#I missed the eurovision season SO MUCH

[ensign-stan]

SO FUCKING EXCITED ABOUT EUROVISION SONG LIST THIS YEAR

(this user has just watched non-binary musical pop-rap-opera The Code by Nemo and screams in delight)

thank you switzerland you are doing a service TO ALL

[ayakashibackstreet]

On an unrelated note, I'm so glad this semi worked out so well for me when it comes to personal stuff? I had a great day overall, I watched with my mum and it wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be. She didn't get drunk, she was actually watching with me and getting into it. She was so excited when I printed out voting sheets for us and all, she made some desserts for us specifically for the occasion, it was amazing. Even though our tastes don't exactly match a lot of the time lol

[cinturato]

Can Charles actually enter Eurovision? Absolutely! Eurovision requires that a country's broadcaster selects the artist. Other relevant requirements: - The song can't have been released before 1 September this year for a 2024 entry (so none of Charles' 3 existing piano pieces can be adapted for this) - There need to be some lyrics, which need to be sung live. Charles may wish to invite someone to do this, but as long as the broadcaster accepts whoever on planet Earth Charles picks, that can be anyone that isn't performing for another entry on the night, is capable of producing a vocal and is able to get to the venue. - The song must be 3 minutes or less - Charles will have to record the piano part (and any other instruments) in advance, since no instruments can be performed live (the opposite rule to the main vocal). So he doesn't have to worry about accidentally missing a key on the night, as long as he either mimes it plausibly or performs in such a way that everyone is distracted from any broken illusions. - One last one that's unlikely to come up: no live animals on stage. Eurovision bans them. So no getting round the vocals rule by putting a rooster on stage or something.

...so you’re telling me there’s a chance.

this is SO interesting actually; i want to watch eurovision now even if charles isn’t on next season (which, lbr, feels unlikely; the man is busy)! but if he releases another song in the meantime... i’ll keep my eye on him 👀

is it silly to hope for a charles x XNDA collab? because we know lewis has the vocals... oh nvm. no goats allowed on stage :’(

(jokes aside this was so informative and cool; thank you so much!!)

[demonoflight]

So. Eurovision.

Not gonna lie, it doesn't feel much like a celebration this year. For like. All the reasons? And I'm really displeased with some of the choices made this year, to say the least.

But, I need to be very real with everybody right now: the Eurovision pre-season was the only reason I survived the horrors I've endured the past seven months. I watched nearly every pre-selection, from my regular Melodifestivalen liveblogging through Festivali i Këngës and Benidorm Fest, hours of San Remo, even the live audition phases of Una voce per San Marino and Etapa națională 2024. All that just to feel something. Having something to look forward to every week, new songs and new performances and new artists and new memes to fall in love with... that's basically the only thing that kept me going. If everything else was going terribly (and boy howdy it sure has), at least I had a few hours every week of something fun that put a little musical bandage on my soul.

I have loved Eurovision dearly for most of my life, but I've never been super torn up about missing some or all of it. But this year, for the sake of my mental health, it IS essential that I watch. I... apologize if that disappoints anyone...?

Really hoping things go well.

[vogelmeister]

actually having a massive dilemma bc of eurovision this year and its both ethical and personal. basically last year i went "ava you need a hobby" and i was like "goud is my hobby" and then i was like "something else ava" and so as my new years resolution was to get back involved in my drama society at uni. i miss performing so much. they had auditions for their first spot but i literally couldnt audition as there was no role for me and also i was in my hometown that weekend of auditions and had a concert the other night.

anyways they announced auditions for the open spot (which realistically funnily enough is where i'd pitch goud if i were to pitch goud but sometimes i feel i'll never be confident enough in myself to do that bc it is a very personal work to me at its core. also i'd need a co-director and i almost dont trust someone else with directing these characters) and i flipped through the thingy and what do you know? i can make auditions and there is a role for me. unfortunately i looked at the show dates and it happens to be a certain week in may.

