#trend fest 2023

[jeffbiblesupremacy]

Jeff @ Trend Fest

[pedros-admirer]

!NEW! Pedro at The Paley Fest in L.A.!

(These are very new I just got them so sorry if they aren’t that good quality!)

[mysticdragon3md3]

Gee, I wonder what announcements everyone is hoping for Summer Game Fest tomorrow? ^.~

[bikeaospedacos]

Shimano Fest coloca o pedal nos "trending topics"

Maior festival latino-americano dedicado à cultura da bicicleta reuniu 20 mil pessoas neste domingo, último dia de Shimano Fest

[absolutebl]

TOP 10 BL Trends of 2023

This is just me with my analysis hat on. 

1. 2023 = the year EVERYONE went outside their lanes

Everything went topsy-turvy this year in BL. 

For example, Korea gave us agonized yearning and outright queerness (The 8th Sense, The New Employee) while Japan served up soft office workers and tender family (Our Dining Table). 

The BL world went askew for a while, especially in the spring of 2023. 

Not that we still didn’t still get Korea’s soft angsty bubbles or Japan’s “what are you doing and why does it hurt?” kink-fests. But there were quite a few BLs that made us chronic watchers sit up in confusion and wonder if Korea was dabbling in Taiwan’s territory or Japan in Thailand’s. Then they fudged the kisses and we were like... okay, back in familiar territory. 

In contrast, Thailand stayed course-correcting for the damage they’ve done in the past with tropes (2022) and self referential meta criticism (2021), but also almost aggressively returned to their BL roots after last year’s series of shockers. Certainly, they are reexamining those roots, transplanting some, aerating others. But they really went back to classic Thai university and high school BL and pulps in a big way in 2023. 

Taiwan is always difficult to gage because they produce so few but they seem to have stuck with what they do best with no deviation while producing more this year than they have in ages. I’m happy for that, why change a good thing? But there is a tiny part of me that really wants them to hit it out of the part with a quality piece soon. For me, We Best Love still reigns supreme, but I would really like the HIStory franchise to give us that level but longer - like a happy version of Your Name Engraved Herein. I think Taiwan has the chops to give us something as good as The 8th Sense or Old Fashion Cupcake but in their style, and I would like to see them exercise their talent for good rather than just profit. 

I know, what a very odd thing for me to say. But if any BL is going to break into the mainstream American market, I genuinely think it’s most likely come from Taiwan. 

Vietnam and the Philippines are falling behind, in general. They just didn’t bring out very many shows in 2023, and what the brought out tended to fub the endings. This is forgivable in Japan (because of their style and quality) but not what watchers want in the lower production value propositions. In other words, if you do a pulp, you can’t mess up the ending (by romance standards). that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. 

2. The Office Romance Dominated

After years of Thailand serving us an endless (and slightly bland) buffet of university (and a few high school) BLs, this year Korea was basically like...

Ofiice. We like the Office. It’s cheap to film we can use grown up actors, acting (mostly) their actual age. 

And yeah... it totally worked. 

To be fair, Japan has always given us office live action yaoi from the beginning (they had the source material) but this year everyone else, including Thailand, seriously started playing in this setting. 

3. Boys Danced with Boys

The darling @heretherebedork​ was a big fan of this one, and I rather like it myself. Prior to this boys dancing together was very very rare in BL, but this year we got way more than our fair share. It was lovely. 

Never Let me Go

My School President 

Bed Friend 

The Day I Loved You 

Step by Step

Be Mine Superstar

Tie the Not 

Dangerous Romance

I think there were a few more. These are the ones I remembered to write down. 

4. Getting (even more) Meta With Tropes 

BL has been getting more and more meta over the past few years but this year they really focused in on tropes specifically. Calling out their own biggest and most favorite tropes in a massive way, especially Thailand and especially GMMTV. 

Like they tunneled in on damaging tropes with Bad Buddy and the like over the past 2 years, and now they are just having fun with us. 

I mean they just started the dancing trope and already they are calling it out? That’s like rapid-fire regurgitated meta there, GMMTV. 

5. Cameos are the norm now 

Taiwan has always loved cameos but in the past the other countries have been show and steady with only one or two a year. (Unless Japan does a parody.) 

This year Korea got in on the game.

Korea rarely starts trends but they do adopt smaller and lesser known existing ones and make them super popular. 

This year they did that with cameo couple appearances, even borrowing a few of Thailand’s pairs (TutorYim and MaxNat traveled north). They did it so much I stopped tracking. Love Class 2, Why R U?, and Jun & Jun were the heaviest hitters. 

Taiwan, of course, came back swinging. Kiseki was the gum-ball machine of pair cameos. (In Taiwan mafia = gay.) 

6. We are entering the cross pollination age

The number of remakes picked up or started this year was startling, not just countries revisiting their own content (Thailand, Japan) but countries revisiting OTHER countries stuff.

Lemme explain...

Korea has started remaking Thai content (Why R U?) alongside cameo'ing Thai pairs.

Thailand is doing Korean IP (My Dear Gagster Oppa) and has 2 Chinese ones slated for next year. 

GMMTV acquired a lot of Japanese IP (Cherry Magic, Ossen, and My Love Mix Up) - and then had problems distributing it. 

This is probably the most surprising trend for me. Especially the Japanese stuff. I would have thought these properties well outside of Thailand's price range (even GMMTV's) not to mention Japan’s legendary IP issues (I swear I typed this pout before the pulled TayNew’s excellent Cherry Magic). 

Also why not option some of the older popular manga instead? Bet that's much cheeper. (I did see a NEW Thai translation of Finder into Thai, which is 90s yaoi, so I have my fingers crossed on that front.)

I shouldn't be too surprised. 

Thailand is running out of y-novel content. Their publication industry is just not robust enough (I was just talking to a friend about this at length recently). But I didn't think they had the funds to option, especially from Japan. 

Perhaps the option deals are for peanuts?

7. Korea got cheeky

I’m not sure quite how else to put this. 

After finally figuring out boys can kiss, Korea started to do not just higher heat but playful higher heat, with more aggressive word play and linguistic innuendo, like they are entering their racy rom-com teenage years (Why R U? Love Class 2 and Jun & Jun in particular.) 

I guess: Welcome to your BL teens, Korea? 

It’s cute of them. I am very much enjoying it. 

And now that comedy is warming them up, we get to see them play with actual queer burgeoning physicality in shows like The 8th Sense. 

It’s nice. I like seeing Korea stretch its wings. They still stick to their bubble, but that bubble seems to be expanding. 

8. The Amnesia Trope is back

And I, for one, would prefer to forget about it. 

9. BL got trendy 

I’m not quite sure how to articulate this category but basically we started seeing a lot of “modern” romance trends out of the west (like a/b/o) show up in our BL. Not a ton and sometimes quite small, but there has a been a steady rise of things like: no seme/uke, femme gay, out gay, condom use, messy gay. 

We also got an increasing range of sub genre frameworks (like mafia, office setting) that’s moved BL pretty firmly (even in Thailand) out of school and into the workplace, whether actual working is involved or not. 

It’s not to the point where it feels like we get more non-school BL than school BL (if I include all countries in this assessment).

Japan, in classic Japanese fashion, quietly started moving in the opposite direction. It’s what they do. 

10. The Vampires are coming 

This is an announcement trend, which I don’t usually report on but it’s so CLEAR. 

So last year we had a spate of announcements of possible Omegaverse (2 from China, 1 from Japan, 1 from Thailand - the only one that’s happened). 

This year we got 5 Vampire (or vampire-esk) Thai BLs announced including one from GMMTV. 

Whether all 5 will actually get made is unlikely, but having had (basically) none prior to this (Kissable Lips), I’m pretty confident that we will get at least 2 of them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one other country made one as well. (Side eyes Taiwan with interest.) 

Final thoughts

It feels like we are also seeing a decline in BL (both by quantity and quality) from Vietnam and the Philippines. As you all know, I don’t track or really watch either of these two very closely. But it feels like, now, no one else is either. 

I think we have likely seen the BL heyday already in both places and their industries are now on the decline. 

We might be witnessing a thinning in the players in the BL field. 

