Eurovision Song Contest

I haven't listened to any of this year's Eurovision entries yet, apart from the UK entry, which I would say is mediocre. I am waiting for my Eurovison 2022 CD to arrive first. While I have a lot of sympathy with Ukraine, this does not extend to the song contest, where I don't think that anything except the music should be under consideration. In my view, they won undeservedly in 2016 with a song that can only be described as a dirge. If Spain are one of the favourites, it would be nice for them to win this year, as they haven't won in a very long time - I may change my mind when I hear their song though.

johnny, Luxembourg no longer takes part and hasn't done so for years.

Do any of this year's entries sound ABBA-influenced?

The UK is the laughing stock of Europe and the songs we've submitted to Eurovision have been rubbish for years. We're part of Europe but I wouldn't blame any of the other nations for looking at us and thinking, "Little Island mentality, what a joke". Even if we submitted a great song I'm not sure it would make any difference. That's what it needs- great songs- however camp and over-the-top.

I like the new lyric videos. As far as remixes/extended mixes go..I'm all for it. I still haven't forgiven ABBA for releasing Lay All Your Love On Me on 12" with just the single bloody mix on it! What was the point of that? Thank God for the disconet remix of it.  What a thing of beauty that still is. 

johnny , Italy won last year, Portugal won in 2017 and Germany won in 2010, so they're not empty-handed. There was a phase in the 00s when Eastern European countries tended to win it more, but that hasn't been the case in the past 10 years or so.

Neighbours definitely vote for each other and always have. When everyone had to sing in their own language, this was to a certain extent understandable, but not so much now that most entries are performed in English. There may be some musical commonality between neighbours but given that many of the entries nowadays try to sound like mainstream Pop without any hint of their ethnic origin, this isn't an excuse for neighbourly voting either.

Sweden takes the contest seriously and usually comes up with a decent song, plus they are not disliked by anybody. The UK doesn't take the contest seriously and is disliked by the rest of Europe, which may have got worse with Brexit. The UK doesn't even have a "Song For Europe" or "Making Your Mind Up" show any longer for the public to choose our song. Perhaps if we had a big build-up to the contest like the Swedes do, we would feel more invested in it. Having said that, I don't think the UK public can be trusted to vote on anything.

I am one of those fans who prefer Ring Ring to Waterloo.

I watched it last year for the first time in a longtime. I forgot Italy won or that the UK got zero points. It obviously left an impression on me

I guess the Classic Era for Eurovision - from a UK perspective was 1967 -81. 4 UK wins. Even established and current acts competed for the UK, Cliff Richard, New Seekers, Olivia Newton John.

And of course ABBA winning bang on in the middle of that period. I liked the Dutch winner in 1975 and French winning song in 1977.I also liked the 1978 UK entry Bad Old Days by Coco. It finished 11th or 12th. In those days that wae considered a big flop. Cheryl Baker was in that group.

I guess always controversies. How could Isreal be in Eurovision. Well now they have Australia!

I always loved Eurovision. For me, it lost its heart a bit around 2000 and I fell out of love with it for a few years. I think it returned to form eventually and is back to being fantastic entertainment. I still remember the fantastic show that Sweden put on a few years ago (2016?), when they had Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede as presenters. It was like a masterclass in how to do Eurovision.

There have been lots of great pop songs in the show over the years. There have always been cynical entries, where songs have been hand-tooled to a formula, but there have also been just great songs. Some of my favourites didn't come close to winning. There's the French song from 2009, for instance, that I absolutely love - "Et S'il Fallait Le Faire" by Patricia Kaas. A modern take on the chanson format, sung by a striking singer, but with no pyrotechnics or oiled-up dancers. I love Bardo's "One Step Further," Gigliola Cinquetti's "Si", Ruth Jacott's "Vrede", Páll Óskar's "Min Hinsti Dans", Edyta Gorniak's "To Nie Ja" and Friderika's utterly beautiful "Kinek Mondjam El Vétkeimet?"

I do actually recall that I've liked some Eurovision songs over the years, songs that have come nowhere near winning. But unlike Tony - and my bad - I couldn't name them.

I do remember the name of Gigliola Cinquetti, Tony, and that she actually won Eurovision in 1964 with "Non Ho L'eta" (But I had to look up that bit.) And I do remember "Si", but I didn't realise she sang it in 1974 when ABBA won. Beautiful, sophisticated ballad that, upon hearing it just now, I think deserved to win. (But for other reasons, of course, I'm glad ABBA won.)

And Vicky Leandros went on to win in 1972 for Luxembourg with the gorgeous "Après Toi" - the English version ("Come What May") was one of my mother's big favourites. As was Gigiola Cinquetti's "Non Ho L'eta." I remember her saying that the crowd gave the song a standing ovation on the night.

Back then Eurovision does bring back a lot of memories especially ABBA's iconic triumph with " Waterloo ". The UK awarded them " nil points " but they still won. There have been memorable moments watching Eurovision over the years but for me over the last few years it has lost some of its momentum and like Johnny says the voting has become very politically biased.

I'm sure a fascinating book by a knowledgeable person could be written tracking the changing musical styles and tastes over the decades, as exemplified by the Eurovision Song Contest. Or maybe not. Has it always been about what might be regarded as timeless, 'classic' popular song pitched against the more immediate pop styles of the day?

By the way, I apologize for not spelling Gigliola Cinquetti's name right in my previous posts. Belatedly, I've corrected my error.

I still think it was unfair of the UK not to award ABBA back then. I understand the fact the voting system was completely different in those days. These days I'm convinced it is rigged.

It’s always been a hot topic about political voting, and to a point as someone has already mentioned, it is neighbourly.. hence why not just because of numbers the semi finals have been set to keep as many “ neighbours” apart, and spread voting, which generally works for semis, the trouble is when it gets to the final, when every country can vote, compared to only those that appear in their respective semi, plus 2/3 of the big Five... all very complicated, however that all said generally the cream does rise to the top and the top few finish in the top 10.

Trying not to be bias, the UK has for years have not done well for various reasons, whether you believe it’s song political Brexit etc, but this year depending on personal taste, the UK has sent a relatively good song, a top 10 finish ( it’s doing very well in polls and betting odds), so we will see if this bias is going to happen this year, as I’m beginning to think the UK may withdraw from future events if it doesn’t do well...

This year may be “ strange” Ukraine may get loads of public voting, and win...

The UK entry is tipped to do well (whatever that means) but will most likely finish last…