VISUAL ARTS

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Eurovision Song Contest

Do you know where your favourite songs come from?

DARIA BOCICOVA Arts & Culture Editor

I’ve spent all of the love I saved We were always a losing game Small-town boy in a big arcade I got addicted to a losing game.

If the music in your head hasn’t started playing upon reading that, you’ve clearly been living under a rock for the past two years. Arcade by Duncan Lorens, Euphoria by Lareen, Fairytale by Alexander Rybak, Toy by Netta, the list can honestly go on forever, for it is but the tip of the Iceberg that is the Eurovision Song Contest. Speaking of Icebergs, Celine Dion competed for Switzerland in Eurovision 1988 and won with her song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. Not impressed yet? Well, what if I told you that ABBA became as popular as it is now due to Eurovision 1974 and the win they brought Sweden with their song Waterloo, which turned the eyes of the world towards them the very next morning. Another winner that made it to your FYP is an Italian band, Måneskin, who brought their home country its third win since the creation of the contest with their song Zitti e Buoni in 2021. Although you are probably more familiar with their relatively recent, I Wanna Be Your Slave. I feel like now I definitely got your attention, and I’m going to use this momentum for a little walk down history lane.

ORIGINS

In 1950, in an effort to unite European countries following the second world war through cross-border television, The European Broadcasting Union or EBU, was created. Five years later, an idea for a pan-European singing contest was conceived at a conference of the European Broadcasting Union in Monaco in 1955, inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival. It was determined that the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be held in the Swiss resort of Lugano the next year. Although several cameras were recording the contest for the very few Europeans who had a telly set at the time, the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was predominantly a radio programme.

It was determined that the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be held in the Swiss resort of Lugano the next year. You can listen to all of them if you look up the Eurovision 2022 playlist on the contest’s official Spotify account.

VOTING

Over the years, the voting systems utilised in the competition have evolved. While everything started in 1956 with only two judges from each participating country taking part in a secret vote, the current system has been in place since 1975. Each country has to assemble a panel of national judges who then award songs from other countries with points ranging from 1 to 8, then 10 and eventually 12 — with the favourite receiving the now-famous douze points. Traditionally, only an internal jury chose a coun-

try’s set of votes, but in 1997, five nations experimented with televoting, allowing members of the general public in those countries to vote en masse for their favourite songs. The trial was a success, and all nations were invited to employ televoting if feasible beginning in 1998. Today, while the judges still attribute their points, the public is invited to cast theirs as the hosts communicate with the presenters through broadcasted video calls. When all the juries announce their decisions, the voting stops, and after the final recap, the winner is announced, ranging from least votes acquired to most.

STRUCTURE

While initially, Eurovision was a one-day event, the contest has now been separated into three parts. The conclusion of the Cold War in the early 1990s resulted in a surge in participation, with many former Eastern Bloc countries popping up at line up for the first time to participate. This process is still going on, with additional countries entering every day. As a result, the EBU developed the Semi-Final format in 2004, which was expanded to two Semi-Finals for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. To qualify for the Final, all countries except the ‘Big Five’ — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – and the host country must be in the top-10 of a Semi-Final. In turn, the contestant or the contestants who will be fighting for the chance to represent their country are chosen months prior, usually through a more minor song contest within each country.

While there is still a month to go until Eurovision, I am already playing some of this year’s songs on repeat. Yes, you read that right. The entries are by no means a mystery, and even their official music videos are already at your disposal online. You can listen to all of them if you look up the Eurovision 2022 playlist on the contest’s official Spotify account.

Now, I’m gonna go play Give That Wolf a Banana by Subwoolfer a few more times, but you should really take a look at the running orders for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Finals taking place on Tuesday the 10th and Thursday the 12th of May, respectively:

First Semi-Final: Tuesday the 10th of May

Albania: Ronela Hajati – Sekret Latvia: Citi Zeni – Eat Your Salad Lithuania: Monika Liu – Sentimentai Switzerland: Marius Bear – Boys Do Cry Slovenia: LPS – Disko Ukraine: Kalush Orchestra – Stefania Bulgaria: Intelligent Music Project – Intention Netherlands: S10 – De Diepte Moldova: Zdob si Zdub & Fratii Advahov – Trenuletul Portugal: MARO – Saudade, Saudade Croatia: Mia DimšiC – Guilty Pleasure Denmark: REDDI – The Show Austria: LUM!X feat. Pia Maria – Halo Iceland: Systur – Með Hækkandi Sól Greece: Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – Die Together Norway: Subwoolfer – Give That Wolf A Banana Armenia: Rosa Linn – Snap

