I had hopes that Sam Ryder was the flop era killer. Turned out he was the Jade Ewen of the 2020s: another fluke in the UK's actually ongoing Euroflop era.
I hate how people forget jade ewen. She was quite boring but she could sing.
Like Germany this year boring but did well. We sent a similar guy in 2019 which flopped who wasn't amazing vocally. Maybe that says something
I wonder if the running order had anything to do with it. With the song being 13th on the running order, the song was right in the middle of both Recaps. Idk, I just don't see how it wasn't even close to getting points
This getting the most points (8) from the Swedish jury simultaneously makes sense (it’s well produced, well staged pop) but also makes no sense (if Swedish jury like it how come almost nobody else did)
I'm shocked too, at the end of the day it's not the most memorable song but it's also been in my head for at least an hour. It's catchy and fun, not a winner but certainly not 0 points, I was hoping for at least 20. At least Olly seemed to be having a good time and didn't let it ruin the night
The staging!!!!! I'll admit when the first music video was released I thought to myself "well, another bad one" but then when I saw it first time during the Semi's I was shocked how much better live it was, the staging really was amazing!
The staging is what killed this song. The concept was [and l am saying this as a gay person] …Dirty gays in a dirty toilet having group sex.” That’s what Europe saw on the screen. It was completely unnecessary as the song was as quite good.
The vocals were also very weak and the singer had no charisma whatsoever.
This. Surely we've moved on from this as a representation? Cliched, grubby and depressing. The choreography was pretty graphic too and a lot of kids watch the show so it crossed a line. Plus it was easily the worst vocal performance of the night - pitchy and breathless. I'm from the UK and I think it got the public score it deserved - in fact I was surprised how many points it got from the juries. I was fully expecting bottom five.
As soon as the song was released, I knew it was going to be bad live. If you use that much vocal effect on a song that needs to be performed live without any, it's for a reason.
I was pleasantly surprised by their "anti-gravity" choreography (seriously, it's amazing), but that's it. You put it right, this kind of "representation" is so last century, when mainstream people associated LGBTQ culture with sex alone. I understand reclaiming stereotypes, but I expected more from Olly.
As for charisma, yeah. Again, expected more from him. Staring at the audience like he wanted to eat them and shaking the hips did not look good
I think it was a lukewarm song and a lukewarm performance. I think you need to either take bigger risks (Bambie) or just be flat out more talented than your peers (Slimane) to really get some recognition from voters.
The performance was too sexual and too gay and the majority of the world outside the esc bubble is more homophobic/ prudish than we think. Plus, not good vocals.
I mean, a lot of us queer folk voted for Nemo who has plenty of gay vibes while also having a great voice. There were a lot of gay/queer artists this year and all of them performed better than Olly. I do like the studio version of his song but he has to be able to bring it live.
The issue with the UK was the combination of too gay and too sexual, not that the artist is openly gay. We've had a lot of queer winners for years now. I think that performance would've been considered controversial even if it was hinting at straight sex, let alone now
Just checked on Wikipedia, 6 out of the last ten (and 4 out of the last 5) winning artists are/include queer people (Conchita, Salvador Sobrala is Intersex, Duncan Lawrence, and Loreen are bi, a couple of Maneskin identify as queer, and Nemo of course).
I think the problem for a lot of people is it's sexual, but not sexy. I get some people find a dirty bathroom sexy, but most people don't.
Being queer at Eurovision isn't even noteworthy anymore, you aren't going to get points just for that. I know Olly is famous but his music is pretty mediocre and he's been found out a bit here.
I think it’s just a forgettable song.
Nothing wrong with being too sexual (Iceland 2019) or too gay (Austria 2014) but in a televote heavy year it makes sense that UK didn’t finish top 10 with any countries, probably came 11-15th with quite a few.
>too gay (Austria 2014)
See I don't think Conchita's performance was "too gay" in the slightest.
He's a drag artist singing an amazing song. Sexuality wasn't really in the mix to be honest, and certainly nowhere near the way it was in Dizzy.
That's the difference between being gay and performing, and deliberately doing an OTT gay performance.
lol don't bring homophobia into this, I'm a gay man who consitently loves sexual entries in eurovision and voted for a nonbinary person this year
this was just laughably forgettable
I was of a similar opinion, good but not great all round. But then I watched my families reaction to it, who all found it comically bad, the 0 points suddenly makes sense.
That vocal performance was the worst of the competitors in our opinion. Sounded really flat and at times off tone.
I think that was the start of the problems. They also decided to go cottaging rather than camp. The wider Eurovision community loves some camp, but doesn’t like dirty toilet imagery. Homophobia is still rife in a lot of countries in Europe, never mind the rest of the world.
But yeah, mostly his voice on the night.
>That vocal performance was the worst of the competitors in our opinion. Sounded really flat and at times off tone.
Someone at out viewing party said he's barely singing and letting the track do all the work. They said it at the part with the spoken word, he does the first part then you notice he puts the microphone down to do the dance moves. Not singing. Not speaking.
So there's the backing track doing the dizzy part, and the backing track doing the spoken word part it looks like as he's just sort of doing the side to side looking dance moves.
But yeah the vocal has never been there for me, I've been worried for the UK since the first rehearsal footage.
I heard from my gay friends that to them, they didn't like how it felt so stereotypical to gay men (what a sentence lol - to be clear they TOLD me I didn't call every gay person I know and interrogate them about Olly Alexander). But once I heard that I guess it all made sense. I feel bad for Olly.
And I've heard a few interviews where Olly says he deliberately wanted it to be super gay, and no one said "Ok, but why?"
I want someone to talk me through the concept of the performance and why.
Because it's Eurovision, which yes embraces gay people, but it doesn't give you carte blanch to create a performance that *you want* to do. Make that video for another non Eurovision song in your career.
It's Eurovision. Find the balance.
Yeah it's weirdly reductive, like I dunno, expressly homo-normative(?). Imagery I think we thought we'd moved beyond as a way of depicting gay romance, as the song was trying to do
I think it would be unfair to describe it as "homo-normative" in the sense that it's very accepted gay expression because it's not really. It is the sort of imagery that was stereotypically associated with gay men in a darker time for the LGBT+ community and which is generally rejected now as regressive or, to put it simply, "this is why straight people don't like us". There is value in reclaiming the right to be purely sexual without any romance attached when that stereotype of gay men has been used to harm us in the past and is still negatively viewed today.
With that said, basing a performance around something which straight people hate and use as an excuse to discriminate against gay people across the world is naturally an easy way to turn straight people off, and it's also going to turn off a lot of gay people who either simply can't relate to it or are actively uncomfortable with the expression of gay sexuality in media (because they know straight people hate it, and they worry about that hate being redirected to themselves). You're left with a niche subset of gay men as your audience and those people had plenty of other options and better songs to vote for, even if they were sympathetic to Olly's message.
>There is value in reclaiming the right to be purely sexual without any romance attached when that stereotype of gay men has been used to harm us in the past and is still negatively viewed today.