FYI we had approximately 

136 BLs in 2023

Previous Years

2022: 117

2021: 95

2020: 62

2019: 40

2018: 30 

2017: 44 (China’s last gasp)

2016: 27

2015: 17 (50% micro)

2014: 17 (50% micro)

And that’s it! Let me know in the comments if you’ve spotted any additional trends you want to call out.

Last year, 2022′s trend report

2021′s Trend report

Last Year’s Stats & Predictions

(source) 

[urfellowrabbitkid]

hehehe hiiii this is my list of lyric changes in live performances of michael (all gathered from concert recordings on youtube), there are almost definitely even more changes that i havent seen yet but these are the ones ive found from my phase of watching over 30 live performances of michael on youtube

lines like ‘im sexy’ replaced with ‘you’re sexy’ , other ‘i’ statements replaced with ‘you’ sometimes

‘sticky hips’ part of chorus skipped over sometimes idk why tbh

‘it’s close now’ sometimes replaced with ‘you’re close now’

at pinkpop performance ‘it’s close now’ was replaced with ‘so pink now’ .

typically in the second ‘so come and dance with me’ section, the last ‘so come and dance with me’ is replaced with ‘so come all over me’ . sometimes this does not happen, and sometimes it also happens in the first ‘so come and dance with me’ section. less common tho

in their first US show performance of micheal, the final ‘so come and dance with me’s of each section are replaced with ‘so break a [unintelligible] with me’. might say hall or wall?

sometimes says ‘micheal you’re dancing, you’re a beautiful dance-whore’ instead of ‘micheal you’re dancing like a beautiful dance-whore’

music for life 2017 performance of micheal he says “this is what i am, your favourite man” instead of “i am a man” in the bit right before the main chorus bit (he said “i am a man” earlier however). TRNSMT festival 2018 he says your favourite man also, says it first time and fhen second time says “spectacular man” im thinking these lyric changes are common in the more recent performances of it?

earliest recorded performance of it it is quite literally not possible to tell if there are any lyric changes however it’s possible the come and dance with me change was included

2022 just like heaven fest performance he says either “this is what i am / yes, such a fine man” or “this is what i am / you’re such a fine man” in the first chorus. in the second chorus he sings “this is what i am / i’m an ice cream man”

rock n heim 2013 says ‘because’ in beginning of main chorus (‘because you’re all that i see [etc.]’)

spancirfest 2023 he says “this is what i am / banana (?) toast man”. seems to be part of a general trend in more recent performances where he says a food instead of just ‘a man’.

2010 mexico performance he sings “stubble on my sticky hips”, possibly deliberate, possibly just a mispeak. may happen in other performances too?

2018 kyiv performance sings ‘flamboyant man’. also sings “you’re all i need” first verse instead of “you’re all i see”

according to alex’s twitter, he makes up new lyrics each performance.

YOU'RE A SAINT FOR THIS AND ALEX KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING

we've been blessed by this list thank you

i'm going to check later what he did at paradiso amsterdam live cause i have it on cd but i remember that there were some changes

so come all over me change is my favourite thing ever fr😭😭😭

[tomorrowxtogether]

Tomorrow X Together draws cheers and tears from K-pop fans at Lollapalooza

After a 2022 set that one member remembers as ‘meaningful, memorable,’ the boy band moves up to headliner with singing and choreography that was clearly well-rehearsed.

Lollapalooza has really been going for a piece of the K-pop pie the past two years as the genre takes a hold on America. According to NPR, the U.S. is one of the biggest importers of Korean pop music, just behind Japan and China — and if the screaming crowds at Lollapalooza 2023 are any indication of larger trends, it’s here to stay.

Tomorrow x Together made history at the festival again Saturday as the first South Korean boy band to headline the event (following BTS member J-Hope, who was the first South Korean artist to headline in 2022, and NewJeans, who played Thursday, notable for being the first Korean girl group to play the festival).

Tomorrow x Together also famously played the fest in 2022, at Perry’s Stage, though the group’s performance Saturday was a major upgrade. The five members remarked on the back-to-back appearances, saying, “It’s such an honor to be here again. … Chicago is a very special place for Tomorrow X Together,” and adding, “It reminds us of last year, one of the most meaningful, memorable concerts we’ve performed.” 

The act prepared in earnest for the occasion, earlier in the week, sharing footage of rehearsals on TikTok. The singing and choreography were on par for the main event and had many dedicated fans dancing right along with their every step. As the video cameras panned over people in the crowd, they settled on one person who made a handmade poster that said she had traveled 2,000-plus miles to see TXT.

Also enhancing the set was a crew of talented backup dancers and a band of four musicians, who each got their own dedicated intro on video screens (a nice gesture given that K-pop bands often introduce themselves at their shows).

Most notable of the song selections was “Happy Fools” in which the band was joined by special guest Coi Leray who appears as a featured collaborator on the track. Wearing a cropped “I (Heart) TXT” T-shirt, Leray was just as animated as the boy band and twerked her way through the song.

Other highlights included “Can’t You See Me?” with a good round of fireball pyrotechnics, “Thursday’s Child Has Far to Go” with the whole crowd waving light sticks in unison and the slowed-down ballad “Blue Spring,” written as an ode to their fans, which naturally had many faces crying.

[annislittleshopofhorrors]

IMDb Graphs 📉📈

Thank Graph Girl 🥰 and time flies...

"He went up 32 points this week to slot 647. I like this movement. Still manifesting a good role or opportunity for him."

I really hope he will get a good role 🤞🏼

She went up 241 points this week to slot 1,943. Previous week she lost 267 points so we'll see how this trend goes. Note that Friday was the Portugal theatrical release of Amelia's Children, or also known now as The Seed of Evil so a push on that in the last week. Bodyhackers (a PT movie) just moved to completed status last week. No other changes.

The 12-month number is interesting. It actually means that the kinda ceremonies didn't help her at all.

As a bonus, I am including the stats for Amelia's Children. Went up 14,402 points this week to come at spot 7,010. The last time the movie reached this level was the week of September 17, 2023 - the MotelX Lisbon Film Fest. For reference, slot 7,009 is occupied by Under Siege 2: Dark Territory from 1995. Dracula 2000 is at slot 7,018. At slot 6,994 is Kelly's Heroes from 1970.

[louisupdates]

FITFWT23: SOFIA RECAP

Concert number: 55

Date: 18 SEP 2023

Place: Arena Armeets

Capacity: 12,373

Venue: [jdelf] [oli crump] [oli crump]

Livestream [x, x] [x]

Louis’ IG story

LTHQ Twitter and Instagram [x] [x]

Concert Group Picture [isaac]

Fashion: black tank top, Nike pants

Lithograph

Setlist

Photos: [gifs] [HQ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [barricade] [mic gif] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ] [HQ]

Videos: [x]

Speeches: There’s something incredible about touring this record [x]

Outro: Bombtrack, by Rage Against The Machine

Press: FEST TEAM

Trends: [x]

Merch: [x]

Misc: That’s The Way Love Goes is featured on Italian TV, lthqofficial TikTok video and images of FITFWT23: EUROPE

[sheenas-diary]

A little backstory: Taylor skipped PH during her Fearless tour, and when she had her Speak Now and Red Tour here, I really wanted to watch, but everything wasn't going my way. I can still recall how devastated I was seeing RedTourMNL trended on Twitter — I was really salty, lol. I told myself I wouldn't miss her next concert in PH again. So I had my high hopes up for 1989, Rep, and Lover Fest, but she skipped PH (again), and pandemic happened. So when she announced the Eras Tour in 2022, I was ecstatic! I vividly remember the first time I watched the Eras Tour opening night on a TikTok live! Everyone was so excited because we had no clue what was on her setlist or what would happen during the entire show. Since then, I've pretty much been attending the Eras Tour every weekend on TikTok live! Salute to all the streamers, haha. 🙌🫡 From clowning around to playing Swiftball every play night, it's been so much fun! Technically, I’ve been planning to see The Eras Tour since March 17, 2023, 🫶

Fast forward there I was three weeks ago with my sister! 🥺 Sadly, I was sick that day, never really had the chance to fully enjoy the experience, but I’m glad I still made it. It was still one of the best nights of my life. I just really wanna go back! 😭✨

[jeffbiblesupremacy]

Jeff @ Trend Fest

[lumosatnight]

my year in fic - 2022

I was tagged by @the-francakes (x), @schmem14 (x), @broomsticks (x), and @danpuff-ao3 (x) for a fic roundup/2022 review/stats something or other, so I'm combining them all here.

