#Started watching eurovision fully

[punainenmarlii]

[beauty-and-passion]

Eurovision 2023: the show of unfairness and the triumph of people’s hearts

My god, this year left me exhausted.

It’s 1:30 am, the Eurovision Grand Final just ended and I am starting to write this post now, because I need some time to calm myself before going to bed. And maybe putting down some thoughts about this year will help me find some peace - at least for a couple hours.

This year has not been what was supposed to be, starting from the show and ending with the winner.

But let’s start from the beginning.

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Ukraine: robbed of their own show

We all know Ukraine couldn’t host Eurovision in their country because of the war, so they asked the UK to do that.

And the UK tried to be a good host. They reminded us of the reason why Ukraine couldn’t do it, they tried to call Ukrainian artists and make the show about them... only to systematically forget it two minutes later and start acting as if they won and this was their show.

I hope now you understand why last year I said to not give them power over anything. The UK has a tiny little problem called “massive ego” and if you give them a little crumb, they will immediately scarf the whole cake down.

This year should’ve been 70% Ukraine themed and 30% UK themed. What we had instead was the other way around: the UK gave us a tiny little interval show in the semifinals about Ukraine, then a massive show all about the UK.

The Gran Final has been the icing on this disgusting cake. It started with a bang, featuring all of our favourite Ukrainian artists in the span of five minutes: Tina Karol (I had no idea she was Ukrainian, what a nice surprise!), goddess Verka, my beloved Go_A with The Only Queen That Matters, aka Kateryna Pavlenko. And, of course, our favourite winners: the Kalush Orchestra. Man Carpet is still an icon and I still wonder what the singer sees behind that pink hat, but I don’t care. It’s perfect, it’s great, I want this but 200x more. I want them to steal the show, I want them in all interval acts. But no worries, I’m sure they will definitely appear more during the final. I mean, there’s no way the UK called them just to appear for 20 seconds, right? Right?

Oh sorry, my bad. I forgot this isn’t Ukraine’s show, this is UK’s show. We should definitely have Sam Ryder in the interval act and we should definitely make it all about English songs. I mean, it’s not like there are four of the most beloved Ukrainian artists in Liverpool. Let’s make it all a huge masturbation session of the UK instead.

I apologize if my metaphor offended someone, but this is what I felt while watching the UK celebrating itself. Like... can’t you do this in a private room? Do I really have to watch it? This is just one step below Portugal’s show, which showed a massive ego as well and tortured me for three nights straight, by repeating how cool they were and how nice they were and how I would’ve done a great choice visiting them.

But even if that was torture, at least Portugal was the winner of the previous year, not a host masturbating over the fact they are allowed to host a show they didn’t win.

The only choice I fully approve of in this show is the postcards idea: that was very elegant and respectful and I want to thank the person who thought about it. The cards show Ukraine’s beautiful places, UK’s beautiful places and every country’s beautiful places. It’s all beautiful and it’s a great way to both honor Ukraine and emphasize UK’s hosting role, since it looks almost like the UK acts as a “connection” between Ukraine and every other country.

Unfortunately for us, this is the last proof of elegance we will see for the rest of the show.

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Danemark and Poland: robbed even before starting

Do you remember Danemark’s and Poland’s entries? I know, me neither. Bland, forgetful, two huge balls of nothing.

Well, I have a good news and a bad one. The good one is that Danish and Polish people are not insane and their musical tastes are actually way better than this. The bad news is that the two entries we got (Bejba and Tiktokkid) were not supposed to win their country’s competition, because the public’s favourites were different. But, like, VERY different.

Same thing happened last year for Spain, but at least Chanel was able to put on a great show - even if her song was boring. Danemark and Poland didn’t have that either: one gave us a meme, the other gave us nothing. Disappointing.

So let’s clean Danemark’s and Poland’s names, by listening to the artists they were actually supposed to bring. Let’s start with Danemark and please, tell me if the tiktok kid is better than this (if you dare):

And before you think: “oh my gosh, this could’ve been a great entry for Danemark!”, please listen to what Poland was supposed to bring:

I love this song. I love this cute nice boy. I love the classical vibes. And when I played this song for my father, my 70-year-old father told me, with no hesitation: “Oh, this is way better than the other one!”.

So if a 70-year-old can recognize how good this song is, then there’s no generational gap and it’s not true that people are accustomed to the same boring stuff. If a song is good, is good. If a song is bland, is bland.

By now you probably already heard from Polish people about how the voting system of their competition was rigged and how Blanka won thanks to the power of nepotism. So our duty as Europeans (and as people with some fucking taste) is to stream Gladiator, listen to all of his songs and shower this boy with love because he needs to know the world loves him.

And for you all, Polish people: thank you for making us know about your true winner. He really looks like one and we love him too.

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Germany: robbed while trying

I really cannot understand why people keep hating Germany this much. Is it still because of WW2? What did they do, to deserve the bottom of the chart? I know it’s funny, I know it’s for the memes ah ah ah, but also... come on. Come. On. Are you really telling me that Poland was better than Germany? Are you really telling me that the UK was better than Germany?

I can assure you that if Sweden brought this exact same song, the jury would’ve given this song 300 points. But hey, ThE jUrY iS iMpArTiAl, right?

German people: I don’t know why the world hates you. I think you would’ve gotten more votes, if only the system wasn’t so stupidly rigged and forced everyone to choose one winner only, hoping to defeat the jury’s sheer power. Personally, I enjoyed your song and I enjoyed Lord of the Lost and I will definitely listen to more of their songs to add to my playlist.

However, I also understand your frustration. So you know what? Just go nuts. Choose whoever the fuck you want to represent your country, attend Eurovision whenever you want and do whatever you want, give us insane shit and amazing stuff. You will be treated the same either way, so why give a fuck? Have fun showing your insane side, I will support you 100%.

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Italy and Israel: what did they ever do to deserve these places?

As an Italian, I am honored people gave so many votes to Italy. Seriously, thank you all, nice to know people appreciate our singers.

But also: why so many votes? Why? I know Mengoni is a good singer, he has a great voice and if this was a real singing competition he would’ve probably deserved to win.

But since Eurovision is not a singing competition, why all these points? Were people really so in love with this ballad? Why? What does he have I cannot understand?

Even more important: why Israel, with their stupid unicorn song, got all these votes? Why? Is it because she’s good-looking? Seriously? Are we still stuck thinking with our genitals, instead of using our brains? I thought Europe moved past the need of thinking with genitals only and started developing some good fucking taste.

Or did her amazing “dance moves” get the public? Ok, she’s very flexible... but do I really really have to remind you of Chanel? A small dance segment is really worth so many points, when last year we had someone who was able to sing AND dance as she did for the entire song? I didn’t even like Chanel, but I am mature enough to recognize that THAT was a show, while the unicorn lady did nothing more than a small dance. Definitely not worth 185 public votes.

At least I know that my country didn’t go insane and the true points (aka the public’s points) didn’t go to the unicorn but to Moldova. Thank god, we are still able to recognize what’s good.

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Finland: the real winner

When Eurovision started, I was sure Czechia would’ve been the winner. However, their performance wasn’t enough to grant them victory.

Finland, however, had everything a winner needs. And now I will explain to you why, because I love this funky green man and you should love him too.

1) “A little man from Vantaa”

Käärijä is a rare gem, not just for Eurovision, but in general. He’s a simple, genuine, silly guy, who comes from a city few people knew before. He doesn’t speak English too well, but he tries and fails in comically sweet ways. He’s a huge fan of Rammstein, so he’s a man of culture. He became besties with Bojan from the Slovenian band Joker Out and their bromance has been the best part of this Eurovision: these two share one single braincell and I love them for this.

But, most of all, he’s humble. He never considered himself above all others, even after his victory. He knew right from the start that it would’ve been a battle between him and Loreen and yet, he never grew arrogant about it. He always talked about their rivalry in funny ways, through memes and by treating her nicely. But he also never underestimated her: he always put his whole self into every performance, knowing full well he had to give everything, to reach the public’s hearts.

And he did. He reached the public’s hearts and like many others all over the world, I also love this little man. He’s genuine, he’s honest, he’s a fashion icon (Finland changes their flag to green when), his dancers are funky and nice like him. You look at him once and all you can think is: “I want to protect him at all costs”. It’s just impossible to hate this man.

2) His song is a banger

Not only his song is a fusion of three genres (industrial metal, hyperpop and hip-hop/rap), so he’s already serving you three songs in one, but the language he used is Finnish.

I’ve heard Finnish people saying that they never used their language because it’s “too weird”. People, that’s exactly because it’s weird that you should use it! You have this gem and you hide it to us?!

If you don’t know why Finnish is so great, please consider that while all other European languages are part of the Indo-European family, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian are not. They are part of a completely different family (the Uralic languages).

That means they have nothing similar to any other European language. They are something completely different and new, a whole new world to explore. And they’re here, in our continent!

In addition to that, Finnish is an agglutinative language, which means words are formed by stringing together morphemes. How fucking cool is that? I love this kind of language!

As someone who studied English, French, German and Russian, Finnish is something that gets my attention. I can recognize similarities between Germanic, Slavic and Italic languages and I love them, but Finnish is an unexplored world. It’s made of sounds that well, sound familiar even if they’re not. It’s a constant surprise, you know?

Also, I love that it’s a language full of vowels because it makes me think of my own mother tongue (Italian). It’s a bit like feeling at home, even if our languages have nothing in common <3

3) The best performance of Eurovision 2023

I love the Croatian daddies like the next person (and I’m glad the public gave them the top 10 because they deserve it), but Käärijä’s performance had everything: it told us a story (i.e. how Käärijä slowly emerges from behind his barriers to join the party), he gave us the best stupid dance moves and there’s even a family-friendly human centipede. What else do you need, to start dancing?

Also, another shoutout to his dancers, because I live for those shocking pink dresses and for their immensely creepy expressions. And I live for the public always welcoming them with screams: they deserve it.