with talk on the town of boycotting eurovision because of israel (which i do not support israel being there i always found it odd bc they arent europe and thats big words coming from an australian) and the ebu flipping around until the song deadline on whether or not to ban them, i have found myself less enthusiastic about this year compared to others. i was talking to someone about how israel (or the not finnish blue and white flagged place) basically is the elephant in the room hindering this, but even so, i only have a handful of entries i really put on repeat (netherlands, croatia, finland) from this year. so the whole situation is affecting my excitement for the event, and you'd think this would make it easier but its not. bc it still is my favourite event of the year and while i can participate in everything to do with the season, to do this and then not watch the finale is a waste to me. so now im at a dilemma with what to even do bc i'd love to be on stage again but it comes at a cost, and i'd love to watch eurovision but it also comes at the cost of a certain not finnish blue and white place being there.

so like, i made a list but this is somehow worse. bc like, i feel like i dont win either way.

watching it

i won't feel depressed bc eurovision is important to me and boycotting it will probs mean sacrificing a huge part of my mental health

i already have watching plans with someone

people in my life know me as the eurovision girl and will ask me about it / i hate being vocal like this (i think its bc people wont take me seriously and i struggle to articulate thoughts regardless especially in situations like that)

joost klein / i already know half the songs anyways

i will feel shit because of israel being there (i have already boycotted KAN and the entrant and their song regardless of what happens)

boycott

i'll probably still feel depressed bc its my favourite event of the year

if i dont watch it i can audition for the play and performing makes me happy just as much as eurovision/ i havent performed since pre amsterdam

can always watch later, however not the same and may get spoiled

anyways

thanks.

[schizononagesimus]

nine people you'd like to know better, tagged by @evilwomanenjoyer (YAY i love tag memes)

last song: europapa van Joost Klein i am SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR EUROVISION AND JOOST IS TOP 10 ARTISTS FOR ME AND i could rly infodump abt how good this song is eofhdjnd

favorite color: just like prev, forest green!! :D i use it mostly in decorating because something bad happens to all my green shirts but i have to run my decisions by my friends bc im blue-yellow colorblind

currently watching: this kind of question always gets me cause I dont really watch tv but that makes me sound homeschooled and it's not that i don't like tv it's just that nothing ever grabs me quite as much as like, yuri on ice or the owl house or smthn and i only engage w stuff I can totally obsess over. BUT i do watch a lotta movies bc like, sure ill watch 90 mins of an adventure then be done with it. I suppose im technically watching youtube series? Like im waiting for the next hermitcraft ep rn. I guess im technically watching hazbin hotel even tho i got one ep in and dont really intend on finishing it..?

sweet/savory/spicy: hmm okay it really depends but it's NOT spicy. I like spicy food but my GI tract Does Not. I mean i wouldnt say savory necessarily but salty food is my heaven. Sweet can be very hit or miss for me depending on strength and type.

relationship status: another great question im married to miss earth and I'll kiss just about anybody but also enjoy serious dates but also a fucking tumblr post made me realize im in my slut era. Idk you know that kk slider quote "the music wants to be free" it's me im the music i think we should be able to do whatever we want forever and i think we should kiss about it. i dont rly define my relationship status in terms of things that people will easily comprehend bc the ways i experience affection are just too fundamentally different and non conforming for that tbh. relationship status- ASK (always stay kissing)

current obsession: always tlt but tmagp has snuck her way in there, and I'm still watching minecraft youtube. I swear my obsessions and daily schedule revolve around the seasons they change like four times a year so mayhap i am simply waiting for the next one

last thing you googled: dragon quest games on switch hehe i just got my switch repaired and a couple years back a coworker got me eshop giftcards for hanukkah just before it broke so now i can finally use them!! dragon quest best game series hehe

tagging: @blaquidow @abigail-pent @senseoftheday @cavalierprimary @softieghost @nooomagnus @deadcart @perfectly-fuckingcivil @vvormooze ik i know the last three of you p well but how are you doing :)

[zyonsay]

boy, havent opened tumblr in a fat minute

hyd zyon!!!! ^_^ man when lando won i remembered you, and thought about you probably freaking out abt it lol

hope you've been doing well!!! what's your opinion on this season so far? im in shambles cause fernando kinda just.,., gave up. completely devastated. spiraling. rotting. sad and bothered.

still absolutely in shock at mclarens performance tho, the difference between this season and last year's is vrazyyy im so proud of the team honestly

i dont think ill start being active again BUT i wish you and all anons the best!!! love you!!! have a wonderful day/night ^_^ yall are so cool and awesome and thank you for letting me borrow your multiple ferraris and for helping my grandma with the groceries

btw WHO is joost klein.