2022 was definitely a year of fests. Fests fests fests fests!!! I joined and modded so many fests that I'm taking a month long break in January. But I also had SO MUCH FUN. Fests are addictive and there's a reason for that.

Alright, here we go. Let's start with some stats.

—

Word Count: 151,378 (alas I did not make my goal of 200k but I'll take what I can get. That's still the length of a full length novel!)

Hits: 56,307

Number of Fics started and finished: 21 works (+ just as many double drabbles/microfics/minifics)

Number of WIPs started: um.... pass

Ships I wrote this year (not including background ships): um.... also pass. There's literally too many to list. I write so many ships it's hard to find a trend. But I guess I gotta answer.

Drarry (10), Wolfstar (4), Rarry (3), Parvender (3), Flintwood (3), Deamus (2), Linny (2), and Fred/George (2) eep

Favorite ship(s): Yo this is such a hard question. Idk EVERYTHING. Drarry, rare pairs, and femslash. That's my answer.

Least favorite ship(s): Fenrir ships. I just can't get into them, but also, I dare you to convince me.

AO3 Fic Writers/Artists/Creators/Readers who have inspired me and my writing this year: ohmygod sososososo many. I'd be so annoying if I tagged them all. Maybe I'll just pick a few

@broomsticks and @consistentsquash for their rec lists! AMAZING STELLAR PHENOMENAL. Jackie also leaves the absolute sweetest comments and Squash is the best hype person you will ever find. I strive to be more like Jackie and Squash.

@thistlecatfics, @bluesundaycake, @danpuff-ao3 for their wonderful characterization. The depth and grittiness to their fics floors me every time.

@the-francakes for her humorous writing and @vdoshu for their creativity. Seriously, you never know what Doshu is going to do next. Every one of Francake's fics makes me laugh.

@crazybutgood, @sugareey-makes-stuff, @anaxandria-writes, @digthewriter for their art. Every time I see their art, I just want to write and write and write because it's so inspiring. I also want to leave them a million and some kudos. Why won't AO3 let me live my best life 😭?

@schmem14, @articcat621, @paulamcg for their lovely comments and dedication to keep reading what I put out. I'm STILL surprised that people like my writing enough to keep coming back 😅

Everyone in the HP Saffics and Rare Pairs server who constantly bring up new ships and headcanons and I NEED TO WRITE THOSE RIGHT NOW. I love you all 💖

Now with stats out of the way, let's do a countdown of fics.

—

5️⃣ Top 5 works I'm most proud of from 2022 (not necessarily my most popular)

Your Cigarette Smell [Sirius/Narcissa, E, 9.7k] — My fic for @hprarepairfest 2021! Which might be cheating a bit, but technically the fest ended in Jan of this year, and I love this fic so much that I really wanted to count it. But what could be better than Blackcest hate sex for the ages?

What is this, fucking Jeopardy? [Drarry, E, 20.5k] — Written for @hd-cluefest this year and an absolute blast! Cursed Draco and Curse-breaker Harry were a dream to write. This was my most popular fic from 2022!

Rosmerta's Special Brew [Andromeda/Rosmerta (but mostly gen), T, 6.0k] — My fic for @hpqueerfest that is a testament to queer joy and queer love. I love this fic with all my heart 💖

Call me baby (I'll be on the way) [Neville/Blaise, E, 6.3k] — Written for @hp-soulmates which I also modded 🙈. So much MISCOMMUNICATION and oblivious boys in love. Also filled with rare pairs galore!

Death and Undeath [Fred/George, E, 3.1k] — Written for @hpcestfest where I got to dip my toes into the Dead Dove scene. This is a fav of mine because I got to combine magic and science and wove it into George's desperation as he tries to bring Fred back to life.

4️⃣ Top 4 current WIPs that I'm most excited to release in 2023

Oh baby, here we go again. I'm SUPER excited for my fic for @dronarryfest 2023. I can't go into details because it's anon, but I am SO EXCITED.

I've started a longer Cissamione fic that I hope I get the chance to work on next year. Will it ever be published? We'll see.

Time travel Tomarry! I've read a lot of Tomarry but never really written it, so I'm trying it out for the first time.

Might finally continue my Drarry Squid Games-inspired fic. Maybe. Possibly.

3️⃣ Top 3 biggest improvements in my writing over the past year

Brevity: I think I'm finally getting the hang of cutting down scenes so I'm not info-dumping too much on the reader.

Confidence: I've definitely become more confident in my writing. I still wouldn't say I'm the best, but confident enough that I enjoy reading what I write.

Angst: I think I can write a fairly good angsty ficlet now. Fluff and smut, I might need to work on a bit more.

2️⃣ Top 2 resolutions (ways I wish to improve my writing/blog) for the new year

FINISH A LONGER WORK. I would love to actually finish something over 50k words and publish it chapter by chapter.

Cut back on fests (lol, yeah right) and make more room for myself. Be more mindful of my fandom limits and when to step back and take a break.

1️⃣ Number 1 favorite line I've written this year!

What if that was not the end?  Flip back to the beginning. Reink the quill. Rewrite the page.  Would that be enough to forget? Would that be enough to remember?

From White, the colour of flowers, my Drarry Hanahaki fic [M, 3.2k]. Lots of angst, multiple endings, and (un)requited love. I used this quote as a transition between sections, and it's still one of my favorites.

—

Happy New Year! 💜💙💚💛🧡❤️

[arecomicsevengood]

TRIP REPORT: SPX 2023

I went down to the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland this past Sunday. While I lived in Baltimore for a number of years, and it was essentially a local show, this is the first time I've been since moving to Philly in 2019. It took a year (or two?) off on account of COVID. I don't have much to say about the show itself, I enjoyed walking around talking to people, I probably didn't see all the stuff I would've liked, I'm not really in a good place to judge trends. I missed some people I would've liked to have met, like Drew Lerman, who left before I got there. He won an Ignatz though, and good for him. I do believe that the thing about SPX and the Ignatzes is that everyone essentially occupies very different spheres of interest and sets of influences. As I walked around, seeing little cards on people's comics saying they were nominated for an Ignatz, I would ask them if they had heard of or were familiar with the thing that won, they almost never were.

At the one panel discussion I attended, about drawing detailed backgrounds as a way of of establishing worldbuilding, Rosemary Valero-O'Connell cited Taiyo Matsumoto's approach as an influence, and as I sat in the audience thinking "Yes! Let's talk more about that!" everyone else on stage, quite reasonably, talked about their own influences instead - which for Daria Tessler, who I came to see, included Mark Beyer and Jim Woodring. The panel was generally good and interesting, and it's not meant as a slight to the moderator Rob Clough to point out that the best questions came during the Q+A from the audience. One member asked the question, how do you handle tonal shifts when you are using detailed visuals for plot purposes, and everyone agreed that that at emotional climaxes or at moments of more interiority they reduce the level of background detail.

Daria Tessler was the artist I was most excited to meet of anyone at the fest. Since my local shop, Partners And Son, is on top of it, I had already read her newest comic, volume 2 of Cagelessness, which absolutely rules, and so I had to shell out the big bucks for a copy of her fully-silkscreened book Dust, that uses multi-color collages as a backdrop for the cowboy characters who, in Cagelessness, move through ornately designed drawn worlds. Her work is beautiful, another high point of the panel discussion was her talking about how Marc Bell calls the tiny details cluttering up the backgrounds of his comics "chicken fat," and while Clough cited the term as originating from Will Elder, Tessler described chicken fat as "what you put in the soup to make it taste better, if you're not vegan," perfectly capturing what makes these artists work such a delicious meal for the eyes.

A similar "I already have all of these" experience was behind my purchase of Tales Of Old Snake Creek, by Drew Lerman, which collects his anthology contributions from recent years and adds watercolor to them. I love these comics in their original formats but I'm not going to say no to the convenience of this, which is also printed at a size larger than the digests in which some things ran.

