#fdc 2019

[todonumismatica]

Cartera oficial euroset Alemania 2019 (5 cecas). 100,00 €. Cartera Oficial 5 Cecas (A,D,F,G y J) - 45 monedas. Serie en euro de las monedas de Alemania 2019. 9 monedas (x5) FDC en cartera oficial. Cada serie contiene las 8 monedas de curso normal, de 1 céntimo a 2 euro y la moneda conmemorativa de 2 €, dedicada a Bundesrat Categoría: Monedas Euroset Alemania. Más información en: https://www.todonumismatica.com/cartera-oficial-euroset-alemania-2019-5-cecas-23390.html

[karen-anti-r-cml]

January 2023: kevin mccarthy, confederate maga loyalist aka republican after doing a better job than the other guy at begging for the position of Speaker of the House has started making Public Claims against a few things, but the Claims are Misleading, Lacking Any Evidence and/or Plain [lies].

No doubt the claims are his way of trying to prove his loyalty to trump.

mccarthy Claims and CNN Fact Checks:

1st) Nancy Pelosi and The Federal Debt Ceiling:

Claim: To justify his idea that raising the FDC meant Government Spending must be cut. Instead of being sure of himself and taking responsibility for his position, he claimed even Pelosi agreed to a spending cap as part of a deal to lift the debt ceiling under trump.

Fact: His claims are highly misleading. The Pelosi/trump deal in 2019 actually loosened spending caps that were already in place. In other words, while congressional conservatives today want to use a debt ceiling deal to reduce government spending, the Pelosi deal allowed for billions in additional government spending above the pre-existing maximum.

So, the two situations are nothing alike.

2nd) Funding the IRS:

Claim: In various statements mccarthy has boasted of how the 1st bill passed by the new CML/republican majority in the House “repealed 87,000 IRS agents” or “repealed funding for 87,000 new IRS Agents.”

Fact: mccarthy’s claims are false. House CML/republicans passed a bill seeking to eliminate about $71 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, but the funding won't won't go to eliminating new Agents.”. In addition the House is only the 1st step to repealing. To actually get repeal the Democratic-controlled Senate must pass and President Biden must sign

And, neither are likely to put the bill through. In fact the President has already said he will Veto the bill.

3rd) The FBI Search of Mar-a-Lago:

Claims: The FBI knew 100s of U.S. Government Documents marked Classified and 100s more not marked were at MAL. They could have come and taken all of Documents at anytime without a Warrant.

Facts: His Claim is Not True. The National Archives and after them the DOJ had been asking trump to Return Government Records for more than a Year.

So

May 2022: The DOJ served trump with a Subpoena to return all documents with any Classification Markings.

June 3, 2022: The FBI Agents and DOJ were invited by trump's tean to MAL to accept the Return of the Documents Subpoenaed. When they arrived a Trump lawyer “explicitly prohibited government personnel from opening or looking inside any of the boxes remaining in the storage room,” The trump lawyer signed Certifying for trump all of the Documents Were Returned... That Was Not True.

August 8, 2022: After getting the Search Warrant for MAL FBI Agents completed their job.

After the Search

August 2022: The DOJ submitted Court Filing Stating: “The FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ the former president’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations made in the June 3 Certification and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter.”

4th) President Biden and His Stance On Gas Stoves:

Claims: January 12, 2023: mccarthy wrote in a New York Post article “While President Joe Biden wants to control the kind of stove Americans can cook on, House Republicans are certainly cooking with gas.” He repeated the claim on Twitter the next morning.

Facts: January 9, 2023: Richard Trumka Jr., A Biden Appointee to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, told Bloomberg gas stoves pose a “hidden hazard,” as they emit air pollutant and "Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

What Trumka said is not even close to new information, we've known for many, many years gas usage in the home is dangerous and all options must be looked at. So far they've continued to find ways to make the stoves safer and they will probably continue to.

