “just get through the week, soon it will be over, and you’ll have fun with your friend.” I have never wanted Eurovision week over in my life. I just wasnt excited.  Europapa basically became my ride or die, built upon my love for the Netherlands, and the genuine good vibes of the song. Joost was charismatic, and the song had a nice story. Another one of my friends, who realised I was eurofan after I posted a video on my story where you could see my Dowue Bob poster (I have my reasons for keeping it), found a watch party and it was free. She had her drivers license so she could get us there, and my other friend and I agreed. It would be fun, I would bring my Dutch flag and my orange beanie and wear my Sam Ryder shirt. 

The first semi happened. My friend came over, we slept on the couch. I enjoyed myself, the qualifiers werent shocking though and I guessed 9/10 of them. It was pretty mid, but it was fun. The only issue was Poland being robbed and the Australian commentary on SBS being dicks to Portugal, which they backtracked in the final. It was insufferable, but the worst was yet to come.  

The second semi. I was so excited to see Joost perform and bonded with my Dutch coworker over him and his song, which honestly was beautiful. If she didnt know how much I love the Netherlands before, she does now. I did notice that when Israel qualified, all the sickness in my stomach just exited the room, as the worst that could happen, happened. But sadly, I knew it would happen. Seeing the videos, however, of Palestine protesters and the booing and shouting, despite attempts to silence us, was beautiful. It showed exactly where the fandom stood, what we thought. And my mum was even happy about Israel being treated like bullshit. 

And then shit started to go down. 

The second semi press conference. The kaarija video. Joost being followed around for propaganda content by Israel. Joost’s “why not” and throwing the Dutch flag over his head.  Marina falling asleep (queen). Bambi being dehumanised by Israel’s delegation and asshole of a commentator. Zionists kept making excuses and I got a few threats on TikTok of all places for supporting a bully manchild. Well, fuck you, at least I am not suporting genocide. It was a mess. My friend asked me for my opinions on the qualification while at work and i basically told her I didn’t want to talk about it. I looked so sad on break my coworker offered me a banana. 

“Treat Eden Golan as human! She’s only 20” I wondered, how could I? How could I treat someone as human when they were basically a puppet, a face for a genocidal nation. How could I do that when that same genocidal nation was tearing apart the one thing I loved?  Her delegation certainly didn’t treat Joost Klein as human; certainly just as another tool they could use to promote their propaganda machine. I felt sick. He wasn’t the only one. I was so proud of Joost, and I will always be proud of him, I think. What he did during the press conference after semi 2 took guts.  Normally I would be pissed at a delegation getting mistreated like this, but not today. As far as I was concerned, this was good riddance. Get the fuck out, you’re not wanted here. 

On Saturday, I started to realise I had this heavy feeling in my chest and it wasn’t leaving. I felt on edge, and yet I was a world away in Australia. I listened to “I can do it with a broken heart” fifty times on my way to work that day, confident that maybe I could power through this matinee shift without cracking. My favourite thing in the whole world was falling apart before my eyes, and it was easily avoided. I felt sick at work, there were points when I was thinking “I can’t do this.” But I could. I would. I would get through this shift. I messaged one of my friends in NL asking her how she was and she said she also wasnt having a good time, to which I confessed not wanting to get out of bed that morning because I was so sick with discomfort. 

People were continually asking my thoughts, if I enjoyed the shows, the memes were sent and I had to put on a brave face because crying over a song contest is stupid and im a coward and hate being an outspoken activist.

The final straw for me was Joost Klein getting disqualified. This would have been a devastating blow for me no matter which nation it was, but it being the Netherlands, the one country I love more than anything else, the one song that was basically my ride or die in this shitshow of a year: well it felt personal. It showed the double standards of the EBU- how could an incident, hardly worth a fine, get Joost kicked out of ESC when Israel waltzed in with a smugass grin and a kill count. If it was about Joost's parents, I hope he hit them hard. the misleading information, the lack of transparency, and AVROTROS's discomfort over the whole ordeal was the cherry on the cake and really, actually showed me in full colour who the EBU were and that they didn't give two shits, bending the rules for Eden and using everyone else as scapegoats. That Joost, or any of the other artists were not allowed to have boundaries. Instantly I messaged my friend,  and went “I am not fucking going to this watch party.” She agreed with me, the vibes would be off and probably zionist. My other friend, who was staying the night, was still keen to watch ESC. Instead of going to the livestream in Hurstville, we all  came to mine at 5am and we elected to watch together.  To finish what we started. As my friend said, “it could be the last one.” 

