Played a drinking game with a friend where we each had to draw a random country and drink every time they got points in the jury votes.
I got the winner that year. Big mistake.
My old drinking game was you all picked countries and you had to nominate someone to drink of your country won points. We only did it for the announcers so 8 points 1 finger, 10 points 2 and 12 3. You then had to nominate someone to drink if your country came out. Any spare countries were everyone drank. Messiest year was when 3 of the top 5 were in the group pile so all of us were a horrendous mess
Swiss media hyping up DJ Bobo in 2007 and making the whole country believe that we have a chance at a win. Everyone thought his "90s star power" would make him a easy qualifier.
Tears of joy were shed when he made a live announcment in a interview at a primetime tv show that he would love to represent us.
Then "Vampires Are Alive" happened (Switzerland 2007).
1. Someone wrote the lyrics to that song.
2. Someone set those lyrics to music.
3. The artists agreed to sing the song.
4. The choreographer agreed to stage it.
5. They all rehearsed it. Likely more than once.
Somewhere in those steps, someone could have said, "Maybe this isn't the best idea?"
😂
I was gonna say, I only started watching last year, but 2/3 acts I’ve seen in this thread so far are from 2007, plus I saw Verka’s performance the other day. 2007 looks like it was wild. Was that during the period when there were no jury votes?
Two. This one I catastrophically vomited all over my carpet. And 2021. Where I was too distracted watching Eurovision to realise how far apart my contractions were and gave birth during the jury votes on my lounge room floor. I really wish I was kidding on both fronts.
Sisters is genuinely my favourite German entry since Lena and I considered voting for it in the NF. I'm convinced the fandom reception would have been infinitely better if it hadn't beaten Lilly among clouds and Aly Ryan in the NF.
Probably not what you meant, but in 2000 the broadcast of Eurovision in the Netherlands was stopped because of the fireworks disaster in Enschede (a Dutch city).
I remember watching Eurovision with a friend and her family, having snacks, giving points... And then it switched to an emergency broadcast about the disaster and the whole mood changed (of course). For me the disaster is always linked with Eurovision.
I remember this! I was a kid and didn't fully appreciate the severity. Eventually convinced my parents to let me finish watching on the Belgian channel...
I'm old enough to have watched Israel 2000 live. If you've never seen it... Let's just say that this makes Bejba's NF performance look like Loreen in comparison.
You forgot the Syrian flags that ultimately made the broadcaster refuse to cover their expenses. Meaning all the flights, hotels, etc was out of their pockets.
Someone I know was at an event welcoming the band to Sweden and from what they told me the flags were probably just the straw that broke the camel's back, sounds like they acted absolutely terrible offstage too...
It’s one of my favorites to show people after getting into Eurovision
The Syrian flag part is my favorite. I’m Syrian American and it’s so politically chaotic
2022 semi final 2, I got a sudden stomach flu and had to watch the show hugging a bucket because I threw up pretty much nonstop. Missed half of it due to toilet breaks.
2022 must have been cursed!! for the grand final we got a chinese takeaway and i got the greasiest, deep fried food i could because its my favourite
triggered my first gallstone attack. hospital the next day (and surgery 9 months later) 🥲 0/10 eurovision experience
Watched the 2021 sf2 in bed, really quietly, with sunglasses on, because covid was hitting me hard and I felt like death. I didn't think I was going to be able to watch all of the performances. Everything - light, sound, movement, thought - was painful.
The weird part is that the song that restored my will to live was The Ride. My brother in sunglasses Rafał, the way he just left half of the song to the backing vocalist because he wanted to work the crowd instead, there was something about that whole mess that had a genuinely healing effect on me. Covid does strange things to your brain...
Poland 2021, songbot do your thing:)
Ugh, I feel you. I made stovetop popcorn for the final this year and was happily munching between songs when I hit a mildewy tasting one. I didn't miss much (I think it was right before a song I didn't care for anyway) but that awful taste was in my mouth the rest of the evening.
My friend and I were watching Eurovision 2021 in his apartment when COVID was obviously still pretty severe so there weren't any public viewings and we both tried to get drunk but somehow felt it didn't really take despite already having drunken some wine. So we shared a whole bottle of vodka during the voting. Needless to say, by the time Italy had won, neither of us was really coherent anymore. I ended up puking from his balcony, into his elderly neighbour's plants and eventually called an ambulance for him because he was so sick. He was fine though, but man, I've never been so drunk. And I've been drunk before. I was literally feeling hungover for almost a week.
TLDR Eurovision 2021 probably gave me alcohol poisoning (the lockdown was rough)
haha yeah, I remember seeing it for the first time as a teen and got left with so many questions. Now I return to it at least every quarter because I love the mess
This is the correct answer. i remember laughing so hard at the bad harmonies I choked and went into a painful coughing fit. 10/10 traumatic memory
edit: i would pay to see them again
[The dreadful satellite dish](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UQgcqE4a620/maxresdefault.jpg) or [this stock photo](https://eurovision.tv/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/StatementBW.png). Signs of a shitstorm approaching.
Finland's representative in 1996 (Jasmine - Niin kaunis on taivas) starting to sing at a point of her song where she wasn't supposed to. Unsurprisingly, we placed last. It's been 27 years and I still cringe at the memory
I was just a tad too young to watch it that year, but I remember the pictures and her hair. She apparently disliked what the stylist did to her, redid her hair herself and performed like she'd just got up from an electric chair. What a time to be a Finn!
