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[Red Arremer]

It's that time of the year again which GAF loves and hates. The actual event is 2 months away so it's time to get to know the contestants, talk about past Eurovision's best and most absurd acts, post gifs, etc.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 will be the 60th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in Vienna, Austria, following Conchita Wurst's victory in the 2014 edition with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix". The contest will consist of two semi-finals which will take place on 19 and 21 May, and a final on 23 May 2015. The shows will be presented by Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer.

Forty countries will participate in the contest, with Australia debuting as a guest entrant, and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Serbia returning.

THIS YEAR'S WINNER IS SWEDEN! \o/

This year's line-up:

Semi-Final 1:
01. Moldova: Eduard Romanyuta - I Want Your Love
02. Armenia: Genealogy - Don't Deny
03. Belgium: Loïc Nottet - Rhythm Inside
04. The Netherlands: Trijntje Oosterhuis - Walk Along
05. Finland: Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät - Aina mun pitää
06. Greece: Maria Elena Kyriakou - One Last Breath
07. Estonia: Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye To Yesterday
08. F.Y.R.O. Macedonia: Daniel Kajmakoski - Lisja esenski
09. Serbia: Bojana Stamenov - Ceo svet je moj
10. Hungary: Boggie - Wars for Nothing
11. Belarus: Uzari & Maimuna - Time
12. Russia: Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices
13. Denmark: Anti Social Media - The Way You Are
14. Albania: Elhaida Dani - I'm Alive
15. Romania: Voltaj - De la capăt
16. Georgia: Nina Sublatti - Warrior

Results
___________________________________________________________________________

Semi-Final 2:
01. Lithuania: Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila - This Time
02. Ireland: Molly Sterling - Playing with Numbers
03. San Marino: Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini - Chain of Lights
04. Montenegro: Knez - Adio
05. Malta: Amber - Warrior
06. Norway: Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A Monster Like Me
07. Portugal: Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa
08. Czech Republic: Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta - Hope Never Dies
09. Israel: Nadav Guedj - Golden Boy
10. Latvia: Aminata - Love Injected
11. Azerbaijan: Elnur Hüseynov - Hour of the Wolf
12. Iceland: María Ólafsdóttir - Unbroken
13. Sweden: Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes
14. Switzerland: Mélanie René - Time to Shine
15. Cyprus: Giannis Karagiannis - One Thing I Should Have Done
16. Slovenia: Maraaya - Here For You
17. Poland: Monika Kuszyńska - In The Name Of Love

Results
___________________________________________________________________________

Grand Finalists:
01. Slovenia: Maraaya - Here For You
02. France: Lisa Angell - N'oubliez pas
03. Israel: Nadav Guedj - Golden Boy
04. Estonia: Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye To Yesterday
05. United Kingdom: Electro Velvet - Still in Love with You
06. Armenia: Genealogy - Don't Deny
07. Lithuania: Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila - This Time
08. Serbia: Bojana Stamenov - Ceo svet je moj
09. Norway: Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A Monster Like Me
10. Sweden: Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes WINNER!!!
11. Cyprus: Giannis Karagiannis - One Thing I Should Have Done
12. Australia: Guy Sebastian - Tonight Again
13. Belgium: Loïc Nottet - Rhythm Inside
14. Austria: The Makemakes - I Am Yours
15. Greece: Maria Elena Kyriakou - One Last Breath
16. Montenegro: Knez - Adio
17. Germany: Ann Sophie - Black Smoke
18. Poland: Monika Kuszyńska - In The Name Of Love
19. Latvia: Aminata - Love Injected
20. Romania: Voltaj - De la capăt
21. Spain: Edurne - Amanecer
22. Hungary: Boggie - Wars for Nothing
23. Georgia: Nina Sublatti - Warrior
24. Azerbaijan: Elnur Hüseynov - Hour of the Wolf
25. Russia: Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices
26. Albania: Elhaida Dani - I'm Alive
27. Italy: Il Volo - Grande Amore

Results
___________________________________________________________________________

FAQ:
So when's this gonna happen?
The event is split into 3 parts - 2 semi finals (taking place on May 19 and 21 respectively), and a final on May 23. The exact starting time is to be determined, however, it will happen during the evening in Europe's time zones.

Ermahgerd why is Australia taking part in EUROvision!?!?!?!?!?!?
Australia is taking part as a guest entry specifically for the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The country has the biggest viewer base outside of Europe, and since this year's contest's motto is "building bridges", the European Broadcast Union (EBU) thought it was a fun idea to have them participate. In case Australia wins, they will be allowed to send another entry in 2016, and will negotiate with a European country for the hosting. Otherwise, every other rule applies to the country.

But what about ISRAEL? OMG THATS NOT IN EUROPE EITHER!!!
Israel might not be geographically part of Europe, however, the contest is not for European countries, but for members of the EBU - to which Israel, and several other countries in Northern Africa and Western Asia count.