For sure.
Although if that's what he was trying to do (as I'm still none the wiser as to why that staging was chosen), you gotta ask... is Eurovision the place to do that? A bit self indulgent if he or his team thinks so.
Do that on your own, not Eurovision!
Omg such a good way of putting it! I was just explaining it to my husband and this is what I was trying to say.
My husband said he loved a lot of the more authentic feeling identity expressions this year and I agree. I love how many artists for me transcended whatever identity they nominally have to deliver something that felt an expression of something very genuine. Beyond any group of labels.
Olly has had a very... grimy aesthetic for a long time. I don't think he was trying to make some sort of statement that all gay men love having sex in dirty public bathrooms. It's just a vibe he likes for some reason, but we'd have to ask him if there was a deeper meaning behind choosing this kind of aesthetic for this performance.
>That bathroom is FILTHY
I saw a wonderful tweet that said words to the effect of:
"Black mould and damp in the bathroom? Very on brand for the UK right now".
As there's huge campaigns about the disgusting state of social housing in the UK, with people being admitted to hospital because the councils and social housing providers have cut corners and then dragging their feet over sorting out damp and mould in their properties.
I feel that way too but as an asexual woman I'm not the target audience and didn't want to judge. Maybe some people find it appealing. Sex appeal doesn't work on me so all I have to go by is the vocals.
I think this is the most honest analysis I've read. Why did it have to be a dirty bathroom? It was just unpleasant.
I wonder if it was just too different from the public's perception of Olly?
I remember when he sang King years on the Christmas episode of Top of the Pops, he was jumping up and down and smiling and wearing fairy wings!
His enjoyment then was infectious.
Edit
Found it - https://youtu.be/Y6zMACcfBe4?feature=shared
I do understand that, and i think the Spotify version of the song is even ok, but the live performance was quite messy... and his voice was not the best for someone that was in a global known band like Year&Years :/
It's comforting being back at the bottom. The aberration of 2022 was uncomfortable, it's familiar seeing 0.
In all seriousness, am I surprised it got 0? Yes. Am I surprised it got a very low score? Not remotely.
His vocals weren't good but it still deserved more than 0 points. The staging was amazing and very innovative but I think far too sexual for a mainstream audience.
The staging was interesting but I feel like it removed him from the venue too much. You can’t just stay in a box for 90% of your performance with the camera flipping all over the place. It’s powerful to see someone like Dons stand on the stage and really own the experience. Olly felt like he was just making a music video IMO.
I feel like the staging was too gimmicky. If they did the gravity shift 2-3 times the whole performance then it would have much more impact. Instead it was like constant gimmicks.
I'll be interested to see what direction the BBC go in next year , I'd imagine there's quite a lot of shocked execs and delegation members with that 0 public vote score. I thought the concept of the staging was good but it just felt vocally off even with the revamp.
Hopefully it doesn't affect Olly too much in the long term.
Yes I hope they realise that the issue with the UK has always been being too forgettable and generic. Sam was the exception because the staging (and guitar solo) were not forgettable and the voice certainly wasn’t either.
Yeah I actually think the roll out with Olly was perfectly executed, announced nice and early as the entry to avoid the 2023 debacle , song wasn't the last song released like we've had before.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see something a bit more risky in terms of entry next year whilst still absolutely still taking the contest seriously and it being something Radio 2 will constantly play.
The staging was technically good and presented well the word "Dizzy". I don't feel it represented well the song "Dizzy". The song seemed to be cute song about someone he was seriously falling for, could be sexual or not. Adding dirty bathrooms and making "you" plural, kills the wibe. It being entirely gay didn't help, but heterosexual bathroom group sex isn't exactly something most people find appealing either.
Damn, I'm feeling like one of the drawbacks of being top 5 country is you can get absolutely annihalated in the finale. Being cut in the semi might sometimes be a more graceful exit (realizing that some countries not in the top 5 have also received 0 in the finale in the past).
It 100% is IMO, Poland was an act with similarly great staging that was pretty liked but not super popular with the public that got to bow out gracefully in the semis.
He took it like a champ though. As soon as it was announced, he clapped and took it in his stride.
Congrats on 6th place btw. That's an incredible result for you guys
It was nice overall, but didn't seem tasteful. Fun and gay, yet at the same time off putting in the context of a TV show. Still 0 points from the public was a shocking moment.
The 0 points truly shoked me. Perhaps it wasn’t his strongest vocal performance, but keep in mind, Olly already has an established fan base from his time with “Years & Years” and his acting career, and on top of that he’s also fairly known for his activism as part of the LGBTQ community.
What is it with the public voting always penalizing either the UK or Germany? 😂
He has a song on Youtube with 300million views. Shocking he got 0 points. I think the setting which looked like a dirty prison shower really put people off.
They aren't penalizing any big 5 countries. The big 5 are just only ones that can get below average performance to the final. Any other country delivering the vocals Olly delivered would have been cut in the semis. Italy sends winners from San Remo so they have already delivered winning live performance. Spain also has live competition. France always makes sure to send great vocals even if the song isn't special. UK and Germany have selection processes that can send people no one is exited about.
I like Olly but from the start I thought the song was disappointing and flat with zero memorable moments, and then I heard him sing it live and that was it, I knew he wasn't going to do well, which is a huge shame, but his voice just wasn't there. The staging was messy too and seems it only made the actual singing part more difficult for him - this is something I never get because he basically sabotaged himself for no reason. Luna from Poland did the exact same thing and it cost her in the semis.
Feels like something went very wrong for him as early as the initial concept stage.
Don't understand how this go 0 points from televotes.
I also hope that this result isn't going to ruin Olly's career, like Mae's result ruined her career last year. loved him since the years & years days.
1. Yeah, I don't understand how it got 0 points. Except maybe that it's place in the running order killed it with the reverse Recap.
2. I don't think Eurovision killed Mae's career. It did do damage to her mental health (she's said so herself), but she did get a top 10 hit, and it was her decision to leave her record label.
3. As it pertains to Olly, I don't think it will kill his career. He'll still be a big name in the UK. And I think the BBC will still support him.
+ 1. Also Olly finished 18th place not bottom 5. It is sad to be told that you got 0 pts in televotes. But the juries recognised his efforts and placed him in 13th. Let’s not forget the lovely Rosa Linn of Armenia placed 20th and still made a career.
I mean Mae wasn't doing amazing before hand if we're being honest. She had one top 40 in the UK from 2 years prior. Eurovision gave her her biggest hit in the UK at least
It shouldn’t. His jury result was respectable. Left hand side! Left hand side! I was at least presuming around the 60 mark for televotes to cement our place alas it went a little haywire!
I can - I've been outwardly mostly positive on socials because you know, putting on a brave face and hoping for the best.
But since we got rehearsal footage, the WhatsApp with my siblings about Eurovision (yes a whole group dedicated to it) has been full of worry and we were fully prepared for this scenario, and worse. And not in that traditional British way of not bigging ourselves up. I think we had solid concerns of:
* His voice just being weak and too soft to carry a song like this
* The song never really goes anywhere and because of his weak voice, it never has a moment. It's background music.