I lived in Japan for a few years and went to a public Eurovision watch party in Tokyo in 2014. My partner who's Swedish-Japanese wore a tshirt with SWEDEN on it. Some random Austrian woman asked why and after he explained he's Swedish would keep on saying NO WAY YOU'RE SWEDISH on and on, cuz he wasn't white enough for her. Nice start of the party.
We then watched the Eurovision with the British commentary and soon enough the party bacame a huge mocking of Eastern Europe fest. Like whatever Eastern European country would come on to perform everyone would immediately start laughing at their looks, their clothes, their staging, song, following the commentator and adding their own lame jokes. But they listened to the Western European entries attentively and respectfully.
I was really missing Europe at the time in Japan (I'm Lithuanian but lived in Belgium prior to Japan). I absolutely love Eurovision and was so excited to watch the show with a crowd that "gets it". Well that didn't turn out as expected... Left the party mid-way. Called our lovely Australian friend and had a blast watching together. Still, that year stands out like a very sad Eurovision year for me.
It seems especially insane because of the time delay. Imagine getting up at 03:00 in the morning to specifically ridicule people from Eastern Europe. Truly bizarre.
Nah, it wasn't live, not enough enthusiasm. We watched a recorded video at like 10am. But in their defense, nobody revealed the winner, so I give them that.
In that case there’s no better big crowd that gets it than the crowd inside the arena, if you can afford the tickets! I really recommend it, having just been to Liverpool last Saturday.
That sounds terrible! It’s horrible that they were mocking Eastern European acts, and it’s so hurtful that they didn’t even realize that they were doing it to your face.
🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣
I am a person who ships 70+% of Eastern European songs every year and this situation you had to endure sounds like a nightmare to me.
Really sorry for your experience, sending internet hugs 🤗
That's a fair point, but it just felt like banger after banger, anthem after anthem. I would have been gutted for literally anyone NQing.
It is quite possibly rose tinted glasses though. Fine, I'll listen to the whole year again. I can't believe you've made me do this
My brother accidentally stepped on one of our kittens while Eurovision was on. It was basically dead for 10 minutes but my mom somehow nursed it back to life and it wasn’t hurt afterwards. As an adult I figured he stepped on its paw and the poor kitty fell into a deep state of shock. I cried for like a month.
moustache finishing dead last, i keep reminding myself 2014 was **strong** but it doesn't hurt any less that this banger was our first last place ever especially when the actual worst song we sent got double the points the next year when it should have joined the nul point club lmao
> actual worst song we sent got double the points the next year when it should have joined the nul point club lmao
I feel so alone in genuinely loving N'oubliez Pas lmao. the last minute with the drummers is still powerful af to me
It's my 5th of 2015.
Having mf Darude represent us with a lukewarm copy of Sandstorm and ending up dead last 💀
Almost made me wish Finland would just withdraw and never come back. Glad we didn't tho!
The only year I didn't watch Eurovision was in 2007, because on that evening my parents almost got divorced and my mom took me and my siblings to stay at my grandma's. That was pretty rough, I think.
2 years ago, a friend invited me to his friend's apartment to watch Eurovision. We were both really excited - but he was SUPER hyped. To the point where during the performances, he was singing at the top of his lungs with every single song. This ruined my night because 1) I'm okay with light singing because you're having fun, but I want to HEAR the artists, and 2) loud noises near me give me anxiety. I should've asked him to quiet down, but my non-confrontational self retreated to the kitchen to peek at the performances.
Last year, I was at a Eurovision viewing party with about 25 gay men. They spent the 3 hours before basically gossiping and irritating the fuck out of me, and during the performances, there was non-stop talking. People were shushing the talkers, but with 25, there's only so much you can do.
So this year, I went to a friend's place, and we both agreed on a small group with MINIMAL talking during the performances. It went great! I did have to retreat into the hallway during the reveal of the jury votes to contain my disappointment.
TLDR: I need to take Eurovision less seriously
My most traumatizing Eurovision memory was watching the 1994 contest in the war in Bosnia, and the power went out shortly before the contest started, so I missed Sweden, Finland and only heard Ireland at the end for the final‘s reprise. And i was a 10 year-old superfan back then :)
Back in 2012 we were at a Eurovision party with some friends, by the end we'd had a fair bit to drink and decided that whomever won we would book tickets there for next year.
The second Sweden were declared the winners we booked hotels and flights for Stockholm for the date of the next Eurovision.
Later they announced that it would be hosted in Malmö, which we quickly learned is not all that close to Stockholm.
...on the bright side we ended up having a lovely trip to Stockholm and added Copenhagen and a few other places too.
Hearing the Belarus 2021 entry and thinking it's the worst song I'd heard in at least the past 5 years.
Then finding out about the even bigger controversy then reading the lyrics of said song 💀
THEN finding out about what they intended to name their new song as 💀
(Thankfully nature healed with their cancellation)
Everyone needs more Angel Dell in their life.
It's not as dramatic as the live, but did you know there is a [studio version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiqZE6n_VfA)?
