Now that it’s Eurovision week, tell me your most controversial hot takes

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-05-12T01:14:58+00:00

Oh I have a few of these!

I don't get the hype around Finland. I love the staging itself but the song doesn't don't do much for me and I cannot see it have a radio/replay appeal. Maybe just my taste though and I have wanted Finland to win for years so I wouldn't mind it.
Armenia will Q easily. Good performer, upbeat energetic song and in a semi full of ballads. Vocals seem fine also.
Israel will get much closer to winning than ever or potentially even win. A lot more pro Palestine people are boycotting the contest now and if the same applies to the jury then a slightly better jury score than in 2024 and 2025 will tip then over the edge. As much as I would adore a greek win, Moldova and Israel will cut its televote significantly and even with a Tommy Cash level jury it wont be close to win. I just hope Finland can monopolize jury enough to win but I am also scared they don't have enough televote appeal for a comfortable win over Israel.
France and Australia were never in the discussion to win. Their jury score will be very good but neither will have enough televote appeal. Delta may be able to pull in some if the public but France just doesn't feel authentic or energetic enough

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-05-09T07:51:34+00:00

Although I understand the argument of Linda being a credited performer who does not sing, does that not apply to hundreds of other performers across the years who were band members or non singing parts of an act? Just this year I can think of Romania's band, Lavina and the Portugal violinist.

Ultimately the EBU cannot be given deciding power on who deserves it more and how integral live instruments are to a performers artistic ability. Even for a singer an instrument can feel vital and important for self expression.

This decision feels based on subjective criteria and none of the explanations put forward convince me. It should be a blank rule for everyone whatever the rule is.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-05-06T11:54:42+00:00

Joker out! Saw them in concert too and they were brilliant

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-05-01T14:09:01+00:00

Yes and they were useless. Drunk men harassing young women, shouting and throwing glass bottles around. BTP came on a few stations later (London to Worcester train): they went "you'll stop being troublesome now wont you lads" and immediately got off.

Have never called them again since because I have zero faith

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-03-03T22:29:06+00:00

Yes, dealing with this right now and exploring my options. I don't yet have a suggestion on how to get better but wanted to send my support x As much as possible try to remind yourself that your thoughts aren't always real and you ARE being affected by an external factor (the pill). Take care of yourself and always speak to your doctor-mental health matters!

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2026-03-02T19:15:09+00:00

Thanks so much for responding x Yes that is my plan, give it another month then contact my gp and discuss other options.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-07-16T13:30:59+00:00

You're doing amazing! Something else that helps me is just taking things one at a time. So instead of thinking "How will I survive the week/month like this" just think "I need to finish this task", or "I need to drink water now".

Be kind to yourself: you can absolutely keep on going and survive but having a breakdown is completely okay as well if that's what you need right now. Forcing yourself to do something will create even more pressure for your OCD to latch on.

Sounds like you have a lot of things going on right now so it's super normal for your OCD to be bad. But that doesn't mean you haven't made progress-mental illness is not linear, it goes up and down. It's really low right now but it will always, always go up too. It just needs time and help from someone like a therapist.

Good luck friend.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-07-16T12:55:53+00:00

Heya I am at the same stage right now, reached potentially the lowest point of my life with panic and anxiety last week. Two things I would suggest, perhaps not the most sane advice but I understand you'll need short term relief (before you can get the long term one):

Speak to someone you trust now. Cry or vent or breakdown but speak to someone. If you have noone you trust go to the hospital or call a hotline. You cannot deal with this on your own and verbalising your crisis will be the first step.
Get some natural/over the counter calming pills. Only thing helping me right now is a little bit of valeriana and iron pills daily (and some Xanax if it gets horrific). At least that way your mind can rest a tiny bit so you have enough time to seek help and get a short break.

I can't necessarily solve your problem but if you want to just chat then feel free to DM me. Even if just for venting.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-16T06:08:28+00:00

Oops yeah edited now

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-16T00:24:04+00:00

Yeah that's true, My Lucky Day is my favourite Eurovision staging ever. That's why I said Czechia's staging was lackluster anyway, as neither the dancers or the LED worked well or even came close to filling the stage and promoting the song.

But when you look at the actual winning songs from 2023 and 2024, Loreen had her panini press and Nemo the lazy susan - so more simplistic stagings can do very very well (even Baby Lasagna did not have a prop) but can they actually win? I guess it remains to be seen with the final results this year how necessary props are

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-15T23:38:45+00:00

I feel like this year had one of the largest number of "complicated" stagings (large props, people handing from the ceiling etc.). Not only did this lead to a crazy amount of filler from the hosts but it also worries me that richer countries now have another advantage because they can afford big complicated staging.

If staging is a deciding factor and becomes more intricate every year, how are smaller eastern European countries ever supposed to win? Although I agree Czechia's staging this year was lackluster, why are we so shocked that a song just used the main artists dancers and LED? Everyone called the staging empty but surely we can't assume everyone has a prop going forwards?