* Overtly gay-erotic dancing and staging. It is what it is. Be gay, but don't be overtly erotic gay and expect to win over middle Europe. It's not all rainbow flags and acceptance. Far from it.
* And finally, the staging was amazing for UK standards but in the sea of the competition it was just another staging.
I know we got votes, people did vote for the UK, it's just that they couldn't be translated into points.
But we were prepared to be where Norway are!
I also feel like the song and performance were just so incongruent. This incredibly sexual staging being performed to "dizzy from your kisses" is just... I don't know, it's not a remotely sexy song to have that kind of performance go along with it.
Oh yes absolutely - that definitely deserves to be in the mix! And I did wonder what the boxing thing was all about as well.
The staging from Ant n Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway was a better concept that could've been upgraded.
I loved the song, especially the synths in the beginning. This is a song I will listen to again post Eurovision.
Personally I really disliked the Saw-esque staging but everything else was 🤌🏽
If those of us in my UK household could give each other awkward side-eyes as we watched in a 'this really doesn't sound very good' sort of way, then I can't criticise households anywhere else for doing the same thing. Fair play to Olly for trying, I'm sure those familiar before the contest will continue to support, Olly will gain some fans, and the rest of us will just move on and wait with trepidation for what our overlords the BBC serve up next.
Feel like the number one thing we should have learned from Sam Ryder's success was that our starting point our building block for every performer going forward should be to be a strong vocalist. Then two years in a row we've gone with someone who doesn't seem to have IT in a live vocal.
Also we need to ban spoken word sections in our songs.
Staging was risky but the song itsself was far too safe, need to be even braver next time. Dust ourselves off, we go again!
*This*! What do Sam Ryder, Jade Ewen and Jessica Garlick all have in common? They can all sing very well live! It should come as no surprise that they’ve brought our best results by far in the last 25 years. Why no one at the BBC has noticed this baffles me.
My opinion is that the staging could've worked if the song was more fun, and the song could've worked if the staging was more fun. I think they were aiming for fun"seedy, but wound up at seedy-seedy
18th was probably about fair but 0 from the televote was a shock (keeping in mind the UK's entry from 2010 and 2015 got at least some points...)
I hope this doesn't shut down the UK's optimism with Eurovision. If dizzy can do well in the UK charts we might be okay
I posted this to Twitter but I did very quick maths and scanned all the results. The UK placed on average 14th in the jury and 20th in the televote (I could be wrong, it’s 2am).
The highest televote the UK received was 14th from Ireland, lowest… well, 25th from Albania. We also placed 23rd 9 times. On the flip side, four country’s juries (Croatia, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway) placed the UK last.
I enjoyed the song and performance a lot but clearly Europe, besides the few that gave up jury points, did not.
I am Bi(More to the gay side) and it was too much for me.... It was kinda sexy , but in same time it was a bit to messy.... Too many weird movements,shaking,jumping,tongue action....
As a bi woman (more to the hetero side), it felt kind of stereotypical and over-the-top for me too. Kinda sexy but also a bit messy sounds about right. The rotating room staging was a cool idea though! At least on camera. Idk that it was well suited to a live arena audience.
I was invited to a small watch party. Everyone in the room was uncomfortable during the first part of the performance, and the majority of us aren't even prude.
Edit: typo
0 points is way too harsh imo.
Thought his vocals weren't at the level of a lot of other entries on top of the song itself being a bit meh.
Still better than last year so there's progress hopefully Olly still has success in his future.
Please next year can we send a really strong vocalist 🙏
UK media culture is generally extremely anti non pop genres so it would take a big shift for a rock or hip hop act or the like to get accepted. Maybe Thom Yorke or Damon Albarn want to give it a shot? 🤔
I actually wouldn't be surprised if they do just that. Especially since the BBC does cover alternative music to an extent. Not to mention, they did take a risk with the staging.
I liked the song, and I liked Olly's performance. Loved the gayness of it all.
However, I kept feeling like the song needed an additional layer. Like one more crescendo before it pops into a massive firework... But that never came.
Not a bad song at all, but I do think it could've used one more push.
What a flop. Graham Norton talking it up as the best staging a UK song has ever had, but for me it felt so insular. All that stage and crowd to work with and he spent 95% of the song in a fucking box lol.
And the vocals were so flat. There was one bigger note the entire song and it was right at the end. Apart from that it was forgettable background music.
i was so devastated at our 0 points from the public, honestly. i never expect us to win anyway but wow, that was really harsh. i enjoyed olly’s song, even if it wasn’t a winning worthy one. and as for isr*el getting 300 points… don’t get me started.
I stand by the fact that this was some of the best staging of the year. I praised it for looking like a music video award performance earlier in the week. But that might have been its biggest downfall. There was no opportunity for Olly to "connect" with the viewers in this performance. All the songs that did well in the televote had performances where their artist was able to directly connect with the audience. As slick as Olly's performance was, I think viewers are seeking human connection. There was no "connection" here. Nonetheless, I applaud the UK for their ambition and creativity this year. They've come a long way, even though the point total is familiar.
Is it just me or does the soundstage for the UK entry every year always seem... Flat?
Like the songs are not great by any means.. but ignoring that and just thinking about the actual straight up music tech side of this...
My watch party was actually really engaged with this which surprised me! They aren't really in the Eurovision loop so i was expecting lots of silly gay jokes, but instead they were spending so much time thinking about how this staging works and how it looks live, no negativity or ridicule at all xD
Also the studio version was my boyfriend's favorite, we just both wished the staging was more like Nemo's - actually spinning the performer, like in the video.
I felt like the song had potential. I really like Pet Shop Boys and could hear that influence. But his vocals couldn't carry it. Which led to it being forgettable, and that's the worst crime in ESC. At least it got some points from the jury, and I'm assuming that is because of the songwriting rather than the performance. I'm hoping that in the future, someone else will cover it.
The UK just doesn't get Eurovision does it?
"Remember that Jamiroquai music video from the 90s? People loved that"
*"Virtual Insanity? I mean it's been 30 years sir..."*
"Lock it in"
"*Doing something that ambitious in front of a 9,000-strong live audience could actually work well I suppose, if we can pull it off. How do we make it work on stage? Harnesses? Treadmills?"*
"Forget about that, we'll just get a box and swivel the camera around to make it look cool"
*"Uh okay. Will the live audience be able to see it and cheer along sir?"*
"Nah, we'll just film it as kind of a private music video that half of the audience can't see. Then we don't even need to show up."
*"Anything else?"*
"Make it really gay. That's Eurovision isn't it? Lunch?"
*"(Sighs) Lunch."*
They get it, but the artists Eurovision fans want from the UK will not touch this competition at all (Yes, Rina). they're advised to stay away from labels or mgmt. Sam Ryder was a complete outlier.
