Comments on: How big data predicted Eurovision — and offended Malta

By: Ellie K

Ellie K — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:57:09 +0000

I can’t speak for others but I didn’t have any complaint about the title of the article, Bobbie Johnson, as you referred to the contest name correctly in the article. What caught my eye, and perhaps that of @Swede was a prior comment that “Eurovision was” well, trashy and not worthy of news coverage. That wasn’t necessary.

This GigaOm article was fun. I read most of O’Leary’s posts as they appeared, and thought it was great that you were able to get a photo of him to include here.

By: Sam Sadi

Sam Sadi — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:45:47 +0000

Sweden had the best song, was top of the charts in 6 countries before the competition and was odds on favorite to win anyway. U didn’t need to be a math genuis to predict them as winner

By: Jupiter

Jupiter — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:23:06 +0000

It doesn’t take a statistical model to forecast the winner. Just look at who sells most on iTunes and you have the winner! Guess who topped the list in like 14 countries?

By: Bobbie Johnson

Bobbie Johnson — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:25:54 +0000

Sorry, are you complaining that I’m referring to the Eurovision Song Contest as “Eurovision” in the headline and not calling it by its full name? That’s common shorthand here in the U.K.

By: Swede

Swede — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:31:34 +0000

The statements like “Eurovision is a song competition” are incorrect. Eurovision is a department of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an association of national broadcasters. Eurovision is a network for distributing TV content such as news footage and sports events.

Now, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is a song competition, arranged by EBU and distributed through the Eurovision network. Referring to the ESC as “Eurovision” shows that you are either clueless, born in the 1990s or later, or from a country that wasn’t part of EBU before 1993. Almost everyone else has grown up with the countless Eurovision transmissions of various events, mainly sports, all opening with the Eurovision logo and the theme of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum.

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:00:05 +0000

Eurovision is a load of rubbish, who cares?

By: Bobbie Johnson

Bobbie Johnson — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:40:20 +0000

I’m not sure that’s entirely true, Rodi. Sweden’s entry was pretty good — it’s been a genuine chart hit in a few countries already — and the slightly odd dancing was OK.

But to suggest that it’s all about the best song would mean no duff songs ever succeeded.

Two examples from the past decade that I think were below par, even for the night: I Wanna from Latvia (2002) and Believe from Russia (2008). The point of the model was not that block votes are necessary per se, but that having a lot of inbound friendships can be very useful.

By: Rodí O'Leary

Rodí O'Leary — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:16:13 +0000

Despite the block and political voting amongst countries, the best song always wins and this year was no exception. A lot of the entries are kitch in the extreme as the staging of the number on the night is as important as the tune itself – but that’s half the fun of watching it.

More importantly, the winning ‘performance’ (a more accurate description) is almost always a great piece of catchy pop, this year being a prime example.

By: Maltaman2

Maltaman2 — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:49:06 +0000

*course

By: Maltaman2

Maltaman2 — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:48:01 +0000

haha of coures we forgive him! The Maltese love the Eurovision precisely because it is cheesy, campy fun. We came close to winning a couple of times (look up Chiara’s “Angel”) and it would be lovely to host the event over here – but other than that, the serious musicians on the island would never go near the contest…