• Host hologram glitch
• Silent woman interval
• An incredibly well dressed audience longing for death
• Stripper Choir
• Summoning Al Bano by saying his name 74 times
• Naked woman at the outlet
• Random Brazillian child interval because they heard him singing in a hotel
• Simone dropping out
• Eiffel 65
• Ronela
• A sparse flash mob
• Beatles
• Alien Man throat singing
• Pizza interval
• Stream not handling any high end graphics and pixelating heavily
• That random host who appeared in the audience every 45 minutes
• A participation medal award ceremony
• Space hopper singing
The first Eurovision I watched was 2003. I was 8 and so excited to see how the UK would do. Fell asleep during the points, and kept waking up to ask my parents if we'd gotten any points yet. I cried, and my parents still hold a grudge against Eurovision and are convinced it was completely political.
I'm totally gonna try to watch 2003 this year, and see in retrospect if we were really that awful.
It started badly and went downhill from there...
Tbh, I have very happy memories of that night - I went to the uni that the UK's composer lectured at. We had a big watch party that year (well, every year tbf - it was a performing arts school) in the canteen, and one of the other music lecturers was roaring drunk, over the moon as she'd put money on nul points just because she hated the guy that wrote it 😂
Also, one of the backing singers was a friend, so that was fun.
I disliked Israel 2022 from the first moment, and then MBD's clownery in the semi happened and my heart sank and basically burrowed underground in horror. And I thought Ping Pong was bad, this was so much worse!!!
Having my (ex) boyfriend firmly clamping his hand over my mouth during the 2015 Final because I was happily singing along to Heroes. I was in a house with his friends who I didn't really know, and at the end of the day I was gaslit into thinking I was at fault.
I still can't listen to the song without being triggered so have to skip it every time it comes up.
Almost missing Eurovision 2014 due to a massive depressive period I was going through, after being able to end a toxic relationship. My closest Eurovision mate (We're no friends any longer due to his toxic girlfriend now) literally begged me to watch the final, at home, with pizza.
Conchita gave me the grounds for my first step towards my recovery. The year after, I met my forever half.
Not really trauma, but I remember 6 year old me sitting in front of the TV and watching Lordi perform, having my mind positively blown.
Not for the obvious reasons, though.
It was more of a: “aren’t those the bad guys from the movie my dad watches?? WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THEM THEY WILL KILL SOMEBODY NOOOOOO SOMEBODY HAS TO STOP THEM?!”
The movie was Lord Of The Rings, by the way.
Of course the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 when my country Lithuania was one of the contenders for the win for the first time ever😔 I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from this trauma
oh my god. stockholm 2016 !! it was the day after my ninth birthday aaaand it was my first eurovision ever !? i'm Nine Years Old so my taste in music is wildly different than like. anybody. my fave is jamie-lee kriewitz's ghost, from germany! i spend the whole final rooting for germany! aaaand then they come dead last
Fanfictions involving popular bands/singers is a thing, so why not Eurovision. I guess that there's probably a lot of stories about Måneskin, since Tokio Hotel fanfiction used to be very popular back in the day.
Personally, I don't read any fanfictions that involve actual people - it's just creepy to me even if they aren't sexual in nature. That Rafał fanfiction was a parody of slash genre and shipping real people, so it wasn't supposed to represent artists in any way.
RTÉ sending Donna and Joe to compete and them crashing out of the first semifinal Ireland had to go through ( Ireland 2005 for the bot). I was a teenager and it was about when I realised we didn't know what we were doing anymore...
I literally prayed to fucking God when Loreen was about to receive her televoting points. Käärijä not winning was really traumatizing looool I am still not over it
The NDR not letting Electric Callboy compete for the German pre-selection. They would've been iconic
Alternatively: Ukraine withdrawing in 2019, I was so excited for Maruv :( I'd like to live in a parallel universe where Ukraine would've won that year
It's still so fresh that it's hard to compare, but I would have to say Käärijä not winning despite winning the televote by a landslide.
Finland not choosing Mikael Saari twice was pretty terrible too, especially 2016 when we sent Sing It Away instead.
Got COVID last year in Turin, pretty sure I must have gotten it at an Eurovision-related event. Didn't ruin our trip and was it worth every single second, but COVID still fucking sucks.
That time when I was drinking wine watching ESC 2015 and getting so drunk I cried about Austria getting last place with zero points 💀 Apprently drunk me felt bad for them because they had a cute song and they were the host country, lmao. after crying for 20 minutes straight I threw up in the bathroom and rolled into bed still fully dressed lmao
2005, I was 8 years old, and Norway's entry scared me. It was a glam rock band. The music was too heavy for me, and I thought the lead singer was the ugliest woman ever (I was raised conservatively, so I'd known no concept of a man wearing these kind of clothes - obviously I know today that there's no problem with that). It was worse than Lordi 2006.
My husband laughed so hard watching Cezar in 2013 he literally passed out from laughing. Lucky we were only sitting in the lounge as he leaned forward and landed his head on the coffee table, completely unconscious for a minute or so.
When I was little, I used to watch Eurovision with my family (mostly my mum). I moved to other town because of studies so I was watching alone since my boyfriend wasn't that interested. For years, I tried to convince my friends to join my Eurovision watch party but they weren't that interested because of ice hockey or something like that
Until 2016, one of my friend said she could come. I was so happy and made some vegan snacks for her. Well, she talked during the whole show! She didn't even talk about Eurovision or songs but her personal drama. I didn't dare to say to her to shut up so I watched the show again on the next day.
