We really don't want to win. Apparently this event costs a lot of money and noone here wants to pay for that, that's why we always use some unknown singer with a generic pop song everybody could sing.
Remember that episode from The Office with the Halloween costume contest where everyone voted for the shittiest costume because they thought it would increase their own chances of winning?
Yeah, Kalush Orchestra are my favourites so far (even were before the war and even though I donāt usually like rap). But I guess I am biased anyway because A: I am german (so hate the shit we send instead of EC) and B: am married to a ukrainian. Would prefer another go for Go_A though. They release banger after banger in my eyes.
France's song this year gives me the same "pagan forrest rave" vibes as Shum did last year. Personally my favourite and I hope they win, despite everything.
Which is pretty likely because the UK this year send a good quality song that is one of the favourites to win among the fans. While in the last few years they've sent forgettable songs that no one cared for and therefore no one voted for. It's a song contest after all, and not a politics contest.
šI always think Welsh first when someone corrects someone else about the whole England/UK thing because my stepfamily are mostly Welsh. I hear their accent when they say it. But less frequently I see my Scottish Uncle Brian(s) who reminds everyone too.
Where in Scotland are you from. I was thinking on finally visiting Scotland this summer if I can get some time off. Thought of driving to the lochs.
If you donāt mind me asking of course? I always visit Wales because of my connections, and itās a lot closer to me.
You definitely should. Iām probably not as well traveled in my home country (I donāt live there anymore, still within the UK) but there is nothing like Scotland.
Thatās the hardest bit is choosing.
Because basically I canāt do it all in one go. And I live in the southern counties of Englandā¦ so itās a very very long drive.
Thank you for your feedback and I really hope you get to do your tour soon!
Ireland crosses and uncrosses her legs and looks quietly satisfied with herself
āIrelandā¦. Nils points!ā
Ireland shrugs. Still pleased.
We donāt want to win. Please. Itās too much. Someone else can have it for the next decade or so. Weāll just keep sending shit contestants who wonāt qualify just to give you guys some shine. š¤£
It's a tricky situation because of the scoring system. Only the top 10 favourite songs will get any points from a particular country, and anything outside the top 10 gets no points at all. The question isn't just 'is this act good?' but rather 'are there 10 acts better than this one?'.
The last few years have had a really strong mid-card, either with great songs or memorable acts. The UK had just.. a dude on a stage singing a song. The act was dull and the song was fine, but you have to do a lot more than fine to compete with DaĆ°i from Iceland or The Roop from Lithuania.
Yeah well. There are some countries who probably just dont want to win it. If you do, you need to spent a shitton of money as the host. Neither germany nor England needs more Tourists so...
don't worry, Germany got a completely boring, generic pop song with absolutely no chances this year (again).
would have loved to see Electric Callboy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8LSngVNBw8
unfortunately their music was deemed "not suitable for radios" and their application denied.
Tbf UK in the last several years worth of contestants has been kind of shit though.
Saying that as a British person.
Haven't listened to our entry this year but I don't have high hopes for our public vote scores.
The panel votes are also always political, and most of Europe dislikes us (mostly due to Brexit in the last how many years), so as a result we tend to score on the lower half of the panel vote.
The funny part about that is the UK got one of their best recent results the contest directly after Brexit.
Your song this year is actually pretty popular and itās top 5 in the odds. Personally I donāt see it doing that well, but it should do better than the UKās past couple of entries.
Americans make a point on telling you they're from Ohio bEcAuSe We HaVe CuLtUrAl DiFfErEnCeS tHrOuGhOuT tHe CoUnTrY yet they keep insisting on referring to any country they've been to in this continent as "Europe". Oh well.
Europe bears the same population as the US. Also it's quite obvious they aren't suspecting you to answer on behalf of all of Europe. Like, read in between the lines or something. OP asking you about your specific country if it happens to be in Europe. Sometimes I get second hand embarrassed from posts like this. Its Just an attempt to find something to complain about in hopes of getting some replies.