January 11, 2023: The day before mccarthy’s lies were published by the New York Post,

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The president does not support banning gas stoves. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is independent, is not banning gas stoves.”

and

Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Chairman for CPSC said in a statement: “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.” Rather, he said, the commission is researching gas emissions in stoves, “exploring new ways to address health risks,” and strengthening voluntary safety standards – and will this spring ask the public “to provide us with information about gas stove emissions and potential solutions for reducing any associated risks.”

February 1, 2023 Not even the Commission has not shown support for a ban on gas stoves or for any particular new regulations on gas stoves.

5th) Rep. Adam Schiff and the Ukraine Whistleblower

Claims: January 12, 2023: mccarthy, trying to defend his plan to bar Adam Schiff from sitting on the House Intelligence Committee said, among other things he thought Schiff had handled the 1st trump Impeachment badly and said: “Adam Schiff openly lied to the American public. He told you he had proof. He told you he didn’t know the anonymous whistleblower.”

It's worth noting Schiff Chaired the House Intelligence Committee during the Democratic Majority from early 2019 to the beginning of 2023, mccarthy

2019: The anonymous whistleblower came forward with allegations, which were subsequently corroborated about trump's attempt to use the power of his office to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, because he was scared of Biden winning the 2020 Presidential Election.

Thankfully President Biden Won!

Facts: There is no evidence Schiff lied when he said he didn’t know the anonymous whistleblower.

Schiff said in a statement to CNN: “Kevin McCarthy continues to falsely assert I know the Ukraine whistleblower. Let me be clear – I have never met the whistleblower and the only thing I know about their identity is what I have read in press. McCarthy’s real objection is we proved the whistleblower’s claim to be true and impeached Donald Trump for withholding millions from Ukraine to extort its help with his campaign.”

mccarthy: just another lying confederated maga loyalist with no moral compass

"Fact check: McCarthy’s false, misleading and evidence-free claims since becoming House speaker"

[conan-osiris]

March 3, 2020

Today marks the first anniversary of Conan winning Festival da Canção 2019 and the second anniversary of his first live performance as a singer in Galleria ZDB in Lisbon. Unfortunately things didn’t end up as I had hoped in Eurovision, but it was not the end of the road. In december, at Coliseu dos Recreios, Conan gave us one of his greatest concerts to date and he started 2020 with the song Vinte Vinte, a collaboration with fado singer Ana Moura and dj and producer Branko.It has also been hinted that new songs are in the works and maybe a new album? So far it’s just speculation, but I’m still here waiting for what the future will bring.

Happy anniversary!

[arabela25]

Conan Osiris's first rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, with the song Telemóveis (Portugal)

[blickcalleviewfromthestreet]

Global Warming by Blick Calle Via Flickr: Walnut Street near 17th Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[heyzombae]

Of all the entries for Festival da Canção, this one is by far my favorite. Would love to see Portugal pick it for Eurovision!

[sleepy-shutin]

(system community anon) honestly thank you, you just resonated with a lot of things i’ve felt since i figured out i’ve had DID but didn’t have the words to say or was kind of too scared to tbh. i started accepting my DID in later 2019, and started interacting with the online system community at a distance, and then when the pandemic hit i felt really isolated and stressed so i started seeking more friendships and connections with other systems but never really found them tbh. and honestly my opinion of why this is suddenly such a huge thing is primarily due to DID youtubers, particularly dissociaDID if you were also unfortunate enough to witness that whole situation go down. i think it’s youtube in particular because youtubers are sort of the big fandom (for lack of a better word) for a lot of teenagers rn, and the way the algorithm works on there in combination with clickbait can become a dumpster fire of misinfo very quickly. and then this spreads to system tik tok etc etc. but going further back i do think the release of split also has something to do with all of the sudden hypervisibility because that movie i think marked a huge uproar among DIDOSDD systems (rightfully) so there was more of a push for accurate information and representation, but then it’s kind of like the wrong voices were uplifted for the wrong reasons. and then ofc i think this was all exacerbated by the pandemic. sorry to drop another novel in your inbox lmao but i completely agree honestly. i just wish the system community would realize that anyone trying to spread scientific information about DIDOSDD is completely pro-psych or, like, a fakeclaimer or r/fakedisordercringe user or something like that.