🧼

I LOVE WHEN YOU LEAVE A WHOLE PARAGRAPH IN MY INBOX OMG

I actually missed the Miami gp so i didnt see bro win but trust me I WAS TWEAKING (in a good way)

Im honestly pretty happy with how the season is going at the moment. I love how the competition is a bit more active, even though i love seeing my husband on p1. McLarens performance is awesome and im so ready to see an Oscar p1. (Manifestando 🕯️)

I hope you‘re doing alright <3 i also kinda took a break, everything got a bit too much. I think i wont open my reqs for a long time. It started feeling like im just writing to push out more works and not because i actually enjoy it. And constantly writing smut really made my motivation disappear. I wanna start writing more self indulgently!

SOO, Joost Klein is a dutch musician who represented the Netherlands at Eurovision. He‘s really chill and kinda goofy and i LOVE THIS MAN OMG. His songs sound very happy go lucky but they usually have a much deeper meaning. His most recent one „Europapa“ doesnt seem that deep and more like a fun song but i actually cried when i read the lyrics.

IF YOU WANT ANOTHER RECOMANDATION, i really love Ski Aggu. Him and Joost had made a collab before, but i also like his other music. Its mostly chill party music, but again some of them are sad as fuck.

[dennydraws]

Get to know me tag!

Tagged by: @spotofmummery and @celestialspark thank you both! :D I missed tags like these!

Last song: I've been re-listening to a lot of faves from this year's Eurovision Song contest and I think Estonia's song "Bridges" just hit massive cord in my own heart for personal reasons. :D;;

Currently reading: Already finished but last thing I read was "Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds"... I tend to devour books in 2-3 days and then not touch any for a couple of months :'D;; It was really, really good! Looking forward to the movie!

Currently watching: I'm not following any series right now but I did recently finish watching "Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage" which I don't think it counts as season 2? But nevertheless filled me with much whimsy and punched me in the heart! I'm in need of season 2, I want the underworld brothers together and happy... ;.;

Current obsession: I've been playing more Tactics Ogre now that I can time travel in the game and I'm actually really having fun! :D I've been exploring the Palace of the Dead and finally got to save Warren and Lanselot last night... which means I should technically be over with the side content soon. I really had fun making little stories about the characters I recruit ... if time and energy allowed it, I would have thrown some fan art in the web xD;;

I've been clearing some old art supplies and re-discovered some watercolor sketchbooks so, kinda hope to draw a bit more again with the good ol' traditional mediums! :>

While not actively into anything super specific, my brain has been super into my own worlds and stories, does that count? xD;;

Tagging: Whooo wants a tag? @samurulantis @tidusyumemiru haven't heard from you two in a while ! @lumartical @palastel my besties :D; @yoiku @shroudkeeper share some stuffs with me, friends! \o/

[lastweeksshirttonight]

April is here and so is more looking back at the past ten seasons of Last Week Tonight. Wooo!

I'm going to aim to have Last Lee Tonight posted every week on Thursdays. Work is always a wrench in my plans but I'm pretty sure I can keep up that pace. They'll let me leave at some point right? hahaha help.

Now that the admin notes are out of the way, let's get cracking.

Last Lee Tonight (wherein John waited three episodes to dump music knowledge on us and honestly I'm impressed he waited that long) Season One, Episode Three

(original air date: 5/11/2014) Major topics covered: global warming; campaign finance and 2014 Senate political ads; Russia/Ukraine tensions

"History was made this week. ...Technically, history is made every week, that's kind of how history works."

We are still in that unique transitory period where John's team has figured out that longform segments are probably the way to go... but aren't really sure how to best utilize the rest of their show's time. The first two episodes were marked contrasts to each other structurally and were easier to compare. This third episode is all over the place, rushing through the first small segment on football, before covering a wide array of information and sources on Russian actions in around 8 minutes, which then gets us to our first main segment about ten minutes in. You can tell that the writers are still really trying to work out how to best structure their strange new show.