Shout-out to Bread Tarleton, who pointed out to me the Paradise Systems table, where everything looked good and lavish, but what I picked up was Cry by Yan Cong. I believe Paradise Systems to be a reprinter of self-published comics from China. Cry features cartoony figures in a charcoal textured world, and follows a man having a sexual experience with a prostitute with a weird visual punchline.

Adam Szym directed me to the Strangers Fanzine table, where I picked up Shony Glassware 2 by Manning Coe, which is in some ways probably the sort of zine a lot of people go to SPX to get. Pretty funny stuff, maybe Ben Jones influenced, by a 26-year-old who lives in Osaka. Drawing himself in a Beat Happening shirt but with a bio where he talks about listening to 100 Gecs, there is a definite vibe at work here and while I don't remember the price point of this one I feel like it had to be cheap because it's that kind of comic. If you're ordering the new printing of Bhanu Pratap's Dear Mother from Strangers and want something else that's not too genre-y make sure you throw this in there.

Adam Szym's Their Use Continues is a horror short about the current trend towards reviving dead actors as CGI phantoms in movies currently in the news. Feels nice and relevant, I think I would've liked this to be a little bit bigger (it's printed digest size) and hi-res. Adam uses some digital collage elements for backgrounds and borders that I mostly felt was making the book smaller and fuzzier still.

I nonetheless liked it better than another horror comic I picked up, issue 1 ofJenna Cha and Lonnie Nadler's The Sickness, published by Uncivilized. Both people are more mainstream-comics, which I think is fine, but this does something I really associate with the dumbest kind of attitude that can be present in horror stuff, the kind of tonal miscalculation the comics I like avoid: Presenting a mid-century American setting where characters nonetheless are using a high degree of vulgar language, of a sort that would be stylized and off-putting if it were depicting the modern era but really just completely pulls me out of something set in the past. The second printing changes the color palette on the cover in a way that makes the drawing better, but this is not the sort of thing I would recommend anyone track down, which is sad, because it's likely far more readily available than anything I liked.

Tim Lane's Happy Hour In America 1, from a few years ago, was available at the Fantagraphics table. Presumably because Tim was signing, but I never saw him. I haven't read the big books collecting his short stories, but I like his contributions to anthologies. He's a guy who can really draw, in a way that you don't often see at small press shows, or that feels more appreciated by a mainstream-comics crowd. If his stories aren't as psychotically involved on a plot level as Mack White, he's nonetheless interesting as like a Gen X'er talking about American masculinity and what animates it. I would gladly read it in single issue comics format, though I missed these the first time because it wasn't what I felt I was in the mood for.

Another thing I picked up as a half-off copy of David B's Incidents In The Night, volume 2, from Uncivilized. I think volume 1 did pretty well, and is now sold out, but now that that's unavailable, volume 2 is a harder sell. David B is one of those dudes, like Joann Sfar or Christophe Blain, that got the big bookstore push like fifteen years ago but now no one wants to put out their books in the U.S. David B is also a guy, like GIpi, who had a comic put out by the Ignatz line Fantagraphics had. I bought issue 1 of Babel at the time and didn't care for it, and would've told you I didn't iike David B's work. But lately I've been tracking down books in the Ignatz line I skipped the first time (along with the First Second books of Gipi and Sfar from roughly the same time) and enjoying them, and this fits into that trend as well. A pretty involving plot, involving booksellers, the occult, criminal organizations. I both want to track down a copy of volume 1 and am frustrated that the volume 3 advertised at the end of this book was never translated into English.

Yasmeen Abediford's Death Bloom won an Ignatz, for best minicomic. All of the Ignatz awards are really ill-defined categories, and this is one is a $25 risograph thing, which to me seems like it should exist in a different category than cheapo xerox stuff, but whatever. Anyway, I believe Abediford will also be in the new issue of Freak, which I have seen Instagram posts indicating contributors got an advance copy of but have yet to be for sale online. Abediford is from the Bay Area, but this book was printed by Lucky Pocket Press, based in Baltimore, but from people who either moved there or didn't have the press going until after I left there. They sold me the comic in a little printed bag, which included a family tree for their little mascot guy, citing the "onion peow guy" as "(father, deceased)" and "(comics legend)," which is interesting to me insofar as I don't think of any of the Peow stuff as being interesting to me, though I'm happy it found its audience and made a mark. I don't really get this one either but whatever, I'll reread it tos ee if my opinion changes.

I would also put the output of publisher Silver Sprocket in a similar category to Peow - Not for me, seems like it's for younger people, in a way that dominates SPX as it's currently constituted. I have the deepest sympathies for them not being able to dominate SPX this year though, due to a misplaced/inaccessible pallet of books that they didn't get until halfway through Sunday. They had flown out Leo Fox from England, to debut his new book Prokaryote Season. I had seen Fox's stuff on Twitter last year and thought it looked good/interesting, but was also frustrated by the fact that he had apparently released a comic that was only for sale for 24 hours - maybe a way to create demand so that people actually order a thing, but in an artificial scarcity kind of way I resent. Anyway, I bought one of his self-published things, My Body Unspooling, and yeah I think it looks really cool and interesting, though the approach taken, a sort of simple narrative about the notion of the self rather than something that seems interested in having characters interact is again the kind of trend I blanch at in work made by people younger than me. I nonetheless liked the comic, and thought it was cool, and am going to read his book soon.

I bought issue 9 of Mike Centeno's Futile from the Radiator Comics distro booth. It is explicitly labeled as No Previous Readin' Necessary, so while there were two older issues of Futile at the table, printed at smaller dimensions, I didn't pick them up. This was cool, a mostly black and white (but with pages in the middle in color) comic about a musician taking mushrooms . It looks great on a flipthrough, though Audra Stang, working the table, tried to close the center-spread of my flipthrough so that the burst into full-color I was admiring didn't spoil the story's progression and surprises. Format and cartooning kinda reminded me of Nate Doyle's series Crooked Teeth. (Nate had a larger-formatted barbarian fantasy comic available from Strangers Fanzine, which I passed on.)

I also bought Beth Heinly's Girls Named Meghan from her, though Heinly is Philly-based and I've had plenty of chances to pick it up before. It's a memoir of her teenage years, growing up in Delaware County, which is where I went to high school, and the friendships she had that veered into rebellion and her apprehensions about being around people more "troubled" than she was. It is basically black and white but there's little red-pencil edits throughout, like maybe the wrong PDF was sent to the printer or something, sourced from a file where she was noting what she wanted to fix. I don't think of the other copies I have seen were like this though. Again, I think this is the sort of self-published autobio thing that many people go to SPX to find. I can see the places there this could be stronger or more impactful but there is still a fine sense for who all the characters were, and what the era was like.

I got a few other things but this is all I have read so far, at this moment when I felt like writing. Andrew White gave me a copy of the new Yearly, and a name I recognized from his writing for The Comics Journal, Henry Chamberlain, gave me a copy of his book George's Run, a biography of a Twilight Zone writer published by Rutgers University Press. I also got issue 3 of a comic called Cat Scratch Fever by a woman named Emily Zullo, and Soumya Dhulekar's Flash Valley. Both of these are in the classic digest sized minicomic format with black and white throughout, though Dhulekar opted for a a cardstock cover. This is the sort of thing I am most happy to buy from a stranger at a show and basically not even care about the quality as long as the price is right, though of course the price for both of these is higher than it used to be. I also bought and haven't yet read Leo Fox's Prokaryote Season, the theoretical "book of the show," although another contender for that title, the collection of Liam Cobb comics, What Awaits Them, looked great but I will pick it up when it comes into my local shop.

[euroquision]

Creative or Copycat: The SloMo Dancebreak

Three countries came to the 2023 competition with a SloMo-inspired dancebreak to share with the world. Whether you're a fan or not of these songs, my question applies to all of them: Are these dancebreaks a creative take on Chanel's trend? Or are they lackluster copycats? Let's find out in the latest EuroQuision essay!