I know you already enjoyed it 200 times, but you know what? Let’s fucking destroy the views of this video and let’s watch it again. And also, let’s notice how much the public enjoys it. How much they screamed, how they sang with him, how they enjoyed this party.

Even without knowing Käärijä, you can feel he put his whole self into this. And the public felt it too.

And the final result was astonishing: he got 376 points from the public. It’s the second-highest public score, after Kalush Orchestra, who got 439 points.

If you notice, Käärijä’s percentage is even higher than Kalush Orchestra’s! And such a high result means one thing and one thing only: the public has chosen its winner. He is the winner. People are sovereign and people’s will has been very clear about it. So when I say he’s the winner, it’s not because I want to indulge him: it’s because it’s the fucking truth.

Also, please notice the kind of songs the public chose as their top 3 favorites: songs with nothing mainstream and native languages. All while the jury thinks what we want is the same boring shit we can hear on the radio 24/7.

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A painful evening

Let me start by making something clear: I don’t hate Loreen and I don’t hate Sweden. It’s not their fault if they win. They are just exploiting the situation, because they learned what the good formula is and keep using it over and over.

Loreen knows that if she sends another song that is just like all the others she made, she will get a high position. And now, thanks to yesterday’s victory, she knows she doesn’t even have to try. Why should she do something different, when doing the same thing twice made her win twice? Why try something different, why step out of her comfort zone? If she does the same thing, she can win. So she will keep doing the same thing.

Same goes for the entire country of Sweden. They learned that if they bring the most boring, generic pop song you can listen to on every radio on planet Earth, you will win. So, they will keep sending it. After all, a bland pop song is what the world is more accustomed to, so why change? Why do something different, when they can be teacher’s pet and always get a high score? This isn’t being stupid, this is being clever.

But is it elegant and fair too? Oh honey, absolutely not. This is the exact opposite of what elegance and fairness are.

On Saturday evening, when we reached the voting part of the show, the crowd literally CHEERED AND SANG Käärijä’s name or “Cha Cha Cha”. Multiple times.

Once the public clearly states who they want to win, then the competition is over. When the consensus is unanimous, there’s no competition anymore. The winner is already here. Everything else is just white noise and bureaucracy.

That’s what I felt, while I was forced to keep listening to a bunch of people loudly kissing Sweden’s ass. The public had already decided, we already have a winner. Why are we still wasting time?

And if forcing us to keep listening to this pitiful charade was not enough, the hosts decided to lose that shred of elegance that was still left on this joke of a show and not only shushed the public all time but even said “just ignore everyone”, as if their voices didn’t really matter. It’s not like this is a music competition and the public is the final receiver of said music, after all.

I don’t know you, but I don’t like to see the sovereign public being silenced and told they do not matter, all while a bunch of people takes the decisions for them. Maybe the Brits are accustomed to being silenced because an old rich man has to decide for them, but other countries don’t work like that. Like, you know, the one they’re hosting the competition for.

There was nothing democratic about Saturday evening. There was nothing fair in silencing the public and pretending they haven’t chosen their winner one hour ago, because teacher’s pet had to win again.

Do you really think Sweden deserved this victory more than Finland? Do you really think that a country that won six times needed to add this victory to their list, so they can say “ah ah we won as many times as Ireland”? Or just because they can do their stupid ABBA anniversary next year? Is this the reason why we choose our winner, now? The past glories of a country? Well, then in 2048 is the anniversary of Dana International’s winning song, let’s all go to Israel! And in 2056 we’ll go to Finland, because it’s the anniversary of Lordi’s winning. And in 2071 will be 50 years from the Maneskin’s victory, so let’s come back to Italy.

What, does that sound ridiculous? Tell that to the jury, then.

I feel immensely sorry for the Finnish people, because I read online how much this victory could’ve meant for them. This could’ve been so important, such a good chance to shine for a country that considers their language “too weird” and who hasn’t won in 17 years. And since they are stuck between that ticking bomb that is Russia and the always perfect Sweden, they really needed something that gave them more positive attention.

And it broke my heart even more to see Käärijä suffering. He even apologized to his nation. He did something amazing and he still apologized. He literally won and apologized for not winning. That’s unfairness to its finest.

And if all of this is not enough, the results of the public’s vote came out and oh, look, not a single country gave 12 points to Sweden, while almost every country gave 12 points to Finland. Wow, who would’ve fucking guessed that teacher’s pet won because of the teacher.

Again: does that seem fair and democratic to you?

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Oligarchy masqueraded as democracy

Let’s do a little bit of math, shall we?

Each national jury consists of five people + one backup juror. They supposedly vote for the best singer and performance- AHAHAH great joke, very funny.

But let’s not focus on this, now: let’s focus on numbers.

37 countries participated this year. So 37 x 6 = 222. The jury is made up of 222 people in total.

The entire population of Europe is around 451 million people, but let’s keep it low because Eurovision isn’t watched by all Europeans. Let’s take just the number of views on the Youtube streaming of the Grand Finale: 9.5 million people. Let’s round up to 9 million, okay?

Okay, so now we have 222 people on one side and 9 million people on the other. Let’s pretend that less than half of them voted at least one time.

Okay, now look me straight in the eyes and explain why the votes of 222 people should have the same weight as the votes of 4 million people. Please, explain to me how democratic this decision is, can’t wait to hear it.

But you know what? Even if it was 1 million voters only, that wouldn’t have been fair either. In no universe is fair to put one million voters on the same level as 222 voters.

There’s only one possible scenario in which this is fair: if Eurovision was a talent show specifically centered around performances and voices, with a jury made of vocal teachers and choreographers, and all I have to do is passively watch it on my couch.

But from the moment you gave the public the power to choose who the winner could be, then why do the votes of all the people from Europe (and Australia) have the same weight as what 222 people decided?

This isn’t a democracy. This is an oligarchy masquerading as a democracy: a bunch of people decides what you should like, basing their decision on their own interests. And you have no way to oppose them, unless you focus all your votes on one single artist, hoping it would defeat the one the jury chooses.

But this deprives Eurovision of the competition aspect. It’s not a competition if I have to endure a tug-of-war against the jury. It’s not a competition if I am forced to give all of my votes to one artist only, instead of spreading them out to all my favorites. And even in that case, basically all of Europe should vote for that specific artist to try and overcome the sheer power the jury has. Again: does this sound democratic to you?

Now you may say: but the jury is made of experts. Oh, you mean the same experts that proved multiple times they base their votes on politics, who their neighbor is and who can corrupt them better? Or do you mean the same experts that in the past made their choice even without listening to the songs?

The truth is that we have 222 people who can easily be influenced by anything and their power is as strong as the power of 4 million people at least. Four million people, who got invested and followed the entire show from start to finish, if I may add. Please, tell me about the fairness of this system again.

And before you say “but Eurovision is a music competition and we need experts”... sorry, but no. According to Wikipedia, the jury was present before televoting was born, but once televoting was extended to all competing countries (1997 ca.), the jury was no more. It came back only in 2009, with this unfair compromise of 50/50 between jury ad public votes.

So there was a period of time in which there wasn’t a jury and in that period we had the first win for Estonia, Turkey, Latvia, Greece, Finland, Serbia and Russia. How weird that, once the jury isn’t there, other nations have a chance to win too.

The thing is: Eurovision isn’t a simple music competition. It’s more like a window. A window where anyone can have their chance to shine. No matter if you’re from a well-known country and everyone knows who you are or if you’re from a tiny piece of land in the middle of nowhere and all you can do is speak your native language: if you have the right combination of song+performance+voice, you can win.

And it’s beautiful we have this window, because it allows us to see something we’ve never seen before: rock bands, silly songs, folk songs and straight-up weird songs. In Eurovision, you don’t have to listen to just the same generic bland song, but you are allowed to listen to different artists and different cultures - and if you like them, you are free to choose your winner, no matter how not mainstream it is.

And we Europeans need this. We need to celebrate the diversity of Europe and embrace them. We need to see people from different countries hanging out, having fun and becoming best friends. For a continent that has always had (and still has) a problem with wars, we need something that allows us to look at each other and not see a piece of land to conquer, but a place full of life and culture to learn about.

And since we pride ourselves to be the continent where democracy was born, let’s put this democracy in the show we’re so proud of. Do we really need the jury vote? Do we really need the vote of this bunch of people? Okay, let’s have them. But it’s not acceptable to give them the same weight as the public’s vote. 50/50 isn’t acceptable anymore. 20/80 is fairer. I’m feeling nice, we can even do a 30/70. It’s just not acceptable that 300 people should have power over millions over something those same millions will enjoy. As always, the public is sovereign.

And if the public’s taste is shit, at least we will be free to blame ourselves for something we brought unto ourselves - and not feel sick and angry over something others forced upon us.

Or everything can stay the same and the 50/50 system will keep going. But at least, be honest enough to not waste everyone’s time, by pretending the public can do something more than watch what a bunch of people decide for them. Do not pretend to be righteous and democratic, when you’re not.

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The triumph of people

This finale drained me. If it were just a little fairer, I would’ve been thrilled to see Luxembourg coming back after years. But right now I don’t feel like watching next year’s show. I know it will probably be amazing, because Sweden is very good at hosting. But I don’t want to see them masturbating over how good they are and how much they deserved to win - even if they didn’t win.

And, honestly, I don’t care about ABBA either. I don’t give a damn about them, nor about their anniversary. I’m definitely not looking forward to that either.

I will listen to the songs as always, then I might give it a try and watch the semifinals. It depends on how bitter my grudge will be, after one full year. If it will still be very bitter, I will probably spend my time better, by listening to the songs more times, watching the performances and making my own personal final chart. I won’t have ABBA or funny interval acts, but I can try my best to make it enjoyable to read. And it won’t be a fucking charade, at least.

Sorry, but I will keep being bitter for some time. And if you feel bitter too, you have every right to be, no matter what people say. Your voice has been silenced and ignored and numbers don’t lie. It’s very understandable you feel bad.

