Eurovision 2019 – Some countries are making an early start on their preparations for Israel 2019! France has announced that it will once again use the selection programme Destination Eurovision after last year’s success, and has already opened submissions.
You can submit your application HERE.
Malta is also off and underway with auditions already as this year it intends to select its representative from X Factor Malta. According to media outlet Malta Today, pop-up audition booths have already taken place in PAVI Supermarket and Valletta yesterday and the PAMA shopping centre today, and will continue over the next few weeks. The location of the booths will change on a weekly basis and will be announced at the start of the week on X Factor’s social media platforms.
Meanwhile Italy has announced its dates for next year’s San Remo music festival, where the Eurovision representative is usually selected. Festival di Sanremo 2019 will be held 5th to the 9th of February 2019.
Sweden has also made an initial announcement about its national selection programme, Melodifestivalen. The opening date for submissions will be August 31st 2018 and run for three weeks.
No songs can be presented before September 1st 2018 so it’ll be some time yet until we start hearing chosen artists and their entries.
In this year’s Eurovision Times FRIDA awards, France won ‘Best National Final’ with 55.7% of the vote. Will they be as successful this year?
This pretty much sums up my experiences with the public administration…
You mean public administration in Denmark? Have you ever heard about the Greek public administration? :)
Btw, for some reason I always preferred Asterix comics to Asterix movies :)
The comics are indeed better. Actually I think most movies based on comics are disappointing. I just love this scene :)
Btw. I love that they are looking for Permit No. A-38. In Denmark A-38 is a sort of yoghurt-like product.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
I don’t know how to incorporate tweets… sorry… :)
Making some atmosphere for the upcoming, and much anticipated, ETSC edition :)
The beginning sounds like a fado :)
Never thought about it, but could be :P
I am completely stressed about that. I am leaving next Tuesday and still no info about it…
I’m slightly worried too, tbh.
As current winner perhaps you can make an inquiry? :)
I’ll try to :P
But, I guess it’s all up to Morgan :)
I am OFFICIALLY on summer break as of today noon! Though I have agreed to give summer classes for adults trying to get back to uni this late july (23rd and 24th) I’m almost completely off the hook! However, as I am going to Cuba from 1st to 15th of August, it might be very short notice for ETSC!
Tell me if you need a helping hand. I’m quite used to organizing these things by now :)
thx for the offer!
Ok :) We have 20 days then if you are up for it :)
for the winner’s sake, it has to happen!
Thank you!!! :))
Where are you heading to?
The Ionian Sea. Lefkas and then Ithaca :)
Two summers in a row we’ve been to same destinations. Last year with Alonnisos and this summer with Leukada :P
I love those coincidences. Let’s hope we don’t start arousing Hjallis again :-P
Lol !
You wish! As I know capabilities of both of you in this fine art, I can assure this hardly counts as foreplay 😃
Thanks for the link. :)
I hope he’ll get through his health issues. :(
Hopefully!
“Fuego” certified gold in Spain!
Nice one 😃
France vs. Belgium
France: selected players (according to ESC channel)
My ranking:
1958 André Claveau “Dors, mon amour” (2/5)
1960 Jacqueline Boyer “Tom Pillibi” (2/5)
1978 Joël Prévost “Il y aura toujours des violons” (3/5)
1981 Jean Gabilou “Humanahum” (3/5)
1990 Joëlle Ursull “White and Black Blues” (3/5)
1991 Amina “C’est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison” (3/5)
1962 Isabelle Aubret “Un premier amour” (4/5)
1977 Marie Myriam “L’Oiseau et l’Enfant” (5/5)
1976 Catherine Ferry “Un, deux, trois” (5/5)
1969 Frida Boccara “Un jour, un enfant” (5/5)
Average: 3,5
Belgium: selected players (according to ESC channel)
My ranking:
1986 Sandra Kim “J’aime LE vie” (1/5)
2010 Tom Dice “Me and My Guitar” (1/5)
2003 Urban Trad “Sanomi” (1/5)
1982 Stella “Si tu aimes ma musique” (1/5)
2017 Blanche “City Lights” (2/5)
2016 Laura Tesoro “What’s the Pressure” (2/5)
1966 Tonia “Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel” (2/5)
2015 Loïc Nottet “Rhythm Inside” (3/5)
1978 Jean Vallée “L’amour ça fait chanter la vie” (3/5)
1998 Mélanie Cohl “Dis oui” (5/5)
Average: 2,1
You are quite harsh with some of them :P
Some players do not deserve to be in a world cup. You must be really really good. :)
‘Dis oui’ is among my least favourite Belgian entries.
