Can someone explain this to me? It's like reading a manual on how to set a nuclear bomb without making it go off.
Do I need to explain how Eurovision works in more detail? (and I'm not trying to be condescending)
I was talking about all those blocking rules and little things. Do people really sing songs about chores every year?
Heh, no. That's just this year.
Bloc voting means the countries in a certain area all voting for one another. Everybody writes this off as being about politics and makes it a reason not to watch the contest, but it's really more about shared cultural norms than anything else. If one country's song is really similar to the popular music in your country, then you're probably going to vote for them. For example, Russia's singer Polina Gagarina is a HUGE star in Slavic countries, so she's likely to get a lot of points from Belarus, Poland, etc. And since the vast majority of Eurovision viewers only get one listening to decide what their favorite songs are, memorability is an important thing, whether cultural or otherwise. There are still politics involved, like Azerbaijan and Armenia never voting for each other, but most of the political voting involves voting
against a particular country rather than for it. (Oh yeah, and you're not allowed to vote for the country you're in, that's the #1 rule of Eurovision.)
I mentioned the UK entry only getting one performance - that's because the UK is one of the "Big Five", countries that skip the semifinals and automatically get into the final round, along with France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. It's just because those countries provide the majority of funds for the EBU. There are two other automatic finalists this year: Austria, because it's the host country, and Australia, the guest star. All the other countries have to compete in one of two semifinals and the top ten from each go to the final. It's kind of risky to your score to be an automatic finalist, because viewers will already be familiar with the semifinalist songs so you only get one chance to make an impression. But then again, you have a chance of winning no matter what.
As for "novelties", there are usually a couple of entries each year that are flashy and silly and meant to be noticed rather than liked. A lot of novelty entries pass directly into the realm of what people call "joke entries" - I definitely use that as a derogatory term (
I mean,
come on.
Really?) but some people don't. But there are some novelties that actually bring good songs with them (cough
last year's winner cough) and if done well, using a novelty or gimmick is a good tactic to make a lasting impression and get some well-deserved votes.