yeah, dissociaDID in particular definitely has a hand in everything, for sure. her newest videos just make me recoil.

shockingly though, people like fragmentedpsyche, multiplicity & me, the entropy system if you remember them, etc, have been pretty good resources on DID. but dissociaDID just got the most popular, with her makeup and clickbait and constant milking of all kinds of drama. i used to be a fan of hers back in the day, actually, before shit hit the fan. still wouldn't recommend her even back then, though. she was always spreading misinformation.

yeah, things like tiktok, split, twitter, the pandemic, confusing teenager feelings, etc, all came together to create the perfect storm of massive amounts of DID misinformation.

and yeah--i'm not an FDC user for correcting misinfo or using clinical sources. FDC is a massive proponent of misinformation on DID, lol. i go there to correct misinformation on DID, and then i get downvoted even when i provide sources, lmao.

but sooo many people are just, like, not receptive at all to corrections on misinformation.

i'm so tired, man 😭

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil stagnant in tech investments and innovation

The South American country is at the bottom of a ranking that analyzes competitiveness across the public and private sectors.

Brazil has appeared at the bottom of a competitiveness ranking in aspects such as investment in technology and innovation. At the 59th position out of 63 countries analyzed, the country has only surpassed South Africa, Mongolia, Argentina, and Venezuela.

The analysis by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in partnership with Brazilian business school Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC) has seen Brazil dropping two positions in relation to last year's ranking. The drop relates to negative performance in areas such as infrastructure, availability of skilled labor, and legal security.

The ranking uses 333 variables that inform the pillars of economic performance, government, and business efficiency, as well as infrastructure. The evaluation also utilizes macroeconomic indicators and qualitative data from 5.500 executives interviewed in all the countries covered in the study. In Brazil, FDC interviewed 134 business leaders. 

Brazil is in the same position it held in the IDC ranking in 2019. 

Continue reading.

[bowloflentils]

I see a lot of people online wonder: “Why did Nintendo suddenly decide to remake Famicom Detective Club of all things?”

Well, I don’t know for sure but my pet theory is that it had something to do with this question from Nintendo’s 79th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2019. Someone basically expressed their love for the Famicom Detective Club series at the meeting and asked Miyamoto and company if Nintendo still had the ability to make adventure games like they used to.

Miyamoto went on to explain why making these types of games is difficult in the modern market but I really feel like this question got something moving at Nintendo. This question made the rounds on various game sites back when it was first asked and I won’t be surprised if MAGES (the developer of the remakes) approached Nintendo about remaking FDC after hearing about the question or if Nintendo themselves began looking for a way to revisit the series somehow because of it. The meeting was held in June 2019 and then the remakes were announced in September so I feel like there must be some connection.

[escunited]

Portugal: Our reviews of the Festival da Cançao entries - Semi-Final 1

[des-dabbles]

End of the Year 2019

I’ve seen multiple versions of this and well... I like to talk, so below the cut is some of my favorite things from my blog this year. 

So I thought I’d look back at each month and what jumped out at me. So many deal with my favorite couples and sims. And yes, there are other ss and edits I might like more than the ones I show here, it’s the overall feeling behind each one.  

February

The one that started this all. Poppy Wilder, founder to my FDC. It wouldn’t be right to do a Top 2019 and not feature her. Her descendants would go on and found some of my favorite couples. 

March

My first OTP, Trudy and Trey. It was this moment that I would fall in love with them and start this wild and crazy ride that was Gen 2. 

April

April was tough to choose. This was the month when Trudy and Trey played through their relationship. But this moment. It’s one of my favorites. I was so proud of myself. Setting it up. Just how it would be revealed that Trey was her online friend. 

May

Four of my favorite sims all in one photo. It was tough playing my games these last few days of Trudy and Trey’s life. I know I’m a big crybaby, but I was not ready to say goodbye to them. And plus, we have the beginning of the Jay and (female) Ari team. My most favorite family relationship to play.  