Written and Researched by Beatrice Quinn

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. I, for one, consider large sums of riches or compliments about my cheekbones more flattering, thank you. In Eurovision, however, sharing truly is caring as it is no secret to anyone that trends, ideas, staging elements, and even songs themselves are imitated amongst countries the following years – for better and for worse. Should any country pull off anything impressive that manages to have a lasting impact on the viewers, be prepared to see redo’s, redux, and remixes of that very same idea. If you thought the visuals of Mans’ ‘lil balloon child army was “neat,” be prepared for one loud Russian man to get sent hurtling through the depths of space while somehow still inside an arena in Sweden. If this reference means something to you: cool! Please stick around for a later edition of this series where I talk about how 2016 was plagued with “Heroes”-VFX ripoffs. For this first edition of “Creative or Copycat,” we’re gonna watch some dance moves in slow mo-mo-mo, and decide whether the decadent dancebreaks of Eurovision 2023 were creative or copycats.

Where were you when Chanel first performed “SloMo” at Benidorm Fest on January 26th, 2022? After having had access to the songs for Spain’s golden goose egg of a National Final since Dec. 21st, 2021. In that month, fans were treated to early standouts like Tanxugueiras’ “TERRA,” Rigoberta’s “Ay Mama,” and Rayden’s “Calle de la lloreria.” Of the 14 total songs, there was a dembow pop gem called “SloMo” by debut-artist Chanel. Previously a regular face in the Spanish musical theater scene, the Cuban-born singer’s song was catchy, fun, and quite the earworm. However, the song itself sonically didn’t stand out as other selections. Without visuals, it was easy for many fans to overlook Chanel’s potential. By no means did people hate her song – until she did well in Eurovision, but that’s a different essay – but it simply didn’t get as much “hype” as some other songs did. That was, until the first live show…

Chanel takes to Havana-esque stage and begins what can only be described as a meticulously staged, choreographed, and executed ensemble dance routine to what is still just a solo female pop song. As she interacts with the drop-dead-gorgeous dancers around her, we launch into the first chorus. As we’re hit with the “mo-mo-mo” of the chorus, the lights strobe to create an attempt at a “slo-mo” effect before the dance resumes with impressive synchronicity. Chanel continues to dominate all corners of the stage, letting her hair down and repeating the same dance routine as the second chorus hits us. Now remember: for the last month we had only been hearing this song where the second chorus just repeats the same words identically once more; not a very creative direction, but it’s fine, I guess. So as the song gears up to continue as expected, Chanel’s jacket comes off and the music drops. Before you have any moment to prepare, Chanel and her dancers whip their entire upper bodies to the floor and back up as the most impeccable, well-oiled, show-stopping dance break captures our attention and doesn’t let go until Chanel has gone from shaking every angle of her body, collapsing to the floor, high-kicking, flipping her hair some more, and getting back up before singing the rest of the motherfuckin’ song.

So. It was unsurprising when Chanel won the jury vote and ended up winning Benidorm Fest and taking “SloMo” to Eurovision. But now there was an issue presented: Chanel surprised us by saving the dancebreak until the last minute, ensuring that people who had already been listening to the song were surprised with something new, while the dancebreak on its own was still thrilling enough to capture the attention of first-time viewers. But now everyone has seen the dancebreak, and really I mean seen it. Every ESC Pre-party, on Instagram, TikTok, Chanel’s publicity team was going nutso in the buttso with this dance. How was it still going to impress come the night of the Grand Final? Surely would it not have worn itself out? Lucky for the viewing audience, Chanel proved to still have more to give on the night of the final. No, it sadly wasn’t a super-secret-surprise 2nd dancebreak, but there were sparks falling from the ceiling, a fan being tossed across the stage, a new vocal run, and new choreo for Chanel herself where she proceeds to do another vocal run while being dipped.

Naturally, this impressed juries and televoters alike and placed it right up on the podium with a flashy bronze medal. And the success didn’t stop there: on Dec. 31st, 2022, “SloMo” dethroned “Euphoria” [SWE’12] at #1 on the Eurovision Top 250 – the annual radio show where everyone around the world votes on every ESC song in existence – which hadn’t placed lower than #1 since its victory in 2012. So why am I using two full pages and some change of my article to sing the praises of Chanel like she was the second coming of Christ? Because she may as well have been! Spain went from colonizing the Americas to colonizing the Bottom 5 of Eurovision finals ever since they started qualifying for said-final. Out of the 19 editions of ESC Spain has been in since the introduction of semis, 12 of those were in the Btm. 5, with one being dead last in ‘17. Compare that to their Top 10 finishes: a whopping 3. Then: in a brand new National Final format, a Cuban-born singer takes her debut single to ESC and get Spain on the podium. Spain couldn’t even get back in the Top 10 for nearly a decade without getting an artist from a land they colonized, performing a song in a genre of the country Spain colonized–

"Hello!"

"My name is Lynda Woodruff, and I’m the official spokesperson of the EBU. I’m here to remind you all, along with Ms. Beaches Quilt, that Eurovision is a non-political song contest. Now, back to EuroQuizzin– EuroQuestion– Quision! EuroQuision."

Sigh.

Lynda, you get a pass because you’re universally loveable. But we’re not gonna pretend that an international song contest with audiences and artists from countries that have significant histories of geopolitical conflicts, while also at most times actively having geopolitical conflicts, sometimes with other competing countries, is somehow “apolitical.”

However, Spain and colonization isn’t what we’re here for. We’re here to remind ourselves why this is called The SloMo Dancebreak. This is by far not the first dancebreak in this contest’s history, but this song’s dancebreak is associated with a legacy, a redemption after taking a risk and crafting an amazing live performance featuring a stellar new artist. And on top of that, what did we get in 2023? A whopping three acts that contain what we can qualify as a SloMo Dancebreak, and thus we get to decipher: was it creative or copycat?

Ok I promise: I’ll shut up about SloMo after this and talk about 2023. You’ve been so great and so patient, get yourself a treat. I’ll give you a sec.

*waits patiently*

Got a snack?...Great! So the last thing we need to get in writing is what actually “characterizes” the SloMo dancebreak. Like I said, people have danced here before. Other than the legacy and why people like it so much, what’s unique about the SloMo dancebreak/what rules a SloMo or non-SloMo dancebreak? And this is what I love about the concept of “rules” in Eurovision is that there are none – other than the legal ones and ones the producers make up and other rules thereof. But in a spiritual sense, there are no “rules.” Therefore, some rules can be bent and reconstructed. Anyway, my general rule about what makes a SloMo Dancebreak is its essence, and the execution of said dancebreak is up for interpretation. If we were to look at the SloMo dancebreak structurally and how it works in the song, the break itself occurs around the metaphorical 3/4ths point of the song. That is, typically: after the 2nd chorus and either during/part of or in place of the bridge, all occurring before the final chorus. Performance-wise, a SloMo dancebreak is when the lead artist is the unobstructed focal point of the dancebreak. Additionally, the dancebreak is intended to be a noticeable break from lyrics/lead vocals, as Chanel performs no “vocals” during her break. Another important note is that the SloMo dancebreak was not a solo, even though Chanel was the focal point. She had her heavily-involved backup dancers all up in her business from start to finish; her dancebreak was like the one moment where it was just mostly Chanel herself in focus. What comes with this is a certain attitude about the dancebreak – remember how this is more essence than execution. SloMo’s dancebreak commands attention, performing choreography that at minimum looks very impressive to the Eurovision audience, and typically carries a sense of “Should I stunt on the hoes? I think I’m gonna stunt on the hoes.”

So! Are we all agreed on why this dancebreak is significant and what qualifies it? Amazing! Then let’s get to our three acts in question. The SloMo Dancebreaks of Eurovision 2023 are, as I’m sure you already know:

“Solo” [POL] by Blanka

“Unicorn” [ISR] by Noa Kirel

“Future Lover” [ARM] by Brunette

And while I hope this reminder goes for every article I publish, keep in mind I will genuinely attempt to be as objective as possible. In theory, that’s what all of these articles are about: objective deconstruction of Eurovision songs/acts. While I can and will happily share personal opinions where I think appropriately/most comically advantageous, the topic at hand is one that I think merits detail, context, and scrutiny no matter my personal preferences. With that being said, we’ll start by going alphabetically by country. So let’s all decide to be good, do good, and look good with “Future Lover.”