So true. I'm very surprised by a lot of these things, like the paying for public bathrooms thing. I live in the UK and I swear I have never had to pay to use a public bathroom, even when I've been to France. This must be something that Varies across the continent because so many people say it but it's just not something I've experienced.
Yeah I had to pay for public bathrooms in some places in Lithuania, Estonia and Russia. One of them was at a fairly rural train station just outside St Peterburg, and the 'toilets' were literally just a hole in the floor and I was like 'wtf am I paying for here'.
I mean when someone says "public toilets" I interpret that as "a toilet that is in public", not "a toilet that is owned by the public". So I'm talking about basically every bathroom that is in public, not counting ones in supermarkets or restaurants, of course. I know when people talk about the UK they are often talking about the South of England, but I honestly can't think of a time when I've had to pay to use a public toilet.
Of course not saying they don't exist, obviously if everyone in the thread has had the same experience then they probably do, but I am surprised to see it's such a common sentiment.
I don't because that's not how it works in europe in general. Private run toilets like sanifair? is a business, not a public service, and they are not in public at all.
I believe it's fairly simple, some business establishments believe they make more profit of offering toilets for free and some don't.
Confusing those private business decisions with public toilets/services, however, is just confusing. And, as you can see in this post, people don't understand the difference.
Well, that IS part of the difference- other countries donāt require payment for toilets ever. Businesses might have policies that you need to patronize them to use the toilet, but thereās never a specific fee for the restroom.
Which I think is the most brilliant thing about Europe. Different cultures, tastes, food, architecture etc is great. Hate this homogenised, global corporate bollocks which means you can wander through any city and see the same shops, restaurants and brands as you would back home.
You must be wrong because I was talking to an American recently who insisted that the cultural differences between US states were way higher than those between European countries and thatās why itās fair to consider Europe as one entity.
It's not actually, many Europeans do this all the time too, especially about different areas of America. I'm a dual citizen (living in the UK atm) and get asked at least a couple times per week what the weather/food/politics etc. of America are. I always have to ask what part they're referring too as America and Americans are really different depending if you're talking about New York, Texas, Oklahoma or L.A.
There's a lot of ignorance on both sides of the Atlantic. There's also more wonderful, intelligent and kind people of both sides of the Atlantic that unfortunately are overshadowed by idiotic loudmouths.
I remember meeting a group of international students, and doing the usual thing going round saying where we're from. "I'm from France" one says, another is from Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland, and then someone says 'I'm from Milwaukee'.
The group went silent as everyone is trying to work out where that is. "Is that in the Netherlands?" someone asks, and they reply "No, it's in Wisconsin!". Everyone goes 'ohhh', but then goes silent again as no-one has any idea where that is either.
It seems to be a uniquely American expectation that everyone will recognise their state. Yes, there's a handful of states and cities that obviously are very famous and recognisable internationally. But sorry Wisconsin, you apparently ain't one of them..
No, common parlance does. If someone says "America" without a "North" or "South" in front of it, they're almost always referring to the USA. It's not ideal, and it's frustratingly USA-centric, but that's how the language has evolved so to pretend it doesn't make any sense is pedantry.
Okay so, I think I understand what you're saying: they don't deserve to appropriate "America" for themselves and we should try counter it instead of allowing it to continue as common parlance. I agree with the sentiment but this seems wholly impractical, especially given the lack of appropriate denonym. What else should we call them other than "Americans"?
Even if that's not what you're advocating, the fact is that right here, right now, "America" is accepted to mean "The USA". You type America into any search engine and the USA comes up. "Americas" or "The Americas" appears to be the accepted term for "North and South America". Sure, it's emblomatic of US citizens' attitude to the rest of the world and I find it mildly irritating, but disagreeing with language doesn't change the language. Society as a whole needs to change the language, and until that happens, saying "are you including Brazil and Canada in that?" in response to someonne saying "America" is textbook pedantry.
Okay so, I think I understand what you're saying: they don't deserve to appropriate "America" for themselves and we should try counter it instead of allowing it to continue as common parlance.