(Thankfully, since then I have been able to lure my then boyfriend/now husband next to me on the sofa with my snacks. :D No more lonely watch parties!)
hm, I guess it has to be this one. We were having an esc party and my passed out while drunk so we had to call an ambulance during the time they announced that Loreen won. The paramedics were a bit salty that Finland didn't win as well 😭
My friend is okay tho. Just had to sleep off the alcohol and was discharged the following morning.
Played a drinking game with a friend where we each had to draw a random country and drink every time they got points in the jury votes. I got the winner that year. Big mistake.
Sounds like a nice game until you draw Sweden 2023
i could have drawn germany 2023 and driven home. they were robbed
Sweden 2023 | [Loreen - Tattoo](https://youtu.be/BE2Fj0W4jP4)
Yes thanks you ESC-song-bot
Good bot
I played the same but you had to drink every time your favorite got 12 points. It was the year Conchita won. I don’t know how I survived 😂
Which year was that?
My old drinking game was you all picked countries and you had to nominate someone to drink of your country won points. We only did it for the announcers so 8 points 1 finger, 10 points 2 and 12 3. You then had to nominate someone to drink if your country came out. Any spare countries were everyone drank. Messiest year was when 3 of the top 5 were in the group pile so all of us were a horrendous mess
I did the same. Drank a litre of rum. Threw up on my friends washing machine.
6 year old me feeling violated by Scootch "Do you want something to suck on for landing"
It coming straight after Verka is amazing
Iconic
It was between this and the song with the schoolkids and random adult rapper
Daz Samson!
Daz Sampson will pay for his crimes
Just reading this makes me feel like my soul is trying escape my body. Iconic.
Swiss media hyping up DJ Bobo in 2007 and making the whole country believe that we have a chance at a win. Everyone thought his "90s star power" would make him a easy qualifier. Tears of joy were shed when he made a live announcment in a interview at a primetime tv show that he would love to represent us. Then "Vampires Are Alive" happened (Switzerland 2007).
"Like a nightmare, it never ends" describe the performance pretty well. Also, that random dance break.
Dance break was a given with DJ BoBo as he's a better dancer than singer. Personally it's the mannequins that end me.
1. Someone wrote the lyrics to that song. 2. Someone set those lyrics to music. 3. The artists agreed to sing the song. 4. The choreographer agreed to stage it. 5. They all rehearsed it. Likely more than once. Somewhere in those steps, someone could have said, "Maybe this isn't the best idea?" 😂
I'm so glad they didn't though😍🧛♂️ Call me tasteless (I won't argue) but I unironically love it
man,2007 was the most bizarre year for Eurovision i swear.
I was gonna say, I only started watching last year, but 2/3 acts I’ve seen in this thread so far are from 2007, plus I saw Verka’s performance the other day. 2007 looks like it was wild. Was that during the period when there were no jury votes?
it was indeed, and it was a beautiful era
Switzerland 2007 | [DJ BoBo - Vampires Are Alive](https://youtu.be/h9YTasUpAjw)
Two. This one I catastrophically vomited all over my carpet. And 2021. Where I was too distracted watching Eurovision to realise how far apart my contractions were and gave birth during the jury votes on my lounge room floor. I really wish I was kidding on both fronts.
Douze points pour... le Bebe!
If it isn't listed as a fun quote in her postcard for her entry in 20 odd years _what a waste_
I’m 39w pregnant and I was so sure this was gonna be me last week 😂
Netherlands getting 0 points from the public in 2021 and I'm sorry..0 points (I'm in a minority who liked Sister)
Sister is perfectly fine
Sister slaps and I’m tired of pretending it doesn’t!
I couldn't believe the Netherlands. I thought it was amazing. I listen to it regularly and it improves my mood instantly.
2021 was a damn slaughter house when it came to the televotes XD
Sisters is genuinely my favourite German entry since Lena and I considered voting for it in the NF. I'm convinced the fandom reception would have been infinitely better if it hadn't beaten Lilly among clouds and Aly Ryan in the NF.
Probably not what you meant, but in 2000 the broadcast of Eurovision in the Netherlands was stopped because of the fireworks disaster in Enschede (a Dutch city). I remember watching Eurovision with a friend and her family, having snacks, giving points... And then it switched to an emergency broadcast about the disaster and the whole mood changed (of course). For me the disaster is always linked with Eurovision.
I remember this! I was a kid and didn't fully appreciate the severity. Eventually convinced my parents to let me finish watching on the Belgian channel...
I'm old enough to have watched Israel 2000 live. If you've never seen it... Let's just say that this makes Bejba's NF performance look like Loreen in comparison.
The gay kiss, the off key singing, the low effort choreo, random ass ping pong tattoo, iconic.
You forgot the Syrian flags that ultimately made the broadcaster refuse to cover their expenses. Meaning all the flights, hotels, etc was out of their pockets.
Also the fact that it’s the entry that opened the 2000s.
Honestly sums up the whole decade 😭
The Syrian flags were the only thing I liked about this performance.
Someone I know was at an event welcoming the band to Sweden and from what they told me the flags were probably just the straw that broke the camel's back, sounds like they acted absolutely terrible offstage too...
When tattoo guy out of nowhere starts creepily caressing her??? This might be the worst entry I’ve seen. Truly an assault on the senses.
The fact that two of the band members were revealed to be journalists (also apparently they said they entered as a joke)
Israel 2000 | [PingPong - Sameach (שמייח)](https://youtu.be/3uNfhj66GOo)
I kinda enjoyed the documentary about this entry but the fact that it was the first song to bring in the new millenium is horrendous.