June

I couldn’t pick just one for June. This was such a big month for me. I introduced Hope and her BC, not knowing how much my life was gonna change. And then there is Jay and Kholby, my next OTP. I gushed about them earlier and I will probably always be ready to gush about them. On the other side of that coin is Omar and Ari. Gen 4 would not have been the same without these four sims. 

July

I mean, there were a thousand different photos I could have chosen, but the important thing to remember is this when (male) Ari stole Hope’s heart and the Tuhoro family began.

August

There is something about wedding photos. Some of my absolute favorite posts have involved my sims wedding shoots. I think Hope and Ari was my favorite (sorry other OTP’s). The two of them in white against the beautiful Sulani backdrop. They way they always look at each other. 💖

September

My first true story. Everything else was heavily inspired by gameplay, but this was me creating something based on how I envisioned the sims. And I mentioned it earlier, but these two are such a perfect pair together. 

October

The very first photo I shared of these boys. Need I say more?

November

Chase!!! My gorgeous, goofy boy. I still love him. 

December

This month was tough. I haven’t been very active and I apologize for that. Time just flew away. And so I offer my two favorite things I did this month. The Tuhoro clan. I say it all the time, but holy cow how this family has grown. And how my love for them grows every day. And then Ez and Mari. I love you, Becca, for entrusting them to me. And when I chose that quote to go with my edits, I didn’t know that you were truly writing the end to them. I was still praying on a Christmas miracle.  

[conan-osiris]

Get to Know Telemóveis

As the rehearsals are about to start it is time to get to know what “Telemóveis” are about. I must confess that I find that “Telemóveis” has a big disadvantage in eurovision, the lyrics are hard to translate to other languages, the words “saudade” (missing, yearning or longing for someone/something; nostalgia) and “chibaria” (blabing; snitching) are hard to translate, but in the other hand, when “Telemóveis” was released it became the most popular song of festival da canção 2019 and nobody understood what it was about, it took around 2 weeks to a consensus to form, so maybe in may 14 (and hopefully may 18) it will not matter what the message is as long people like the music and the staging. But if you are curious the general consensus is that “Telemóveis” is a music about mourning.

The song starts with Conan trying to understand if he will die of saudade (longing/missing someone) or if he is the one that will kill it:     Eu parti o telemóvel / A tentar ligar para o céu / Pa’ saber se mato a saudade/ Ou quem morre sou eu”

    I broke the cellphone / Trying to call heaven / To know if i will kill this longing/ Or if I will die instead

It continues with him confused and admitting that he doesn’t know. The rest of the song seems to reference the stages of grief.

    E e a vida ligar / Se a vida mandar mensagem / Se ela não parar / E tu não tiveres coragem de atender / Tu já sabes o que vai acontecer     Eu vou descer da minha escada / Vou estragar o telemóvel

    And if life calls / If life sends a text / If it doesn’t stop /And you don’t have the guts to pick up / You already know what will happen     I will go down my stairs / I will ruin the cellphone

Denial,Anger and Bargaining: In this verses Conan starts denning that the person died, believing that they just doesn’t “have the courage” to answer, he bargains with anger, if that person doesn’t pick up he will break the phone.

    E se eu partir o telemóvel / Eu só parto aquilo que é meu / Tou para ver se a saudade morre / Vai na volta, quem morre sou eu

    And what if i break the cellphone? / I will only break what’s mine / I’m waiting to see if this longing dies / Maybe, I’ll turn out that I’ll die instead

Depression. The threats of later verses where empty and Conan sinks into sadness, seemingly giving up and he repeats the question that he made at the beginning of the song:

    E quem mata quem mata / Eu nem sei / A chibaria nunca viu nascer ninguém

    Who kills who kills? / I don’t even know / Snitches don’t see anyone being born

The hardest verse to translate - A chibaria nunca viu nascer ninguém / Snitches don’t see anyone being born - should be translated to “Snitches get stitches”, but in the end it means that nobody will answer his questions, nobody will tell him if it is him or the longing that will die first. This also symbolizes the realization that only he can answer that question.

