Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

Nikkster

lostinrates wrote: »

(seriously, I love vinegar)

I don't dislike vinegar, just never occurs to me to use it (or maybe I don't need it in the things I prepare?). I expect it is in the chilli sauce that I use if I'm not using fresh or dried chillies!

CKhalvashi

Sorry, I went to edit it, and deleted it.

vivatifosi wrote: »

CK, have a great time at the Eurovision. Who is the current favourite to win?

I've put money on 6 this year, knowing that if one of the 6 win, I'm going to at least double my money! These 6 are Russia, Georgia, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden and Germany.

After watching Bonnie's live performance, I cringed. It looks so awkward: her shaky voice, weird gestures & overall "dead" atmosphere. The song does nothing to me from the beginning when she was revealed as the entry, but listening to the recorded quality, it's a decent song. Alas, if the live performance on the finals look like this, she better kiss any illusions of winning/placing high goodbye, and come up with better excuses for her failure.

TBQH, if the UK (or BBC) is hoping to place high sometime in the near future, they should really reconsider the entries they have been sending so far. It is very abysmal. The only entry I enjoyed for a long time was Blue, and that isn't saying much. Some other countries are really taking this competition seriously, and sending their best (or at least most decent) entries for the past how many years. Unfortunately, what we get to see are nobodies or singers way past their prime.

The next time some people in the UK complain about their low placement, they should really listen to what they are sending. To expect something like this to win, I just gotta ask: what are you guys smoking?

Anyway, good luck to Bonnie as she is something like a childhood star to me (having grown up listening to that Total Eclipse song). I just hope this performance in the finals will not leave her legacy in tatters (and her political voting excuse is not helping - she'll end up getting more haters than respect for the seasoned talent that she is). She's mentioned politics at least three times now, and I'm not particularly impressed!

CK

Nikkster

CKhalvashi wrote: »

The next time some people in the UK complain about their low placement, they should really listen to what they are sending. To expect something like this to win, I just gotta ask: what are you guys smoking?

As much as I love watching Eurovision (and I do really enjoy it), I don't really understand what other kind of act we would end up sending? It's always going to be something cheesy and, well, 'europop' or what we see as 'euro'? The tactical voting is hilarious too.

Edit: I'm not sure we do want to win, we just enjoy the taking part. But would prefer it to be less tactical.

Having typed that - I'm not sure it's the best use of the licence fee?

CKhalvashi

Nikkster wrote: »

As much as I love watching Eurovision (and I do really enjoy it), I don't really understand what other kind of act we would end up sending? It's always going to be something cheesy and, well, 'europop' or what we see as 'euro'? The tactical voting is hilarious too.

Edit: I'm not sure we do want to win, we just enjoy the taking part. But would prefer it to be less tactical.

It's also important to remember that countries close to each other have similar languages, and similar music styles. I'm not going to get drawn into this argument, as my opinion, it would seem, will always differ from the majority.

Just remember, however, that before my time (this is my 7th year working for the EBU), the problem of 'tactical' voting was greater than now, when countries could only sing in their native language, as the neighbouring countries languages were similar. UK/Ireland/Malta were the only three allowed to sing in English.

Having typed that - I'm not sure it's the best use of the licence fee?

It doesn't actually cost the BBC anything to participate, as the total cost of the contest is approx. €24m, to be split between 39 countries. Our company will see approx. €600k of that this year.

€11m is brought in through ticket sales, another €12m through merchandise and downloads, and approx. €4m through sponsorship. There is also a €14m fallback fund from previous contests, which will rise by approx. €2m this year, so if there is a bad year, we can work around this without unexpected costs.

CK

Nikkster

CKhalvashi wrote: »

It's also important to remember that countries close to each other have similar languages, and similar music styles. I'm not going to get drawn into this argument, as my opinion, it would seem, will always differ from the majority.

Just remember, however, that before my time (this is my 7th year working for the EBU), the problem of 'tactical' voting was greater than now, when countries could only sing in their native language, as the neighbouring countries languages were similar. UK/Ireland/Malta were the only three allowed to sing in English.

It doesn't actually cost the BBC anything to participate, as the total cost of the contest is approx. €24m, to be split between 39 countries. Our company will see approx. €600k of that this year.

€11m is brought in through ticket sales, another €12m through merchandise and downloads, and approx. €4m through sponsorship. There is also a €14m fallback fund from previous contests, which will rise by approx. €2m this year, so if there is a bad year, we can work around this without unexpected costs.

CK

Oh, I agree - the 'tactical' element isn't political, more cultural (such as we tend to vote highly for Ireland, and vice versa). But still, that's not about what is a nice song - let alone a good one!

Surely it must cost the BBC something? Isn't that why we don't have to go through qualifying?

CKhalvashi

Nikkster wrote: »

Oh, I agree - the 'tactical' element isn't political, more cultural (such as we tend to vote highly for Ireland, and vice versa). But still, that's not about what is a nice song - let alone a good one!

I can agree with this to an extent, however there are other factors (especially in the CIS and FYR countries) that nee to be taken into account.

Surely it must cost the BBC something? Isn't that why we don't have to go through qualifying?

I've been a director on the management company since 2006, and until (the now retired) Svante Stockselius took over in January 2004, there was huge cost to all countries each year.

I've been commercial director since 2007, and it's important to remember that we have new funding streams now (iTunes, Youtube, and the internet in general), meaning that the Eurovision group (Eurovision SC, Junior Eurovision SC, TV licensing for Football etc) is now self-sufficient.

There's about €14m in the pot at the moment, and this will continue to rise. Eurovision has grown a little like MSE; it's found funding methods that weren't there before.

Remember, that we are supporting a team of 164 staff, an office in Switzerland and managing budgets of approx. €100m a year.

It's grown to be a large, self-sufficient trading group, however the EBU rights do cost the BBC money each year. This is, however, a separate network of public broadcasters, that's legally separate.

The cost to the BBC, is the commentary and the hosting of the national final.

CK

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

If I wasn't allergic to potatoes it would taste lovely on chips.

Parsnip chips...... we had them in the 70s when there was a potato shortage and prices doubled so we couldn't afford them any more

PasturesNew

Spirit wrote: »

We have a variety of vinegars for food use, red & white wine, balsamic & malt. there may be some cider vinegar, not sure without looking.Then a white vinegar spray for household things. There is a large plastic can of cider vinegar up in the stables.

As a child I only knew that malt vinegar existed. What happened?

I've only ever had brown/chip vinegar and white vinegar (pickled eggs).

All those other vinegars.... never tasted them, never had the chance - and I am not likely to start buying random bottles of vinegar, then work out how to use them, in order to find out if I like them

What happened.... you became posh.

PasturesNew

CKhalvashi wrote: »

Some other countries are really taking this competition seriously

And that is one of the fundamental differences between the UK ... and Europe

Nikkster

PasturesNew wrote: »

Parsnip chips...... we had them in the 70s when there was a potato shortage and prices doubled so we couldn't afford them any more

That's a posh alert nowadays