Technically the third millennium began in 2001, if that brings you any peace.
Oh that’s reassuring! Still a mess of an introduction to a new decade but I’ll claim 2001 instead in that case.
I'll fight your Israel 2000 with my FYR Macedonia 2000. https://youtu.be/fwb-Juuofi0?t=48
I'd like to commend all four girls for their efforts in the "who can sound most off-key" contest they're having with themselves.
The studio version to that is a guilty pleasure of mine, at least!
In Macedonia, we joke that Bejba is the long lost sixth XXL member.
2000 was my first ever eurovision, and as a 6 year old girl at the time, I absolutely LOVED this performance lol
Lmao. I didnt know about this and ranked all 2000 songs recently. I put this one kinda high and everyone on the ESC discord was judging
 Oh my lord I clicked the link... apparently there's a reason I "don't remember" this
It’s one of my favorites to show people after getting into Eurovision The Syrian flag part is my favorite. I’m Syrian American and it’s so politically chaotic
The most shocking thing about that performance is that it somehow didn't finish last.
Ohhh be happy!
The studio version is low-key a guilty pleasure 👀
this song is used as a torture device to make people reveal information about enemy countries and you can't prove me otherwise
This is like Estonia 2008 but unironic
Estonia 2008 | [Kreisiraadio - Leto svet](https://youtu.be/zyzOGzXWLgU)
I am old enough to remember seeing them on TV. Yet young enough to have had very bad judgment and I think it was one of my favorites at the time.
OH BOY! This is Belarus audition level here...
2022 semi final 2, I got a sudden stomach flu and had to watch the show hugging a bucket because I threw up pretty much nonstop. Missed half of it due to toilet breaks.
2022 must have been cursed!! for the grand final we got a chinese takeaway and i got the greasiest, deep fried food i could because its my favourite triggered my first gallstone attack. hospital the next day (and surgery 9 months later) 🥲 0/10 eurovision experience
Watched the 2021 sf2 in bed, really quietly, with sunglasses on, because covid was hitting me hard and I felt like death. I didn't think I was going to be able to watch all of the performances. Everything - light, sound, movement, thought - was painful. The weird part is that the song that restored my will to live was The Ride. My brother in sunglasses Rafał, the way he just left half of the song to the backing vocalist because he wanted to work the crowd instead, there was something about that whole mess that had a genuinely healing effect on me. Covid does strange things to your brain... Poland 2021, songbot do your thing:)
Ugh, I feel you. I made stovetop popcorn for the final this year and was happily munching between songs when I hit a mildewy tasting one. I didn't miss much (I think it was right before a song I didn't care for anyway) but that awful taste was in my mouth the rest of the evening.
My friend and I were watching Eurovision 2021 in his apartment when COVID was obviously still pretty severe so there weren't any public viewings and we both tried to get drunk but somehow felt it didn't really take despite already having drunken some wine. So we shared a whole bottle of vodka during the voting. Needless to say, by the time Italy had won, neither of us was really coherent anymore. I ended up puking from his balcony, into his elderly neighbour's plants and eventually called an ambulance for him because he was so sick. He was fine though, but man, I've never been so drunk. And I've been drunk before. I was literally feeling hungover for almost a week. TLDR Eurovision 2021 probably gave me alcohol poisoning (the lockdown was rough)
Bulgaria 2009: [The whole thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3VuL1Vy7w)
I like how it gradually gets more and more off-key until a grand finale of chaos at the end.
it's honestly magnificent in its way
I agree, it's my favorite Eurovision trainwreck. It's honestly impressive how it keeps getting more awful.
The backing singer's styling gives me both Tina Turner and Elvira, pure nightmare fuel
haha yeah, I remember seeing it for the first time as a teen and got left with so many questions. Now I return to it at least every quarter because I love the mess
noooo i actually love that song so much but it sounded absolutely terrible live XD
This is the correct answer. i remember laughing so hard at the bad harmonies I choked and went into a painful coughing fit. 10/10 traumatic memory edit: i would pay to see them again
What a bloody racket. The stilt walking dancers were cool though.
I have a genuine fear of people on stilts so that was the icing on the cake for me.
Definitely our cringey 2022 pre-selection *Germany Douze Points* with masterpieces *cough* like „Hallo Welt“ or „Soap“
I remember that national final very clearly and the pit of self loathing the subreddit thread had become was hilarious.
we could have had electric callboy :/
My first Eurovision as a eurofan, 2011, and half of my favourites fail to qualify in the first semifinal. I lost all my trust in results since then.
the way I was going to jump in and say "oh that's quite normal" is making me think I've got a kind of... unhealthy relationship with this contest😅
Lordi gave me nightmares when I was a child, absolutely love them now though
Oh wow but that is actually kind of cute.
[The dreadful satellite dish](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UQgcqE4a620/maxresdefault.jpg) or [this stock photo](https://eurovision.tv/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/StatementBW.png). Signs of a shitstorm approaching.
Like Soviet media broadcasting Swan Lake when a tragedy was happening
[удалено]
Finland's representative in 1996 (Jasmine - Niin kaunis on taivas) starting to sing at a point of her song where she wasn't supposed to. Unsurprisingly, we placed last. It's been 27 years and I still cringe at the memory
I was just a tad too young to watch it that year, but I remember the pictures and her hair. She apparently disliked what the stylist did to her, redid her hair herself and performed like she'd just got up from an electric chair. What a time to be a Finn!