But you know what you can do? Use your anger in a positive way. And no, that doesn’t mean sending death threats to Loreen. You can accuse Sweden of its lack of elegance and decorum if you want, but always be polite. Don’t be like some of them, who are such sore losers they had the guts to be angry at Finland because it didn’t give Sweden any public points. Bo-hoo, may I add.

What you can do instead is make some noise: ask for the jury to be abolished or for this shitty system to change. And, even more important, support your winners. A lot of amazing artists have been wronged this year, so shower them with love.

And send your love especially towards our winner. Stream Cha Cha Cha, check his other songs, shower him with love and support, make a statue for him in Vantaa, pay me a plane ticket because I need to tackle him in a hug and tell him how much the world loves him. Let’s show the world that he slaps, Finnish slaps and we want more of this.

Do you still need more Cha Cha Cha in your life? Good news: Lord of the Lost made a cover for Cha Cha Cha and OH MY GOSH it’s insanely good. It has a lot of Rammstein vibes, it’s cool and it slaps even harder. Check it out because it’s amazing!

Also because the German singer learned some Finnish, just to spell every word correctly and, according to the Finnish people in the comment section, he did a great job. What a wholesome guy, I love and stan him and his band - and you should do the same, because they are amazing and they don’t deserve last place <3

And if you need more Käärijä in your life, there are amazing Youtube channels with great collections of his moments, like Eurovision Is Ambition and Uni Dash Corn. I especially suggest you see his bromance with Bojan - and speaking of him, another shoutout to Bojan! He’s such a nice, wholesome guy with great charisma, you cannot hate him. I am not head over heels for his song, but he’s so fucking wholesome, he deserves good things only.

And I also suggest you see how Käärijä has been welcomed in Helsinki. He has been welcomed like a fucking hero, a national treasure. And of course he was: he is the true winner after all, he deserved the welcome only winners get.

It’s a bit like he said in his apology: the better one won. And so he did.

You know, I think the only good thing that came out from this shitshow that was Eurovision 2023, is the people’s heart. People showed their kindness, their love, the best of humankind. We saw acts of friendship, we saw empathy and appreciation. The hug between Käärijä and Bojan, despite its sad meaning, is also a perfect example of what we all should be: kinder, softer, more empathetic, together, no matter how far and different our countries are.

In a way, I am happy that Ukraine’s message of unity was still carried out, even if indirectly and definitely not the way the UK wanted.

And in the end, the trophy isn’t so important: it’s just a piece of glass after all. And no piece of glass is worth the impact one little man from Vantaa left on so many people all over the world.

I know you will never read this post, but I wish you a lifetime of success, Käärijä. You have everything a winner needs and, in fact, you are one. So don’t be too hard on yourself, because the world still needs to show you how much it loves you. Take your time, relax, have fun and come back when you’re ready - just don’t leave us hanging for too much, ‘kay?

And you, Finnish people: please treat our beloved winner with love for us too. We will do our best from afar, so let’s be together on this as we should <3

[tinynicooo]

eurovision - joost klein x reader | 16+

summary: Joost is still dealing with the memories about Eurovision.

a/n: my first fic(drabble??) here!! i used to write a lot earlier but then i lost my previous acc, so here i am again:)) i also had a big pause of all this writing thing & english is not my first language! sorry!!!

warnings: rpf, angst, fluff

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One year ago he wore that blue suit.

One year ago he performed for the whole Europe: and the whole Europe cheered for him.

One year ago his biggest dream came true - almost.

Now, one year later after all these moments, he is laying here, in his bed, with your head tucked under his chin; the soft beats of his heartbeat softly thumping in your ears; his arm draped around your shoulder lazily, such comforting weight (considering how much bigger this man was) is already making you sleepy, yet the angelic sight in front of you was just too marvelous to take your gaze away yet.

Your man, your Joost - his eyes closed, pale eyelashes and eyelids wavering from time to time: the evidence of his frequent nightmares and sleep problems, but it could fade away - even for just a bit - when you were here. His pink lips parted slightly, so kissable and always so tender to you: covering your whole face with soft pecks, murmuring words of adoration in your ear, praising you with excitement when you’ve done basically anything, laughing at your jokes - and smiling every time he saw you. And the way his blue eyes lit up every time, and the way his face beamed, and his dimples were being showed - it all didn’t change.

Yes, he himself changed. He needed so much time alone after all this Eurovision chaos, yet he also needed you close - closer, than he ever did: it was absolutely unbearable to find a perfect contrast between his mood swings, but your heart was soaring, breaking to help this man, and it still does that. Sometimes you find some papers with such simple, yet deep words - his poetry - about all this pain and thoughts he has, but never fully shares even with you. Keeping the secret, you always put these papers back, pretending you never even knew about them. The problems with his sleep started during all this court processes, what took a big tool on him and his mental state; of course, you were always anxious too, never able to relax properly while your boyfriend was on his breaking point and you couldn’t even help him.

You still don’t understand his feelings about all this stuff.

Sometimes you catch him rewatching this performance - so bright and colourful, a completely opposite of things he does now, yet you love both absolutely equally, being fascinated by everything he creates - and he smiles, a warm glance in his eyes, but this smile contains a hint of sadness behind it.

And sometimes you catch him being unexpectedly quiet, even lonely in your shared apartment. These are days when he wants to just sit in front of his laptop, pretending to work on his music, but truly just needing time to think, to be alone with all the remorse he has in his heart, and you can’t do anything to help him: you hold him when he needs it, you soothe him when he comes for this, but it can’t be enough for such big deal.

It’s a hard thing to be over it - and you get it. You get him.

His eyes flatter open, and you see that familiar sparkle again, and then the smile appears, and the dimples… you lean up, gently bumping your nose against his own, when he carefully flips you over, his massive body pining you down to the mattress and he props himself up on his elbows only. Your gentle palm covers his cheek, running a thumb under his eye and feeling the soft skin of his face. You watch adoringly as he smiles down at you - genuinely! - and his gaze lights up with happiness; sleepy drowsiness is already gone.

“You were staring, I felt it in my sleep,” he said with a soft giggle, this adorable giggle that you loved so much, and his voice was slightly raspy now after a small nap: gosh, so tender and exciting.

“Sor-“

“I love you.”

You smile, and your free hand subtly covers the Eurovision tattoo on his forearm.

“I love you too.”

[1-jar-of-stars]

Eurovision (I thought y'all was boycotting that shit because of how it has spent YEARS siding with Azerbaijan and Israel, perpetuators of on-going genocide) and The Met Gala (a glorified fashion show that is genuinely just a display of celebrity from the upper class) are trending in the number 2 and 3 spots on Tumblr at the time of me typing this. Where is the fucking noise about Eurovision taking focus off of Palestine? Why are there people in the tags still watching that show?? And The Met Gala is trending, as it does every single year. But that's CERTAINLY not being called out for taking focus off of Palestine. I've seen bloggers talk about how the Met was their ''little treat'' to distract from the on-going horrors, but Kendrick murdering Aubrey (exposing him as a child predator who associates with documented sex offenders) is somehow '''taking focus away from Palestine'''? Why is it that you think this is different from the Met doing the same thing? And why are they not acknowledging the severity of what's being discussed here (which is why it took so many tracks to fully level the accusations) and instead treating it like some superficial cat fight between rich people. If anything should be treated like superficial celebrity nonsense, it's The Meta Gala.

One is honestly an unimportant showing, the other is a Pulitzer Prize holder exposing damning secrets and sickening allegations against someone with a track record of being inappropriate with women and minors. But as soon as the '''beef''' escaped containment on Black Tumblr, everybody and their colonizing mamas wanted to come out the woodwork and 1.) talk about shit they know nothing about because they don't fuck with black music and 2.) act like this ''beef'' is just ''millionaires angrily writing at each other'' and not someone FINALLY addressing the years of verifiable allegations of misconduct on someone who is a culture vulture imitating the worst parts of black american lifestyle. ''They Not Like Us''? More like ''This Shit's Not For You''. Not only are they talking out the side of their neck up and down the tags, they're being racist as hell about it. If you don't know enough to treat this shit with the gravity it deserves AS AN OUTSIDER LOOKING IN, you need to shut up and sit down. Too many people on the ''white fujoshi website'' have unacknowledged and unpacked racism that bleeds over into everything they interact with and it's SO damn tiring to see.

Either give the same grace to this as you're giving to the Met Gala and whatever week-long trends on Tumblr that have appeared over the past 8 months, or stay out of black business. Period. I'm ready to start biting fr

ANON YOURE SO REAL!!! ALL DAY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING KENDRICK IS A DISTRACTION JUST FOR THEM TO BAIL ON THE EUROVISION PLAN

AND IT’S DIFFERENT??? HOW???

[ominoose]

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐇𝐂'𝐬

Character(s): Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Jake Lockley Summary: Not x reader, just random silly thoughts about the lads. Kinda summer themed. They're still in London. This came out more British than intended. Warnings: None

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭

Now that he's not constantly tired and getting two hours of sleep every fifth night if he's lucky, the Brit goes between quiet moments with a book on the couch to hyperactive spiels with no warning.

The newfound energy also takes his sass and mischief to the next level. If Marc or Jake (usually Marc, Jake's too scared) piss him off he will not drop it. For days Steven will slyly bring it up, make offhand remarks or fully kick up the argument again. It's never serious, he's still the one to step in if the other two are at arms, but Steven is no pacifist. "Y'know I just bought all these ingredients to make a lovely homecooked dinner with enough leftovers for Jake's taxi shifts and Marc's workouts... But-" "Steven please, we're starving, come on." "Since my cooking apparently tastes like a grannies garden!" "Por favor, I didn't even say it, Marc did-" "But you didn't disagree bruv!"

Takes Eurovision seriously. He made a point of not watching the BBC broadcast this year, although he's kept tabs on it through other websites. He's still not over last year. Jake tried to look into it and made a small comment about listening to the winner, commenting on Sweden's contestant being good. Steven went on a rant for a good twenty minutes about how it was rigged before Jake learned this was a lot more than a friendly song contest.