We start the episode talking about the first openly gay player in the NFL, Michael Sam, something I swear happened both earlier than and later than 2014. I fucking love that ESPN completely ignored the player in question's sexuality and just talked stats and genericisms. SPORTS!

We don't spend long there, as we move straight into discussing the present Ukranian/Russian tensions, first through the lens of Eurovision. I am truly shocked that John hasn't covered Eurovision every damn year, because it's the kind of overly theatrical camp nonsense he adores. We get a very Daily Show-esque bit where John grabs a paper way on the other side of his desk to quote Russia's entry, and it makes me sad that the audience barely registers it as a joke.

Also shit Conchita Wurst won Eurovision nearly ten years ago. I feel so fucking old.

Russia also recently annexed Crimea at the time, and John briefly covers the struggles Putin will have with the annexation. Putin is busy minting a two-pound commemorative coin over his 'victory', so we get a fake commercial for the "Worthless Desolate Landmass Commemorative Coin". This feels very much like a Bugle bit, complete with the satirical underpinning of acknowledging that Russia will actively make Crimeans' lives worse. And obviously Putin shirtless on a horse.

(I know that continually mentioning other things John has done that line up with these LWT bits probably seems a bit harsh or uncharitable, but LWT was clearly still trying to find a voice that wasn't cribbed from the two productions John was most associated with - to say nothing of the gigantic shadow The Colbert Report cast over every talking-head show in its wake. There's a lot of what I'd consider essential LWT that's been completely missing from these early episodes, from the common running gags of being a furry and shitting on his appearance, to a more unhinged level of social disruption and trolling, to even some of his linguistic choices - and that honestly makes sense. John has said multiple times that no one on the show had any idea what they were doing at this point, so why not pull from things that worked before?)

The first major story starts 10 minutes in, and regards campaign finance. The FEC has allowed bitcoin contributions to campaigns and jesus christ kill me now

Sorry. Campaign finance just innately pisses me off, and John gets me by basically saying "what else is left" while listing off all the campaign finance fuckery of the past few years at that time. I wish 2023 Me and 2023 John did not have to see what else was left.

John's joke about cribbing band names from the Kentucky Derby is gold. Tag yourself I'm California Chrome.

We get our first delightfully off impression of the series from John in this section - it's the rich evil Southern gentleman voice, in the form of Mitch McConnell threatening to kill people with a shovel over his love of coal. No amount of context will help me explain that better.

John also confirms that Mitch McConnell is not a homegrown Kentucky girl like his then-competitor, Alison Lundergan Grimes, by noting that "Politifact rates that true". I laughed so hard at that I had to pause. Please bring that gag back.

The Kentucky piece is overall worth watching, as it hits how campaign finance has influenced political advertising in ways directly detrimental to statewide and nationwide issues of import. The only part of this on YouTube is the capper, where John makes the most over-the-top and morally repugnant ads he can possibly think of. Trigger warning for gory violence including disembowelment, implied animal cruelty, and old man and middle-aged nudity. (Required note from this blog: it is not John Oliver nude. Fucking weirdoes, the lot of you [/j]) Link is here bc the video is, quite reasonably, age-restricted.

We now move to our very first "How Is This Still A Thing?", with the subject "Dressing Up as Other Races". Honestly no notes here, this segment came out the gate strong and basically in the same format it retains in the current day. (Seriously stop using other cultures as a costume.)

Finally, with five minutes left, we get to the segment Wikipedia thinks is the main one, on climate change. (The pacing of LWT Season One is a rollercoaster.) Global warming in 2014 threatens everything, yet 1 in 4 Americans think it doesn't exist. I would like to travel through time to scream at them and John thinks even talking about that kind of stat is fucking pointless. Bill Nye is brought on to have a statistically representative debate on the topic, which involves a random fuckload of people being on stage at once. I love the chaos but this is a very slim bit.

This was the weirdest episode to watch so far, I think. They took the lessons of the last episode and did attempt to apply them, but we aren't quite at the sweet spot of LWT pacing and structure yet. We'll get there eventually, I'm sure.

