2025-05-16 05:44:00
| # | Outcome | Country | Artist | Song | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qualified[^pq] | France | Louane | Maman | They sent a ringer; totally unfair, Louane is in a completely different league here |
| 2 | Qualified | Luxembourg | Laura Thorn | La Poupée Monte Le Son | Surrealist sugar plum faerie vibes here; which makes sense since it’s set in a dollhouse. Even though she’s not your perfect doll. Whatever. I like it. |
| 3 | dnq | Australia | Go-Jo | Milkshake Man | I like the music; very catchy; staging is really weird -- which I guess is on brand for ESC |
| 4 | Qualified | Latvia | Tautumeitas | Bur Man Laimi | Reminds me of a Cirque du Soleil show (that’s a good thing) from the singing to the costumes to the staging; all that’s missing is the trapeze; hold on, they just sprouted monkey tails! |
| 5 | Qualified | Greece | Klavdia | Asteromáta | It’s raining fire as the beat kicks in. One of the few songs where everything actually works, even if it is somewhat formulaic. |
| 6 | Qualified | Denmark | Sissal | Halucination | Another banger to get you out on the dance floor. It’s musically simplistic but sometimes that’s what you need. |
| 7 | Qualified[^pq] | UK | Remember Mondy | What the Hell Just Happened? | Strong Beauty and the Beast vibes here. Surprisingly catchy, but no one except Queen gets to do Queen. |
| 8 | dnq | Georgia | Mariam Shengelia | Freedom | Cirque du Soleil called, they want their Russian dancers back. Strong musically but never quite delivers |
| 9 | Qualified | Armenia | Parg | Survivor | Strong rockin track, sounds a bit angry but I guess that’s okay for a survivor. Why is he covered in dirt? |
| 10 | Qualified[^pq] | Germany | Abor & Tynna | Baller | Another run-of-the-mill club song. La la la la blah blah blah blah. |
| 11 | Qualified | Lithuania | Katarsis | Tavo Akys | Dude sings very beautifully about how terrible everything is. Thanks, I want to kill myself. |
| 12 | Qualified | Austria | JJ | Wasted Love | This song is all over the place. It’s a ballad. No, it’s an aria. No, it’s a rave. On a raft. At sea. During a typhoon. My dog got up and left the room at the high notes. |
| 13 | dnq | Czechia | Adonxs | Kiss Kiss Goodbye | The brooding is strong with this one; pardon me while we have a mini rave in the middle of the song, followed by the screaming (not in a good way) climax |
| 14 | dnq | Serbia | Princ | Mila | He has a very powerful voice, but I think he’s in pain. |
| 15 | Qualified | Malta | Miriana Conte | Serving | Obnoxious performance that seems like over-the-top parody. On the other had it embraces the camp. Might be good because the music if forgettable. |
| 16 | Qualified | Finland | Erika Vikman | Ich Komme | Velkome to Schprokets. This song has multiple personality disorder. |
| 17 | dnq | Montenegro | Nina Žižić | Dobrodošli | Singing dancing flower in front of, what, a xenomorph emerging from behind the scrim? the strongest part of her performance is when she just holds a note |
| 18 | dnq | Ireland | Emmy | Laika Party | Rather ordinary house music with a thumping beat and a weird dancing dog in the background. |
| 19 | Qualified | Israel | Yuval Raphael | New Day Will Rise | Zzzzzzz. Oh did I nod off? |
[^pq]: One of the “Big Five” that automatically advance to the Grand Final
2025-05-14 22:01:00
Thanks to @Joel for nominating me for today’s Blog Questions Challenge: TV Shows Edition.
What TV character from a beloved show do you wish you could be best friends with in real life?
This question is why it has taken me so long to finish this post. “Best friend” is a high bar. Sure there are lots of television characters that would be interesting to know but to have as a best friend? That’s a challenge, especially when you consider that a lot of characters from shows I watch are people I wouldn’t care to know at all!
But it finally dawned on me: Trent Crimm, the affable journalist who once worked for The Independent is the one. He’s well educated so he’d be a great conversationalist. He’s insightful so he’d give good advice. And he’s adventurous so he’d be fun to spend time with. And that hair!
If you could binge-watch an entire series again for the first time, which one would you choose and why?
Battlestar Galactica was a wild ride from start to finish. The first episode’s opening scene—a mere six words of dialog!—sets turns the tension up to 11 and it never lets up. The show’s twists and turns are great, but it’d be fun to experience them again for the first time.
Name a TV show that changed your perspective on the world or taught you something valuable.
Six Feet Under taught me to appreciate this life, because none of us knows how much time we have left.