Whines when its hot out and forces Marc or Jake to front outside. Then forces them to buy a Mr Whippy for him to front and eat.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫

Gets really into British football. It started with hearing chants and noises outside on match days, the comradery and stupid sing-songs from fans in matching team colours bringing him a sense of nostalgia. He's still a diehard cubs fan, but going to the local pub to watch the match, getting a healthy outlet to yell and bang a table amidst others oddly suited him. Steven's just glad he's socializing.

Secretly folds up Stevens more "colourful" shirts and hides them.

Loves British chocolate, hates British crisps. He see's a packet of pickled onion Monster Munch and physically cringes away.

While Steven fronted and browsed through a charity shop, Marc spotted an old ds, just like one he had as a kid. The Brit could physically feel him eye it up from the inside and bought it. Now Marcs post-workout routine includes playing Pokemon.

Marc gets visibly sad and sighs whenever they phone in pizza because its never like the ones back home in Chicago.

Loves a greggs sausage roll.

𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲

Half the reason the other two found out about him was when the old lady that Steven scared off in the elevator to the point she avoided them like the plague suddenly smiled and offered them tea. Turns out Jake had been helping her carry the shopping back to the flat when they bumped into each other. Their odd tea and biscuit afternoons helped Jake keep tabs on the boys.

Naps in front of the telly, usually to some reality tv like Eastenders, snoring away. The moment Steven or Marc slowly try to control the arm holding the remote he jerks away, pulling it to his chest and telling them off because he's still "watching" it.

Knows Marc folds and hides Stevens shirts that he hates. He puts them at the top of the pile just before Steven fronts. Marc has no clue and it drives him nuts.

His favourite passengers to pick up are drunk women. They're always either very funny or tell the most downright devious gossip, never afraid to openly include him in it too.

Made a solemn vow to himself that if he ever drove past Rishi Sunak he'd egg him.

Since he prefers night-shifts, the cat distribution system seemed to give him an 90% chance of meeting kittens on the street. If he has a passenger when he spots the little critter he'll make a mental note to return after drop off, Jake Lockley will not pass a chance at checking up on and cradling a gatita. Marcs learnt to be somewhat present during these shifts to stop Jake sneaking home with several kittens in his coat.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: Last Place

37. ISRAEL Eden Golan - "Hurricane" 5th place

Decade Ranking: 150/153 [Above Noa Kirel, below Roxen]

Where do we start?

Let's begin, perhaps by stating the obvious. Israel's participation in this year ruined the contest. You encounter an entrant or two that completely warp the meta around them at every contest, but never to an extent this cataclysmic. Every sour note of this contest, and there were plenty, sprouted from the decision to allow Israel into the year. That was the tipping point. I believe that makes "Hurricane" the worst entry of all times in terms of the sheer negative impact its presence had on the edition it parttook in.

The ESC discourse -on asocial media- completely revolved around the conflict in Palestine either to denounce the war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli goverment and the subsequent silencing of critical voices calling it out, or to make a stand against the Poor Young Girl who was unfairly maligned by radicalized leftists for a conflict she had no hand in.

So was it any surprise that Israel won every Western televote? Be honest. I know that the Twitter manchildren claim Israel cheated, but they are in denial. The televote was genuine. The scalpel slices both ways, sadly. For every heckler booing Eden or protesting for Palestine or announcing a Eurovision boycot or lecturing the general public to not vote for Israel, a sympathy vote for her arises because "Aw She Doesn't Deserve So Much Negativity, Poor Thing". That she willingly chose to rep israel at THIS time with THAT song is blissfully ignored. Eden Golan is not a child. She's fully accountable for the effects that her participation caused, and is perfectly a-OK with it.

So, wake the fuck up. The sympathizing nutcases were OPENLY mobilizing to vote for Israel without even watching a second of the contest, to prove a point against you know, "insane leftist wokery" or whatever they call it. "You can't make me think what you want or do what you want, TAKE THAT". It's the same principle that led to Brexit and Trump beating Clinton. Similarly, they attempted to hijack the results like a particularly nasty species of asian hornet because their 'Freedom of Speech' is more important to them than fair results in an entertainment show, or a potential genocide. Or maybe they were just indoctrinated. A smaller sample size due to boycots + 20 votes per crazed zionist, it's honestly a miracle Croatia STILL beat them in the TV overall.

In other words, pretty much every opinion about Eden revolved around the politics that accompanied the flag she flew under.

And I'm sorry, but Eurovision is not supposed to be about Israel. Why should THAT country get more attention, or even preferential treatment in this otherwise excellent line-up? That's not what it should be about.

It is THEM who it should be about:

None of these artists asked to be a part of this shambolic display. So in that sense, let's do something many have FAILED. Let's do what we're supposed to dp: Discuss the SONG, outside of context.

Frankly, there's remarkably little to say. Even without the context, "Hurricane" would have been bottom of the barrel for me regardless? It's a mediocre sappy ballad aimed to Make People Cry. We see such ballads pop up all the time in NFs (most recently Krick in Luxembourg and Noble in Portugal), where -more often than not- their sucktitude catches up with them and manifests a loss.

I've seen people be outraged that Norway's jury gave it points but I mean, look at any recent scandi NF and tell me a Hurricane wouldn't fit within its ranks. It's Undo, What if, A Monster Like Me, all the tacky soulless ballads with poor narratives preying on the soft-hearted and the guillible with cheap emotional manip. "Hurricane"was cut from the same dementor-esque, sympathy-craving cloth. Call me old fashioned, but I was taught that sympathy requires a modicum of respect, which needs to be earned, not begged for like a dog's dinner. (I hope the Europapa fans are reading this because this also applies to him, and that ghastly outro). If your song was written with the idea in mind of pinkwashing the deaths of a few thousand children, then perhaps you may have not fully earned the benefit of the doubt, jussaying.~

In terms of performance, Eden was vocally good, at least. It's her voice that carries it although i don't find her particularly likeable as a lead. Then again, she is a Russian nepo brat whose family emigrated to Israel after the Ukrainian war so that her daddy to secure his financial assets and the Golans could continue their lavish, privileged lifestyle in a safer country. It was always a challenge, so to say, to consider Eden Golan a likeable individual.

Also what is UP with the choreography? Why do the dancers look like they are loading air rifles? A Choice, to say the least.

So all in all, a pretty weak entry that always would have been in my bottom 3 for any country, but that probably had a ceiling of lower top 10 in a normal, generic year of ESC.

However, this was NOT a generic ESC. There's NO imagining "Hurricane" without its context which makes it so, SO much worse. It was specifically written in support of the Israeli victims in the war (why go through that trouble and not simply withdraw and spend the participation fee on providing for the families of the hostages? Isn't that more effective charity? But hey, what do I know.) There is no "depoliticizing", no matter how often you retcon the lyrics into gibberish. Hurricane's intentions are present in its rhythm, its instrumentation, the keys in which it is sung. The notion that you can separate it from its context is absurd.

And yet, that is precisely what the EBU were hoping for when they allowed it in, and it exploded into their face like a firework. I can't say they didn't deserve it. Ultimately, the full blame for all of this rests with them. If a certain entity threatens the integrity of your being, you get rid of the threat. You don't passively sit back crossing your fingers they leave at their own volition. The Israeli's would understand the reasons for exclusion, surely, as they've been applying the exact same principles to the Gaza Strip since mid October.

The EBU allowed them in, officially to prove Eurovision wasn't political and United By Music (in reality because they're cowards and didn't want to be the first organization to ban Israel from an international event, and be branded antisemites as a result). The result was the most politically charged and divisive contest of all time, rife with incidents that were as avoidable as they were outrageous. It couldn't have been further away from "apolitical unity" if it tried.

Hurricane was NEVER worth the price of admission. All the controversy, the security risks, the boycots, the antisemitism and xenophobia, the censorship, the harrassment of other delegations (which the Israeli delegation EAGERLY participated in) and of course the Israeli embassies in participating countries OPENLY advocating to vote for Israel as "a signal". Even the tensions that led to Joost's dubious DQ which I doubt would have happened at any other contest. This could all have been foreseen and avoided by excluding the country that clearly would have brought the contest into disrepute. Eurovision is now on life support. Congratulations EBU. You KILLED your own contest.

It briefly looked like Israel could win (leave to RAI to be woefully incompetent and blasé), which would have been the final nail in Eurovision's coffin but then they magically lost the televote (thank you SO much Eastern Europe, you are SO real for this) and stranded themselves in 5th place. Instead of being the Worst Winner of All Time, Israel are merely a mediocre also-ran, which I can live with. It makes "Hurricane"' marginally less appalling than "Unicorn" and "I.M" for me. Let their fifth place serve as a grim reminder for future editions that Hatred Breeds Hatred, and also, thankfully, that Love Can indeed Prevail.

THE RANKING

[hxllfires-gifs]

PAIRING. bojan cvjetićanin x fem!reader

SUMMARY. eurovision was a stressful time of the year and it was unlike anything bojan had dealt with before, but he was thankful to have his lovely girlfriend along with him to help him.

WORD COUNTER. 847

THE JOURNEY TO the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool hasn’t been easy and it had been pretty stressful. Bojan Cvjetićanin was attempting to make the best out of any stressful situation but he started to feel like he was emotionally and physically drained. Joker Out had just finished their rehearsals for the day and he was ready to go back to the hotel.

He walked backstage and was met with his girlfriend Y/N. The two started dating three years ago and he loved every minute of it. Their relationship was one of the best things in his life and he never wanted to give it up. She was his number one supporter. He was beyond grateful for her and he was the happiest knowing that she was experiencing all of this with him and their friends.

Y/N enjoyed watching her boyfriend’s performance, feeling so proud of him every single day. She felt so lucky to call him her boyfriend and she would be the first person to express that. Her lover always worked so hard, as did his band mates.

The H/C haired girl stood up and walked closer to her boyfriend to hug him. She was honored to have gotten to come along with him to Liverpool, but she could tell that he’d been more tired recently. The girl didn’t fully understand the pressure but she wanted for him to know that she was there for him.