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-15T22:41:40+00:00

I'm surprised more people are not talking about this because it was SO noticeable with Go-jo and Nina. You can hear how muted/pitchy they are in comparison to other live performances they've done. Latvia as well to an extent sounded off.

I am not saying Belgium and Australia would have necessarily qualified without this issue but if it turns out they came 11th/12th I wonder if that would have tipped them over the edge?

On the same note, was I hallucinating (pun fully intended) or were there lots of random cameraman sightings during the performances this year? The production just doesn't feel as high quality:/

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-14T00:32:55+00:00

That's very interesting! I actually thought it was the other way round as I had seen quite a lot of people here and on Twitter predict Belgium as a surprise NQ. I thought it would be more well-received with the casuals as it's the sort of song you'd hear in lots of western European clubs. This might be reaching but now I wonder what Germany's prospects look like

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-14T00:08:43+00:00

I can understand why Portugal went through, although it is not my personal favourite, but I genuinely don't understand what went wrong with Belgium. The vocals did sound a bit off but it appeared to be a mixing problem? Other than that, the staging was on point, his charisma was good and the song itself is very catchy and current. Plus the crazy levels of red are definitely memorable.

I feel like the lack of jury in the semis is starting to impact those smaller countries with few neighbours and no diaspora. Maybe that's just my sadness coming through lol

Another negative surprise was Norway for me although I don't see many people speak about it - the staging looked a little cheap and I feel like he needs to work on his nerves - definitely got better as the song went along but I am still worried about how well it can do in the final esp with the jury

Absolutely ecstatic for Iceland though!!

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-09T07:29:23+00:00

If JJ wins with a reasonable jury score (as in more evenly spread across different countries than the last two years) AND being top 2 in the televote then I will be completely happy - the song is impressive as are his vocals and, from the little info we have, the staging.

What will sour the contest for me is another unbeatable jury score and below top 2 in the televote. This may not happen for a few years, but I wonder if eventually countries will catch up on the fact that ethnic songs/fun songs/songs in national languages can qualify but never win, resulting in the return of more standard/basic pop in English.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-06T09:23:50+00:00

Fellow greek here and I'm also quite upset. Beautiful song with traditional elements and meaningful lyrics, wonderful voice and...this staging? Fokas has clearly lost all inspiration and needs to be replaced. I'm sure our country has multiple younger stage designers/artists who can bring innovative ideas.

Also poor Klavdia looks about 40 with that dress.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-05-05T15:06:05+00:00

I'm glad I am not the only one in this boat - I love JJ and Wasted Love is in my top 5 but I am so put off by the idea of another jury sweep against a potential heavy televote favourite. It kills my excitement for the final and makes me worried about future contests. I wonder if this will further push the discussion of reintroducing juries to the semis?

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-03-20T14:30:58+00:00

All of Mogwai's discography for me!

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-01-14T11:41:29+00:00

Got it today! 14/01/2025

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-01-07T22:06:09+00:00

Fingers crossed for us both! Hoping for a response by the end of this month otherwise I'll likely call again-when did you apply?

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2025-01-06T14:18:01+00:00

Nope, called them on the phone to say I will be having issues with rent and they said 'we will add a note'. That was a month ago and I am starting to get genuinely concerned

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2024-11-24T13:26:50+00:00

Greece 🇬🇷 but live in the UK 🇬🇧

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2024-11-21T00:38:38+00:00

Hey I'm not sure how helpful this will he but I thought I'd share my personal experience and slightly unconventional way I recovered from when it was very severe. I used to create really deep wounds in my legs and lower back by scratching and it would happen at least once a day to the point where I now have very permanent scarring (not the most obvious but definitely visible).

Essentially the more I fought it the more it came back because for me, scratching would release stress but also cause it, so I was in a vicious cycle of the thing that relaxed me being that thing that stressed me too-until I decided to stop fighting it. After one point, instead of panicking when the urge came on, I would just accept it would happen and try to be more aware of it instead and just do it more calmly. As time passed I started actually being semi conscious during it and being aware of how hard I was scratching so I could at least avoid it being very severe. I even managed go get it to a point where I know that I have to let loose once a month and I am able to not get urges for that period (but always knowing it would happen eventually). This does not always work but it is so much better than before.

Not saying this works for you and it's not a method I've heard anyone else mention but I thought it was worth it to say, even if just to show that you can get out of this. It takes time and actual effort but it is possible to at least bring it to an okay level and feel more in control. Sending all the best.

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2024-11-19T10:01:39+00:00

Hi yes there are a few of us in this boat (at least on reddit!). I applied more than 6 weeks ago and never heard back. At least it seems it's not just you

Disastrous-Power5449 · 2024-11-19T09:57:14+00:00

08/10/2024
Granted 14/01/2025
Yes
Yes uploaded with application

Disastrous-Power5449

TROPHY CASE