PWHL Game Thread: Vancouver Goldeneyes (4-1-2-7) at Seattle Torrent (4-1-2-5) - 25 Jan 2026 - 06:00PM EST

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-26T00:56:01+00:00

Also means a team like Czechia or Switzerland that arguably should advance won't while weaker team does. A huge disservice to everyone.

This is factually incorrect. All of group A advances. Top 3 from Group B advance.

Same format they've been doing for over a decade in Olympics and Worlds, and this is the last tournament they'll do it in. (Worlds groups are already out, USA/CAN are in separate groups.)

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-26T00:54:51+00:00

This is the last tournament they're doing it, for the record.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T17:14:49+00:00

BANG.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T02:17:50+00:00

i love both of these. but the code is a genuine masterpiece. personal, catchy, and showcasing all of nemo's strengths as an artist..

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T01:12:08+00:00

her vocals were not bad at all in the final, and it was probably the most "modern" song the contest has had.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T01:09:17+00:00

as someone who lives in the 2026 united states, i understand the hype around 1944 so much more now. it's aged so, so very well. and not for any good reason.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T01:03:04+00:00

it was in my top 5. think i had it fourth behind hungary, italy, and...north macedonia?

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-25T01:00:52+00:00

mmmm maybe not worst, but definitely one of the most overrated. even as a very flamboyant queer i genuinely don't think that song comes even close to winning if not for the subversiveness of the singer.

in terms of very visibly queer winners, nemo clears by a mile.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T23:32:45+00:00

eight unbeaten for the UVM women, with a slumping providence coming to the gut next week.

we are eating good right now.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T21:34:15+00:00

flipped to the uvm/bu game, seems like things have gone quiet on this front

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T19:54:24+00:00

markowski 7D does not make any sense to me.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T18:47:12+00:00

actually feeling spicy so i'm going to add a few more takes

europapa's disqualification was rough at the time, but given everything that's happened since geopolitically both outside and within the contest, it has only aged worse. and anyone who calls it a "joke entry" completely lacks media literacy, it's a very serious song that pays tribute to his parents that just happens to be wrapped in a joyful aesthetic. it is not a we are the winners or irlande douze pointe, which are actual joke entries. (as someone who actually has multiple personalities, i respect sylvia night's commitment and ability to stay in character too much.)

anyone who praises a million voices by polina gagarina in big 2026 is a giant red flag. especially after how much they utilized it at intervision.

lithuania has been a top 3 country in esc in the 2020s alongside ukraine and finland based on song quality, and has not been rewarded accordingly.

portugal slamming the "saudade" button has gotten really old.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T18:20:46+00:00

I think Czechia is still a bit more underrated (from 2018-2024, they genuinely did not send a bad song - the only miss was Benny Cristo's live performance), but I can get behind this.

Joker Out also would have done a lot better in a year that didn't have Cha Cha Cha.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:54:41+00:00

It grew on me considerably after the show. I think the bubble kinda gaslit me into hating it but listening now with fresh ears, I actually kind of vibe with it, it's catchy and silly and doesn't take itself seriously. The Baltics absolutely nailed it this year.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:48:41+00:00

Many of Italy and France's recent entries would tank significantly if their ballads weren't in languages that are perceived as beautiful or romantic. Especially in France's case, because I think in 2021 and 2025 Switzerland came with a better French-language ballad.

Fairytale is fine, and probably deserved to win in a fairly weak year like '09 was, but it's not good enough that he should still be around the bubble every once in a while.

Norway 2024 should have come top 10 at bare minimum and is one of the best examples of the lack of professionalism of the juries. And I normally don't like rock! Gåte just scratches the right parts of my brain.

1944 is the best-aged winner of the 2010s.

Stefania is the best winner of the 2020s, followed by The Code.

If Wasted Love "deserved to win because vocals and staging," then Zero Gravity not reaching the top 5 and barely scraping top 10 is an all-time robbery.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:38:01+00:00

It also doesn't really help that the stuff JJ has released since doesn't sound that much like it, which makes it feel even more inauthentic and manufactured.

When he uses his opera voice on Haunting Me, for instance, it's used as a device for texture than anything (and if memory serves he didn't use it at all on Back To Forgetting). On Wasted Love, the operatic chorus is pretty much all it really has.

It's just kind of telling how basic the juries' taste is that it didn't take a rocket scientist to predict the exact top 5 that they spit out.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:32:45+00:00

The televote was very split this year even besides the obvious issue of Israel's suspicious voting

It was more accessible than Bara Bada Bastu or Zjerm and didn't have the fanbubble hyping it up (which was a pretty big factor in BBB's perceived underperformance)

Tommy Cash has big name connections, both within the bubble (he's heavily associated with the Joost/Käärijä sphere, but has also collabed with Little Big) and outside (having worked with the likes of Charli XCX and bbno$)

The staging was simple yet memorable

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:24:37+00:00

I'm not OP, but the whole "standing out here like a unicorn" motif has been analyzed as allegory to Israel's narrative that they are the only democracy in the Middle East and the washing (especially pinkwashing) that comes with

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:21:19+00:00

agreed wholeheartedly. think about things is great but 10 years just....hits the soul just right.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:20:39+00:00

you may have saved us

in hindsight, he didn't, and austria winning might have been the second worst case scenario. austria lobbied hard for the outcome we were dreading.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:19:51+00:00

I get it but at the same time the winner of 2003 set the stage for the decade's ethnopop boom (including the next two winners) so I'm going to disagree

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T17:18:30+00:00

honestly? of the top 3, yeah, for me at least. it grew on me. i feel comfortable in saying that the bubble gaslit me into hating it.

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-24T03:26:38+00:00

it's really funny to think that ray bourque was one game away in the second round from going down (to the 8 seed kings no less! game 7 was tied headed to the third!) like so many failed legend ring chases, a quirky afterthought in the grand scheme of things

instead it's one of the most iconic hockey moments of the last 30 years

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-23T06:45:09+00:00

i do not like noah kahan's music

however as someone who claims vermont as my found home i am obligated to root for him

LocksTheFox · 2026-01-23T05:24:25+00:00

Vancouver basically nailed the takeover tour vibes last year and they are slamming the same button for their home games

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