Eurovision Rants

[Rant] Eurovision 2020 - Alternatives, a huge fiasco and a lot of picky lads

(It's been a while, fellow pals. Now let's do what we're supposed to do.)

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Alright, guess this is my first post in I don't know how long.

A welcome back to all the readers and a big hello to the newer lads! In case you may not know, this book is all about ranting on different subjects related to contemporary (or vintage from time to time) Eurovision, plus other fun facts and personal opinions of mine.

Unless you were living in a box as an europal, you probably heard the news from a while ago that the contest was going to witness for the very first time a whole cancelled year due to the coronavirus spreading around like mad crazy. Needless to say, people were sad, but mostly understanding about the situation.

And others were extremely mad and demanded to move it quick to the online world.

(because Eurovision is so mandatory to keep people happy and jolly, that being...)

Anyway, we're here to talk all about it. Personal experiences, actual sightings, and sincerely what could've been done.

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To put some things into retrospective, Eurovision Song Contest had been running for a whole 64 years. That's a long time. 64 years without any cancelled edition, in spite of other dangers or controversies. Just imagine that.

Now, 2020 happened.

And now, a little thing called COVID-19 exists and circles around. And yet, this virus managed to cancel or delay indefinitely every single big thing on the whole globe. From soccer, to the Olympics and eventually the Eurovision themselves.

So... what the hell is going on and why so many people are mad?

Apparently many wanted to delay the contest a tad bit till summer or late autumn-early winter. Because, sure, why not?

Their main reason is the effort put into the songs by the singers themselves, the producers, composers, so on and so forth. Which is understandable, sincerely speaking. Some artists may not even return a second time (besides the already confirmed for 2021).

But let's be real: COVID-19 won't go away whenever people please. We don't know how the virus will return for a second wave or if it's going to be more powerful than it is right now. It's not like as if EBU decided to cancel it and call it a year. It's a global situation and some people are so damn clueless about it.

A second possibility was to move it online. You know, just give a recap, maybe them singing their songs at home, and people to vote as if it's the regular ESC and eventually find a winner.

But... wouldn't that be a bitch slap to the host country, which worked hard to make everything good and to offer the actual experience? One is to feel the Eurovision weeks wholeheartedly, the other is just listening to a 30 seconds recap sitting on the couch as a lazy madman and hope to the patron saint of the contest that your favorite is gonna win. It didn't feel fair to The Netherlands. They waited for so long to win and were more than happy to host in Rotterdam.

What did EBU do?

Cancel the whole year.

Which didn't sit well with the troupe which heavily advocated for the issues mentioned above. They kept on babbling about how the songs are gonna go to waste, that we wouldn't know about results and who was gonna win in the end, blah blah blah.

Now hang on, are you a fan because you love the contest and everything it has or you're just up to see the results and that's it? Because that ain't really what a fan is. Seems like the results matter far more than everyone's safety concerns because "my country had so many chances to win and will never bring such a song ever again waAAAAaAA".

Eurovision first and foremost, besides entertainment and unity, it cares about people's safety. Contestants, delegations, fans... Literally everyone. It's not only a contest where it's hella dramatic due to the voting because "oh em gee politics!!!!!!!". It's literally meant to unite people no matter their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or skin colour.

I genuinely feel those people lost that identity and just focus on one tiny element of what makes Eurovision such an european powerhouse nowadays. And then trash talk about the results for a few days and then cry about wanting the contest back.

So, Eurovision didn't want to leave the whole year just go to waste. They still released the album + the karaoke versions and make several tiny spin-offs such as Europe Shine a Light (which is coming tomorrow) and Eurovision Home Concerts (a whole bunch of them, including current 2020 acts + previous alumni to sing other songs from the contest). And that's besides the Eurovision Song Celebration (which also revealed the running order for the semis) and the Nikki interviews with each contestant.

People kept complaining as if "it's not the same thing, we want the real thing back and we demand it back".

...Well, Karen, excuse me to break your bubble, but they're trying their best to still keep you entertained in front of your computer and yet you're still trying hard to complain? Just suck it up, buttercup - this edition is cancelled for real. There's no way they'd bring it back.

Anyway, so far we're on that singular day when the final is supposed to air.

But there'll never be a winner for Eurovision 2020.

And yet, this year is still somewhat controversial among the fandom, especially the ones accusing the rest of "not being real fans" because we accepted the reality and moved on in our Post Eurovision Depression corner.

Or that we don't accept their agenda. They simply think that endangering people's lives should be a step down because well, Eurovision! It's the biggest event in the world!

And yet, even if they're offered something, they still aren't happy with it.

Oh well.

Dear Karens (that goes on for both genders but I can't think of a male name so it remains Karen),

You're making a whole fandom ashamed by your blatant stupidity and lack of remorse towards the actual fans, hosts and the contestants alike.

If everyone's health isn't your concern and you're really pulling these stunts off just to see your country supposedly succeed because a bunch of people said so, and actually believing that your country won't ever in their lives send a good song in the future, then you're not a fan of Eurovision, you're just a pissy nationalist whining.

Long story short, shut the fuck up.

Signed, ALegitKebab.

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Remember to wash your hands and protect yourselves during this period of time.

We need more empathy and sane people on this globe.

Also, for my fellow europals, stay safe, this isn't the end of the world. <3