Random notes:

Lee obviously focuses on important things corner: After the absolute banger that was "red check pattern" last week, we return to neutral blue shirt and bubble-patterned navy tie. The unique tie elevates this to a 8/10 look, but one thing I cannot wait to get to is his "bold outfit choice" era of shit like silver suit and blue check shirt.

John describing bitcoin as something only "heroin dealers and assassins" use makes me yearn for the innocent time of 2014, when people were not trying to sell me every goddamn coin and ape doodle and metaverse on earth.

The YouTube team for this episode truly had no idea what to clip for this one. Their main segment doesn't have an authorized clip, and I don't know why they decided to take a 5 minute segment and make two clips out of it, an abbreviated version and a full version.

Speaking of weird shit on the LWT YouTube, have this 45 second bit of HBO selling the fuck out of their new show and John being obviously uncomfortable with it. However, in this clip he is, and I say this with a minimal amount of bias, hot as fuck. ("I'm no one's idea of a photogenic human being" SHUT UP MATE MY GOD)

I found this ad on their YouTube as well, which was very fun. Back when we expected some actual timely news discussion on LWT!

[awaybacktothen]

Today is the last day of my 20s. I've wasted the first eight years on depression and anxiety, and long covid stole the last two and my life as a whole from me. My queue finally ran out a month or two ago after two years, since it's not like I was actually to be able on here, after being here all day every day for ten years. So I guess this is it.

I am utterly and completely exhausted every second of every day, in pain all over my body every second of every day. I don't remember what it's like to feel any sort of rest anymore. I can't move my head a millimeter without feeling dizzy and. My body feels heavy, so heavy, even though I'd actually lost 25kg and I'm not overweight for the first time since high school. I live in a dark room full time and I spend half the day with white noise on cause I can't tolerate the sounds my parents make just living their life in their own apartment, cooking, cleaning etc

I'm deteriorating with every month and there's no way for me to know when the day comes that I'm fully bedridden, fully unable to tolerate any light or sound, fully unable to stand on my feet.

I've watched one movie and two tv show seasons in the last two years as I'm no longer able to watch things, to handle the light and movement, to easily process what I'm seeing and hearing. The last thing I watched was about a year ago and by then I was already struggling to follow the plot, properly process what I was seeing and hearing.

I just can't believe everybody gets to live their life as if nothing ever happened and I'm left severely disabled and will never get to live anything remotely similar to a normal life. I left the house once this year. Everybody's just living, at the very least watching shows and playing games and I can't even do that. I will never go to on a vacation or to a concert or to theatre again and that breaks my heart into a million pieces

Pride month is on, such fun, I'll spend it in bed, alone, for the rest of my life. Hey anybody know of anyone who wants to date me while I can't leave the house and I can't move my limbs much? No? Long covid made me lose every close friend, any chance at having a job, dating, living without assistance. I will now forever be living with my parents, unable to even take care of my room or myself.

I always thought I would one day be on social media a lot less and watch fewer shows and movies because I finally got a life. It never even crossed my mind that I would stop doing all that stuff because any life I had would be taken away from me by an illness.

You just never know if something's gonna happen out of nowhere and ruin your life forever, with no way of things ever getting better, with no way of getting better. You're always hearing about people's lives being ruined by severe illness or accidents. You never expect it to happen to you. I had a 'cold' and now I have brain and heart damage among dozen other things and will never get to do anything besides sit in my room too exhausted and too braindead to do anything. My life is one cruel fucking joke. Do you know what it's like to live knowing this is what your life is always going to be like? Do you know what it's like to mourn your life while still being alive? It's torture.

I cherish every friendship I made on here and I'm incredibly sad I'm not able to continue them. I miss you all. I'll probably pop up here once or twice a year for eurovision or tonys or something (although I don't know a single thing about the nominations this year, not even their names) if I'm at all able to

❤️

[artielotl]

eurovision moots i know eurovision isn't until may but it has been an honour liveblogging this national final season with you. i will miss the saturday evening commentary dearly. even if i haven't messaged you about it and just spam like all your posts, know that i love you and have had so much fun these past few months <3

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2022: #26

26. Cyprus

Andromache - “Ela” 27th place

Decade Rank: #52/79 [Above Blind Channel, below The Black Mamba]

Happy holidays! It’s time to emerge from off-season mode and power through the remainder of these updates, as we get excited for more niche faves that are destined to fall flat and be terrible (my prayers are with you, Megara and Tokimeki and Chérine). 