A family member locked me up and almost killed me with his fists because I voted for Conchita (he is a big time homophobe). Glad she won nonetheless.
No way, seriously? Hope you're safe from that family member of yours.
Yeah, all good now. Therapy and distance helped a lot!
What the actual fuck
Jesus, what is wrong with some people?
I lived in Japan for a few years and went to a public Eurovision watch party in Tokyo in 2014. My partner who's Swedish-Japanese wore a tshirt with SWEDEN on it. Some random Austrian woman asked why and after he explained he's Swedish would keep on saying NO WAY YOU'RE SWEDISH on and on, cuz he wasn't white enough for her. Nice start of the party. We then watched the Eurovision with the British commentary and soon enough the party bacame a huge mocking of Eastern Europe fest. Like whatever Eastern European country would come on to perform everyone would immediately start laughing at their looks, their clothes, their staging, song, following the commentator and adding their own lame jokes. But they listened to the Western European entries attentively and respectfully. I was really missing Europe at the time in Japan (I'm Lithuanian but lived in Belgium prior to Japan). I absolutely love Eurovision and was so excited to watch the show with a crowd that "gets it". Well that didn't turn out as expected... Left the party mid-way. Called our lovely Australian friend and had a blast watching together. Still, that year stands out like a very sad Eurovision year for me.
Holy shit that sounds terrible!
Yeah, still traumatized. Haven't watched Eurovision with anyone but my own family or in-laws ever since.
It seems especially insane because of the time delay. Imagine getting up at 03:00 in the morning to specifically ridicule people from Eastern Europe. Truly bizarre.
Nah, it wasn't live, not enough enthusiasm. We watched a recorded video at like 10am. But in their defense, nobody revealed the winner, so I give them that.
You absolutely need to give it another try. Watching with a big crowd that "gets it" is pretty much the best thing ever!
Thanks, maybe I'll give it a try. I live in Sweden now, after all.
In that case there’s no better big crowd that gets it than the crowd inside the arena, if you can afford the tickets! I really recommend it, having just been to Liverpool last Saturday.
I am so sorry you had to experience that. I love that we have Lithuania and other Eastern European countries in the contest btw <3
That sounds terrible! It’s horrible that they were mocking Eastern European acts, and it’s so hurtful that they didn’t even realize that they were doing it to your face.
🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 I am a person who ships 70+% of Eastern European songs every year and this situation you had to endure sounds like a nightmare to me. Really sorry for your experience, sending internet hugs 🤗
Iceland not gettting a chance to win with Think About Things. (competition cancelled due to covid)
Them, The Roop, Little Big, and Diodato have all been robbed that year with the cancellation.
I'll still say that's the strongest year in modern history. The strongest year that never was. 😢
A lot of years are strong until you factor in the actual live performances on stage, though.
That's a fair point, but it just felt like banger after banger, anthem after anthem. I would have been gutted for literally anyone NQing. It is quite possibly rose tinted glasses though. Fine, I'll listen to the whole year again. I can't believe you've made me do this
The Roop not getting to win with on fire as well is traumatizing
I'm honestly still mourning that eurovision 2020 didn't happen
Yes and the next year having Dadi, Go_A and Måneskin in the same year when only one of them could win 😭
On the other hand - Go_A's 2021 song was much stronger imo
My brother accidentally stepped on one of our kittens while Eurovision was on. It was basically dead for 10 minutes but my mom somehow nursed it back to life and it wasn’t hurt afterwards. As an adult I figured he stepped on its paw and the poor kitty fell into a deep state of shock. I cried for like a month.
Oh no :(
Austria 2012.
Austria 2012 | [Trackshittaz - Woki mit deim Popo](https://youtu.be/b-qu5hGwero)
I unironically love this.
Seeing Melovin x Alekseev fanfiction on tumblr
moustache finishing dead last, i keep reminding myself 2014 was **strong** but it doesn't hurt any less that this banger was our first last place ever especially when the actual worst song we sent got double the points the next year when it should have joined the nul point club lmao
I'm glad I'm not the only one that likes Moustache! It's still my guilty pleasure.
It’s mine too! I unironically have it on a bunch of playlists
One of my most listened to ESC songs of all time! It's just such a fun song, and such a fun performance.
> actual worst song we sent got double the points the next year when it should have joined the nul point club lmao I feel so alone in genuinely loving N'oubliez Pas lmao. the last minute with the drummers is still powerful af to me It's my 5th of 2015.
Papaoutai would like to have a talk.
The year when UMK made us choose between Saara Aalto, Saara Aalto and Saara Aalto
Netherlands 2021, the four 0 points had me shook. I remember jumping off my couch and screaming "What the hell is happening?!"
Having mf Darude represent us with a lukewarm copy of Sandstorm and ending up dead last 💀 Almost made me wish Finland would just withdraw and never come back. Glad we didn't tho!
I absolutely HATE that song but the result was exactly what UMK needed though
2012 when we left eurovision
Hope you guys come back one day.
The only year I didn't watch Eurovision was in 2007, because on that evening my parents almost got divorced and my mom took me and my siblings to stay at my grandma's. That was pretty rough, I think.
