Eurovision 2024

The semi-finals ! Tomorrow and Thursday.

My boss is going to the finals Saturday !!

Now that would be a fun, off the beaten track day. Croatia, they say, has a chance this year. We shall see.

I think it would be a little much for me, but he loves to party !!

Excited for the finals! Going to a watch party with friends.

Have fun! We’ll be watching too

So is Eurovision the one thing with more followers in Europe than soccer/football?

Barbara, are you excited for Croatia? The news here is that they are heavily favored to win.

Is Eurovision bigger than soccer? Not really. It gets an enormous numbers of viewers (200 million) but it’s a one off event. It’s camp, fun and over the top rather than a serious music competiton, although people do really want to win it.

So is Eurovision the one thing with more followers in Europe than soccer/football?

By far not. Eurovision is just a show.

While soccer is just a game.
Rugby is life or death in our household.

ever since the passing of the Togmeister Terry Wogan I don't watch anymore.

Everything now is lights and pyrotechnics and not the "artists".

It is not ABBA or Bucks Fizz anymore. Not even Conchita Wurst.

So is Eurovision the one thing with more followers in Europe than
soccer/football?

As mentioned, no. Large football matches still get more viewers than the ESC final. But it also varies a lot, and among my friends there are those that are die hard ESC fans and don't care about football. And those that love football but couldn't care less about ESC. The upside of being a Eurovision fan is that Sweden tends to do pretty well, at least the last 10-15 years.

Then there are others that think the big event happening now is the Ice Hockey World Championships, which at least started good for Sweden.

Everything now is lights and pyrotechnics and not the "artists".

Nigel, watch the French entrant Slimane ! He sang a gorgeous love song the other night — without all the pyrotechnics and even for a portion a cappella !!! His performance gave me goosebumps — my husband was in tears.

No artifice, just his gorgeous voice and artistry.

https://youtu.be/ur0UWAVpVbo?si=GKVMTJM6dy05EvEg

Yes, I am excited for Croatia. Eurovision is just a guilty pleasure, which doesn’t last too long thank goodness.
And yes Nigel, the LCD Light shows are annoying and all you can hear is the loud music, none of rhe actual lyrics. But it is interesting to see who each country puts forth. I’m pretty scared of Ireland to tell you the truth.

Nigel, so you missed Conchita Wurst, who together with two others sang a version of "Waterloo", in homage to ABBA's win 50 years ago!

That Ireland entrant was horrific !!! And for a long time was number two in the country jury voting. I couldn’t believe it !!!

Last night my Twitter trends told me that the category of “European cuisine” was one of the trending topics, then it gave the specific mention: Baby Lasagna. Hahahahaha

Gee, Conchita Wurst sounds like another potential “European Cuisine!” Maybe some mustard with that wurst?