“You guys killed it!” She complimented.

“Thank you,” Bojan responded with a small but exhausted smile.

He went to change into more comfortable clothes before sitting down on the nearby couch, soon being joined by his girlfriend. It was no secret that he was excited about the contest but he was also feeling a little more nervous now that it was just a week away. He hid behind a calm and energetic demeanor but inside he was going through everything all at once.

“Are you ready to go back to the hotel?” A gentleness was laced in the girl’s question. She was always like this with him when he got like this.

Her boyfriend didn’t speak in response, only nodding his head slightly. He was really starting to feel the pressure of wanting to do well. He wanted to have fun and he was doing a good job with that, but Eurovision was the biggest thing in Europe, at least music wise. Representing Slovenia was a huge honor and challenge.

Y/N kissed Bojan’s cheek before she leaned her head on his shoulder. She could tell that he needed something to cheer him up and get him back in good spirits, which is something that seemed like her specialty when it came to her boyfriend.

“You are doing amazing, my love. I know that it’s hard sometimes but you’re here for a reason. You guys were selected for this so everyone else knows how great you are. You just have to let yourself believe this too. I am so proud of you.”

Her words made the brunette feel better, a lot more than he was before. She had that effect on him since she always seemed to know what to say in any situation. He did not know what he would do without her and he never wanted to find out. She was the one for him, he was sure of that.

She lifted her head back up when she felt Bojan turning his own to look at her. He leaned forward to press his lips onto her own in a gentle, loving kiss. There was this deep trust that had been established between both of them. Neither of them ever wanted the other to feel negative feelings and they would always be there for each other.

The H/C haired girl moved away slightly, wanting to take in the Slovenian’s features. One of her hands reached up to play with his hair. Bojan enjoyed the feeling and it was something that could put him to sleep in the right situation, one such as this.

“We should go back to the hotel.” He was the one to suggest since he didn’t want to fall asleep with so many people around. He just wanted to be in his lover’s arms, which she honestly wanted as well.

Y/N didn’t blame her boyfriend for wanting to leave the venue. “We will, I just need to tell the guys first. You guys do not have any press today so all should be good. We can watch some tv and cuddle until we fall asleep. You look like you could use a little nap.”

“That sounds great.” He loved the idea a lot more than he let on.

“Alright,” she whispered before pecking his lips and standing up, going to find and talk to his band mates.

It didn’t take long for her to come back, the both of them leaving as soon as they could. Staying true to her words, once they got back to the hotel, Y/N turned the tv on and the couple cuddled, eventually falling asleep for the next couple of hours.

[paradoxcase]

So over Thanksgiving, my aunt wanted to watch a movie that she was supposed to watch for her film group, and invited me to watch it with her. This was Conclave, the apparently new movie about cardinals electing a new Pope. When we started in on it, I fully expected to have only a vague idea of what was going on, because I figured it was probably going to be one of those movies where every character is a clean-shaven white dude wearing the exact same uniform which means that due to face-blindness I will not be able to actually tell them apart. But that actually was not the case, and I was able to keep all of the characters straight throughout the movie. To be fair to the movie, part of this was because two of the major characters were not white, another one was a woman, and one of the old white dudes had incredibly distinctive body language throughout the movie and also was constantly code-switching between I think Italian and English, but there were still solidly three old white dudes who almost exclusively spoke English and I think had the most overall screentime, and yeah, I could not tell their faces apart. But I did actually keep track of which was which, and I think it was because my aunt watches literally everything with subtitles on because she is hard of hearing, so I was seeing the characters' names actually on the screen in addition to hearing them, and I think actually being able to read them names helped me keep track of what role they were playing in the plot, and I could use that information to figure out who was speaking. Like, I remember watching a scene between two old white dudes who might as well be the same old white dude except one is a bit taller, but based on what I knew of the plot and what they were saying to each other, I could tell which characters they were supposed to be. I think this was a subtitle-heavy movie even if you weren't Deaf/hard of hearing, because there was a lot of dialog in Italian and Latin and Spanish that was translated in the subtitles, but honestly, I might just start watching every movie or show with subtitles from now on if that really does help with the face blindness issue. I already watch YouTube with subtitles/captions anyway, because sometimes there are translations of Eurovision songs there, and I think it's also given me an improved experience even watching non-Eurovision videos that are 100% in English.

(Apparently Catholics hate this movie for some reason, and seem to think that it is anti-Catholic in some way. I don't really understand this, because the main character that the movie took a strong stance against was a raging right-wing lunatic spewing a whole bunch of Nazi-adjacent Great Replacement conspiracy theory shit and calling for a religious war against Muslims, which I don't think most Catholics would want to claim as an official position of the Catholic church. I don't think. There was a socially conservative character who was portrayed at least somewhat sympathetically, and a socially progressive character who was at times portrayed a bit unsympathetically, I don't think it was at all a movie about how the Catholic church should reverse its position on literally everything or anything like that.)

[wumblr]

Hello! I have seen the discourse about Eurovision around here and I just wanted to ask you, since I have seen the post about someone’s friend’s dad having alzheimer and Eurovision being a tradition they are keeping alive I guess, did the person who wrote that watch Eurovision too? Because if he/she/they did then I agree with your statement about responsibility, but if he/she/they didn’t and are only showing why some people might have wanted to watch Eurovision, then I don’t fully understand your post bashing that person. I wanted to ask you becaue I’ve seen people get crazy about the topic but never really saying anything, and I think you’re pretty honest so I just wanted to know. I didn’t watch it as a boycott, and I have a co-worker who did watch it because he’s been doing it every year for like 5 years or so, and I was confused after reading your post because I understood him but was mad that he couldn’t understand why I was boycotting, and I want to know what’s your take on this, if you would give it to me. Thanks!

there's this implication here that the most important thing in the world is politeness that i really don't like. if we can have a civil discussion about two million people dying of starvation, they're going to die while we're having it! the illusion of civility has collapsed. i never bought into it in the first place, but i am capable of recognizing that other people did

note that i am not telling you how to treat your coworkers! i am pointing out that jumping into the discussion online to only say that we should respect them is a ludicrous way to behave, and it makes you look monstrous in a really particular way: unwilling to take responsibility for your own viewpoint, you have to couch it in an absent third party. "but they're so nice and sweet, would you really be rude to them too?" YES! people are dying of starvation! hello?

this comes across as nothing more than a weak-willed way to check if your perspective is really that reprehensible without taking responsibility for yourself. it's hard to believe that you genuinely don't recognize which side of the conflict arguing this point places you on. "but some people --" ok well let me know when they show up so i can dress them down directly to their face too! until then, it's just you and i having the discussion. "but i didn't watch --" then what's the issue, exactly? you are not thoroughly comfortable with your decision not to watch tv? you don't know how to engage in a tv show boycott and still go to work without starting an argument that loses you your job? you're scared of losing friends for doing the right thing? welcome to the shitshow. glad you finally made it. if you could figure it the fuck out for yourself, things might move quicker than they will if you keep asking other people to explain the basics to you over and over!

the third thing i have already said that i would like to reiterate once again is that i'm ashamed this is the location of the frontline. i don't want to have this conversation either! i didn't pick this! but we are in an information war. the weight of the world's 100 trillion dollar pool of capital is bearing down upon us, and they have figured out how to operate in unilateral lockstep aligned with their class interests. you are walking up to the frontline and saying "why are you fighting? can't we all sit down for a nice dinner together?" shut the fuck up! are you joking? people are dying of starvation! if you would get out of the way, the frontline could advance to somewhere less fucking trivial!

[gemsofgreece]

Ethnikós Telikós 2025: Recap, review and song rating

Impressions after watching the Greek National Final

I had been waiting for the first Greek final in more than a decade impatiently, especially because I was totally enamoured with Klavdia's Asteromata. However, while watching, I had SO many thoughts that I couldn't help but write them down somewhere and this somewhere is here, even if tumblr does not have the ideal target group for this, because this is my space to express myself.

Introduction:

The show started with a cute intro in which the hosts for the night - Helena Paparizou and Sakis Rouvas - get into the car that will take them to the Christmas Theater where the final will take place. The car takes off from the ground and while it flies amongst the stars Helena and Sakis reflect on their big moments in Eurovision, mirrored in the constellations. It's a sweet concept. The car lands in front of the Christmas Theater and then the driver turns to them only to reveal it's Fokas Evangelinos, who announces "We're here". Fokas Evangelinos is one of the most prominent choreographers in Eurovision, has choreographed many top performances and even a few of the winning songs. The reveal of him being the driver is a clever joke, however it is also menacing because... how should I put it... the time in the sun ends even for the greatest at some point. By having Fokas revealing himself as the "driver" of the whole show from the very intro, you know you're in for something very dated.

Helena and Sakis enter the Christmas Theatre scene from the side, which is both a good and a bad choice, because the camera exposes the "uglier" parts of the scene in this way. The Christmas Theater auditorium is huge, however the scene itself, a theater stage, is a little small for the purposes of the national final. ERT, the state TV responsible for the Greek delegation, filled the auditorium with invitations instead of releasing tickets everyone could buy and attend the show. As a result, even though the theater was generally full, there were some spots in the middle and front, where the seats were empty and this was sort of an ugly thing to expose.

Helena and Sakis start by singing Waterloo and one of Logan's winning songs (didn't even bother to check the title) aka two songs Greeks could not care less about. Then they sing Marinella's "Krasi, Thalassa kai to Agori mou", a good choice because it is the first ever Greek entry in Eurovision and also Marinella is going through some bad health problems right now. "Sing" here is a loose term because both Helena and Sakis playback so hard it is painful to watch. Sakis clearly has not even memorized the lyrics of the foreign songs and he "sings" while constantly looking at the autocue to read the lyrics. As a result, each syllable is heard before Sakis forms the syllable with his mouth. We are starting with a tragedy right away. The whole concept of them singing frozen side to side with an orchestra behind them is also dated.