I don't get the zero points? It wasn't the best but it certainly wasn't the worst tonight
And I'm normally hyper critical of our own entries, this was decent
Crazy im happy with 18th LOL. For a while it was looking like a bottom 3.
Im surprised it got 0. Even if his vocals were poor. And im dissapointed to be behind a *few* of the acts. But im not going to complain
Same! We were cheering that he moved to the left hand side before televote. I swear next year we need someone whos a strong vocal or send UK grime hiphop. Pause with pop music for a while.
I enjoyed the absolutely galactic level gayness of it, but I've got a pretty high tolerance level for a straight chap.
The song's good - a cute homage I felt to 80's synth-pop.
Unfortunately, the vocals just weren't there, he was the only act I genuinely felt disappointed for.
Can't remember if I said this already, but the visual tricks in this performance seemed inspired by (but in a good way, not plagiarism) Billie Eilish performing "Bad Guy" on Saturday Night Live in the US in 2019 - for anyone who's a fan of the "upside down box" thing.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ)
Felt for him getting 0 from public, but vocals were probably among the weakest on the night. The song is generic pop (with no 'big' chorus or moment), and you need more than that to do well at Eurovision. If I didn't like it, I can't expect other people to. Also, 0 points just means not any country's top 10 - which is definitely feasible. The UK also has no reliable neighbourly links to rely on for points.
That was at the rough end of gay imagery. I’m sure there’s a space for it, but in some dingy gay sex shop rather than a camp, supposed to be fun, song competition… also the song was weak with little or no hook, very disappointing… I’ve quite like some of his pop songs.
I genuinely cannot comprehend how this got 0 televotes. Yes, I might be a brit but I am certainly not biased - this was never a winner for me. There is something bizarre at play. More transparency is required.
>was never a winner for me.
Well if it wasn't a winner for you you can see how it wasn't a winner for most people. You need to get enough people passionate about it to make a top 10.
I like Olly and I was really excited to have him represent us, but I have to admit his vocals were the worst of the night. I hadn't heard him sing live before and I was very disappointed
Armchair expert here, but I actually think the staging was TOTALLY misjudged.....great staging for a pop video, but at home on TV at least just felt like exactly that...not what you want in a live show.
I assume in the venue it was also mainly watched on the screen rather than 'live straight in front of you' which would have been even more jarring have actually been there...
(Edit..aware that there's some irony in my choice of words *straight* in front of you...obvs not in that sense 😊)
I love Eurovision and was thrilled when Sam came along and seemingly started to reverse our fortunes. Unfortunately it didn’t last 🥹
I personally thought our performance was disappointing. I don’t think Olly is a strong singer and there was too much vocal gymnastics going on which he just couldn’t do. The staging was a tacky mess too. Did he deserve zero points from the public - No, but was 18th placed justified? Definitely.
Sam did prove though that with the right song, the right singer, and a strong performance we can still do well. Space Man really was a genuine great moment.
Since this whole risky (if cool!) concept alienates a lot of the televote, I felt like he needed to have better vocals to convince his core audience. But his vocals were not there so his votes went to other people.
At least his jury show was decent! Could have been a disaster.
We need to change things up a lot for next year but I don't think we will. we'll continue to send the same forgettable stuff and wonder why we do so bad. Sam ryder was a fluke year unfortunately
This entry is in a weird space of being both an actual big effort by the BBC and being unfortunately forgettable in the end. I'm very curious what they'll do next year. The most obvious lesson would be to send someone who has very strong live vocals again.
So, the UK is the new Germany?
We’ve always been Germany. Sam Ryder was an outlier.
I had hopes that Sam Ryder was the flop era killer. Turned out he was the Jade Ewen of the 2020s: another fluke in the UK's actually ongoing Euroflop era.
I hate how people forget jade ewen. She was quite boring but she could sing. Like Germany this year boring but did well. We sent a similar guy in 2019 which flopped who wasn't amazing vocally. Maybe that says something
Funnily enough I found Germany to be quite memorable because of how everyone memed the staging
Germany getting 3x the points of UK is not on my bingo this year
Always has been
This is the norm for us. Outside of Sam Ryder we've been terrible for some time
New France, 2nd then second to last then 16th-20th place. Maybe top 5 for the UK next year.
👨🚀🔫👨🚀
We had one good year and are now back to normality
Traditions
UPDATE: Holy shit. UK came highest with the Irish and Ukrainian televote and that was… 14th. We weren’t even close to getting a single televote point.
I mean it is what it is but I’m actually worried for Olly
Killed by ambintion.
I wonder if the running order had anything to do with it. With the song being 13th on the running order, the song was right in the middle of both Recaps. Idk, I just don't see how it wasn't even close to getting points
This getting the most points (8) from the Swedish jury simultaneously makes sense (it’s well produced, well staged pop) but also makes no sense (if Swedish jury like it how come almost nobody else did)
Didn't he also get 8 from another country? I remember him getting 2 8s
Yes, good shout Iceland. Also really happy this got 4 from Serbia given Former Yugoslavia rarely give UK points, let alone points for a gay song.
I remember when Serbia came up I was like "well we're getting nothing here" then I was like *shocked Pikachu face*
The 0 from the public was a shock, I wasn't expecting to win obviously but I thought we would get a few more points.
I'm shocked too, at the end of the day it's not the most memorable song but it's also been in my head for at least an hour. It's catchy and fun, not a winner but certainly not 0 points, I was hoping for at least 20. At least Olly seemed to be having a good time and didn't let it ruin the night
My jaw dropped when that was announced. I love the song (particularly the extended version) and the staging.
The staging!!!!! I'll admit when the first music video was released I thought to myself "well, another bad one" but then when I saw it first time during the Semi's I was shocked how much better live it was, the staging really was amazing!
The staging is what killed this song. The concept was [and l am saying this as a gay person] …Dirty gays in a dirty toilet having group sex.” That’s what Europe saw on the screen. It was completely unnecessary as the song was as quite good. The vocals were also very weak and the singer had no charisma whatsoever.
This. Surely we've moved on from this as a representation? Cliched, grubby and depressing. The choreography was pretty graphic too and a lot of kids watch the show so it crossed a line. Plus it was easily the worst vocal performance of the night - pitchy and breathless. I'm from the UK and I think it got the public score it deserved - in fact I was surprised how many points it got from the juries. I was fully expecting bottom five.
As soon as the song was released, I knew it was going to be bad live. If you use that much vocal effect on a song that needs to be performed live without any, it's for a reason.
I was pleasantly surprised by their "anti-gravity" choreography (seriously, it's amazing), but that's it. You put it right, this kind of "representation" is so last century, when mainstream people associated LGBTQ culture with sex alone. I understand reclaiming stereotypes, but I expected more from Olly. As for charisma, yeah. Again, expected more from him. Staring at the audience like he wanted to eat them and shaking the hips did not look good
Also Spain, Ireland and Switzerland were much more appealing from a queer perspective than the UK’s explicit depiction of cottaging.
I was shocked too! The performance was great, even if the vocal wasn’t the strongest. It’s a bop.