I saw myself witnessing the death of Eurovision.  All because someone wouldnt fucking kick out a country. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that Bambi had posted a statement saying they had issues with Israel and the delegation, and even the EBU fully admitted that Israel had broken rules. Yet where was the punishment?

I will confess the 5am start time hurt more this time around. Normally I would be bounding down the stairs, box of chips in hand, and excited to see the memes. Today, it just hurt. Dancing around to Europapa didn’t hide the emptiness in my soul about the disqualification, about the double standards enacted by the EBU this year.  The interval acts were mid. Petra talking about the rules, saying shit like “it’s apolitical” stung with irony I had never felt before. I put on a brave face and I had as much fun as I could but in reality, I was sad and angry. Wishing I had gotten into that play. That I had the guts to boycott and explain to people why. That Joost wasnt disqualified for shit Eden Golan would have gotten away with. 

After the show, I felt empty. Switzerland won, and congrats to them obviously, I like The Code. But after the shitshow of this week, all I felt was free and relieved. Israel still came top 5 and it confirmed what was sickeningly true. People still support Israel. People were still pulling the “Croatia robbed” game, unaware how tone deaf that feels in the current circumstances. It didn’t matter who won, as long as it wasn’t Israel, but it never felt like Israel lost. All I wanted to do was cry. My friend was showing me Eurovision memes probably unaware that I had been through the worst Eurovision of my life, and just wanted to cry and be left alone. No hate to her obviously but I was fucking trying to hold it together all morning, but I couldn't express my emotions on the matter. I hope AVROTROS sue the shit out of the EBU. I hope Joost gets a hero’s welcome home in the Netherlands. I hope past artists speak out. I hope Isreal gets banned. 

I will be celebrating the small wins this year. I will be streaming the artists that stood up to the ebu, streaming the ones that spoke out, and of course, continuing to support Joost Klein. I will never forget watching Ukraine sail past Israel in the televote, a win of itself. I am thankful to those in the arena that spoke out against the EBU and booed both Israel and Osterdahl.  To those who smuggled in flags, to those who refused to be silent. I will get over this, I will, but seeing the outcome of this week leaves little joy. I hope this isnt the end of Eurovision, but wherever we go now, I think a part of me did die this week.

[eurovision-facts]

Eurovision Fact #513:

In 2000, the band Nightwish entered the Finnish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The band's song "Sleepwalker" scored remarkably well with the public, but the jury was not a fan of the symphonic metal style, leading to the band earning third place overall.

However, the album that the song was first featured on, Wishmaster, went on to be the first of the band's many number one albums. Interestingly, "Sleepwalker" was only included as a bonus track.

[Sources]

'Eurovision pre-selection gems: the '00s edition,' Eurovision.tv.

Wishmaster Album, Nightwish.com.

[vintageurovision]

The Moon, Taxi | Romania, Eurovision Song Contest 2000

[wardrobeoftime]

Eurovision Song Contest + Costumes

Baby Lasagna's white blouse, red & golden vest and white pants when performing Rim Tim Tagi Dim for Croatia in the 2024 contest.

// requested by @because-its-eurovision

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Truly an epic song! I like how Roger incorporated his background more here than in 1994, which makes it shine.

2000 Stockholm - Number 6 - Roger Pontare - "When Spirits Are Calling My Name"

A Swedish icon performing in Sweden. He's already been to Eurovision once in a duet, and now he's on his own in front of 13,000 fans representing Sami people. Even if he's singing in English for the final and not in Swedish as he did when utterly dominating Melodifestivalen.

This is the third time that Roger entered Melfest, and winning it twice out of three attempts ain't bad. When Spirits are Calling My Name (or När vindarna viskar mitt namn in Swedish) is a full strength blast of bombast. It could be the theme tune to an immensely successful 1980s, US, 60-minute TV drama series about a man alone against the world, forging his own path and determined to do right by his people. Which is what the song is actually about.

In fact the US connection isn't too remote either. Roger's staging incorporates elements of Native American imagery alongside that of Sami culture. It's one of the songs that is on the path to realising that incorporating traditional cultural sounds and images alongside a more modern musical sensibility, is immensely popular with Eurofans and Eurovision voters alike. It makes connections among a wide swathe of the audience across the continent. For instance the bastion of traditional Eurovision performance, Türkiye, gave this the full douze.

Ultimately, Roger finished a respectable 7th and this is one of those songs that live long in the fans memories. He, of course, went on to have a long musical career in Sweden with two more Melfest entries. He also uses his position to promote causes associated with vulnerable peoples and environmental issues.

[tatugirls]

t.A.T.u. 2003

[aboutl0ve]