But then the presentation starts and makes you want the playback back. This is what you get when you appoint singers - and, excuse me, but not ones famous for their eloquence - to be show hosts. I was especially disappointed by Sakis though because he hosted freaking Eurovision decently in 2006 and he was for years the decent host of X-Factor, so WTF was this monstrosity????!!!!! Helena was even more abysmal but at least it was her first time hosting a show. When I am saying they were abysmal, quite probably the worst presentation I have ever watched on such a level, I mean it. Just so you get an idea, Helena at some point required a clap from the audience for managing to pronounce a verb correctly. I don't think she said a full sentence without mixing her words once during the show. They were fully aware of how poorly they were doing, so they had pulled faces, upset expressions and fake smiles that made me uneasy. Yesterday night not knowing Greek was a blessing for whoever foreigner watched the show, you saved yourself from realising the true extent of their flop. This made me upset. ERT made this show with public money. If more rehearsals are needed, fucking do more rehearsals. If the hosts you found are unfit, fucking change them. Enough with all the dinosaurs in Greece taking up all the spotlights. Yes, Helena and Sakis are known in Europe but they are known for performing songs NOT for presenting shows. Give some spotlight to someone who can talk, memorize and is quick thinking. Stop sticking to glories of 20 years back and beating the dead horse non-stop. It makes us look STUPID. It makes us look like we can't UTTER a word in our OWN language. Last year, they ripped Alevras and Kalouta a new one when they were the spokesmen. This year they are all so delicate in order to not hurt Helena's and Sakis' feelings??? Really? These two were EVEN worse!!! I know that in this country where everything works based on what connections you have , Sakis' has got his ass covered and ERT would not want to make him sad but... Helena too?

Next, there is a quick presentation of all participations of Greece in Eurovision where they unacceptably forget one song, Mia Krifi Evaisthissia by Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa. WTF who was in charge of this?

The presentation ends with Zari, so the last Greek entrant, Marina Satti eventually comes to the stage and performs a cool rock cover of Zari... not live but certainly more decently than Sakis and Helena. Marina Satti was unsurprisingly the highlight of the non-competing performances of the night. Helena and Sakis invited her to stay with them for a bit after the song was over. They asked her questions and it's like Marina's mind and speech went on a different speed than Sakis and Helena's struggling brains. Marina said the only clever thing that was heard in that theater last night, when asked for advice as to what the new entrant should do: "I think the best is to show your personality, your identity. We are from Greece, we are modern people, we are citizens of the world". Boom.

The competitive part of the show starts with Helena and Sakis announcing the members of the foreign and the Greek jury. They make sure to butcher all the names of the foreign jury members. And then we see the Greek jury............................. Greece: the country which appoints singers to host a show and TV show hosts / journalists to comprise a music jury................... make it make sense. IF YOU WANTED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO SAKIS AND HELENA YOU SHOULD HAVE THEM AS JUDGES IN THE JURY AND LET JENNY MELITA AND FOTIS SERGOULOPOULOS HOST THE SHOW!!!!!!!

No I never said I was going to be chill about it. Helena and Sakis proceed with announcing the songs, the performers and the songwriters like they are robots.

The contestants:

Elevator (Up and Down) by Rikki

Rikki was the big surprise of the night. After so many playback performances, when I listened to him I thought "what the heck, are the contestants going to be singing in playback as well?!". He was impeccable. It is no coincidence that he was the one who climbed the most against the odds, he was dead last and ended up seventh. A cheerful song, a great staging and choreography as national finals go, great movement and studio quality vocals. I even liked the fun outfit and the hairy chest hahaha If only the song had more... identity to it. Rikki, please try again. Find a more unique song... some more Greek character... and try again because you've got this. Like Marina Satti said, it doesn't have to always be the duality of either English modern songs or Greek traditional songs. For fook's sake, Greek is a language so easy to play and rhyme with, it can work with all genres, if Elevator was in Greek, we would be talking about a whole different situation. But please Greek artists, realise this. Just because you send a Greek song, it doesn't have to always be either Balkan girl bop or a folk lament. Come on, wake up!

Rating: 8 / 10

Free Love by Thanos Lambrou

Rikki's performance had me thinking Fokas Evangelinos had woken up but Free Love came to reassure me that, no, Fokas has indeed stayed a few decades back. Was it him or who was it who thought it was a good idea to dress the poor kid like Elvis Presley??? This was a very dated and unoriginal song with boring lyrics. But here's the thing: Thanos Lambrou was good vocally, his performance was okay and he is a very handsome young man. He should totally try again, with the rock genre if he wants, with Greek lyrics or even English ones as long as the song he presents is better and has more character.

Rating: 6 / 10

Gi Mou by Kostas Ageris

First male of the competition that is not bare chested haha. Gi Mou is a very catchy ethnic Greek song, upbeat, happy with folk elements. The instrumental intervals with the pontian lyre are completely addictive but last for too little. Kostas Ageris absolutely nailed it vocally, however unfortunately his stage presence was not it... Even though there were things happening onstage it still felt lacking. It sort of felt like an AU where Argo with Utopian Land could actually sing. There is no effort to communicate the song, it's like it's for internal consumption, despite being catchy. A nice touch though was when he got the lyre from the musician and started playing it skillfully himself. Kostas Ageris, you too should try again if you work your stage presence. It needs a little more star quality, truth be told...

Rating: 7 / 10

Lost My Way by Andy Nicolas

I think this was my favourite exclusively English song studio-wise. Although beautifully sung, it fell rather flat live and the choreography in the second half of the song was not very good. It all felt like one of the hundreds mid ballads in Eurovision that nobody remembers the other day. Pity for the beautiful sentimental voice of his.

Rating: 6 / 10

Asteromata by Klavdia

You know Fokas did you dirty when one obsessed with your song like gemsofgreece (me) ends up rooting for another. Atrocious, awkward, bad staging. Klavdia going AAAAHHHHHH while dancers sleep on the floor. If Klavdia's team hires Fokas for Eurovision as well, what can I say, you will reap what you sow. Anyway, Fokas sabotaged the favourite song to win. But it wasn't only this. I am so confused by seeing both Greeks and foreigners praise her vocal performance. Guys, sorry to break it to you, you must be tone deaf, literally. Unfortunately, Klavdia, my favourite, was not good in the first half of the song, neither during the competition nor after winning. The acapella part, which is a bit too long, exposed her nerves. I had the impression of her being super confident and I was disappointed by her nervousness because why is it always the Greek singers being so nervous ? Don't get me wrong, Klavdia is an incredible vocalist and she proved it the moment she centered herself. The second half of the song was vocally immaculate and it is a pretty challenging song. But the first acapella half is of critical importance, it has no room for nerves and even tiny mistakes. Thankfully, Klavdia promised right after her victory to "correct what needs to be corrected" which means she was aware of the shortcomings. Today, in a TV show she rated her performance at a 65 - 70 % and said she was going to work very hard until the contest. This was a relief, she is objective and self-aware. I hope she works on her nerves because this is what made her lose her tone. I personally don't mind the glasses but the outfit was also terrible and irrelevant to the song. I am happy my studio favourite won but with this live performance I was left waiting for more and I wonder whether we should support another this year.

Rating: 8 / 10

Paradisos by Konstantinos Christoforou and Kostas Karafotis

The two most famous entrants this year proved why they are famous, with their gorgeous voices. The song is a beautiful romantic entechno (it is a Greek genre, not to be confused with techno) and perhaps the most characteristically trademark Greek song of this selection. Its problem was - what else - the staging and the choreography (and perhaps some dated feel in it). The choreography - thanks Fokas - was absolutely cringe-worthy, with the two singers standing awkwardly four meters apart, then dancing badly on their own each and then turning to sing to each other from a mile away... romantically? Because I know my country well, I assume this vibe was untintentional so it was a little funny. To be honest, I believe Christoforou might be closeted and it looked like he could be intentionally giving these vibes but Karafotis is straight and I don't think he had in mind this could be a gay love song... so something was off... like different wavelengths. Great and harmonious together musically but off performance. I wasn't surpised when Christoforou commented after the show that he loved the experience and would do it again, but Karafotis would probably not want to do it again... In any case, they were both magnificent and I would love to see them try again together or separately. Kosta Karafoti, please reconsider, you have a great voice, come back to the industry.

Rating: 7 / 10

High Road by Georgina Kalais and John Vlaseros

A surprising professional performance with immaculate studio-like vocals. The song was an old school soul / blues-y ballad so perhaps Fokas was able to give it a more appropriate staging. The song is not bad but it is not original and unfortunately the "I take the high road" is repeated like 200 times so it ends up annoying. Vlaseros also lacked any stage presence, unlike Georgina. A notable bonus was the excellent backing vocals.

Rating: 7 / 10

Sirens by Barbz

Barbz took third place with this performance. I won't say this was not one of the most thought out stagings but knowing how blatanly Fokas copied Sweden 2024, it was offputting. Barbz also sounded immaculate, exactly like in the studio version. She gave an emotional performance. I am impressed by the number of great voices this year. I wish the Greek labels will not let all these young people disappear but also respect the genre they wish to sing in. Still, I don't think Sirens deserved third place. Despite her special voice, this type of voices are trending so much the last years that they do not seem that special anymore. The song is okay but feels like I have heard it many times before. Also there wasn't any Greek specific or any character to it really.

Rating: 7 / 10

Vále by Evangelia

The big fan favourite, the Eurofan pushed song... and the one truly bad vocalist of the night. LOL. Evangelia gave a remarkably underwhelming performance... well not to me, because I knew she was a bad vocalist but to those who hyped her for no reason. To get an idea of how much I appreciate her singing, my favourite part was the rap verse and I don't even like rap. That's because she murmurs rather than sings in general. The Cretan Pentozali towards the end is musically beautiful but ridiculously out of place in this song. Evangelia made it even more stupid by trying to dance the Pentozali in her little hot (cheap) dress - Pentozali is a folk war dance, ma'am. A huge injustice that her young fan club pushed her in second place. You know, I have this concern that it was a mistake to release the songs twenty days before the contest because people voted their studio favourites regardless of performance and because I am objective, I think this applies to both Evangelia and Klavdia. People knew they liked the "star charisma" in Evangelia and Klavdia's song so they voted anyway - I'm saying this because even though Klavdia is an immensely better vocalist, she still underperformed compared to other artists.