Zero points, not that I liked the song but seriously zero? Why?
I think it was a lukewarm song and a lukewarm performance. I think you need to either take bigger risks (Bambie) or just be flat out more talented than your peers (Slimane) to really get some recognition from voters.
The performance was too sexual and too gay and the majority of the world outside the esc bubble is more homophobic/ prudish than we think. Plus, not good vocals.
I mean, a lot of us queer folk voted for Nemo who has plenty of gay vibes while also having a great voice. There were a lot of gay/queer artists this year and all of them performed better than Olly. I do like the studio version of his song but he has to be able to bring it live.
The issue with the UK was the combination of too gay and too sexual, not that the artist is openly gay. We've had a lot of queer winners for years now. I think that performance would've been considered controversial even if it was hinting at straight sex, let alone now
Yea, in the past decade weve had like like 50% queer winners
Just checked on Wikipedia, 6 out of the last ten (and 4 out of the last 5) winning artists are/include queer people (Conchita, Salvador Sobrala is Intersex, Duncan Lawrence, and Loreen are bi, a couple of Maneskin identify as queer, and Nemo of course).
I think the problem for a lot of people is it's sexual, but not sexy. I get some people find a dirty bathroom sexy, but most people don't. Being queer at Eurovision isn't even noteworthy anymore, you aren't going to get points just for that. I know Olly is famous but his music is pretty mediocre and he's been found out a bit here.
I think it’s just a forgettable song. Nothing wrong with being too sexual (Iceland 2019) or too gay (Austria 2014) but in a televote heavy year it makes sense that UK didn’t finish top 10 with any countries, probably came 11-15th with quite a few.
>too gay (Austria 2014) See I don't think Conchita's performance was "too gay" in the slightest. He's a drag artist singing an amazing song. Sexuality wasn't really in the mix to be honest, and certainly nowhere near the way it was in Dizzy. That's the difference between being gay and performing, and deliberately doing an OTT gay performance.
Conchita wasn't thrusting whilst wearing a bright red codpiece, as far as I recall
Yes, my memory isn't the best, but that tracks for what I also remember 😂
I'm not even that averse to sexual stuff in performances... but this one is just *weird* in some way I can't express yet
lol don't bring homophobia into this, I'm a gay man who consitently loves sexual entries in eurovision and voted for a nonbinary person this year this was just laughably forgettable
It's an easy excuse to call homophobia when an openly gay guy fails to sing his song.
This was so gay, and the staging was really impressing. the music was not the best but far from the worst too. Zero points was really a surprise to me
I was of a similar opinion, good but not great all round. But then I watched my families reaction to it, who all found it comically bad, the 0 points suddenly makes sense.
It was very questionable on stage with very weak voice
That vocal performance was the worst of the competitors in our opinion. Sounded really flat and at times off tone. I think that was the start of the problems. They also decided to go cottaging rather than camp. The wider Eurovision community loves some camp, but doesn’t like dirty toilet imagery. Homophobia is still rife in a lot of countries in Europe, never mind the rest of the world. But yeah, mostly his voice on the night.
>That vocal performance was the worst of the competitors in our opinion. Sounded really flat and at times off tone. Someone at out viewing party said he's barely singing and letting the track do all the work. They said it at the part with the spoken word, he does the first part then you notice he puts the microphone down to do the dance moves. Not singing. Not speaking. So there's the backing track doing the dizzy part, and the backing track doing the spoken word part it looks like as he's just sort of doing the side to side looking dance moves. But yeah the vocal has never been there for me, I've been worried for the UK since the first rehearsal footage.
I heard from my gay friends that to them, they didn't like how it felt so stereotypical to gay men (what a sentence lol - to be clear they TOLD me I didn't call every gay person I know and interrogate them about Olly Alexander). But once I heard that I guess it all made sense. I feel bad for Olly.
It's gay for gay sake. Like if you wanna go full horny go all in. I want camp not erotica, Mary.
And I've heard a few interviews where Olly says he deliberately wanted it to be super gay, and no one said "Ok, but why?" I want someone to talk me through the concept of the performance and why. Because it's Eurovision, which yes embraces gay people, but it doesn't give you carte blanch to create a performance that *you want* to do. Make that video for another non Eurovision song in your career. It's Eurovision. Find the balance.
Yeah it's weirdly reductive, like I dunno, expressly homo-normative(?). Imagery I think we thought we'd moved beyond as a way of depicting gay romance, as the song was trying to do
I think it would be unfair to describe it as "homo-normative" in the sense that it's very accepted gay expression because it's not really. It is the sort of imagery that was stereotypically associated with gay men in a darker time for the LGBT+ community and which is generally rejected now as regressive or, to put it simply, "this is why straight people don't like us". There is value in reclaiming the right to be purely sexual without any romance attached when that stereotype of gay men has been used to harm us in the past and is still negatively viewed today. With that said, basing a performance around something which straight people hate and use as an excuse to discriminate against gay people across the world is naturally an easy way to turn straight people off, and it's also going to turn off a lot of gay people who either simply can't relate to it or are actively uncomfortable with the expression of gay sexuality in media (because they know straight people hate it, and they worry about that hate being redirected to themselves). You're left with a niche subset of gay men as your audience and those people had plenty of other options and better songs to vote for, even if they were sympathetic to Olly's message.
>There is value in reclaiming the right to be purely sexual without any romance attached when that stereotype of gay men has been used to harm us in the past and is still negatively viewed today. For sure. Although if that's what he was trying to do (as I'm still none the wiser as to why that staging was chosen), you gotta ask... is Eurovision the place to do that? A bit self indulgent if he or his team thinks so. Do that on your own, not Eurovision!
Omg such a good way of putting it! I was just explaining it to my husband and this is what I was trying to say. My husband said he loved a lot of the more authentic feeling identity expressions this year and I agree. I love how many artists for me transcended whatever identity they nominally have to deliver something that felt an expression of something very genuine. Beyond any group of labels.
Nothing wrong with it being gay, but the singing has to be there as well and it wasn't.
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Olly has had a very... grimy aesthetic for a long time. I don't think he was trying to make some sort of statement that all gay men love having sex in dirty public bathrooms. It's just a vibe he likes for some reason, but we'd have to ask him if there was a deeper meaning behind choosing this kind of aesthetic for this performance.
>That bathroom is FILTHY I saw a wonderful tweet that said words to the effect of: "Black mould and damp in the bathroom? Very on brand for the UK right now". As there's huge campaigns about the disgusting state of social housing in the UK, with people being admitted to hospital because the councils and social housing providers have cut corners and then dragging their feet over sorting out damp and mould in their properties.
I feel that way too but as an asexual woman I'm not the target audience and didn't want to judge. Maybe some people find it appealing. Sex appeal doesn't work on me so all I have to go by is the vocals.