Voting in First Semi-Final: France: Alvan & Ahez – Fulenn Italy: Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi

Second Semi-Final: Thursday the 12th of May

Finland: The Rasmus – Jezebel Israel: Michael Ben David – I.M Serbia: Konstrakta – In Corpore Sano Azerbaijan: Nadir Rustamli – Fade To Black Georgia: Circus Mircus – Lock Me In Malta: Emma Muscat – I Am What I Am San Marino: Achille Lauro – StripperAustralia: Sheldon Riley – Not The Same Cyprus: Andromache – Ela Ireland: Brooke – That’s Rich North Macedonia: Andrea – Circles Estonia: Stefan – Hope Romania: WRS – Llámame Poland: Ochman – River Montenegro: Vladana – Breathe Belgium: Jérémie Makiese – Miss You Sweden: Cornelia Jakobs – Hold Me Closer Czech Republic: We Are Domi – Lights Off

Voting in Second Semi-Final: Germany: Malik Harris – RockstarsSpain: Chanel – SloMo United Kingdom: Sam Ryder – SPACE MAN

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Movie Theatres Return with Vengeance

Nothing better than being back in front of the big screen!

SAMANTHA RAINONE Contributor

Stepping into Cineplex on Friday, March 4th, 2022, the night of the Batman release is as chaotic as imaginable. People of various ages, teenagers raving to see Robert Pattinson’s imitation of the iconic Batman character or millennials excited to see their favourite story portrayed on the big screen again, all gathered around to experience DC’s newest masterpiece. Everyone circled the building, confirmed their vaccine passports, and picked up popcorn bags (with extra butter), all led to the same theatre to watch the 8 o’clock showing of The Batman.

“This is the most traffic we have gotten in almost two years; I feel a bit overwhelmed,” says Kayleigh Slater, an employee at Cineplex for nearly 4 years now.

Watching movies at the cinema has been an everyday activity for over a century now. Something that was a regular pastime for the general public was rapidly taken away from them for some time. Nevertheless, as Covid restrictions loosen up, movie theatres start receiving and showing the blockbusters that have spent the last two years waiting in the editing room. Whether it’s because many of these films are starring Hollywood’s finest or because people are excited to watch movies anywhere but their own living room, there is no denying the poppin’ incline in movie theatre guests for the first time in a long time.

Though cases have been seeing lessened numbers these days, some people, including Dawson College’s Cinema Styles professor Cheryl Simon, are still more anxious about sitting next to strangers for prolonged periods of time.

“Honestly, I think the reason I haven’t gone back is not so interesting, but I just don’t like crowds. I’m still quite terrified,” says professor Simon as she takes a sip of her coffee and continues, “There was one movie I did see though around October, The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson. Great Film.”

Conditioned by months of lockdown and attracted by the flexibility of on-demand viewing, many consumers have grown even more accustomed to streaming movies from the comfort of their own homes. But even so, a big screen can certainly elevate a big film in a manner that streaming at home cannot. With your attention and the hundreds of other audience members all concentrating on the same screen, you become a community of individuals attempting to engage with the same tale at the same time. It is an experience you cannot get in a living room.

There is something refreshing about the same chairs, concession stands, and inadequate soundproofing that do not represent the ways in which we have all evolved over the last year and a half.

The theatres felt like a place for film lovers to get together in their communities and enjoy something altogether. Now that the likes of Dune, The Power of the Dog and Spencer have finally had their big break by hitting the big screens, it truly feels like the community has been restored. When Naeva Hernandez-Souki, Dawson College cinema student and self-proclaimed cinephile, was asked about going back to watching movies in theatres, she claimed: “It feels really nice to go to the theatres with my friends again and enjoy the experience like we used to”.

The numbers honestly say it all, with The Batman already rounding up to 600 million USD in earnings after sitting in theatres for a month, claiming it to be the second highest-grossing film (following Spider-Man No Way Home) since the beginning of the pandemic according to ABC News.

There is no avoiding the simple fact that the Covid-19 pandemic tarnished the cinema experience for many moviegoers. The future trajectory for the theatre industry suggests that people will keep going to the movies, but they must be given a reason to do so. p p

But even so, a big screen can certainly elevate a big film in a manner that streaming at home cannot.