Rating: 6 / 10

Odyssey by Dinamiss

For me, the victim of the night. Studio-wise, it was my second favourite but after Klavdia's unsteady performance, I honestly thought they had it. They received the biggest applause in the audience and it felt to me that they ate Evangelia for dinner. Beautiful and vocally present, pretty good in the rap parts as well and with the most memorable beat drop in the contest. I don't understand how they were only fourth, for a moment there I thought they beat everyone. They are newcomers and they don't even have a label, I hope they don't disappear. They are an interesting duo, they are sisters, they can rap, they can add Slavic elements to their music (that ethnic "haide ale ale" melody is ethnic Slavic, not ethnic Greek) because they are half-Ukrainian I think. In short, they are fresh faces that can offer something different to the Greek pop music scene. Dinamiss, definitely try again!!!!! On the negatives, the choreography at times was lacking and they looked like they weren't sure what to do with themselves. And well, the song is not exactly peak art or anything, but still.

Rating: 8 / 10

Unhurt Me by Nafsica

Nafsica Gavriilaki channeled her inner Blake Lively and sang a standard English ballad, a type of song nobody in Greece cares for. She was vocally good too, her styling was lovely, the background was cool... but it was an unoriginal boring ballad... who did you expect to charm in Greece with this, Nafsica? The zero points and last place were a little harsh but this was clearly not going anywhere.

Rating: 6 / 10

Play it! by Xannova Xan

...Oh my God... I audibly gasped at this. I was waiting for this song because I knew she was perhaps the best vocalist of the night. But that staging... girl, you ruined yourself. Or maybe Fokas ruined you, I don't know. This staging was totally irrelevant to the song. I had seen some of her crazy styling and I expected very modern colourful hair and clothes, maybe some anime inspiration even, a different fluorescent colour palette, something entirely different. Instead, we got kitch ugly as hell ancient Greek costumes to go with the enlightened starting line "Aphrodite or Athena, I'm both if you know what I mean, yeah". *facepalm* Xannova is the sweetest girl but she lives in USA most of her life and apparently she was too influenced by American teens into "Greek gods" and sex fanfics because that's what this song was basically. And Fokas created a BAD copy of Eleftheriou's Aphrodisiac, if that was possible. So, staging was horrendous. The song is still better than Evangelia's despite its silly lyrics and of course Xannova was indeed miles ahead of her vocally. I still thought she would steal votes from Evangelia but apparently not. Xannova you are a sweetheart and your voice is amazing, try again... with a different source of inspiration this time.

Rating: 7 / 10

Interval and results:

So this was it. As we waited for the results, Helena Paparizou and Sakis Rouvas performed (in playback) their Eurovision successes. Rouvas still absolutely got it physically but I don't know why, he just looks soulless now, totally dead inside. Helena did a cool cover of her songs. Then they presented the Cypriot entrant or, rather, Helena forgot about him and was about to be done with the results and the show and then she was like "oh wait, that's wrong guys, no actually we have to see the Cypriot entrant before we announce the results". Yep, this was the level of their presentation...

Theo Evan, the Cypriot entrant, sang Eleni Foureira's Fuego and I couldn't help but laugh when he didn't adjust the lyrics at all and said "Take a dive into my eyes, they are the eyes of a lioness". Another unintentionally funny moment was when Helena told him "Thank you, Theo" and "Theo" in Greek sounds like the word for "uncle".

According to the results, the top three contenders were:

Klavdia

Evangelia

Barbz

and yes I think people voted based on their already formed opinion regardless of the live. My top 3 considering the live performances would be:

Dinamiss

Klavdia

(I can't believe I am saying this but) Rikki

I am still happy Klavdia won because it was indeed the best song, however her performance and staging concerned me. She looked aware of the issues so there's that. Let's hope she gets rid of Fokas and works a lot on her anxiety.

By the way, I know I dragged Fokas to the dirt so I need to acknowledge something. Fokas was not responsible for one or two entries, he was in charge of the whole thing, all twelve participations plus the rest of the show. I understand this is not an easy task, to deal with all this diverse information. Perhaps if they had multiple choreographers responsible for different parts, things would be better. I am not denying Fokas' talent and achievements but ERT definitely overestimates how relevant he can be in his 62 years or it's like nobody can move him from his throne. And I can't forgive how he butchered the winning song.

On the other hand, what concerned me a bit was that in an interview before the contest Klavdia seemed a bit reluctant to go beyond her safe path, she said "What you'll see will be typical Klavdia, I don't like to risk too much" and this is alarming, if she was so static because she feels more comfortable this way. What if what we saw was more her doing than Fokas'?Anyway it's on her now, I hope she realises she has a strong contender in this song and will not waste it.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

W-wow.......this year sure flew by for me......L-like a ride in Her Radiance's arms as she flies through the air.....

H-hard to believe that exactly a year ago, I was STILL working on MUOM.....I-I think I was in the process of writing chapter 3, if I remember correctly.....? So, I was a good ways in.....or so I thought.....I was unaware of just how much longer it'd take me to finish it.....

Gotta say, despite how draining the experience was in certain places (I still feel bad that writing it took so much of my excitement away from Eurovision this year, for example.....but also, the entire process of writing chapter 11, holy craaaap), writing and finishing MUOM was still by fair the best thing to happen to me this year. J-just.....the fact that I, of all people, ADHD extraordinaire, was actually able to maintain a schedule around, consistently work on without losing interest in, and complete, a 400,000+ word fic coasting on nothing but love for my F/O.....I-it sounds crazy.....b-but it actually happened.....A-a miracle most likely never to be repeated.....

A-and what made it even better was the constant praise from fellow simps who followed along with me. I-I really hate to come across as someone who only wants attention, cuz I'm not....I-I don't write for the purpose of becoming popular or anything, a-and I don't ever shove my work in everyone's faces....I-I'm just saying that I like when people on common ground to me stumble upon my content and let me know they found joy in it. I-I never fully understood all the posts I've seen over the years about how "Comments mean more to writers than likes" until I actually started writing myself, heheh.......S-so, I know I've thanked you enough, but.....If any of my anons or followers are reading this, thank you so much for sharing your love of Golden Cheese with me, and making my 2024 so much happier.....Th-thanks so much.....! >////////<

M-my interests in general, I'm really happy for. Thank you CRK for continuing to be my comfort game, for bringing back my beloved Error Busters for a time, and especially for Beast-Yeast episodes 5 and 6, a story I absolutely adored even when it hurt me. Thank you for listening to Golden Cheese's fans and feeding us well with so many great moments with her....

Th-thank you Viv and Spindlehorse for giving great Hellaverse content with more to come. Helluva Boss season 2 ended SO well with two of the best episodes of the whole show, and Hazbin Hotel finally being released after a four-year-long wait was not only satisfying, but watching it and sharing my blind reactions to it was some of the most joy I felt this year.

A-as for next year.....M-my resolution for 2024 was to finish MUOM. This year.....I-I think it's something less specific, and that's just....to keep up the momentum with my writing, and work on the oneshots I said I wanna write. I-I'm not gonna push myself to write them ALL as soon as possible, cuz I wanna pace myself, but.....a-at least a couple, I'm aiming for. Starting with the one that won the poll.

Admittedly, th-these past couple months, I-I've been.....worrying a bit, about the future of my content, and Golden Cheese's fanbase. I-if what I predicted last month is true, a-and we won't be getting new in-game content of her until 2026 (besides her COTY reward), th-then.....I-it really is up to fan content to keep interest in her alive until we see her again, and hopefully, people will stick around while I write more of her. A-anyone who doesn't wanna is free to go, but.....f-for as long as people wanna keep loving and talking to me about our radiant queen, I hope the food I provide is good enough. And my askbox is always open. ^////////^

Possibly not seeing my F/O again until 2026, no Hellaverse stuff for a long time outside of shorts, which might also mean not until 2026.....I-if I don't get these promised fics done, 2025 will be a nothingburger of a year for me (outside of, well, playing CRK like always)......so, I-I don't wanna be on hiatus for too long. I-I'll start writing again soon. In the next couple weeks. Definitely....

I-I'm rambling......sorry.....

H-here's hoping for 2025 to treat us all well, and....again, thank you!

[petitelepus]

Hey is it alright if I ask for a normal human and demon matchup? If you can’t do both, then I’d like a normal human matchup. I’m a 23 year old (24 this June) straight, 5’8” Mexican American female who’s currently in university as a history major. I’m a Catholic who’s trying to improve my faith. At first I can be quiet and shy, but once I warm up I’m pretty fun and chill. I overthink, fear getting judged, and can get sad from time to time, but I’m going to therapy for it. I listen to different kinds of music, but my favorites are 80’s, a bit of Eurovision, and kpop (mainly girl groups. I’m even in our club's dance group). I watch anime, youtube clips, some family guy and south park, older disney and nick shows/movies I grew up watching, and a few dramas/documentaries (started shogun and need to finish it, along with quiet on set). My guilty pleasure clips/shows include maury, jerry springer, and dance moms. Something I’d like to get back to doing again is reading since I don’t as much as I used to. Thanks in advance!

I match you with Kyojuro Rengoku!

Kyojuro probably is kind and happy so when you met he most likely introduced himself loudly and this can be a little intimidating to some people. When he notices you flinch a little, he lowers his voice immediately and introduces himself more quietly.

He will praise your beauty and your faith also, so count him excited when you feel comfortable enough to smile and have a chill conversation with him. He is still loud, but now you know that it's not on purpose.

The Flame Hashira loves history! The man likes to think that we can learn from the past so the next generations don't make the same mistakes as people living before them did.

Kyojuro is happy that you are seeing a therapist and always encourages you to go and meet them if there are things he can't help you with or if there are things you don't dare to share with him.