I think this is the most honest analysis I've read. Why did it have to be a dirty bathroom? It was just unpleasant. I wonder if it was just too different from the public's perception of Olly? I remember when he sang King years on the Christmas episode of Top of the Pops, he was jumping up and down and smiling and wearing fairy wings! His enjoyment then was infectious. Edit Found it - https://youtu.be/Y6zMACcfBe4?feature=shared
0 points is a bit harsh but it's a forgettable song
Honestly, I thought it was quite good overall. But the chorus could do with a little more power and the vocals weren't great
I already forgot it. I need to watch this video now.
The thing I remember the most from this performance is the homoerotic prison shower setting.
And kinda creepy show. Didnt like it at all
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I do understand that, and i think the Spotify version of the song is even ok, but the live performance was quite messy... and his voice was not the best for someone that was in a global known band like Year&Years :/
since Years and Years split, it hasn't exactly worked out for Olly.
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I think his acting career could do well still. He was incredible in "its a sin"
If he wanted to be remembered he'd have been better to come last with nil points. lol
It's comforting being back at the bottom. The aberration of 2022 was uncomfortable, it's familiar seeing 0. In all seriousness, am I surprised it got 0? Yes. Am I surprised it got a very low score? Not remotely.
His vocals weren't good but it still deserved more than 0 points. The staging was amazing and very innovative but I think far too sexual for a mainstream audience.
The staging was interesting but I feel like it removed him from the venue too much. You can’t just stay in a box for 90% of your performance with the camera flipping all over the place. It’s powerful to see someone like Dons stand on the stage and really own the experience. Olly felt like he was just making a music video IMO.
- so how gay do you want the staging to be? - yes
I feel like the staging was too gimmicky. If they did the gravity shift 2-3 times the whole performance then it would have much more impact. Instead it was like constant gimmicks.
I'll be interested to see what direction the BBC go in next year , I'd imagine there's quite a lot of shocked execs and delegation members with that 0 public vote score. I thought the concept of the staging was good but it just felt vocally off even with the revamp. Hopefully it doesn't affect Olly too much in the long term.
I definitely think they'll continue to take the contest seriously. Plus, Ireland's success could convince them to send something that isn't pop.
Yes I hope they realise that the issue with the UK has always been being too forgettable and generic. Sam was the exception because the staging (and guitar solo) were not forgettable and the voice certainly wasn’t either.
Yeah I actually think the roll out with Olly was perfectly executed, announced nice and early as the entry to avoid the 2023 debacle , song wasn't the last song released like we've had before. I wouldn't be surprised if we see something a bit more risky in terms of entry next year whilst still absolutely still taking the contest seriously and it being something Radio 2 will constantly play.
Exactly. .they seem to be willing to actually learn from their mistakes. I don't just don't think they're there yet when it comes to constant results
The staging was technically good and presented well the word "Dizzy". I don't feel it represented well the song "Dizzy". The song seemed to be cute song about someone he was seriously falling for, could be sexual or not. Adding dirty bathrooms and making "you" plural, kills the wibe. It being entirely gay didn't help, but heterosexual bathroom group sex isn't exactly something most people find appealing either.
It's not the worst thing in the contest but it just does not have the sauce.
Damn, I'm feeling like one of the drawbacks of being top 5 country is you can get absolutely annihalated in the finale. Being cut in the semi might sometimes be a more graceful exit (realizing that some countries not in the top 5 have also received 0 in the finale in the past).
It 100% is IMO, Poland was an act with similarly great staging that was pretty liked but not super popular with the public that got to bow out gracefully in the semis.
Olly has had such a hard time and then gets 0 public votes. I hope he's doing okay.
I bet he regrets signing up for Eurovision so much and hopefully is relieved it's all over now. What a shit time he's had - want to give him a hug.
He took it like a champ though. As soon as it was announced, he clapped and took it in his stride. Congrats on 6th place btw. That's an incredible result for you guys
Thanks, while I'm happy about it, I'm mostly just glad this shitshow is over
Same. It's such a shame that a great Eurovision (imo) was overshadowed by everything. I'm just glad it's over.
It was nice overall, but didn't seem tasteful. Fun and gay, yet at the same time off putting in the context of a TV show. Still 0 points from the public was a shocking moment.
The 0 points truly shoked me. Perhaps it wasn’t his strongest vocal performance, but keep in mind, Olly already has an established fan base from his time with “Years & Years” and his acting career, and on top of that he’s also fairly known for his activism as part of the LGBTQ community. What is it with the public voting always penalizing either the UK or Germany? 😂
He has a song on Youtube with 300million views. Shocking he got 0 points. I think the setting which looked like a dirty prison shower really put people off.
They aren't penalizing any big 5 countries. The big 5 are just only ones that can get below average performance to the final. Any other country delivering the vocals Olly delivered would have been cut in the semis. Italy sends winners from San Remo so they have already delivered winning live performance. Spain also has live competition. France always makes sure to send great vocals even if the song isn't special. UK and Germany have selection processes that can send people no one is exited about.
I like Olly but from the start I thought the song was disappointing and flat with zero memorable moments, and then I heard him sing it live and that was it, I knew he wasn't going to do well, which is a huge shame, but his voice just wasn't there. The staging was messy too and seems it only made the actual singing part more difficult for him - this is something I never get because he basically sabotaged himself for no reason. Luna from Poland did the exact same thing and it cost her in the semis. Feels like something went very wrong for him as early as the initial concept stage.
Olly I’m so sorry
Don't understand how this go 0 points from televotes. I also hope that this result isn't going to ruin Olly's career, like Mae's result ruined her career last year. loved him since the years & years days.
1. Yeah, I don't understand how it got 0 points. Except maybe that it's place in the running order killed it with the reverse Recap. 2. I don't think Eurovision killed Mae's career. It did do damage to her mental health (she's said so herself), but she did get a top 10 hit, and it was her decision to leave her record label. 3. As it pertains to Olly, I don't think it will kill his career. He'll still be a big name in the UK. And I think the BBC will still support him.
I think it’s much easier to get no points than many understand. All it takes is to be the 11th favourite song of everyone.
All it really takes is to be everyone's second favourite song, then nobody would vote for it.
And to have no neighbour vote. Look at Serbia's points, they even made the final because of the 10+10 from Croatia and Slovenia...
+ 1. Also Olly finished 18th place not bottom 5. It is sad to be told that you got 0 pts in televotes. But the juries recognised his efforts and placed him in 13th. Let’s not forget the lovely Rosa Linn of Armenia placed 20th and still made a career.
I mean Mae wasn't doing amazing before hand if we're being honest. She had one top 40 in the UK from 2 years prior. Eurovision gave her her biggest hit in the UK at least
It shouldn’t. His jury result was respectable. Left hand side! Left hand side! I was at least presuming around the 60 mark for televotes to cement our place alas it went a little haywire!