So why are there already several finalists?
Besides the winner of last year and host (Austria) and the special guest (Australia), the "Big 5" automatically skip the semis and are qualified to take part in the final from the get-go. The Big 5 are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and are the countries that provide the biggest budget to the EBU.

Where can I watch this if I don't have a TV or live in a country that doesn't broadcast it?
Eurovision themselves provide a streaming service which you can find here. Note that the stream is likely going to be several minutes behind the televised broadcasts. If you are in a country eligible for voting, you also are not provided with the phone numbers.

God Eurovision is so bad why are you assholes watching this trash?
Sod off.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Previous Eurovision OTs:
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010

Please tell me if some of the links above lead to wrong places.

Thanks to GCX for providing a fantastic OT to

Spoiler

steal

copy and letting me have the honor to be the creator of this year's OT, and besada for giving me the green light.

Let's have some fun and listen to some music!

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I can see a future where a topless Swede takes this home

 

[Skele7on]

I love eurovision, but I hate eurovision parties, they always end with 0 talking points.

 

[Tugatrix]

Is that time of the year again

 

[Tregard]

Early favourites are Ireland, Iceland and Denmark, not getting the Il Volo love, but there's still a lot of time for the others to grow on me. This one's going to be a cracker, loving the idea of the stage being a huge eye.

Spoiler

UK should be The Wonder Villains though

 

[Karsha]

Australia was unexpected, seems like a final boss out from nowhere lol

 

[j.rob]

I really got into Eurovison last year. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Lets go.

 

[Dennis]

In this thread dreams and madness awaits.

 

[Spaced Harrier]

My favourite time of the year.

 

[Sickboy007]

Wait, San Marino didn't send Valentina Monetta? What is this madness?

 

[Malikov]

hope the irish can pull it off

 

[ShinRPGamer]

This year will be my first time watching Eurovision and I'm pretty excited to see it. Good to know that there's an option to stream it, seeing as Canada likely won't be televising it.

 

[Chanser]

Never forget.

 

[Red Arremer]

Wait, San Marino didn't send Valentina Monetta? What is this madness?

Don't worry, she'll still be involved as she'll be the spokesperson for the Sanmarinese votes in the final.

 

[Strax]

Early favourites are Ireland, Iceland and Denmark

As someone in Iceland that is shocking too hear

 

[Dead Man]

On behalf of Australia, I am so sorry for inflicting Guy Sebastian on the world. Most boring singer ever.

 

[Red Arremer]

Belgium picked their song, here's a short clip

 

[Lovely Salsa]

Never forget.

When I get rich, Im going to Poland

 

[OnkelC]

 

[Uncle]

PKN FTW!

 

[DarkFlow]

America should get in on this. If Australia and Israel can enter, I don't see why we can't.

 

[Sinfamy]

 

[CoolOff]

Sweden picks their contestant on Saturday, all potential candidates range from pretty awful to laughably bad.

We do though have a Colombian who was adopted by a Sami family at 3 months old doing a traditional Sami jojk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRP_tXjLTs

I hope he wins.

 

[Fritz]

Trivia time:

Germany's entry was actually number two behind Andreas Kümmert who won the popular vote by a long shot. Despite taking part in the contest he declined to go to Vienna right on stage after results where in stating his current condition would not allow it and the second place would be much more qualified to represent, he were just a little singer. This triggered furious reactions by the media and the public.

 

[shink]

On behalf of Australia, I am so sorry for inflicting Guy Sebastian on the world. Most boring singer ever.

Linger (feat Lupe Fiasco) is a pretty good song. Although I don't think he's quite right for Eurovision.

 

[Peru]

Fucc the jury! This should be popular vote only. The jury is hopelessly off the mark anyway, they reward the worst serious-face songs and kill the fun downvoting novelty.

 

[Tregard]

Trivia time:

Germany's entry was actually number two behind Andreas Kümmert who won the popular vote by a long shot. Despite taking part in the contest he declined to go to Vienna right on stage after results where in stating his current condition would not allow it and the second place would be much more qualified to represent, he were just a little singer. This triggered furious reactions by the media and the public.

I'm not surprised, seems a little stupid participating if you know you can't/don't want to go

 

[Kabouter]

As usual, this will be amazing.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

EurovisionGAF is the GOAT.

Fuck the Oscars, fuck E3, I'm a happy fish if I get myself my yearly dose of Eurovision.

 

[Daria Morgendorffer]

This is gonna be amazing, I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[Aiii]

As usual, this will be amazing.

Never not fun, for sure.

 

[fanboi]

Sweden picks their contestant on Saturday, all potential candidates range from pretty awful to laughably bad.

We do though have a Colombian who was adopted by a Sami family at 3 months old doing a traditional Sami jojk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRP_tXjLTs

I hope he wins.

No:

 

[Fritz]

I'm not surprised, seems a little stupid participating if you know you can't/don't want to go

Yeah, it also puts no 2 in such a shitty position. Hope the German fans will just forget about this and stand 100% behind our entry (what's her name? Lol).