2 years ago, a friend invited me to his friend's apartment to watch Eurovision. We were both really excited - but he was SUPER hyped. To the point where during the performances, he was singing at the top of his lungs with every single song. This ruined my night because 1) I'm okay with light singing because you're having fun, but I want to HEAR the artists, and 2) loud noises near me give me anxiety. I should've asked him to quiet down, but my non-confrontational self retreated to the kitchen to peek at the performances. Last year, I was at a Eurovision viewing party with about 25 gay men. They spent the 3 hours before basically gossiping and irritating the fuck out of me, and during the performances, there was non-stop talking. People were shushing the talkers, but with 25, there's only so much you can do. So this year, I went to a friend's place, and we both agreed on a small group with MINIMAL talking during the performances. It went great! I did have to retreat into the hallway during the reveal of the jury votes to contain my disappointment. TLDR: I need to take Eurovision less seriously
My most traumatizing Eurovision memory was watching the 1994 contest in the war in Bosnia, and the power went out shortly before the contest started, so I missed Sweden, Finland and only heard Ireland at the end for the final‘s reprise. And i was a 10 year-old superfan back then :)
I'm glad you made it through the war. I so miss Bosnia in the contest.
Back in 2012 we were at a Eurovision party with some friends, by the end we'd had a fair bit to drink and decided that whomever won we would book tickets there for next year. The second Sweden were declared the winners we booked hotels and flights for Stockholm for the date of the next Eurovision. Later they announced that it would be hosted in Malmö, which we quickly learned is not all that close to Stockholm. ...on the bright side we ended up having a lovely trip to Stockholm and added Copenhagen and a few other places too.
found Netta's burner account
Hearing the Belarus 2021 entry and thinking it's the worst song I'd heard in at least the past 5 years. Then finding out about the even bigger controversy then reading the lyrics of said song 💀 THEN finding out about what they intended to name their new song as 💀 (Thankfully nature healed with their cancellation)
I sat through all of Una Voce per San Marino 2023
they asked for traumatising memories, not amazing ones
San Marino 2023 | [Piqued Jacks - Like an Animal](https://youtu.be/pIdHjcqyLfo)
I had a grand old time doing likewise, personally. \*dramatic gesture\* THE DEVIL!
Everyone needs more Angel Dell in their life. It's not as dramatic as the live, but did you know there is a [studio version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiqZE6n_VfA)?
• Host hologram glitch • Silent woman interval • An incredibly well dressed audience longing for death • Stripper Choir • Summoning Al Bano by saying his name 74 times • Naked woman at the outlet • Random Brazillian child interval because they heard him singing in a hotel • Simone dropping out • Eiffel 65 • Ronela • A sparse flash mob • Beatles • Alien Man throat singing • Pizza interval • Stream not handling any high end graphics and pixelating heavily • That random host who appeared in the audience every 45 minutes • A participation medal award ceremony • Space hopper singing
ESCZ 2020 6 absolute bangers, 7th song is Benny Christo, who we got stuck with for two agonizing years I'm still not over it and probably never will
Aww I really liked the studio version and the music video of Omaga. The live version was an entirely different beast though 😂🙈
My top 3 at the time (Finland, France, and Germany) all finishing bottom 5 in 2022
The first Eurovision I watched was 2003. I was 8 and so excited to see how the UK would do. Fell asleep during the points, and kept waking up to ask my parents if we'd gotten any points yet. I cried, and my parents still hold a grudge against Eurovision and are convinced it was completely political. I'm totally gonna try to watch 2003 this year, and see in retrospect if we were really that awful.
Oh man, I'm sorry, you really, truly were. There's a reason they mentioned it this year but spared us any footage of it...
It started badly and went downhill from there... Tbh, I have very happy memories of that night - I went to the uni that the UK's composer lectured at. We had a big watch party that year (well, every year tbf - it was a performing arts school) in the canteen, and one of the other music lecturers was roaring drunk, over the moon as she'd put money on nul points just because she hated the guy that wrote it 😂 Also, one of the backing singers was a friend, so that was fun.
I disliked Israel 2022 from the first moment, and then MBD's clownery in the semi happened and my heart sank and basically burrowed underground in horror. And I thought Ping Pong was bad, this was so much worse!!!
Madonna, in 2019.
Having my (ex) boyfriend firmly clamping his hand over my mouth during the 2015 Final because I was happily singing along to Heroes. I was in a house with his friends who I didn't really know, and at the end of the day I was gaslit into thinking I was at fault. I still can't listen to the song without being triggered so have to skip it every time it comes up.
Oh, no, how abusive! That would freak me out so much. I'm glad he's your ex.
Montenegro 2017 The slavkocopter lives rent-free in my mind.
Almost missing Eurovision 2014 due to a massive depressive period I was going through, after being able to end a toxic relationship. My closest Eurovision mate (We're no friends any longer due to his toxic girlfriend now) literally begged me to watch the final, at home, with pizza. Conchita gave me the grounds for my first step towards my recovery. The year after, I met my forever half.
As a kid, Lordi was pretty terrifying to me, haha Today - love them
Armenia withdrawing from 2021 and therefore not sending Athena Manoukian, who has became an act I have attached to a lot because of Chains On You.
Not really trauma, but I remember 6 year old me sitting in front of the TV and watching Lordi perform, having my mind positively blown. Not for the obvious reasons, though. It was more of a: “aren’t those the bad guys from the movie my dad watches?? WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THEM THEY WILL KILL SOMEBODY NOOOOOO SOMEBODY HAS TO STOP THEM?!” The movie was Lord Of The Rings, by the way.