I like 1956 (Fud) and 1968 best. :)
56 and 68 are not in the ESC Channel Top 10 :(
“Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel” – 4/12
“J’aime la vie” – 6/12
“Si tu aimes ma musique” – 6/12
“L’amour ça fait chanter la vie” – 6/12
“Me And My Guitar” – 7/12
“What’s the Pressure” – 7/12
“Dis oui” – 8/12
“Sanomi” – 8/12
“Rhythm Inside” – 10/12
“City Lights” – 10/12
Ouch… #Theresa May :P
What a mess … and I remember admiring British politics when I was young. :(
I always thought that British politics is probably the most interesting in Europe. I am a fan since… “Yes, Minister”, back in the 80’s!!! :D
Btw, here’s a comment I read in El País.
“Londres ya parece una guardería. No hay adultos en el gobierno?” :P
I think it’s more like a bunch of evil clowns. :(
They are all morally rotten to the core.
Spain has another ‘guardería’ ruling the country – Sanchez would sell his own mother to remain in power.
I’m afraid that I couldn’t disagree more regarding Spain, Shevek. Anything but those PP thugs is a way better solution.
:) I know you would say that. Sanchez is a dangerous man with few principles other than his own agenda. PSOE and the PP are two sides of the same coin, I’m afraid. Spain is at a crossroads and it must decide what it wants – Podemos and the nationalists are not the solution either. I can only hope Rivera and Ciudadanos know how to avoid the traps that made PSOE and the PP what they are now.
Well, I’d say that we fully disagree in every aspect on this and leave it here ;) :P
Don’t be fooled by a pretty face, he’s just as hollow as Pablo Casado is. Thye should marry each other. LOL
Ciudadanos <3
Reality is setting in and May knows the dangers the British are facing. It’s time to be a leader – if the Tories split in two, than so be it.
*then, so be it.
@Hjallis,Fyffes makes its comeback and watch one of those dancing boys:
We both know that there is some quality fyffes in those silver pants 😃
Just came back from a bar where I had a beer… They had “Dance You Off” on their playlist :)
Did you start dancing? Doing your Benjamin impersonation?
No way. You cannot even remotely imagine how bad of a dancer I am ;)
My semi final scores (last 10 entries)
France vs. Belgium 4-6
2009 France (by far!)
2010 Belgium
2011 Belgium
2012 France
2013 France
2014 France
2015 Belgium
2016 Belgium
2017 Belgium
2018 Belgium
Croatia vs. England (United Kingdom) 5-5
2007 Croatia
2008 Croatia
2009 United Kingdom
2010 Croatia
2011 Croatia
2012 United Kingdom
2013 United Kingdom
2016 United Kingdom
2017 United Kingdom
2018 Croatia
France vs. Belgium 4-6
2009 France
2010 Belgium
2011 France
2012 France
2013 France
2014 Belgium (sigh)
2015 Belgium
2016 Belgium
2017 Belgium
2018 Belgium
Croatia vs. England (United Kingdom) 6-4
2007 Croatia (sigh)
2008 Croatia
2009 United Kingdom
2010 Croatia
2011 United Kingdom
2012 United Kingdom
2013 Croatia
2016 Croatia
2017 United Kingdom
2018 Croatia
I still prefer Twin Twin to the 2014 abomination
Same here.
Check…

Is this a kind of a hint? :P
Yes. Patiently waiting :)
Great news from Thailand!
https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/36892513_637648659938133_6487078329970065408_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=b3cdbbc5dfe56756f793118b69dd083f&oe=5BE0C76F
Is that De Bruyne on the right? Those rosy cheeks… :P
I can be totally relaxed tonight because I like both teams. :)
At the end of the day, I would prefer to see a small country win the trophy … but only if they are the best team too.