Funnily enough I HAD prepared an larger, sharper update for Andromache earlier but my PC crashed so here’s a more unabridged and ranty version: CYPRUS HAD THAT NQ COMING!!!!!! For the past four years they were riding Eleni’s coattails and attempting to placate the Fa...ns Of This Show in increasedly soulless knock-offs, so it was only a matter that came flying back into their faces like a fanged boomerang.

I wasn’t necessarily rooting for the failure of this *particular* Cyprus entry, though. “Ela” at least made an attempt at sounding genuinely Cypriotic. It also somehow took ten people, (one of them being one of Stefania’s Invisible Men), to write this basic ethnic tune. To top it of, an anemic female lead whose name can affectionately (and accurately) be bastardized into “AndroidMachine”. The bones of a quirky random fave were there!

Sadly, the live. I don’t think the voice was as bad as I’ve seen others proclaim it to have been, but it was Very Not Good. AndroidMachine always the problem of sounding both very nasal and very bored, like a Sarah McTiernan on perdolan,  but even with taking that into account, it’s surprising she did so poorly. She failed to hit many notes of this - again- really basic tune while virtually standing still? Did you not rehearse, Andro? Do you have an Ikea membership I’m unaware of?

Worse vocals have qualified before though, so good visuals COULD have brought solace (in the form of shoving Azer out of the finals), but alas. 

Cramming Andro into a polystyreme scallop and having her emit a mermaid call like was a promising premise. I WAS hoping for a Batista-like staging, as with shirtless adonises to distract as much as possible from Andromache being... wel... herself.  

However, the act Cyprus went with was just some inane flailing + colours projections that cast shadows ON THE FUCKING SHELL. 

But don’t worry about the lack of dynamism, after the blue, we’re going repeat the same thing with yellow and magenta. 🙃 It’s easy to see why Cyprus NQ’d but also see that it very easily could have been avoided. Just... give us some life? Some movement? Like a performance befitting an AndroidMachine, "Ela” was run entirely on Airplane Mode. 

But hey at least the Basics got to live their life out of this one, I guess, evidenced by that one Spanish guy getting the shell tattoo’d on his wrist. 😂 (was he Spanish? idk. Getting an “Ela” tattoo requires a specific combination of feral impulsivity and insanity that I’m only willing to attribute to certain Spanish fans). Each to their own, I guess, and I have other faves to stan!

I cannot wait to see which lessons Cyprus have learned from this journey 🙂 (none, because they chose Andrew Limpbrou for 2023 lmfaooooo)

BUT WAIT because it’s been so long and it’s almost New Year here’s a bonus update where I boot some additional rando I don’t really care for. Let’s hear it for:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25. ARMENIA 

Rosa Linn - “Snap” 20th place

Decade rank: 50/79 [above The Black Mamba, below James Newman]

"Snap” is cute. It was a fairly unremarkable Eurovision entry though. 🙂

THE RANKING

25. ARMENIA - Rosa Linn - “Snap” 26. CYPRUS - Andromache - “Ela” 27. LATVIA - Citi Zeni - “Eat your salad” 28. DENMARK - ReDDI - “The show” 29. BULGARIA - Intelligent Music Project - “Intention” 30. GREECE - Amanda Tenjford - “Die together” 31. POLAND - Ochman - “River” 32. MONTENEGRO - Vladana - “Breathe” 33. FINLAND - The Rasmus - "Jezebel" 34. BELGIUM - Jérémie Makiese - “Miss you” 35. NORWAY - Subwoolfer - “Give that wolf a banana” 36. AUSTRALIA - Sheldon Riley - “Not the same” 37. SWITZERLAND - Marius Bear - “Boys do cry” 38. AZERBAIJAN - Nadir Rustamli - “Fade to black” 39. ITALY - Mahmood & Blanco - “Brividi” 40. ISRAEL - Michael Ben David - “I.M” (yes, that is the canonical Rosa Linn write-up ^_^)

[luxnebula]

Today I'm listening to V from 2014. This, I think, is a notable album in Voyager's history because this is when Australia entered Eurovision and Voyager started trying to get into the competition. Let's compare it to it's predecessors, however.