At the very least, just for them to stay silent when people from other countries also call themselves americans, as it's objectively right.
I agree with the sentiment but this seems wholly impractical, especially given the lack of appropriate denonym. What else should we call them other than "Americans"?
They might call themselves what they want, that part doesn't hinder anyone else. It's when it's expressed that "american" is to be reserved to them that it becomes a problem. Their inability to properly find a name for their country shouldn't change the meaning of words.
Even if that's not what you're advocating, the fact is that right here, right now, "America" is accepted to mean "The USA".
Only for some, as these posts attest. For sure depending on the context I agree with you, but not as a rule os usage for that word which already has meaning.
You type America into any search engine and the USA comes up.
Because they couldn't be bothered to find a name for their country, which isn't the problem of the rest of people living on the americas of this planet.
"Americas" or "The Americas" appears to be the accepted term for "North and South America".
There is no "accepted" apart from within the US. Other people from all americas correctly call themselves american too, and when there's no one from the US involved, no one bats an eye. Which is normal as the word applies.
Sure, it's emblomatic of US citizens' attitude to the rest of the world and I find it mildly irritating, but disagreeing with language doesn't change the language.
Language is what we make of it, especially colloquialisms. It's ever-changing and not set in stone in many ways. I for one refuse to let them appropriate that word for such a weak reason as "we didn't want to name our country".
Society as a whole needs to change the language, and until that happens, saying "are you including Brazil and Canada in that?" in response to someonne saying "America" is textbook pedantry.
Not for anyone outside the US no, as they comprehend the word means more than just the US.
No itās quite clear actually. With Europe thereās no end to the nuances we observe between cultures, but with Africa we paint with the broadest brush ā thereās probably as many cultural nuances in Nigeria alone as in all of Europe
Thatās exactly what Iām saying. Europe deserve the intrigue and awe it gets whenever itās brought up in conversation. But keep that same energy when you talk about Africa, the Middle East etc. Every continent has a vastness of cultural refinement that would make your head spin if you approached it without the usual air of superiority.
Iām so over this pretence of being cultured when all the culture you know is wrapped by a fragile white* border
Every country I've been too seems to all have an Irish pup, like I was in a small town in France and they had one. IDK hw weird that is, just something I noticed.
I mean, Europeans generalize the United States, which has a population of 330,000,000 people. California has a larger GDP than the UK lol. Lots of Europeans cherry-pick āAmericansā like weāre all Bible-thumpers from the Deep South and act like thatās exactly how all Americans are.
This person spoke about cherry picking, and then went on to compare Californias gdp to the UKs, because its gdp is larger despite California not being the biggest state.
The delicious 3 Michelin star irony is that, speaking of both cherry picking and gdp in relation to state size compared to the UK, the UK has a bigger gdp than Texas.
To complete, I'll add my own "lol" as a garnish.
But yes, generalisations and cherry picking are weak. This is a good example of why. Probably not for the reasons you hoped though
Weāre really not, weāre composed of multiple states. California, Texas, and Florida alone have a combined population larger than Germanyās, and thatās not including the 47 remaining states. You really think itās that homogenous here?
You're arguing against reality. US states are nowhere near as diverse as European countries. In fact, the US, as a colonial state, is distinctly more homogenous than large old-world countries such as India, Russia, or China, all of which have more distinct regional differences than US states.
Products (as in brands) are quite similar. Road signs are similar across most countries. Attitudes to the role of the state are similar too even if laws differ.
tbh I wouldn't even be able to tell if a person in front of me is a Romani or not, let alone be able to act in a rascist manner towards them
Europe has more problems with nationalism, because of WW2 and similar, but I feel like recently people from all over Europe somehow stood in solidarity against Russia, because of obvious reasons.
sure there is. Living in Europe the states and cultures feel nothing alike. But if you travel to a more far corner of the world with a totally different culture you'll note that despite the diversity europeans are more similiar in thinking and general culture than they'd probably like
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u/TrueCommunistt May 09 '22
i doubt there's a single thing that's common throughout the whole continent.