2025-05-13 09:50:00
| # | Outcome | Country | Artist | Song | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | dnq | Azerbaijan | Mamagama | Run With U | First real banger of the night; next level when he jams on the saz; ends a little abruptly |
| 2 | Qualified | Sweden | KAJ | Bara Bada Batsu | Ode to sauna is an immediately catchy little earworm; where’s my towel? |
| 3 | Qualified | Netherlands | Claude | C’est La Vie | Starts slow but builds to a banging beat pretty quickly; Claude’s singing is a little rough around the edges |
| 4 | Qualified[^hc] | Switzerland | Zoë Më | Voyage | A nice song, simply staged a focused on the artist’s voice |
| 5 | Qualified[^pq] | Italy | Lucio Corsi | Volevo Essere Un Duro | A fifty foot long piano and giant amps; vintage sound |
| 6 | Qualified | Portugal | Napa | Deslocado | soft rock sound with emphasis on instruments and vocals; Similarity to Wings is impossible to ignore, but I like it anyway |
| 7 | dnq | Croatia | Marko Bošnjak | Poison Cake | strong dissociated artist, experimental theater vibes here; musically has its moments, but feels very disconnected; as art-with-a-message it's very good |
| 8 | Qualified | San Marino | Gabry Ponte | Tutta L’Italia | Is David chewing gum? Yes, he is. These guys have the sound that Væb were going for but failed to achieve. What the hell are they wearing on their faces tho? |
| 9 | Qualified | Norway | Kyle Alessandro | Lighter | dressed like Joan of Arc from outer space; singing at the gates of Hell; good toe-tapping beat; and fire! |
| 10 | Qualified | Albania | Shkodra Elektronike | Zjerm | Fire seems to be a recurring theme tonight; Pretty sure she's summoning a demon; pretty good beat interrupted by a weird bridge where the dude performs some kind of incantation (more demons?); Once the music starts up again tho it's pretty good |
| 11 | Qualified | Ukraine | Ziferblat | Bird of Prey | 70s vibe, pretty good guitar riff and drums; funky costumes; perhaps the most original sound so far |
| 12 | Qualified[^pq] | Spain | Melody | Esa Diva | Part Charo, part Zorro; good house beat, listenable if a bit ordinary |
| 13 | Qualified | Iceland | Væb | Róa | Bouncy track but not that inspiring; channeling Devo, with aluminum foil outfits and big sunglasses instead of Flower pot hats; Minecraft sea creatures |
| 14 | dnq | Belgium | Red Sebastian | Strobe Lights | Everything's very red; extreme close up and lots of eyes; does all that red pleather squeak when they walk around? Would have been better if the clones had exactly the same outfits a la Thomas Crown; Oh there was a song too? Hardly noticed until the rave got going toward the end |
| 15 | Qualified | Estonia | Tommy Cash | Espresso Macchiato | I guess he's trying to caricature Italians life? Just seems kind weird and creepy; I like the flappy airplane though |
| 16 | dnq | Cyprus | Theo Evan | Shh | We found this year’s Schprockets entry; He is complaining with a backbeat and I just don’t care |
| 17 | dnq | Slovenia | Klemen Slakonja | How Much Time Do We Have Left | An emotional message delivered via a really mediocre ballad, sung partly upside down |
| 18 | Qualified | Poland | Justyna Steczkowska | Gaja | witchcraft, spells, and fire; dragon; animalistic costumes and cool visual effects all outshine the music, which is just kind of industrial noise with some singing |
[^pq]: One of the “Big Five” that automatically advance to the Grand Final [^hc]: Host country (and last year’s winner) automatically advances
2025-05-13 05:05:00
I’ve been sitting in an all-day meeting and I had 45 minutes until a dinner with a vendor. I was NOT going to miss a chance to stretch my legs and get in a few steps. Even if it is raining cats and dogs. ☔️
2025-05-12 19:05:00
Conclave came and went. It happened so fast, I barely had time to enjoy CNN’s Visual guide the Conclave. But there was still plenty of time for memes and Chicago references .
Ben gave me a nice shout out in one of the posts in his series on artificial intelligence this month.
I’m switching back to Firefox, at least temporarily, to see if it annoys my less that Vivaldi does.
This week was the end of Spring term, and I posted grades for my students. Another term starts next week.
I drove to my mother's house for a couple of days. Friday night margaritas have become something of a tradition for us since my dad died. On Saturday we spent the day clearing out all of his ham radio gear, which we gave to someone who intends to make a nice home for it. I hope to have some pics and posts about that in the coming months.
I jumped on the treadmill for a 5k run/walk on Thursday. I didn’t realize I’d also need to cut the grass again so I had a 25,000 step day.
After a couple of days of not doing much physically, I took the opportunity of a sunny Sunday to go out in the neighborhood for a real run/walk. Only 2.5 miles or so but it was nice to get out and move.
Next week is Eurovision week, I hope you’re as excited as I am! Peace.
2025-05-09 00:35:00
It was actually a 3.6 mile run/walk at a blistering 13’04” average pace, but I’ll take it.