 

[Matt_]

So my final year of exams finish on the 21st of May, with everyone else in my year finishing 22nd meaning I doubt I'll get to watch this live
Not going to lie, a little gutted

 

[AbsolutBro]

So Finland sent the first Metal entry when Lordi won in 2006 (I think), is their entry this year the first time a Punk band has been sent? (Let alone a band where all players have Downs Syndrome?) Either way, fuck yeah Finland.

Out of the list, I like the UK entry the best honestly. The rest basically just blend together to me.

 

[Foshy]

hype.

I'm trying to avoid listening to the songs before the festival starts though.

 

[Peru]

I've just every so briefly sampled some entries earlier this year and they sounded too dull and serious in a slightly incompetent way... hopefully it's not all like that this year.

Nothing's going to be worse than the UK this year tho

 

[Tobinishi]

It's going to be glorious. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[reptilescorpio]

So sorry we sent Guy Sebastian instead of someone entertaining

 

[Antiwhippy]

First we took on asia.

Now we take on Europe.

 

[Jasup]

The biggest party of the year awaits.

 

[SecretMoblin]

So early for the OT, but so many songs have already been chosen. Great OT~
I've watched about a dozen of the selection contests already and am eager to see the results of Melodifestivalen and Melodi Grand Prix on Saturday... the Scandinavians (especially the Norwegians) will probably let me down as usual


Seems like the theme this year is going to be moody, boring nonsense.
Hopefully a few countries send some spice.

Sweden picks their contestant on Saturday, all potential candidates range from pretty awful to laughably bad.

We do though have a Colombian who was adopted by a Sami family at 3 months old doing a traditional Sami jojk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRP_tXjLTs

I hope he wins.

No:

!!!!! Get into jISAs!!!

I think the Swedes have an easy shot at the top 5 in the grand finals if they send Måns or Mariette. Notsomuch with Eric and I think the joik might fall flat with ESC's audience. Who knows, though.

 

[Fritz]

First we took on asia.

Now we take on Europe.

You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. On the other hand ozzies are everywhere so you might have an edge in block voting.

 

[Red Arremer]

This couldn't be further from the truth. There's no "German mini bloc" - the German countries are almost never voting for each other. Heck, Germany was, like, the only country in 2014 that awarded Conchita not a single point. The same goes for Iberia - Spain and Portugal hardly ever vote for each other.

Not to mention it's disturbingly racist.

Spoiler

and yes i know it's caricature but still, disgusting

 

[Fritz]

This couldn't be further from the truth. There's no "German mini bloc" - the German countries are almost never voting for each other. Heck, Germany was, like, the only country in 2014 that awarded Conchita not a single point. The same goes for Iberia - Spain and Portugal hardly ever vote for each other.

Not to mention it's disturbingly racist.

Spoiler

and yes i know it's caricature but still, disgusting

Conchita was #1 in the German popular vote but lost points to the jury. The blocks are explained less by ethnic bias and more by expat population and multiregional media. Someone made popular by German bild is likely to be known in Switzerland and Austria for example. There is truth to the blocks. Also they are part of the lore and nobody wants to miss the opportunity to blame everything on the block vote.

Also Onkel posts that pic every year. No need to be so patronizing.

 

[Red Arremer]

Conchita was #1 in the German popular vote but lost points to the jury. The blocks are explained less by ethnic bias and more by expat population and multiregional media. Someone made popular by German bild is likely to be known in Switzerland and Austria for example. There is truth to the blocks. Also they are part of the lore and nobody wants to miss the opportunity to blame everything on the block vote.

Also Onkel posts that pic every year. No need to be so patronizing.

While there are some things that can be blamed on "block" stuff (particularly Belarus giving 12 points to Russia every year, or Greece/Cyprus voting for each other, since they share the same music market), every winner would still would've won without their respective "block" voting for them.
Additionally, particularly the Eastern European singers often are known across borders, and tour the bordering countries after they've been selected to represent their country, so more people get to know them. That's why you see countries that, politically speaking, are hostile towards each other (e.g. Serbia and Croatia), vote for each other. And of course, since there's similar cultural aspects within those countries, they will lean towards voting what they "like" - which often comes from neighbours.
Furthermore, ever since the introduction of the split between televoting and jury voting, the "blocks" have been broken up quite a bit. It was leaning towards that a lot clearer when there was televoting only, and before that, only juries.

And just because he posts it every year doesn't make it any less racist.

 

[Peru]

Looking at winners through history block voting was never a real problem and the jury vote is an unnecessary solution to an issue that doesn't exist.

 

[Red Arremer]

Looking at winners through history block voting was never a real problem and the jury vote is an unnecessary solution to an issue that doesn't exist.

It, just like the Big 5 rule, has been implemented to make them "feel" better and give them less reason to complain (and thus threatening to leave EBU/stop participating) about not winning.

 

[SteveWinwood]

i always hate how early the thread for this pops up

makes the wait so much harder

 

[Rapstah]

I'm hyped for Australia and the inevitable Apricot Stone moment from a random Balkan country.