    Eu partia telemóveis / Mas eu nunca mais parto o meu / Eu sei que a saudade tá morta / Quem mandou a flecha fui eu

    I used to break cellphones / But I’ll never break mine again / I know this longing is dead / The one who sent the arrow was me

Acceptance. Conan reaches the end of the music knowing that he is the one with the answers to his pain and sadness and only he as the power to shoot the arrow and kill (overcome) his longing.

Sidenote 1: Another popular consensus is that the song isn’t only about dead persons it could be about dead relationships, being it romantic ones or only friendships, people that were part of you life a long time ago but that went separate ways. With that in mind the song keeps it’s meaning, about him getting over the end of that relationship, but it could also mean a rebirth, him killing the longing could be seen as him sending a text (maybe a 🌹?) and reconnecting with that person

Sidenote 2: Another popular way to read the song involves changing the word cellphones with hearts, making the song about someone that keeps searching and looking to love someone in a way to deal with the pain of being alone. This way the song isn’t about morning, but about learning to love and respect yourself, learning to be alone and to stop being in a relationship as a coping mechanism

Conan did stated in many interview that the song is about morning, supporting the main theories that it is about dead relatives and that it is about dead relationships, but he also stated that he doesn’t believe that those should be the only interpretations and that any interpretation that people give to the song is valid. Maybe for someone the song are about tamagotchis, maybe for another it is about the nostalgia you feel when you think about your childhood, maybe for another person it is about that australian man that shoot a person in the cellphone, maybe for someone the lyrics doesn’t matter and you just want to dance to the beat. So let me finish asking, what does it means to you?

[blickcalleviewfromthestreet]

Back of DTLR by Blick Calle Via Flickr: Cherry Street near 5th Reading, Pennsylvania

[the-green-bucks-fire-hydrants]

July 2019 #fdc #standpipe and #testheader Photo by #thegreenbuck #firehydrant #fireplug #hydrant #streetphotography #flakphoto #firehydrantsofinstagram #firehydrantsofusa #pennsylvania #philly (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0AGd9SBMsq/?igshid=exli5h4xu0v9

[eurosong]

Undo my ESC - 2019, SF1

Hello there, folks, and welcome to the first part of Undo my ESC, where I take a look at the field this year and, for each country, make a feasible change – as small as, for example, minor tinkerings with the staging, or as big as a different song completely winning a national final. It’s all light-hearted and just my opinion, of course. Allons-y... Cyprus: We start off completely in the deep end. I loathe “Fuego”, and this repackaged Fue2.0 is no better and is indeed perhaps worse to me given that I hate desperate attempts to catch lightning in the same jar. I also find Tamta a very unsympathetic character. I don’t know what I’d do to improve this, other than replace the internal selection with a national final with some songs actually in Greek and with local character. Montenegro: Things do not improve... but at least the solution is easier! Montenegro had a decent national final in which literally any other song would have been a better choice. I particularly liked “Nevinost”, and so did the unfortunately out-voted expert jury, so would be tempted to give D mol’s ticket to Tel Aviv to its artist, Ivana Popović, instead. I do find D mol to be sweet kids though, so the other part of me would be sad to rob them of their time in the limelight and would instead have taken the 90s throwback and bizarre random background sound elements out of their song, replaced the score with one that emphasised the traditional musical elements, and kept the lyrics in Montenegrin.

Finland: Three strikes and I am almost out. I really struggle with the new UMK format – I understand the logic behind it, just as I did when it was a thing in the UK in the early 90s, but I think it only really works if an artist has a wide-ranging repertoire. If not, then you end up with 3 samey songs that only appeal to people who like the music styles that artist makes. I’m not an EDM fan and I would have taken the relative flop of Saara Aalto last year as indication to return to a multi-artist UMK. Plenty of artists from previous years who could be worth a spot in one such.