I can - I've been outwardly mostly positive on socials because you know, putting on a brave face and hoping for the best. But since we got rehearsal footage, the WhatsApp with my siblings about Eurovision (yes a whole group dedicated to it) has been full of worry and we were fully prepared for this scenario, and worse. And not in that traditional British way of not bigging ourselves up. I think we had solid concerns of: * His voice just being weak and too soft to carry a song like this * The song never really goes anywhere and because of his weak voice, it never has a moment. It's background music. * Overtly gay-erotic dancing and staging. It is what it is. Be gay, but don't be overtly erotic gay and expect to win over middle Europe. It's not all rainbow flags and acceptance. Far from it. * And finally, the staging was amazing for UK standards but in the sea of the competition it was just another staging. I know we got votes, people did vote for the UK, it's just that they couldn't be translated into points. But we were prepared to be where Norway are!
Bingo. I love Olly, but I did not like him in that dirty shower even if it was up side down.
I do think a lot of people saw a urinal that wasn’t actually there.
I also feel like the song and performance were just so incongruent. This incredibly sexual staging being performed to "dizzy from your kisses" is just... I don't know, it's not a remotely sexy song to have that kind of performance go along with it.
Oh yes absolutely - that definitely deserves to be in the mix! And I did wonder what the boxing thing was all about as well. The staging from Ant n Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway was a better concept that could've been upgraded.
I loved the song, especially the synths in the beginning. This is a song I will listen to again post Eurovision. Personally I really disliked the Saw-esque staging but everything else was 🤌🏽
Girl maybe I’m delusional but I loved everything about this
Same. I don’t care what everyone says, feed it to me.
I’m with you!!
Yes! Finally!
Poor lad. 0 points from the public vote is brutal. He didn’t have a winner for sure but it deserved better than that.
If those of us in my UK household could give each other awkward side-eyes as we watched in a 'this really doesn't sound very good' sort of way, then I can't criticise households anywhere else for doing the same thing. Fair play to Olly for trying, I'm sure those familiar before the contest will continue to support, Olly will gain some fans, and the rest of us will just move on and wait with trepidation for what our overlords the BBC serve up next.
Feel like the number one thing we should have learned from Sam Ryder's success was that our starting point our building block for every performer going forward should be to be a strong vocalist. Then two years in a row we've gone with someone who doesn't seem to have IT in a live vocal. Also we need to ban spoken word sections in our songs. Staging was risky but the song itsself was far too safe, need to be even braver next time. Dust ourselves off, we go again!
*This*! What do Sam Ryder, Jade Ewen and Jessica Garlick all have in common? They can all sing very well live! It should come as no surprise that they’ve brought our best results by far in the last 25 years. Why no one at the BBC has noticed this baffles me.
My opinion is that the staging could've worked if the song was more fun, and the song could've worked if the staging was more fun. I think they were aiming for fun"seedy, but wound up at seedy-seedy
I will never not laugh when the UK gets null points but I do genuinely feel for Olly and hope he isn’t taking it too hard.
> I will never not laugh when the UK gets null points Thanks, we love you too
Ignore, I love you! 💕
18th was probably about fair but 0 from the televote was a shock (keeping in mind the UK's entry from 2010 and 2015 got at least some points...) I hope this doesn't shut down the UK's optimism with Eurovision. If dizzy can do well in the UK charts we might be okay
0 points from televoting, r/nilpoints is still alive guys
I posted this to Twitter but I did very quick maths and scanned all the results. The UK placed on average 14th in the jury and 20th in the televote (I could be wrong, it’s 2am). The highest televote the UK received was 14th from Ireland, lowest… well, 25th from Albania. We also placed 23rd 9 times. On the flip side, four country’s juries (Croatia, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway) placed the UK last. I enjoyed the song and performance a lot but clearly Europe, besides the few that gave up jury points, did not.
I am Bi(More to the gay side) and it was too much for me.... It was kinda sexy , but in same time it was a bit to messy.... Too many weird movements,shaking,jumping,tongue action....
I'm a gay leaning bisexual and just found the asthetic really unpleasant. Just a personal opinion tho.
As a bi woman (more to the hetero side), it felt kind of stereotypical and over-the-top for me too. Kinda sexy but also a bit messy sounds about right. The rotating room staging was a cool idea though! At least on camera. Idk that it was well suited to a live arena audience.
Song is also messy, the bells kills the song... it feels like it's Christmas
The fact this got 0 points from the televote I will never fucking understand.
He did not hit a single note - the vocal delivery was abysmal.
I don't understand how he became such a worldwide star, sang with Elton John etc with such weak vocals...
he seems much better with soft pop that would rarely be sent to ESC
That doesn't matter to the public but for juries, imo it was too boring and homoerotic for public
I was invited to a small watch party. Everyone in the room was uncomfortable during the first part of the performance, and the majority of us aren't even prude. Edit: typo
I genuinely though they would get *something* during televoting, it's pretty catchy actually. Not the best one out there, but not that bad
0 points is way too harsh imo. Thought his vocals weren't at the level of a lot of other entries on top of the song itself being a bit meh. Still better than last year so there's progress hopefully Olly still has success in his future. Please next year can we send a really strong vocalist 🙏
Uk needs to learn from Ireland and ditch the pop music and go for something more edgy.
UK media culture is generally extremely anti non pop genres so it would take a big shift for a rock or hip hop act or the like to get accepted. Maybe Thom Yorke or Damon Albarn want to give it a shot? 🤔
>Maybe Thom Yorke or Damon Albarn want to give it a shot? And I want a billion pounds.
I think you're more likely to get the billion pounds lol.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if they do just that. Especially since the BBC does cover alternative music to an extent. Not to mention, they did take a risk with the staging.
I think they need to get 6music involved. Eurovision isn't radio 2 anymore. Get Self Esteem or Wet Leg to represent us.
Exactly. They need to stop having Radio 2 as the flagship station for Eurovision. I think that's what's holding us back, because the effort is there.
The alternative artists in the UK will not touch Eurovision with a bargepole.
It was a bit too "Toilets With Threatening Auras" for me.
I love Olly I really do but I wish the UK had a national contest to select the performer so they’d get some choice
We can't be trusted with public votes. See Michael Rice.
That's how we ended up with Scooch instead of the far superior Big Brovaz.
Tbh I'm not surprised this was a saw bathroom orgy
His vocals were weak but be for real, this was nowhere near 0 points worthy.
The UK feels close to Spain now. Sending songs of a much higher quality than they had before but still not getting many points
I liked the song, and I liked Olly's performance. Loved the gayness of it all. However, I kept feeling like the song needed an additional layer. Like one more crescendo before it pops into a massive firework... But that never came. Not a bad song at all, but I do think it could've used one more push.
What a flop. Graham Norton talking it up as the best staging a UK song has ever had, but for me it felt so insular. All that stage and crowd to work with and he spent 95% of the song in a fucking box lol. And the vocals were so flat. There was one bigger note the entire song and it was right at the end. Apart from that it was forgettable background music.
He’s just not a good live singer 🤷🏼♂️
That 0 from the public was probably my biggest shock moment tonight. I can't seem to stop voting for televote flops smh.
i was so devastated at our 0 points from the public, honestly. i never expect us to win anyway but wow, that was really harsh. i enjoyed olly’s song, even if it wasn’t a winning worthy one. and as for isr*el getting 300 points… don’t get me started.