He just wants you to know that no matter what you do, he won't judge you. He knows what it's like to have your own inner Demons haunting you, so he tries to support you in slaying that inner Demon of yours!

Kyojuro has a little hearing problem so you may have to play your music a little harder for him to be able to fully hear it, but you don't mind since it's your favorite music. He will smile and nod quietly as he listens to the songs you like and then nods and exclaims, "You have good taste in music!"

He is also interested in the different series you might be watching. Kyojuro loves cartoons, like anime and Disney movies, but he can see the appeal in all the drama that happens behind the scenes.

The Flame Hashira will gladly help you to find and obtain copies of your childhood series and movies because those things hold the most memories and can act as a temporary portal back to your youth.

That, and he is also interested to see what shows you grew up watching. There must be something he likes also and wants to see with you!

I also match you with Kyogai!

The Demon likes you immediately. You're quiet and barely speak, but you are a good listener and once you get comfortable around him, you start to show your relaxed nature more and he enjoys that also. You're also very pretty.

Kyogai knows better than no one how it feels to be... Sad and judged. His writing and drum playing have always been criticized, but you are the first one to show him kindness.

With his obsession to become stronger and be worthy, it's up to you to go to him and tell him that he is perfect as he is. Maybe you could ask him if he would like to come to see your therapist with you? But he feels that he can trust his feelings and insecurities to you because you understand him.

Kyogai is a little old-fashioned so he doesn't necessarily understand your taste in music, but as he listens he learns that the music you listen to may reflect on you and he grows to like them because you do. He may try to copy some of your favorite songs with his drums. Sometimes he fails, but he does succeed also and all the work is worth it when he sees you smile.

He is eager to watch the cartoon and reality drama with you. The Demon likes the music in anime and Disney movies and how there is a happy ending to most of them. He hopes he can get his happy ending with you.

[spicysix]

🏏 - Stobin besties headcanons! I love hearing people's thoughts on them

steve truly, actively, honest to god tries to teach robin how to drive. he does his best, he swears. robin, however, is the single most uncoordinated person in the world. get that and smack it with her crippling anxiety, and she cannot do a single thing behind a steering wheel, ever, without sweating and trembling and almost shitting her pants. they both decide she'll be better off as a forever passenger princess. steve doesn't mind, at all

they're obsessed with eurovision. watch it every year, keep up with their favorite contestants, know every single rule by heart

they also really really love golden girls. and seinfield.

(they also, eventually, get really obsessed with sex & the city, dawson's creek, gilmore girls and one three hill)

steve definitely takes Robin to her first gay club in Indy. if he has an awakening of his own there, that's for you to decide. but he deffo takes robin

just like joe keery said in that interview, i fully believe steve calls robin 'bobin' and tries to gaslight people into thinking that it's her real full name. argyle actually buys it and only figures it out like months later

they are each other's first roommates once they leave their parents' houses, obviously. but once they get together with their respective partners, they're still inseparable because they rent/buy apartments/houses right next to each other and become neighbors

steve lets robin practice makeup and nail art on him, and once he starts liking it, robin lets steve practice makeup and nail art on her

that's a given but they borrow each other clothes all the time. and not just like sweaters and jackets, but steve's first really short jeans shorts are ones he stole from robin. so is his first skirt. so is his first dress (if stevie gets really gender euphoric on the sleepover nights she invades robin's wardrobe and pretends to be a model and catwalks all over, well that's her own secret. anyway genderqueer steve my beloved)

[ominousmotion]

Thank you for the tag @sparkly-skies 💕

9 people you’d like to get to know better!

3 Ships: Ghost x soap in call of duty all 6 of the blind channel guys polyamory and you know what fuck it more cod shit (and polyamory) task force 141 all those boys need a fucking hug especially soap rip

First Ship: i basically only read x oc fan fic untill a couple of years ago but if i had to guess it was probably rose and the tenth doctor

Last Song: Undertow by archetypes collide absolutely fell in love with them after seeing them with wcar and allegedly became their #3 listener in the world after a month of listening so yeah there very good and the guys are very nice and funny

Last film: I think it was into the spiderverse cuz the new one is on Netflix now so i was catching up and never actually ended up watching the new one

Currently reading: fan fic always but specifically call of duty fanfic truly everytime i try to consistently stuff in other fandoms i keep coming back to cod especially with how mw3 ended i need fix it fics

Currently watching: at this point if im watching tv just assume its critical role related so ive been keeping up with their 3 campaign and i started watching candela obscura the circle of needle and threat also by critical role its quite good

Currently consuming: fucking haribo (i fully typed put hasbro and to google the actual name 😅) gummy brears they are the shit like ive been buying a pack once a week which is very bad for my cavity but they are so good

Currently craving: a huge but like the kind of hugs that olli gives where its soft warm and firm and makes you feel comforted and like surrounded and like you want to ask to be squeezed bc you just kown it would like totally reset your sympathetic nervous system and you can just relax into it and feel safe an warm

Im tagging: @jupiter-balls @askeataiho @there-is-just-me-myself-and-i @man-made-misery @because-its-eurovision @concretenoah @deathblacksmoke @transmutethegold

if youve done this or just dont want to do it feel free to ignore me 💕

[kald-dal-write]

that's a good point actually with katniss not knowing Victor's names.

tho i do need to reread that part. i felt it more like katniss doesn't care about them much. she know their names, at least now i scroll through pages and every time some victor show up she names them. when its someone important like wiress and beetee she names them and sometimes tell how they won, but with d6 she just call them morphling guys. in the movies she makes a note that she doesn't know female morphling name, but I can't find that in the book (it isn't in death or anthem scenes). maybe it somewhere later? anyway katniss and peeta rewatched the games of every potential tribute who was alive at the moment, so katniss probably knew them by the time of second book? i will wait for you reread or find it later by myself (i reread tbosas now actually) (well, relisten, thanks yt for free audiobooks)

tho its actually not really affect my point as you dont really need to remember victors name to notice how mentorship works in general. like we don't always remember every Eurovision winner but we still know the process if we watch it every year.

Katniss is also have a weight of responsibilities and in second book she more concerned about saving her family's life... So i can see how she can miss some details. And also from writers point i think Susan Collins doesn't want to infodump on us so that's why katniss just forget shit or sometimes just doesn't know... and in second book there is already enough repeating of the first with game process so some things and described very briefly. again in the first book she think about viewers and gamemakers everytime, and in second she more like SAVE PEETA SAVE PEETA.

i starting to losing the core of our discussion /not negative im just lost in thoughts like.. where are we going.... who are we....

anyway thanks for this conversation!! It gave me a lot of brain worms /pos

as an apology i try to send you soon another anonymous ask where i try to analyse who would win the 1qq in your fic. i kinda struggle with keeping my thoughts straight so it takes a lot of time.

sincerely, your crazy little brainrotting anon

What I meant that she doesn’t seem to know their names before the Third Quell, not that she doesn’t know anyone’s names at all (which tbf she doesn’t know the names for the D5, D6, D9 or D10 Victors), she only bother to learn the names of the Victors she directly interact with. Which is mostly because she has different prioritisies that mostly includes keeping Peeta safe.

Also with rewatching the games I think Peeta paid more attention to them than she did, she does aknowledge that she recognised Lyme from the tapes when she meets her in MJ though.

It’s only a movie line that Peeta aknowledges that he doesn’t know the morphling’s name “She [F.Morphling] sacrificied her life for me and I don’t even know her name”

Fair with the Eurovision comparison though, you do get a sense of how things work after watching it for years, but still you wouldn’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes of the competition if you are just a casual watcher (especially with this year’s ESC 😭)

but as mentioned the OG post was just that I think people thinking it’s a set in stone rule every male Victor have to mentor a male tribute and every Female Victor have to mentor a female tribute doesn’t seem to be fully a thing with Mags being Finnick’s mentor with her being both a Woman and D4 have had way more Victors after her as they are a Career District known for being good.

As mentioned maybe I get more insight when I finally get to Catching Fire lol

Fun to discuss stuff like this haha

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2004: The Interval Act and Other Performances

Two shows, two intervals! It's the first bit of new programming needed for this year's Eurovision. You can do the same postcards in both contests. The scoring sorts itself out, but what are you doing to do about the musical bits? You need something different for each show.

Starting with the semi-final and one of the weirdest interval acts there's ever been - and also one of the hardest to see today in context. A six-minute long comedy film featuring ABBA as puppets made by the Jim Henson workshop. It features the band auditioning in 1974 for a record company executive played by Rik Mayall.

Having this in the middle of what is a thoroughly Turkish show featuring traditional drumming is a bit odd to say the least. 2004 was the 30th anniversary of ABBAs win and since their fractious split in the 1980s, their popularity and pull was only increasing. The demand for appearances, reformations and shows was getting louder all the time - so how to achieve this when they were no wanting to appear publicly? Why not puppets?

The entire short was called ABBA - Our Last Video Ever, a title that carried with it the air of something celebratory, momentous, and definitively final. Something that had been wanted for more than a decade and was here. The reality didn't meet those expectations, it being more of a comedy sketch and with very little actually in the way of the members of ABBA.

If you bought or saw the full semi-final after the night it was show, the ABBA short wasn't there - you had to buy it separately, and for a while was exceedingly hard to find.

The Grand Final stuck more to tradition with lines of dancers, instrumentalists and drummers. All aspects of Turkish musical culture were covered in a presentation by the group Fire of Anatolia, a huge dance ensemble. The scale and tradition of it did harken back to Riverdance in terms of ambition, although the result didn't have the same impact.

The one other musical number was Sertab Erener opening the show with a reprise of her winning song Everyway that I Can as well as another of her songs Leave. The first song had the same choreography as her win, but with male dancers and Sertab herself was fully dressed in gold. For the second half of the show, a group of Sufi sama dancers spinning and whirling around her.

There was a mid-run break in the grand final - but this served as an attempt to go around watch parties being held in Europe, although the link-up mostly failed leaving the hosts to fill while adverts aired on TV.