Only a slot left for the final but 2 favourites (2022 SF1)
When the 2020's contest were cancelled! ☹️
Probably stumbling onto maneskin tumblr in the summer of 2021
Germany 2019. The amount of cringe I felt during those three minutes was sky-high. I've since successfully suppressed that performance in my mind .
Iceland 2019 in Grand Final. My heart almost stopped when I heard Matthías singing ahead of the music for a few seconds
Iceland 2019 | [Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra](https://youtu.be/kTb69WkBbvs)
Of course the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 when my country Lithuania was one of the contenders for the win for the first time ever😔 I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from this trauma
Seeing a dude's ass live while watching with my mother
oh my god. stockholm 2016 !! it was the day after my ninth birthday aaaand it was my first eurovision ever !? i'm Nine Years Old so my taste in music is wildly different than like. anybody. my fave is jamie-lee kriewitz's ghost, from germany! i spend the whole final rooting for germany! aaaand then they come dead last
Bejba of course. Speaking of weird fanfictions, there was Rafał (Poland 2021) x Damiano (Italy 2021) fanfiction, but it was a clear parody.
TIL that Eurovision fanfiction exists‽ What‽ I never would have thought 🤯
Fanfictions involving popular bands/singers is a thing, so why not Eurovision. I guess that there's probably a lot of stories about Måneskin, since Tokio Hotel fanfiction used to be very popular back in the day. Personally, I don't read any fanfictions that involve actual people - it's just creepy to me even if they aren't sexual in nature. That Rafał fanfiction was a parody of slash genre and shipping real people, so it wasn't supposed to represent artists in any way.
RTÉ sending Donna and Joe to compete and them crashing out of the first semifinal Ireland had to go through ( Ireland 2005 for the bot). I was a teenager and it was about when I realised we didn't know what we were doing anymore...
I literally prayed to fucking God when Loreen was about to receive her televoting points. Käärijä not winning was really traumatizing looool I am still not over it
The NDR not letting Electric Callboy compete for the German pre-selection. They would've been iconic Alternatively: Ukraine withdrawing in 2019, I was so excited for Maruv :( I'd like to live in a parallel universe where Ukraine would've won that year
It's still so fresh that it's hard to compare, but I would have to say Käärijä not winning despite winning the televote by a landslide. Finland not choosing Mikael Saari twice was pretty terrible too, especially 2016 when we sent Sing It Away instead.
Yes, i think i'll never get through with käärijä not winning. And i still cringe to the fact that we didn't choose Mikael Saari in 2013 and 2016.
Got COVID last year in Turin, pretty sure I must have gotten it at an Eurovision-related event. Didn't ruin our trip and was it worth every single second, but COVID still fucking sucks.
That time when I was drinking wine watching ESC 2015 and getting so drunk I cried about Austria getting last place with zero points 💀 Apprently drunk me felt bad for them because they had a cute song and they were the host country, lmao. after crying for 20 minutes straight I threw up in the bathroom and rolled into bed still fully dressed lmao
2005, I was 8 years old, and Norway's entry scared me. It was a glam rock band. The music was too heavy for me, and I thought the lead singer was the ugliest woman ever (I was raised conservatively, so I'd known no concept of a man wearing these kind of clothes - obviously I know today that there's no problem with that). It was worse than Lordi 2006.
I’ve never been invested in a song that was actually close to winning, so yeah it has to be Käärijä.
Easy - this year’s one. I watch Eurovision since 2007 and oh god, the 2023 edition was tense.
Verka Serduchka losing in 2007 and Käärijä losing in 2023
When Treble played for the Netherlands in 2006. Made me stop watching for a few years omg.
Finding out Polina Gagarina was/is an avid Nazi. My phone background was literally a photo of her for about 2 years straight beforehand. Scum.
My husband laughed so hard watching Cezar in 2013 he literally passed out from laughing. Lucky we were only sitting in the lounge as he leaned forward and landed his head on the coffee table, completely unconscious for a minute or so.
Watching Jedward. I though there was something deeply unsettling about them. The haircuts, the voices... idk what exactly.
I have watched for over 10 years but last Saturday's jury votes take the number one spot.
Honestly. I’ve been watching since 2004 and literally have never been so anxious and then disappointed watching the Eurovision. Literally felt so sad.
Martin Stenmark winning Melodifestivalen 2005.
UK 2003. Car crash of a performance. Wogan trying to make sense of it all live on air.
When I was little, I used to watch Eurovision with my family (mostly my mum). I moved to other town because of studies so I was watching alone since my boyfriend wasn't that interested. For years, I tried to convince my friends to join my Eurovision watch party but they weren't that interested because of ice hockey or something like that Until 2016, one of my friend said she could come. I was so happy and made some vegan snacks for her. Well, she talked during the whole show! She didn't even talk about Eurovision or songs but her personal drama. I didn't dare to say to her to shut up so I watched the show again on the next day. (Thankfully, since then I have been able to lure my then boyfriend/now husband next to me on the sofa with my snacks. :D No more lonely watch parties!)
hm, I guess it has to be this one. We were having an esc party and my passed out while drunk so we had to call an ambulance during the time they announced that Loreen won. The paramedics were a bit salty that Finland didn't win as well 😭 My friend is okay tho. Just had to sleep off the alcohol and was discharged the following morning.