Good luck to both teams :)
I won’t be able to watch it, because it is being broadcast by Tv2. I am at my parents’ house, and they can only watch DR’s channels (having only an ordinary TV antenna). Tv2 is only accessible via satellite or cable TV. I have tried to buy Tv2play for my computer, but it turns out it doesn’t work with Linux :(
Made a France vs Belgium ranking now for tonight (first ten years), with some comments as well. Good luck to both teams!
1956
Belgium: “Messieurs les noyés de la Seine” – Fud Leclerc: One of my all-time favourite Eurovision entries. Gorgeously dark and gritty, with some cynical yet poetic lyrics. I also love how it sort of transforms into a march in the verses. (12/12)
Belgium: “Le plus beau jour de ma vie” – Mony Marc: “Ding dong, ding dong”. We got that already in the first ESC edition. Yet another old-fashioned chanson but this is more dull than most of the others. And perhaps a bit too sweet as well. (5/12)
France: “Le temps perdu” – Mathé Altéry: Really a song from another age, but it has just because of that some ye goode olde days charm over it. Pretty song and singing but perhaps it lacks something to make it memorable. P.S. According to Wikipedia, the lyricist Rachèle Thoreau is still alive, 106 years old! Maybe the oldest ESC related person still alive? (7/12)
France: “Il est là” – Dany Dauberson: This one is quite far off from the other French entry in that it actually tries to be a bit more up to date. A sort of a clattery pop song which sounds rather fresh among the other songs, but would have needed more development for me to enjoy it more. (6/12)
1957
Belgium: “Straatdeuntje” – Bobbejaan Schoepen: The guy who nowadays has an amusement park named after him sings here a very lighthearted schlager tune with a memorable whistling part. Too bad it’s a pretty bad schlager imo that also turns quite annoying rather fast. (4/12)
France: “La belle amour” – Paule Desjardins: Out of all the early French chansons in the contest, this is one of my favourites. It’s especially the orchestration and how the mood switches between both dreamy and sort of haunting. (9/12)
1958
Belgium: “Ma petite chatte” – Fud Leclerc: Good old Fud is back with a strolling song with some pretty naughty lyrics. The melody kinda marches on without doing much and all in all, this is a disappointment after Fud’s first entry. (6/12)
France: “Dors, mon amour” – André Claveau: The song known among Eurovision fans as the one that robbed “Volare” of its victory. Personally, I think both these songs belong to the same category. It’s true that this slow entry almost works as a lullaby, but it is yet a pleasant lullaby and with a fine delivery. (6/12)
1959
Belgium: “Hou toch van mij” – Bob Benny: A repetetive and uninspired tune with lyrics that I could say the same about. Probably not awful but still quite boring and un-interesting. (4/12)
France: “Oui, oui, oui, oui” – Jean Philippe: If the Belgian entry is boring, this one is just annoying. Just get rid of his slappable smiley face and that constant “oui oui oui” running through the entire entry. I admit though that the lyrics, although a bit dumb (having imaginative dreams about his ship in a bottle) sort of work with the rest of the song, if we just ignore the “oui oui oui”. (3/12)
1960
Belgium: “Mon amour pour toi” – Fud Leclerc: Very fine lyrics to again an underwhelming and dull composition. Some minor jazz influences can be found here and there, methinks, but they don’t help bringing life to this composition. (5/12)
France: “Tom Pillibi” – Jacqueline Boyer: A cute song about compulsive liar named Tom Pillibi, with a composition that almost sounds like a toy march, adding some childish elements. Very well performed by Jacqueline as well. (7/12)
1961
Belgium: “September, gouden roos” – Bob Benny: It’s as if there are two songs combined into one here, I think. There is both a sad nostalgic tune and a more upbeat joyful one in the chorus. That gives some interesting charm to it, even if it never soars. (6/12)
France: “Printemps, avril carrillone” – Jean-Paul Mauric: The guy with the Zapatero eyebrows singing his binge bonge song about springtime. Swingy and with a light mood in a year which seemed to be full of springtime themed songs (Sweden and Monaco as well). But also all in all a quite empty song, thus getting annoying after a while. (4/12)