Daniel's vocals have evolved so much! Hyperventilating shows off what kind of different voices he can make, from high notes to powerful notes. There's also this bit that I don't know how to describe but that I like a lot. It's like, he's alternating between two different notes rapidly? Does that make sense? You'll know it when you hear it. Daniel makes it sound so easy, but when I try to sing along, I can't nail it as well lol

The sound on V is still kind of in the dreaded "generic" heavy metal category, but they're exploring it and starting to find their own twist to it. A Beautiful Mistake especially is taking many twists and turns that I really enjoy and Seasons of Age takes a detour in Type O Negative-esque goth metal. Embrace the Limitless (their first entry for Australia Decides!) also brings a lot of synths into their sound, again foreshadowing what they'll sound like in the future.

Embrace the Limitless is fascinating as a Voyager song, actually. It has a lot more synths and a lot less guitars than the rest of the songs on the album. The verses of the song are also very mellow and almost calm. It seems to me that they were trying to tone down the heavy metal elements of their sound to be more mainstream palatable and Eurovision-worthy. It's not a bad thing though, it's a good song. I also find the line "this is all we have to give" funny because they have so so so much more in them. They just keep getting better and better from here, so this is not "all that they have to give" at all!

The melancholic vibe from the previous albums is almost completely gone. There is only one slow song on the album, Summer Always Comes Again, and even it has a hopeful, uplifting vibe. I didn't even realise how sharp and sudden the shift away from melancholy was for Voyager! That's so interesting! I would have completely missed it if I hadn't started doing these reviews.

One other thing that I noticed only after many relistens is that the song The Morning Light is basically the same song as To The Morning Light from the first album, just with updated mixing. These two albums are ten years apart and it's been ten years since V. Are we due another version of The Morning Light, perhaps? Maybe in the new, more synth-y style?

Overall, it's a solid album. It's perfectly in the intersection of "old Voyager" and "modern Voyager". It has lots of elements from their early years while also foreshadowing where their sound will go in future albums. This is where they're starting to find their groove and getting from "good" to "great". Tomorrow is Ghost Mile's turn and I'm so excited for it.

[eurovision-del]

It’s the last week of national final season, with only two countries left to decide who’s going to represent them at Eurovision! One of those is Portugal, so here’s my ranking of the FdC finalists:

Mimicat – Ai Coração

Neon Soho – Endless World

SAL – Viver

Esse Povo – Sapatos de Cimento

DAPUNKSPORTIF – World Needs Therapy

INÊS APENAS  – Fim do Mundo

Cláudia Pascoal – Nasci Maria

Voodoo Marmalade – Tormento

Edmundo Inácio – A Festa

Ivandro – Povo

You Can’t Win Charlie Brown – Contraste Mudo

Churky – Encruzilhada

Bárbara Tinoco – Goodnight

This is a decent set of finalists, but I’m really missing Bandeiras – I wrote in my initial ranking how I was worried about how it might come across live, then seeing it actually performed I thought they did a fantastic job, with one of the most interesting performances across both semis, so I was shocked when it didn’t make it through!

With Bandua out of the running, I now need Mimicat to win on Saturday! For me she’s easily got the best entry – both the best song and the best voice! Her vocal is beautiful from the opening seconds, and I was blown away when she nailed that long note! I thought the staging was fine, I especially liked the shot near the start where she and the dancers leaned back over the sofa, and the dancing in general was great, but there’s definitely space to do something even more interesting with it.

It's a shame for me that Neon Soho only made it through on the second round of voting, since that pretty much rules out its chances of actually winning, because theirs is the only song here that rivals Ai Coração in terms of how much I enjoy it! I loved the staging and styling, it gave it a dreamlike quality which really matched the tone of the song.

Vivre also really stood out to me with its live performance. Based on studio cut, I’d preferred World Needs Therapy of the two rock (adjacent) songs, but SAL definitely had the better performance between them, and it made me appreciate their song much more!