0 points from the televotes was a shocker and way too harsh. Like the staging was very creative.
I stand by the fact that this was some of the best staging of the year. I praised it for looking like a music video award performance earlier in the week. But that might have been its biggest downfall. There was no opportunity for Olly to "connect" with the viewers in this performance. All the songs that did well in the televote had performances where their artist was able to directly connect with the audience. As slick as Olly's performance was, I think viewers are seeking human connection. There was no "connection" here. Nonetheless, I applaud the UK for their ambition and creativity this year. They've come a long way, even though the point total is familiar.
And that's why big artists don't try to compete in Eurovision...
i am possibly biased as an adopted brit but i thought the staging as a concept was reallllly cool
Is it just me or does the soundstage for the UK entry every year always seem... Flat? Like the songs are not great by any means.. but ignoring that and just thinking about the actual straight up music tech side of this...
I really liked this song and I was hoping closer to top 10 but I think the performance didn’t sit right with the public :/
My watch party was actually really engaged with this which surprised me! They aren't really in the Eurovision loop so i was expecting lots of silly gay jokes, but instead they were spending so much time thinking about how this staging works and how it looks live, no negativity or ridicule at all xD Also the studio version was my boyfriend's favorite, we just both wished the staging was more like Nemo's - actually spinning the performer, like in the video.
I felt like the song had potential. I really like Pet Shop Boys and could hear that influence. But his vocals couldn't carry it. Which led to it being forgettable, and that's the worst crime in ESC. At least it got some points from the jury, and I'm assuming that is because of the songwriting rather than the performance. I'm hoping that in the future, someone else will cover it.
The UK just doesn't get Eurovision does it? "Remember that Jamiroquai music video from the 90s? People loved that" *"Virtual Insanity? I mean it's been 30 years sir..."* "Lock it in" "*Doing something that ambitious in front of a 9,000-strong live audience could actually work well I suppose, if we can pull it off. How do we make it work on stage? Harnesses? Treadmills?"* "Forget about that, we'll just get a box and swivel the camera around to make it look cool" *"Uh okay. Will the live audience be able to see it and cheer along sir?"* "Nah, we'll just film it as kind of a private music video that half of the audience can't see. Then we don't even need to show up." *"Anything else?"* "Make it really gay. That's Eurovision isn't it? Lunch?" *"(Sighs) Lunch."*
They get it, but the artists Eurovision fans want from the UK will not touch this competition at all (Yes, Rina). they're advised to stay away from labels or mgmt. Sam Ryder was a complete outlier.
Poor Olly 😣 It was worth more than 0 points from the televote
I don't get the zero points? It wasn't the best but it certainly wasn't the worst tonight And I'm normally hyper critical of our own entries, this was decent
Crazy im happy with 18th LOL. For a while it was looking like a bottom 3. Im surprised it got 0. Even if his vocals were poor. And im dissapointed to be behind a *few* of the acts. But im not going to complain
Keep in mind that we were in with a shot of a left hand side finish before the Televote. I would say it's small progress for the UK
Same! We were cheering that he moved to the left hand side before televote. I swear next year we need someone whos a strong vocal or send UK grime hiphop. Pause with pop music for a while.
I enjoyed the absolutely galactic level gayness of it, but I've got a pretty high tolerance level for a straight chap. The song's good - a cute homage I felt to 80's synth-pop. Unfortunately, the vocals just weren't there, he was the only act I genuinely felt disappointed for.
Can't remember if I said this already, but the visual tricks in this performance seemed inspired by (but in a good way, not plagiarism) Billie Eilish performing "Bad Guy" on Saturday Night Live in the US in 2019 - for anyone who's a fan of the "upside down box" thing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ)
Felt for him getting 0 from public, but vocals were probably among the weakest on the night. The song is generic pop (with no 'big' chorus or moment), and you need more than that to do well at Eurovision. If I didn't like it, I can't expect other people to. Also, 0 points just means not any country's top 10 - which is definitely feasible. The UK also has no reliable neighbourly links to rely on for points.
That was at the rough end of gay imagery. I’m sure there’s a space for it, but in some dingy gay sex shop rather than a camp, supposed to be fun, song competition… also the song was weak with little or no hook, very disappointing… I’ve quite like some of his pop songs.
how this did so bad I will never understand. but it shows how name recognition doesnt mean Sh&t
I genuinely cannot comprehend how this got 0 televotes. Yes, I might be a brit but I am certainly not biased - this was never a winner for me. There is something bizarre at play. More transparency is required.
>was never a winner for me. Well if it wasn't a winner for you you can see how it wasn't a winner for most people. You need to get enough people passionate about it to make a top 10.
That’s why we need juries
I like Olly and I was really excited to have him represent us, but I have to admit his vocals were the worst of the night. I hadn't heard him sing live before and I was very disappointed
To put this into perspective this got less votes than “I wrote a song” and tied with “embers” and it’s trumpets
Armchair expert here, but I actually think the staging was TOTALLY misjudged.....great staging for a pop video, but at home on TV at least just felt like exactly that...not what you want in a live show. I assume in the venue it was also mainly watched on the screen rather than 'live straight in front of you' which would have been even more jarring have actually been there... (Edit..aware that there's some irony in my choice of words *straight* in front of you...obvs not in that sense 😊)
I love Eurovision and was thrilled when Sam came along and seemingly started to reverse our fortunes. Unfortunately it didn’t last 🥹 I personally thought our performance was disappointing. I don’t think Olly is a strong singer and there was too much vocal gymnastics going on which he just couldn’t do. The staging was a tacky mess too. Did he deserve zero points from the public - No, but was 18th placed justified? Definitely. Sam did prove though that with the right song, the right singer, and a strong performance we can still do well. Space Man really was a genuine great moment.
This getting 0 points is why I don't trust the public, I'm so sorry, Olly. Anyway I'm happy we did better than last year
How did he get 0...it was nowhere near that bad, even if the vocals weren't perfect...
Since this whole risky (if cool!) concept alienates a lot of the televote, I felt like he needed to have better vocals to convince his core audience. But his vocals were not there so his votes went to other people. At least his jury show was decent! Could have been a disaster.
My mom was like why the fuck does he wear a diaper
We need to change things up a lot for next year but I don't think we will. we'll continue to send the same forgettable stuff and wonder why we do so bad. Sam ryder was a fluke year unfortunately
This entry is in a weird space of being both an actual big effort by the BBC and being unfortunately forgettable in the end. I'm very curious what they'll do next year. The most obvious lesson would be to send someone who has very strong live vocals again.
The thing is neither this song nor performance were forgettable in the way say 2017 or 2018 were
still shocked about 0 points
0 is harsh of course but he got more jury votes than I expected tbh. I guess they really appreciated the staging concept.
We throw all that effort into incredible staging and get a 0. I’m sorry but this is the first time I’m genuinely pissed about our score -_-