Poland: I was disappointed by the disappearance of Poland’s national final, but I can’t say I was too surprised after a few underperforming years. I have to commend the Polish broadcasters for going for something popular within their own country, without being overly preöccupied as to how it would play outwith their borders. Pali się is one of those entries that I don’t like much but which I respect. My changes would be to remove the pointless English intro and outro, which, if one were not paying attention, one might not notice actually being in English. I’d also try to make the song a little less linear, as the song feels mostly confined to one pace.

Slovenia: Finally, we come to a country where I can change next to nothing. Many people I know were disappointed that “Kaos” was not elected as the Slovenes’ song. Whilst I found it an earworm, I really didn’t like her haughty, “I’m only in EMA to promote my new disc” attitude – and I really preferred the delectable, contemplative and intimate “Sebi.” It’s pure elegance in simplicity, and I wouldn’t need to change a thing.

Czechia: I appreciate the Czechs’ creätive way of bypassing the expenses of a traditional national final – whilst still giving fans a choice – by holding their selection online. Really cute this year was the way they tried to equalise differences in funding by making the candidates’ official video be a low-budget affair filmed in their flats. I liked quite a few songs of their selection, with the eventual winner, “Friend of a friend”, middle of my rankings. I would, of course, opt for my #1 of the NF to win instead, the delightful slice of “Bohemiana del Rey” style that was “True Colours.”

Hungary: Hungary’s A Dal has the cachet to attract a number of returning artists, so it was not surprising that, eventually, it would be won by someone who’d triumphed before – and I’m delighted it was Joci Papái, one of the biggest revelations of the Hungarian NFs for me. Yet, as is often the case with folk coming back to take a second bite of the cherry, the sophomore effort comes short of the first – “Az én apám” is lovely, touching, but lacks the bite and edge that “Origo” had. I might have JP come second and hopefully return for a second victory in 2020/1 with something a bit stronger, and send in his place the soaring but melancholic “Madár, repülj”.

Belarus: Life is too short to do some things, and whilst I try to listen to pretty much every national final song, one of the things life is too short for is intensively following the Belarusian national finals with their hundred-odd auditions. I saw a few, though, and they were a rum lot. Musically, Aura’s touching “Čaravala” was probably the best of those I heard – but was also strangely won over by the unpretentious, fun ode to tubers that was “Potato, aka Buľba” and depending on my mood, I might give it the nod either.

Serbia: Beovizija had a great lineüp yet again, and there were a number of songs I would have been happy to have gotten the win, including the eventual winner, but also those of Saška Janks, Extra Nena and Ivana Vladović. The latter’s beautiful “Moja bol”, with strings to die for, was my favourite on the night, but in retrospect, I’m not sure I’d replace the equally stunning “Kruna.” I’d be tempted to send it in its acoustic version though, where Nevena’s lovely voice stands out even better.

Belgium: Ô, Belgium. I adored “City Lights”, and so my expectations were really high. This is nice enough, but a bit beige, and doesn’t quite deliver, especially the way the enjoyably tense verses lead to an anticlimactically limp chorus. I’d change that with something that actually feels like a pay off to the verses and the Walloons would have a better shot of shining again.

Georgia: I have to say that, once again, I find myself being one of the few people I know who has some love for Georgia. Whilst it wasn’t truly my cup of tea, I appreciated and enjoyed Iriao’s song last year on some level, and the same is true of Oto’s – he has a powerful voice and it’s a strong, if rather unsettling song. I think, though, that I prefer the darkly ethereal Sevdisperi zgva, which sounds like what I imagine would result if Björk were tasked to write a Bond tune.

Australia: After a few years of rumours, Oz finally jumped on the national final train, and, credit where it is due, it was one of the most intriguing national finals of the year. It was as if SBS had decided to atone for its aggressively MOR pop picks of previous years by actually showcasing some musical diversity. Unlike a lot of folk, I don’t dislike “Zero gravity” – it has a meaningful lyrical background and some quirky charm. But there’s no question about whether I would replace it and with what. I still get chills every time I listen to “2000 and Whatever” – the sheer, irrepressible burst of positive energy and the power of its “kulila miranyi” still give me goosebumps. Damn straight one of the best song of the entire year.

