Eurovision 2021 | Netherlands (NPO/AVROTROS/NOS)

James Martin · 29 Mar 2021, 05:34

Well, I'm up at this ungodly hour, might as well start the ball rolling!

Major drama with Belarus out over the weekend.

Have to say I think it's one of the hardest-to-call contests to date. I also wonder, given there'll be a more capitve audience this year, what effect that might have on the televote? The last two it was pretty clear who would win, but this time round very much less so...

Mateus Honrado · 29 Mar 2021, 06:10

Flo Rida has said that he'll try to perform live at this year's Eurovision as he is the featured artist in "Adrenalina" by Sanmarinese entrant Senhit.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-56530634

29 Mar 2021, 06:14

Are these going to be new songs or the ones from last year?

James Martin · 29 Mar 2021, 06:17

Mateus Honrado wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 06:10 Flo Rida has said that he'll try to perform live at this year's Eurovision as he is the featured artist in "Adrenalina" by Sanmarinese entrant Senhit.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-56530634

That could go either way, yes Flo Rida is a massive name but as Darude and others have found out to their cost, being a big name doesn't always automatically mean you're going to coast it.

What happens in the event of a Sanmarinese win? RAI host on their behalf in Italy? RAI, of course, are infamous in the Eurovision world for their production 30 years ago. Although little has changed based on watching San Remo, I would imagine with the EBU taking so much control these days things might be a bit slicker.

On a related note, very curious to see how France Televisions handle JESC later this year, as it's always been a 100% English presentation. I can't see them not doing at least some substantial sections of the programme in a bilingual format.

James Martin · 29 Mar 2021, 06:18

RossRevenge47 wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 06:14 Are these going to be new songs or the ones from last year?

All new. Last year's songs weren't allowed to be carried forward, although several broadcasters, including the BBC, have re-selected the same artist.

ConorM98 · 29 Mar 2021, 06:52

I'm hoping it can happen this year despite the scary fact that Central Europe is experiencing a third wave of the virus...

James Martin · 29 Mar 2021, 09:29

ConorM98 wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 06:52 I'm hoping it can happen this year despite the scary fact that Central Europe is experiencing a third wave of the virus...

It's going ahead regardless. Full info from the EBU here.

AxG · 29 Mar 2021, 09:53

Ireland's song I've probably listed to the most this year, that's unusual.

ConorM98 · 29 Mar 2021, 10:05

James Martin wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 09:29
ConorM98 wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 06:52 I'm hoping it can happen this year despite the scary fact that Central Europe is experiencing a third wave of the virus...
It's going ahead regardless. Full info from the EBU here.

Yes, but seeing how Central Europe is dealing with a third wave, and the feud between us and the EU over the AstraZeneca vaccine, I'm hoping the NOS, NPO and AVROTROS will see this, despite the pandemic, as a great thing to be proud of. Overcoming these obstacles to welcome Eurovision back onto our screens is a feat of epic proportions!

ConorM98 · 29 Mar 2021, 11:25

Also Eurovision is pulling out all the stops with some new online shows on eurovision.tv, YouTube and their socials.
And they'll be featuring all 39 live-on-tape performance videos in a special online show reminiscent of last year's online show which honoured the 41 participants of 2020.

Teilifís · 29 Mar 2021, 12:04

ConorM98 wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 11:25 Also Eurovision is pulling out all the stops with some new online shows on eurovision.tv, YouTube and their socials.
And they'll be featuring all 39 live-on-tape performance videos in a special online show reminiscent of last year's online show which honoured the 41 participants of 2020.

Actually glad there will be an airing of all the on tape performances. It seems some acts have essentially just done their national final performance with edits (such as Norway removing some backing dancers) while others have remained tight lipped as it would giveaway their Eurovision concept.

WhisperOfCinnamon · 29 Mar 2021, 12:31

Nice to hear James Newman getting a lot of airplay on Radio 2 over the past few weeks. Embers has been on the A-List for 2 weeks and was Ken Bruce's Record of the Week last week.

Not a signifier about how well it will perform at the contest, but at least it's getting played...

DavidWhitfield · 29 Mar 2021, 12:41

WhisperOfCinnamon wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 12:31 Nice to hear James Newman getting a lot of airplay on Radio 2 over the past few weeks. Embers has been on the A-List for 2 weeks and was Ken Bruce's Record of the Week last week. Not a signifier about how well it will perform at the contest, but at least it's getting played...

Agreed. I must say, I think it has a better chance of not being a complete and utter embarrassment compared to previous years' attempts. At least 'Embers' sounds contemporary, is rather catchy, and - much needed after the year we've all had - is upbeat. I think it's the strongest song we've put up for a while.

29 Mar 2021, 12:48

I'm really looking forward to seeing what all the different back up performance studios look like. I can imagine one or two will have some sort of mad set up. I wonder where the UK one has been filmed.

WhisperOfCinnamon · 29 Mar 2021, 14:21

gottago wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 12:48 I'm really looking forward to seeing what all the different back up performance studios look like. I can imagine one or two will have some sort of mad set up. I wonder where the UK one has been filmed.

Am I right in thinking that Lithuania is planning to build a stage that is going to be used by quite a few countries in that area (including Germany)? If that's the case I wonder if there's any scope for the UK and Ireland to join forces, or even if some of the Nordic countries are planning something similar (except Norway as they have already done theirs).