PART I: FUTURE LOVER

After 2022, where a simple folk pop song that finished 20th landed on the fast track to soon hit a billion Spotify streams, Armenia had quite the shoes to fill. Instead of trying the same thing twice, “SNAP” and “Future Lover” are jarringly different songs, especially in the case of composition. Even compared to the 2023 line-up as a whole, Brunette’s dynamic ballad about the anxieties, insecurities, and passionate wants about love is scored with an orchestra that creates a truly dynamic journey through just three minutes. Chilling vocals over a solitary piano soon becomes a soundscape of strings, light percussion, and a noticeable build that ends up thrusting us into a spoken-word verse. Not only is this a unique song for 2023, this is unique in comparison to many Eurovision songs of recent years. On top of this, Brunette is alone on stage while singing atop of a flat, angled, white pane as projected lights and graphics transform the pane into a morphing panel or lights and images. All of this put together creates a truly unique and memorable Eurovision entry, but I know what you’re thinking:

"Where's the dancebreak?"

Well don’t worry! Even though the song in studio/the music video was released without any such dancebreaks, so when Brunette put down her microphone and the song momentarily dropped, audiences were in for a surprise as she began what I personally describe as an abstract contemporary dancebreak. Important note: while I do my best to take it upon myself to research the cultural relevance behind many Eurovision entries, I am not an expert on everything! So, if there’s any cultural context behind Brunette’s choreo, anyone who knows more than myself is free to let me know!

Whether or not you were wondering, hoping, or jonesing for a dancebreak, we got one! Let’s compare and contrast, shall we? Brunette’s dancebreak is similar to Chanel’s in its location in the song, at about the 3/4ths marker. It contains no lyrics (other than amorphous “Oh-oh’s” we’ve already heard) and served to us by Brunette with a distinct “Stunting on the hoes” vibe from her commanding eye-work and fluidity in her routine. Her moves also bring her from standing positions, down to the floor, and back up by the end, similar to Chanel’s choreo. Taking another page out of the dancebreak handbook, Brunette’s dancebreak was kept a secret until the live performance, which we didn’t see until Eurovision itself as opposed to Spain’s NF. The dancebreaks of each song are even the same length: 8 measures of music/8 counts of 4. Of course we can’t overlook the glaring differences. Noticeably, Brunette is all by herself on stage with her emotional-support ambiguous white panel. No sexy backup dancers are there to lift Brunette off the ground and perform other such tasks that Chanel’s team did for her. Brunette’s dance also does not come after a 2nd chorus; “Future Lover” has a slightly unique form in that the song goes Verse - Chorus - Verse - Dance/Bridge - Final Chorus, so simply there’s no 2nd chorus to be found. In my opinion, putting a dancebreak into a song that already has an unconventional structure and exists in a genre that’s much more ethereal ballad than pop power is a risky move, despite it being an enjoyable dancebreak regardless. Another risk Armenia took was the fact that there’s multiple instances during the dancebreak where the screen goes dark and obscures Brunette’s dancing; something that “SloMo” does not do.

Perhaps this is what kept Armenia away from a higher result overall. Coming 12th and 13th in the jury and televote, respectively, this may not have had the same success as Spain had the year prior because “Future Lover” by all accounts is just so much more unconventional for the choices it’s making. It already exists as a song that’s hard to dance to, and doesn’t seem like it would be enhanced by a dancebreak. This is one of the biggest factors as to what makes this dance creative or copycat: does it enhance the performance in any meaningful way? It’s also very important to note that something doesn’t need to be “necessary” to enhance the act. This is Eurovision, people; if we start asking “But is this necessary?” we’ll undo the very fabric of Eurovision. Australia has a DeLorean on stage, Austria is singing about Edgar Allen Poe, and I have seen more elderly Croatian men in their underwear than I ever anticipated seeing in my life; none of this is “necessary,” and that’s why we love Eurovision. Moving on.

“Future Lover” is a very hard one to decipher. A good result does not make one dancebreak better than the other if we’re just trying to judge the dancebreak itself and how it functions in the song/performance. In the case of Armenia, I would argue Brunette’s dancebreak is a creative interpretation of the SloMo Dancebreak. Nothing about Chanel’s performance felt like it was copy-pasted into “Future Lover,” and Brunette herself is clearly a capable and confident dancer. The song already being unconventional can be a risk to appeal to juries and televoters for different reasons, but that didn’t stop Brunette from adding some creative and unexpected flare to the performance. In my thoughtful opinion, I could’ve seen Armenia finishing Top 10 with juries, but alas, the points given have been given. Ultimately, what I think saves “Future Lover” from being a copycat dancebreak is the fact that it is a song that attempts to create a dancebreak unique to the song and performer; there aren’t many other songs and dancebreaks that sound/look like “Future Lover.”

RESULT: CREATIVE!

PART II: UNICORN

Free Palestine.

Anyway! With the important business out of the way, let’s talk about Israel’s song. And no, I’m not gonna waste your time asking you if “you wanna see me” talk about my Eurovision hyperfixation for another essay. You’re already here, you’re already on part two, I know you wanna see me talk about Eurovision. However, if I were to ask you three times if you wanted to read my article, I wouldn’t be surprised if you just said no. Anyway, I’ll touch on this lil bit soon. Let’s talk about the song!

I need to begin by talking about the musical horse in the room which is the fact that “Unicorn” is clearly three different songs stitched together, three songs I call “DNA,” “Watch Me,” and finally “Unicorn.” These songs exist within three different parts of the song. “DNA” are verses one and two, including the earworm of “Phenomen- Phenomen- Phenomenal.” “Watch Me” is my nicer name for the dancebreak section, as the first draft name “Black Pink Is Calling Their Lawyers” was too wordy. Lastly, “Unicorn” itself exists in the chorus where the lyrical simile of “stand[ing] like a Unicorn” occurs. While the dissection of “Unicorn” could/probably will be an essay all on its own, I promise you this is important. To give you the SparkNotes edition, here’s what makes me think “Unicorn” is three different songs:

Musically: the instrumentation of the verses, choruses, and dancebreak are all almost completely different. The verses have an electronic composition beat with crisp, punchy music that has no connection or transition into the sudden power ballad it becomes in the chorus. This difference is especially jarring considering that “real” instruments are used in the chorus primarily, whereas the verses have some percussive string instruments here and there as embellishments. The dancebreak is the most egregious offense where this sudden electronic build comes out of nowhere and uses a meter/beat that we haven’t yet heard and could not sound more different from the chorus if it tried. The song jumps genres and compositions with no connecting motifs or callbacks.

Lyrically: We start by singing about our DNA and if you’re gonna do it (spoiler: don’t do it). Then we start singing about…unicorns? And how they stand? And the power of said unicorn? My point here being: the lyrics of the verses and the chorus literally have nothing to do with each other. In verses about writing a new book and how phenomenal it will be, we go back to these comparisons to a unicorn that don’t really mean anything. “I got the power of a unicorn.” What “powers” does a unicorn have? Jesus I’m tired.

So what does this have to do with the dancebreak? I’ll finish explaining once we do a quick compare and contrast. These two dancebreaks are more similar than “Future Lover” was to “SloMo.” No main vocals, a small costume change/reveal, lead act supported by attractive and skilled dancers, the hoes and their impending stunting, and many dance moves that involve impressive stretching and posing of various limbs. However, “Unicorn” goes to numerous lengths to differentiate itself from “SloMo” by doing things such as announcing the dancebreak before it begins; again, the offer seems pretty hollow given the fact that you’re probably gonna start dancing even though I’ve given you a clear “NO” in response. The dancebreak also falls at a notably different point in the song: the end! When you look at the time stamps of the song, Noa stops “singing” at 2:15, meaning the last 45 seconds of that 3-minute Eurovision window has her not singing at all. 45 whole seconds! So where the SloMo break lasts 8 counts of 4, “Unicorn” (starting from “Watch me” and not “You wanna see me dance” because, well, she’s not dancing yet) lasts a whopping 16 counts of 4; literally twice as long as the break in “SloMo.” The routine itself, once you’ve watched it upwards of twelve times like I have (because I take my research seriously, dammit!) you begin to notice these dance moves are more akin to…poses?

