Eurovision 2022 today (Saturday)!

And this year it's taking place in Turin (since the Italian entrants won last year). In fact, at the Stadio Olimpico a few hundred meters from my mother-in-law's apartment . My husband is home right now and keeps finding it difficult to park when he gets back to his mom's. Hahahaha

Ah, we will be watching BBC One with Graham Norton again this year... In English, rather than the local Dutch station. We have our annual Eurovision Finals party starting at 2000h and it will run well into the night (as always). The current betting pool in our get-together is favoring the Ukrainian group also.

Related to the “vision” part of Eurovision, the NBC Today show this morning had a short story about the competition, and the Ukrainian entry. One guy in that band appears to have his entire head, face, and neck covered by tattoos. Is that a trend, or is he a very unique part of the band?

Good luck to the contestants, happy watching and listening to viewers.

The semi finals have been airing this week. Being a weirdo seems to be a given to qualify. Gimp masks, yellow foam duck masks, ostrich feathers etc.

A dreadful way to spend a Saturday evening! And it does last the whole evening. Ukraine will win even if someone turns up and just plays the spoons. It’s nothing to do with good songs, it’s just about political voting.

Well, the tattooed band member has undoubtedly suffered for his art - lots of needles needed for all that ink! Is the song contest, on at least some level, a bit like a musical version of World Cup soccer?

Since Spain never has much of a chance at winning in the first place, I guess the whole pure competition and "winning" is less important to me. I see it more as a multicultural music festival showcasing diversity, creativity, and yes occasional musical talent. Criticism and controversy have always been part of Eurovision since its inception in the 50s, that's what makes it fun lol!

It's true that Eurovision threads are among some of the most entertaining here on the Forum . . . we'll have to see if we get another live thread going tomorrow evening during the finals.

I love that we have everything from Ron hosting an annual party to Jennifer completely disdaining it (I admit I would be in Jennifer's lane if i had ever watched so much of a second of any Eurovision programming.)

If a Ukraine band is favored to win, and gets the sentimental vote,

Well I wouldn't be so sure about that, Eurovision is Europe's largest election after all, what may end up happening is that everyone else will think that someone else will vote for Ukraine so they don't have to and then they'll end up voting for other people. We'll definitely have to see tomorrow!

I will be out but will definitely read The Guardian Liveblog. It is absolute hilarious and the online comments are often better than the blog. Lots of Brits taking the piss out of their entry. Still think the Scandinavian(Swedish?) contest a few years ago was the best. TV hosts were the right kind and knew that this was all a bit of tosh.

Any bets on whether French official tallier will be the only one not to talk in English. Also, I'm betting on a Ukraine win, you can't vote against them.

Tried to get to Madrid to watch it with the chic@s, but I couldn't get out of work!

(Also—I don't get the point of being a buzzkill. Why do people harsh on the simple fun of others?)

don't forget who's number two in all the polls (is long hair a thing again?) - UK will likely not get another year with nul points.

If that's the case, who's going to have the wooden spoon?

don't forget who's number two in all the polls (is long hair a thing
again?) - UK will likely not get another year with nul points.

I saw a post from a British member on a another forum stating that Russia shouldn't be banned from the competition as it would mean that the UK would not end up last this year :-)

A1) These are the spices of Europe that make travel so interesting for me; I would love to be in the Eurovision host city during the event (I did South Africa for the World Cup and it was an amazing experience).
A2) Ukraine won in 2016 by beating Russia; and so hosted the 2017; interesting story there if you wanted to research (google the video "Jamala 1944" to hear the winning song)
A3) I point this out because it works against them winning again; that and they are performing one many short (on duty in Ukraine), have been together only about a year and have the pressure of having to return to duty in Ukraine when it ends.
A4) But for those that are into Europe, this is a very cultural thing over there and worth knowing about; a sampling of all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTlMFXmG16I

Wow a nail biter to the end! I'm just happy that Spain finished in third this year, our best position in decades 👍

Europe's living a celebration! (Vamos a bilar!)

If you missed it and want to watch, Sweden’s Television has it for free
https://www.svtplay.se/video/34915523/eurovision-song-contest-2022/eurovision-song-contest-14-maj-21-00-1

The various acts are marked in the player so you can jump around.

Thanks, Laura! I tried Carlos’ streaming link but it wouldn’t work for me. I did watch James’ link to the sampler and googled the winner. :)

The UK rises Lazarus like after years of cringemaking epic failure

Only watched it for a few minutes on a Spanish station, from our hotel in Alarcón, and that was sufficient. I guess I just didn’t appreciate the songs I was hearing. The live bullfight broadcast on tv was more interesting. At least I got to see a matador get tossed around by the bull for a bit. Didn’t watch it past the first fight either.

Let us not forget that Eurovision gave us Abba.

The official video of the winning song is worth watching - https://youtu.be/Z8Z51no1TD0

Slava Ukraini! Heroyam slava!

Was it really a nail biter in the end? I'm not at all surprised that Ukraine won.

Congratulations to Spain and UK as well! I was hoping that Sweden would do a bit better, but 4th place is not that bad after all.

I would not choose to stay over in Conmy ,it's tiny.
I had all my childhood holidays in Llandudno and it's still a big cut above most seaside resorts

B1) These sorts of events and the products that come out of them can provide a lot of cultural insight; and I think a lot of us travel, in part, for that reason.
B2) Ukraine last won Eurovusion in 2016 and this video of the winning song may surprise a few people because of the words in a Turkish dialect and some of the cultural scenes that existed 80 years ago.
B3) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h7k-l8JlPug
B4) I look for this sort of things when ever I pick a new place to visit; guess I am burned out on churches.
B5) If this sort of thing interests you, look for a Miss Sarajevo video; and there meaningful happier topics too.

Thanks for reminding! First thing I got my teens to watch with me willingly in a year! Everyone was on the edge of their seats (and suddenly professional critics, of course).

We are all stuck with major earworms, including "Biti zdrava, biti zdrava, biti zdrava", lol.

I watched most of the final episode it on RAI-1 and was happy to see that Ukraine won this year. There certainly was a lot of energy in that room!