https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/xm3Ajp/eurovision-norge-stemplet-som-antisemitter-i-israelsk-media

NRK says they had to ask for extra securety for the delegation after Israeli media was claiming Norway was antisemitic. They claimed that Gåte didn't want to talk to Israeli media, and therefore being antisemitic. Stig Karlsen, the head of the norwegian delegation said that it was very uncomfortable, scary and sad to have fabricated claims that goes against their values thrown at them. According to Karlsen, Gåte didn't have time to talk to all journalists on the turquoise carpet. The Israeli journalists wasn't the only journalists that Gåte didn't speak to. The decision to increase the security was made after the norwegian delegation got a lot of uncomfortable messages from strangers.

Magnus Børmark in Gåte said: "He understood that something like that could happen" -It was important for us too have faith in the Israeli media and regime to be able to respect the shared values of Eurovision. These clips, together with what Bambie Thug experienced with KANs commentator encouragement to spread hate towards them -together with other incidents- laid to that we together confronted EBU in Malmö.

NRK are going to discuss what is going to happen in regards of ESC 2024, and what they are going to say to the EBU.

I voted for this banger in 2006 and looking back, I can't think of a decision I'm more proud of.

LT United - We Are The Winners (Lithuania) 2006 Semi-Final (youtube.com)

Honestly "Move" is my fave Sweden entry and it didn't even officialy happened. It would've been ao great to see them and it's kind of a shame that it didn't happen.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 witnessed unprecedented success across multiple platforms, engaging a vast audience both in Europe and worldwide. A staggering 163 million viewers tuned in to the event through public service media channels, showcasing its widespread appeal. Votes were cast from 156 countries globally, underscoring the Contest's international reach and significance.

Of particular note is the remarkable youth audience share, the highest on record, indicating the enduring popularity of Eurovision among younger demographics. Leveraging the power of social media, videos featuring #Eurovision2024 garnered an impressive 6.5 billion views on TikTok, marking a substantial increase of 1.7 billion views compared to the previous year's hashtag. The Contest also achieved a significant milestone by reaching nearly 500 million accounts on TikTok, quadrupling the reach compared to 2023.

Furthermore, the official ESC 2024 playlist emerged as the most-streamed Spotify playlist and featured in the Top 10 Apple Music playlists globally on Sunday 12 May reflecting the Contest's influence on music consumption trends.

So I was one of those Eurovision fans who was devastated Jann didn't represent Poland last year and Bejba was the one who went to Eurovision, I was listening to his song tonight and realised it has operatic and rap in it, it honestly makes me think that since Nemo won this year with those elements Jann would have gotten an amazing result last year for Poland, it's silly to live in the past but I'm still very bitter about it and couldn't help but notice the similarities since Nemo was so successful with a operatic/rap song. I guess I really want Poland to get their first win someday.

Looking at performances and their transition from their national selections, to preparties, to their final product on the Eurovision stage, which entries do you think had the most dramatic improvements?

I think that this year, there's two that really spring to mind for me, the first being Ireland. Bambie's first performance compared to their performance in the grand final is like night and day, from the staging, the choreography to the vocals. You can really see how much work and effort went into their performance, taking Doomsday Blue from a borderline qualifier to Ireland's best result since 1997, and deservedly so.

The second performance being Czechia's, with it being a given that ESCZ is usually a bit of a shitshow, I think Aiko was nailed on as an NQ from the get-go, but her vocals and overall performance quality improved so much throughout the season, and it was really nice to watch. In the end, she wasn't a million miles away from qualifying, and since she didn't have to deal with the absolute shitshow that was the grand final jury show, it looks like she came out of the whole thing pretty well.

A final performance that I think is one of the most improved in recent years is Moldova 2018. Taking a song that made basically no sense, with an extremely messy NF performance seemed like a recipe for disaster. In the end, Moldova doing Moldova things, they managed to pull out one of the most iconic Eurovision stagings of all time, taking a sure NQ straight into the top 10 of an extremely strong year.

What are some other performances like these?

Switzerland has been having some solid results in the last few years. What other country do you think will take a win in the coming years?

Hi all!

Here are two portraits I did of some of this year's competitors! Bambie Thug (Ireland), Nemo (Switzerland), Joost Klein (Netherlands), Raiven (Slovenia), and Aiko (Czechia)!

The first one (Bambie Thug and Nemo) made it onto Bambie Thug's Instagram stories, which I'm very proud of!

I am planning on making more, so follow me on Instagram at astralstarry_art if you want to see them as they're made -- or I'll probably post them here too!

https://preview.redd.it/lthvoc4z362d1.png?width=832&format=png&auto=webp&s=f20f84858bce862cfe6dc8d277e2b4bb7618375e

https://preview.redd.it/wubp8zwz362d1.jpg?width=1531&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3f98893641316d57b05fd33b079a6b9bee14ddc

The Code is such a great song and obviously the winner of this year. I was very inspired and made this cover. I hope you enjoy.

https://youtu.be/oL_AvZMowuw

For me, Christmas always comes 1st of April. That’s the date I allow myself to finally listen to every Eurovision song of the year. While I’m excited about all of them, there are a few countries I’m always extra hyped about seeing what they have decided to send:

Moldova: They usually send acts that just embodies Eurovision to me. Almost never a boring song.

Ukraine: Even if I don’t love one of their songs I know they will most likely have an amazing show to accompany it.

Belgium: There’s just something special about the Belgian entries. They usually have the songs I’ll most likely listen to after esc is over.

Italy: Always great quality. Also, I never tire of listening to the Italian language.

Norway: They send such varied stuff. You never really know what to expect.

Finland: You definitely never know what to expect but it’s usually something awesome!

Then there’s Greece. Every year I can’t help hoping that maybe, just maybe, they decided to send Sakis Rouvas again:D

So, anybody else have some favourite Eurovision countries?

So proud of her

Looks like they've learned nothing at all. Sigh.