Like I said, I really want Mimicat to win, I reckon she’d be the best choice for Portugal with her song being one of the most immediate here – rivaled perhaps only by Cláudia’s Nasci Maria, which I’m slightly less keen on as a song just for how repetitive it is. However, there aren’t really any bad options here – even Bárbara’s song, which I don’t particularly enjoy, had a great staging concept and would stand out based on that alone. Portugal have surprised me before by choosing something that was completely off my radar which I then went on to fall in love with by the time we reached Eurovision itself, and I could see that happening again!

[luimnigh]

May! Did pretty well this month. Okay, made no progress in reading the book I was reading, but apart from that I watch quite a bit of stuff.

Five movies, and four partial watches.

Two series, continued my weekly watch from past months, and added two new weekly watches.

And two games polished off.

I spent today babysitting my nephew, so let's just say I'm already getting a good start with June.

Movies:

Face/Off: It had come up on Flickle a few days before, and I ended up on it after scrolling some streaming sites for a while. Been a couple years since I've seen it. Delightfully bonkers.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: There's some elements of this film that I feel have aged badly already, some elements that are unrealistic now that I know more about the realities of animal testing and care, but the global pandemic in the end hits different now.

Jumanji: The Next Level: Fine enough sequel, I liked it quite well. Nothing spectacular to it.

Casino Royale (2006): I watched this instead of Eurovision. Which means, unlike the rest of Europe, I watched Britain br good at something.

Deadpool 2: Good to catch this one before the sequel arrived. Took me a few years to realise this was an adaptation of the "Deadpool in love with Death" story without making Deadpool want to bone bones. Still think both these writers and the Avengers writers are cowards on that mark.

Rush (Partial): Caught the last hour one night, basically starting with Niki Lauda's crash. Good movie.

Maiden Voyage: Ocean Hijack (Partial): Caught the first hour of this film late one night. Terrible action movie, Die Hard on a Cruise Ship which makes it an inferior Speed 2: Cruise Control.

The Imitation Game (Partial): Parents were watching it. Caught the last half hour. Spent the entire time annoyed with Turing's characterisation.

The Road Dance (Partial): Caught the last hour. Depressing drama set in the Scottish Outer Hebrides during WWI, about the aftermath of a sexual assault. Mark Gatiss is in it.

Series:

Tales of the Empire: Good to see Barriss again, though I certainly didn't wait as long as many others I know.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners: A lovely little tragedy. Very much epitomises the idea of a tragedy where so many things could have happened to change the ending, and yet you know that the ending was always inevitable. Also I've been thinking about playing the game, so this helped give me some understanding of the setting.

Dungeon Meshi (Partial): I feel like this show is gonna need a second season to wrap up. The situation is still only escalating.

Doctor Who (Partial): You know, I haven't watched weekly Doctor Who since Capaldi? I stopped watching after Hell Bent. I really do need to watch the seasons I missed. Anyway, I think Ruby might be Susan.

Jet Lag: The Game: Season 10 (Partial): Yeah, already way better than Hide And Seek.

Games:

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations: The final game in the trilogy, and a nice send-off. Some interesting twists and turns, and a nice look into both Mia and Edgeworth's heads. And thankfully, there was no character as annoying as the clown this time.

Saints Row (2022) DLC: Stepping back into Santo Illeso was like stepping back into a comfortable pair of slippers. Problem is, the company that makes those slippers has been shut down, so once those slippers are worn out, I'll never be able to get new slippers. A damn shame.

Looking back, I spent most of last year in a depressive funk. There were some high moments, but after about March I just stopped doing the stuff I enjoy. I didn't read books, I didn't watch movies, the last videogame I played to completion was in May, I only went to the Cinema twice...

I just took the quick dopamine hit from stuff like youtube videos and social media scrolling.

I gotta fix that. I gotta get back to the things I enjoy.

So my New Year's Resolution, probably the first time I've ever seriously done one, is to enjoy more art.

I'm gonna record every movie and series watched, every book read, every game played- and I'm gonna finish a bunch of those I started and never ended.

No goal, just more.

[rapha-reads]

Best of The Voice YouTube channel drops this week's best performances and opens it up with a video of a Ukrainian contestant singing Shum by Goa-A WITH our one true Queen Kateryna Pavlenko, and not a single comment bowing to the greatness that is our High Priestess. Tsssssk.