1962
Belgium: “Ton nom” – Fud Leclerc: Fourth goddamn time for Fud and once again, he enters with an ok but also a rather dreary entry. The lyrics could also have been a lot more interesting. (5/12)
France: “Un premier amour” – Isabelle Aubret: Yet another one of my all-time favourite ESC songs. The mysterious and almost hypnotic song is both fascinating and enchanting and gets a lot of its magic from Isabelle’s performance. Just amazing. (12/12)
1963
Belgium: “Waarom” – Jacques Raymond: Almost like a precursor of the Irish entries that would soon show up in Eurovision. A slow dance ballad with a swingy rhythm. All in all, a pleasant and relaxing melody with a fine mood. (7/12)
France: “Elle était si jolie” – Alain Barrière: A sad, charming and nostalgic melody performed well by monsieur Alain (and the Nameless Lady). Nothing to complain about but nothing to really praise either. It’s just a fine entry offering what it should. (8/12)
1964
Belgium: “Près de ma rivière” – Robert Cogoi: Once again a fine and ok chanson that almost reminds me of “Deux enfants au soleil” by Jean Ferrat here and there. Should have needed some variety in the composition and some better lyrics but I’m fine with it as it is. (6/12)
France: “Le chant de Mallory” – Rachel: A light little ballad about the first love with a soldier, cute and sweet. A memorable melody, as often when it comes to André Popp as the composer. (7/12)
1965
Belgium: “Als het weer lente is” – Lize Marke: Belgium decided to shock us by sending a female singer for once, and the juries hence fainted and forgot to vote for it. I don’t think they missed much though, a kinda anonymous song and also a pretty lukewarm performance. (5/12)
France: “N’avoue jamais” – Guy Mardel: I think Morgan told me once that this was one of the biggest French ESC hits of the 60’s which I don’t really get. The melody itself is ok but very nagging and also a bit uninspired. The verse on the other hand is better. (5/12)
Belgium – France 4-6
1956 Belgium (17/24 against 13/24)
1957 France
1958 France (sudden death)
1959 Belgium
1960 France
1961 Belgium
1962 France
1963 France
1964 France
1965 Belgium (sudden death)
You are a star! ;)
Allez Allez Kylian! 😘😘😘
How about Umtiti?
Pogba, Umtiti and Matuidi. 😘😜All of them
Gangbang!
Tolisso is nice as well.
I don’t know between Pavard and Griezmann… Maybe for his GORGEOUS blue eyes and the most amazing ass of the competition, I’d go for my true love, Antoine Griezmann <3
Also Henry and Evra from the older guys!
Henry was coaching Belgium grr
You can give them a job. Are you aware of the photo he has taken with Kylian when he was a kid?
Yes I saw that in the news!
Congrats to France but i’m sad for Belgium. :(
For the first time in the competition, France beat a team that was its equal in terms of football level, both in the sheet and on the field!
Baguette > Waffles
Congrats, France and Morgan! :)
Congratulations to France. What a splendid defence they had tonight. It was like a work of art. :)
However, I am a bit upset that the referee did not decide free kick after the foul against Hazard. That could have been Belgium’s chance to make it 1:1. :(
France had an Argentinian referee against Uruguay after the 4-3 and an Uruguayan referee after the 2-0… Belgian referee in the final? ;)
There isn’t a Belgian referee in Russia … Mr. Kuipers would be closest … :)
Congrats to France! A really good match overall and deserved win!
Deschamps’ choices for this match were brilliant! Since he took care of the team, it’s quarterfinals in 2014, finals in 2016 and 2018! also, he got a great young squad but he really did something with them (Hernandez, Pavard…)
Bravo!
Pavard said in an interview with German TV that the Swabian virtues made him the player he is today. :)
Yes and Griezmann, who was taught football in la Sociedad said he had Latinamerican culture of football, especially Uruguay (Godin is the gofather of his child!)
Indeed! Pavard has been such a good choice, what a revelation! And I love that he plays with Mbappe in the first 11, he made a bit of a show tonight too! :D
Congratulations to France. Sadly I couldn’t follow the match, but the next semi will be broadcast by DR :)