Roll with me here: the dancebreak starts, Noa hits that impressive backbend into a frontwards drop, bringing her to the stage floor. So naturally, her next set of moves consist of a backwards roll, some yoga-like poses where she continues to impress with her control by lifting her legs and kicking, then whipping her hair in time with the beat of the song. Up to this point, I’m genuinely impressed. Then, she hits what is literally a downward-facing dog position, and then goes back down onto her knees and slides to the floor to do the splits over her own body. So I don’t think it’s totally unreasonable for a viewer to at this point start to think “Yeah this is really cool, but like, there’s not so much dancing going on.” Then once poor Noa is finally allowed to stand upright, her dancers join back in and they perform a series of synchronized moves to the “U-NI-CORN!” blasting into our ears. So why are we suddenly in this new genre with a new rhythm, new instrumentation, and new pacing while Noa performs a series of admittedly challenging moves but are ultimately glorified “poses.” Also: an assisted backflip at the end? Another thing I didn’t ask for.

So as you can see, “Unicorn” is not an easy one to pin down. Going back to my analysis of the song and how disjointed it feels, I think the dancebreak itself is the most alienating way to end this song, especially because we don’t hear Noa sing literally anything else after she starts dancing. The fact that we’ve just dealt with two sets of verses and choruses that sound like two different songs, this Black Pink homage dancebreak looks flashy but doesn’t actually provide character or flavor to the song as a whole. It brings ah flavor, yes, but I don’t know what I’ve been tasting for the last 2 minutes and 15 seconds, I don’t know what I’m tasting now. Therefore, I shall be labeling “Unicorn” as a hybrid creative copycat. It is definitely creative in the sense that it didn’t attempt to do the same exact thing “SloMo” did in terms of execution, song style, dance style, etc etc. However, what makes it also part copycat is the fact that I don’t know why or how this dancebreak even made it into this song. To me, it almost feels as if the dancebreak was something they knew they wanted to do from the beginning, but then wrote a song that didn’t have natural space for a dancebreak. So they then compressed the verses and choruses to the first 2/3rds of the song and slapped the dance in at the end and called it a day. This reads as fairly inauthentic and ill-considered. Compare this to “Future Lover” and how yes, that song also didn’t “need” a dancebreak, but remember: necessity does not dictate something working or not working. “Future Lover” carved out a natural space and time within the song to create a dancebreak that sonically fits in with the rest of the song and provides a solid build of momentum to the final chorus. “Unicorn” and their K-Pop-influenced dance (which was more posing than anything) sticks out like a sore thumb and attempts to distract from that by being incredibly flashy.

RESULT: CREATIVE COPYCAT

Anyway, creative copycat is what I’m stickin’ with. I’ve already wasted enough of my own time listening to and watching this song several times over. Please tell me I don’t have anything worse waiting for me after this song—

PART III: SOLO

Son of a BITCH--

“Solo” is a song. By definition. And I too found myself asking the wrong question of “Why is this dancebreak here? Was it really needed?” a couple times. And in full transparency, yes: Poland is 37th in my ranking of 2023. However! Let the record here and now show that I will attempt to give this dancebreak a fair shot just as I did for the two prior. In fact, let’s start with a guessing game! I’m going to list out some key characteristics about a dancebreak, and it’s up to you to guess if I’m talking about “SloMo” or “Solo”! Ready? Go! GUESS! THAT! DANCEBREAK!

This dancebreak in question starts with a costume change/reveal and the lead performer flips her hair vivaciously. The music of this dancebreak is nearly entirely percussion; drums, rhythmic clapping, and maybe including one or two musical highlights that exist elsewhere in the song. There’s a quick one-two beat where the dancer thrusts a part of her body in time with the beat, the dancebreak lasts for 8 counts of 4, and it ends with the lead performer being handed her mic from a backup dancer. So now you guess: which dancebreak am I talking about?

…Got a guess? WRONG, it’s: both of them. Here’s the thing: initially I was going to start with a compare and contrast list like I’ve been doing, but I quickly realized that this is all “compare” and no “contrast.” The only thing that might noticeably be different is that Blanka is doing significantly less dancing than Chanel was. This is not an attempt to say that Blanka can’t dance or wasn’t dancing at all. I saw her up there in those heels hitting some moves, she definitely danced. But did she stunt on them hoes? While Chanel was going from upright and down to the floor and back up again, Blanka had no moves that were anywhere near as complex or physically demanding as Chanel. Meanwhile, everything else seems lifted right out of “SloMo” and given an off-orange coat of spray paint and messily slapped together. For fuck’s sake, one song is called “SloMo” and the other is “Solo.” The names literally rhyme and use the same letters, minus a singular “M.” I know, I promised I would be fair and objective about this analysis, but I’m also genuinely just working with the information I’ve been given. If I close my eyes and just listen to the dancebreak, it sounds like I’m listening to a demo of “SloMo.” And if I open my eyes to the onslaught of on-screen effects Poland is treating me to, I see what I interpret as an intermediate backup dancer version of “SloMo.” This dancebreak is almost unapologetically a copycat of “SloMo.”

RESULT: COPYCAT

I’m almost sad that this is the shortest section of the three analyses, but sadly it’s just the most obvious offender. I’ll end this section by sharing two things. First: I don’t harbor any hatred or resentment towards Blanka, she’s just a performer doing what I’m sure is her best. My disappointment is at the greater picture of Poland in Eurovision and how I feel they have incredibly unique things to offer, just like they have in the past. We don’t need this kind of thing from Poland or any other country for that matter. Second: in the second verse, I had always heard the lyric “Bet you regret how” as “Bet you’re a Grey Hound” and I didn’t realize that until the writing of this essay. In my defense, the next line goes “What goes around comes around” which actually rhymes. Whereas “how” and “around” are near rhymes, “hound” is a perfect rhyme, that’s all I’m saying.

PART IV: CONCLUSION

So there we have it. Three different dancebreaks, three different results. I think it would be most helpful to end this essay with re-examining why this question of “creative or copycat” exists, specifically in relation to something like the SloMo Dancebreak. Trends and the recreation of them have always been and forever will be core to the essence of Eurovision. In the process of uniting Europe through music and participating in a cultural exchange, countries trying to put their own spin on successful trends will be inevitable. So let this certainty be a reminder that simply trying to emulate a trend or anything of the sort is never an inherently bad thing. It is not something to be looked down upon or just labeled as unoriginal without thought or consideration. Inside every Eurovision song and performance exists artistic value and intention, to varying degrees, and that is what should decide whether emulating a trend is a positive or negative thing.

If I could somehow magically communicate this message to the artists and delegations of not only Armenia/Israel/Poland, but to all Eurovision competitors, it would be this: Following a trend will simply never be enough. What proves most effective is doing something that elevates and enhances the performance. Despite the fact I think Israel’s dancebreak is a “creative copycat,” I also can’t deny that it objectively did its job the best out of the three we’ve discussed here. But this is also another flawed line of thinking: If a song got a good result, that must mean it did everything creatively, right? Not always! One day when I make a “Unicorn” deconstruction essay, I’ll elaborate on my theory that the song did so well because it’s the most “Eurovision Movie”-sounding of all the 2023 songs, but I digress. Until that essay, thank you for joining me in another EuroQuision think piece! Truly hope this one was phenomen- phenomen- phenomenal for you all to read.

[solarwynd]

https://www.tumblr.com/solarwynd/747651444915748864/can-i-share-my-opinion-about-jungkook-and-that?source=share

Diff anon. Solar your points are so valid and I think you're right. I still have doubts this anon is right though just because all the points you mentioned also seem to apply for those smoking pics of JK and those I'm almost completely sure were staged. Also tkk's media strategy last year was crazy. JK would frequently go on a public Jimin love fest mode and Tae would go on a public JK love fest mode and simultaneously Tae tried to launch him and Jennie (I think a failed PR move) and the JK smoking pics (which made no noise). So in between all that if the video happened to be a deliberate leak, I feel that's too tawdry for BTS but with 🛴 at the helm, who knows what depths we might fall into.