Iceland: Given the amount of hype Hatari have received – and how fans flooded videos of its competitors with comments about how they shouldn’t “fuck up” by picking them instead – I may be one of the very few who would change the result there. Yet, I almost definitely would, even though I typically like lesser-heard genres at Eurovision and like the heavier, industrial musical style. And yet, I find this quite trying. It seems like a very knowing, art school student pastiche and I’m not here for their “above the contest” feel or the BDSM gimmickry. I’d be tempted to replace this with the low-key but lovely “Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað”, or to at least pare back the OTT disdainful irony.

Estonia: It feels almost like another era when I was a firm exponent of the idea of Eesti being Beesti. Three years of immense disappointments will quench that type of fire. Whilst leaving behind the stunning Spirit Animal in 2017 and opting for a generic poperatic vocal exercise in 2018 were excruciating, this might be the biggest let down yet – a land of so many talented musicians having to rely on an Avicii pastiche sang with no small difficulty by a reedy-voiced Swede. I found Eesti Laul very slim pickings this year, and found the other two frontrunners to be rather bland too – even the delightful Sandra Nurmsalu came with a tune that, whilst pleasant, sounded less nomadic epic and more toilet tissue commercial backing track. I would have gone for Kadiah’s delicate “Believe” as my pick instead.

Portugal: FdC was once again one of the best national finals, and the one for whose result I was perhaps most anxious. There were a few songs I really liked, like “Pugna”, “Mais brilhante...” and “Inércia”, but when the dust settled, there was only one song I wanted to see winning – “Telemóveis,” of course, which I was delighted to see prevail. I have some real worries about the bizarre staging distracting from the message and emotional power of the song, though. There’s so much going on, and it might be enough to push people from being entranced to being weirded out. I’d get rid of the spoons, sort out the clothes and try to make things impressive without being so extra.

Greece: I actually really like Greece this year, even if I’m still pissed off at what they did to “Don’t forget the sun” in their dubiously axed national final last year. Her voice is beautiful, the music is uplifting and anthemic, the æsthetic is curious and a bit culty, but at least memorable. The one thing I don’t like? The lyrics, which sound like a bunch of motivational Instagram quote clichés loosely knitted together. Sing something actually meaningful, preferably in Greek.

San Marino: Lord, I’m not going to start because if I do, I shan’t stop. All I’ll say is that San Marino’s “troll nation” status is wearing thin for me. Unbelievably, hundreds of talented people came out in numbers last year willing to represent them, and yet they went with a song written supposedly in 5 minutes but probably in half that. I’d have invited Sara de Blue back instead to make up for the bizarre fiasco that was last year’s 1in360. And the automatic qualifiers:

France: If France’s national delegation aren’t rethinking their voting system after this year, then they ought to be. It’s the opposite of Sweden, where the juries really have the power and the televote is scattered – all you need is a frenzied following to overturn a low jury placement. I liked a great number of Destination Eurovision’s selection this year. I would have taken pretty much ány single one of them over the snivelling, bombastic, self-aggrandising drivel that is Roi. With regards to what to send in its place, I’m torn between the powerful “Là haut”; the adorably, quintessentially French “Allez leur dire”; or the energetic, indefatigable earworm that was “On cherche encore”.

Israel: Boy howdy, Israel sure want to do their level best to avoid fluking a 1979 and winning on home ground, eh? I heard there were many big names who sent songs in, though I’m unsure if any of them would have helped to make the stormy Kobi seem more sympathetic. I think I would have opted to let Ketreyah perform for the hosts instead.

Spain: After a great national final last year, I was really disappointed with the subpar quality of the so-called eurotemazos which were anything but. Miki’s song was the best of a bad lot and at least he didn’t have the hideously negative attitude some of the other people, who seemed surprised and aghast that the winner of a contest related to Eurovision could end up performing there. I’d try to give Miki a song that matched his energy with at least a bit more lyrical depth.

Join me in some days when I evaluate what I would change with SF2!