Also I'm 100% sure that it was Tae and Jennie but a pap just coming across them? In France too. I'm not well versed in the practical situation but I've heard that the paparazzi laws in France are strict after the incident with Princess Diana's death. And taking photos that looked like they were taken on a potato? Doesn't seem random to me. I'm less sure with JK but there's some similarities. I know ssngs are the worst but they have so much time and money to track him but the moment they have to take a video it's potato time again? Meanwhile I'm watching the trend with those zoom tiktoks where people use their samsungs from the back of a stadium to zoom in and watch Taylor during eras tour. I think the bad quality is a feature too - just enough terrible quality that you can plausible deniability but still get buzz and people talking about you and building a certain image.

I'm just saying it's been ten years of half-rumors and hearsay and flat out lies about the guys' private lives but in 2023 we suddenly have two incidents for the both of them? Coincidentally before their solo release? I dunno. Might be a series of coincidences but it's interesting

Was TH’s hard launch with Jennie really just last year? Man 2023 was busy.

“I'm just saying it's been ten years of half-rumors and hearsay and flat out lies about the guys' private lives but in 2023 we suddenly have two incidents for the both of them? Coincidentally before their solo release? I dunno. Might be a series of coincidences but it's interesting”

No but this is so true. BTS have always been so careful about the details of their private lives and barely sharing anything. You can say that this is there way of freeing themselves from any previous restrictions they might’ve felt before chapter 2 but why go about it that way? I know that even Joon had a “slip up” where he posted a pic of him smoking on insta and then he deleted it but the amount of “confirms” you have to go through to post on that app? That for sure wasn’t an accident.

With JK’s smoking pics not making any noise I mean it did on twitter. People were thirsting after it but in terms of the audience they were trying to grab which was most likely American media considering he was in LA doing it out in the open, no one bit. No one in the US was gonna run that as a headline. Even with America’s perception of the kpop industry having strict rules, it’s just smoking. It’s not illegal. That’s why you have to ask (again if it’s staged) who’s planning these things out? And why are the operating off early 2000s or 90s rules to blowing up new acts in 2023? It just reminds me of that one Victorious episode where Tori was made into a big pop star and her manager turned her into a “bad girl” to interest the masses. But it just needed up turning people off from her.

“Also tkk's media strategy last year was crazy. JK would frequently go on a public Jimin love fest mode and Tae would go on a public JK love fest mode and simultaneously Tae tried to launch him and Jennie”

Jk’s Jimin binge was…something. I don’t think there was a particular strategy from him by doing that because fandom wise he had nothing to gain by mentioning jimin. Armys don’t care for jikook and jikookers are mostly biased towards him, they were gonna support him regardless. I believe there was some genuine interest there to see what was doing. (In retrospect, he was never gonna do it, but to be so in Jimin’s business, yet couldn’t still congratulate him publicly on getting that #1 on hot 100 🥴) Idk it just wasn’t expected considering they had barely been talking. Him and TH were at the hip so much last year, I would’ve thought he would’ve been the go to choice. (ig in a way he still was) Now TH was a strategist. It’s very obvious he wanted the best of both worlds with the actions he took, but neither helped him at all.

“I know ssngs are the worst but they have so much time and money to track him but the moment they have to take a video it's potato time again?…just enough terrible quality that you can plausible deniability but still get buzz and people talking about you and building a certain image.”

Ssngs are so particular about how they sneak videos and pics too. Like these people will literally be in trees to film these idols with those high grade cameras. “Building an image” as a member of BTS is a crazy sentence because while I get that everyone doesn’t know the members well individually, why would you want their introduction to you to be potentially staged cheap drama and not your music/talent? At their caliber it should be beneath them.

[taintedmantis]

2023 Wrap Up! What I Achieved (and What I Didn't) Plus 2024 Goals

We're at that time of the year again! What a blast this year has been for me as a Gaming Content Creator to look back on. For this, I'll be referring to these Tumblr blog entries:

1. 2023: Reevaluating My Content and Developer Goals For This Year

2. End of 2023 Content Creator and Developer Goals (Updated as at August)

Let's start with what I didn't manage to achieve this year.

Indie Game Dev:

Achievements

The hobby dev team I'm in managed to recruit a graphic artist, and we were able to create something out of a game jam back in April. As mentioned in the August blog entry, the game still needs polishing and honoring the team's agreement to not showcase it yet until it's ready, it was still a fun dating sim project that involves mycelium! However, we're at the point where we aren't quite able to do this on a more regular basis due to new job schedules for a few of our team members. So...looks like my time as a game developer is currently on hold for a while.

Having gotten that out of the way, let's continue with what I did manage to achieve and where I'm headed in 2024.

YouTube:

Achievements

As at now (December 31, 2023), I'm sitting at 690 subscribers, just 10 subs shy of hitting 700 at time of writing. It doesn't sound like a big number, but at this time last year, I was only over 300 subscribers, with me hitting close to 400 on January 18 this year.

Specific tweet here.

This means almost doubling the number of subscribers on my channel, which I am grateful for, and already a fabulous achievement for a small creator like me. ❤️

Targets for 2024

Will the upcoming year be the year I'll finally hit 1000 subs? I'm absolutely positive it will be! With the trend of my best videos being the Get Better At Mahjong series that constantly receive views daily, I can see it coming. Despite only producing possibly 1 mahjong video annually at this point, it's the tabletop game that will always be in demand no matter what, especially during the Lunar New Year period when the entire community that celebrates the festival plays this game to entertain the rest of the family. The better question is exactly when this will happen! Let's see if this will happen by the Year of the Dragon!🐉

Content Creation:

Achievements

1. Festivals and Why You Should Play series: Having covered several Steam festivals, ranging from Next Fest to LudoNarraCon, I have come across many games that would have otherwise flown under my radar. With so many amazing games released in 2023 in particular, I had to start a new series that goes a little more in-depth on individual games. This is when I decided to start the Why You Should Play series. The playlist is still a little too short to have it appear on the landing page, but I hope I'm able to give the games a little more justice and attention to some of the details that I wasn't able to cover in the more generic festival videos that usually only offer demo coverage. There are still many games that I have planned videos for, but with my ability as a one-man-band doing everything while also honoring other commitments, many of these have to be on hold. Hopefully less so in 2024, but let's see!🤣

2. Let's Plays: Noticeably, I have done a lot less Let's Play style videos in the past year. This is not to say I don't want to keep doing them, but due to lack of views and my inability to be amusing enough to be entertaining, I've decreased the frequency of this video style in favor of more structured videos. It also means putting more effort into increasing the production value for the other videos, which means my video releases are less frequent compared to 2021 days. However, seeing the improved quality of videos I've released in 2023 is a great reason to continue that trend. I will see if I can finish off some of the Let's Play titles that are in progress at a later time, but with upcoming new schedules, I cannot make any promises on that. I will try to squeeze something interesting in once in a while where possible (such as the Two Point Campus Christmas Challenge video).

3. Convention series: As Covid-19 started to ease off in January and Hong Kong finally opening up to the world after nearly 3 years of being in constant lockdown, I began to consider heading back out there and put gaming travel as part of my channel branding as it was my original plan pre-Covid to start travel vlogging. It was one of the best decisions I've made this year with meeting many gaming industry peers at conventions, plus putting faces to Twitter mutuals. This is where I decided to begin some form of gaming related travel series, though I admit I am a little slow in the turnover as the time commitment to editing has been quite challenging on my end. I only have 2 videos related to conventions so far, but more videos are coming!

Targets for 2024

With dates set and churning out travel plans in advance, my convention attendance and coverage will overall increase as with continuing coverage for Steam festivals (Next Fest in particular). The only thing I'm afraid of right now is creator burn out, but by far I'm managing this reasonably well, despite may sometimes requiring me to take a week or two off from video editing on occasions due to sudden mandatory commitments. As long as this trend continues, we're good to go!

Last Words for 2023

Best year yet! Thank you everybody who has been supportive of my journey and am absolutely grateful for the opportunities presented to meet new (and finally non-virtual) faces from the gaming industry. I'll leave a photo of my cosplay of FFVII's Tifa (that I wore to gamescom asia 2023) as a reminder of this year's achievements as I continue my Gaming Content Creator journey through to 2024. Here's to a fabulous 2024!🎉