BuzzJack Music Forum _ Eurovision Song Contest _ Iceland · Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Posted by: GhoulOdyssey 20th October 2020, 10:32 AM
Iceland 2021 10 Years Daði og Gagnamagnið
Posted by: GhoulOdyssey 23rd October 2020, 11:51 AM
They've announced they will be representing Iceland again next year!
Posted by: gooddelta 23rd October 2020, 11:58 AM
Fantastic! I do wonder if he’s become so recognisable this year that his USP will no longer stand out. But Europe hasn’t yet seen him on stage, so hopefully he will still seem fresh, especially if it’s another great song.
Posted by: Thom Kerewolf 23rd October 2020, 12:47 PM
YASSSS Is it too early to book hotels for Helsinki 2022?
There’s also a remix EP out this week, though the latter two are better than the first. Is it too much to ask for a vinyl
Posted by: devil tin coffin 23rd October 2020, 12:53 PM
QUOTE(Thom Kerewolf @ Oct 23 2020, 12:47 PM)
YASSSS Is it too early to book hotels for Helsinki 2022?
There’s also a remix EP out this week, though the latter two are better than the first. Is it too much to ask for a vinyl
Why would you book hotels for Helsinki?
I'm very happy about this. It would not feel right to have him compete in a NF with other artists and it would be sad if he never got the chance to properly represent Iceland. His Eurovision songs are both 10/10 for me so I'm excited to see if third time really is the charm!
Posted by: Thom Kerewolf 23rd October 2020, 01:37 PM
*Reykjavik
It's a good thing I'm pretty
Posted by: FestiveOdyssey 5th January 2021, 10:26 AM
!
Posted by: WhoOdyssey 27th January 2021, 06:33 PM
To be revealed on March 13th!
Posted by: diva thin muffin 24th February 2021, 12:12 PM
Posted by: WhoOdyssey 24th February 2021, 12:13 PM
Very very excited!
Posted by: J❄️hq 10th March 2021, 12:01 PM
Very intriguing
Posted by: Liаm 10th March 2021, 05:31 PM
I was FAR from a fan of Think About Things anyway but this just sounds... meh?
EDIT: appears the whole thing has leaked oops
Posted by: Colm 10th March 2021, 05:43 PM
Daft Punk and Stevie Wonder = Jamiroquai and no one needs that.
I'm secretly hoping it's not amazing.
Posted by: J❄️hq 10th March 2021, 05:46 PM
QUOTE(Liаm @ Mar 10 2021, 05:31 PM)
I was FAR from a fan of Think About Things anyway but this just sounds... meh?
Yeah, having heard the full thing (albeit with "music mafia" constantly repeated over the top), my first reaction is that Thom is more likely to need a hotel in Helsinki than Reykjavik after all. Think About Things wasn't a big fave of mine but it's still leagues ahead of this.
Posted by: Liаm 10th March 2021, 05:50 PM
Maybe it's just me being absolutely BAFFLED at the appeal with Dadi at all but it sounds like something that would come like 5th in any random country's selection to me. NO chance is this a Eurovision winner, surely?!
Posted by: Colm 10th March 2021, 05:54 PM
I loved Think About Things for about 3 weeks but it fell down somewhere in my low teens in terms of all 41 songs last year.
Posted by: gooddelta 10th March 2021, 05:56 PM
I like it on first listen. Think About Things took a while for me to love and then ended up in my end of year top ten (overall, not just Eurovision songs).
It still sounds big, but not really as big as Think About Things would have been, I’m sure Iceland should get another top ten with this.
Posted by: WhoOdyssey 10th March 2021, 06:04 PM
Ooh I'm really liking the sound of this!
Posted by: diva thin muffin 10th March 2021, 10:59 PM
Upon first listen I'm not all that impressed but I'll reserve judgement until I see it performed live on Saturday. My first impression is though that "Feel the Love" would have made a better ESC entry than this.
Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 13th March 2021, 03:11 AM
Poor Iceland, i really think they could have won last year but cant see it happening with this.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 13th March 2021, 09:09 PM
First live performance. I actually.. love this? They’re so quirky and unashamedly weird in such a unique way.
Posted by: Colm 13th March 2021, 09:18 PM
This ok, I suppose.
Posted by: LexC 13th March 2021, 09:21 PM
Okay that's a bop!
Posted by: LexC 13th March 2021, 09:23 PM
Studio Version
Posted by: gooddelta 13th March 2021, 09:24 PM
I love them so much, they’re so fun and charming The song is good, I don’t think it’s as good as Think About Things but they’re still going to do extremely well on the televote with that, just depends what the juries make of it.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 13th March 2021, 09:29 PM
I think it was always gonna be hard to follow-up Think About Things as it was very unique and managed to do the seemingly impossible and actually chart in the UK (among other countries) but I think this will do well even if it’s maybe unlikely to win. It’s catchy and will be interesting to those who don’t follow Eurovision and for those who don’t know Think About Things as well. They will definitely have a great performance and will be fun to see who wins the weird dance battle now that it’s just between Lithuania and Iceland.
Posted by: Tafty 13th March 2021, 09:29 PM
As far as performances go, there is something very captivating and endearing about it. But without that, I can't say I'll be going back to the song much at all. It's not as bad as the clip made me think it was though.
It's OK. Just not my thing I guess?
EDIT: I wonder if Tik Tok will latch onto this as much as TAT? It's not that much different.
Posted by: Colm 13th March 2021, 09:30 PM
The synths really remind me of Sweden I Can't Go On.
Posted by: Colm 13th March 2021, 09:33 PM
It hasn't really set the 2021 Community Scoreboard alight. Sitting in 12th place.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 13th March 2021, 09:36 PM
QUOTE(Colm @ Mar 13 2021, 09:33 PM)
It hasn't really set the 2021 Community Scoreboard alight. Sitting in 12th place.
It was literally released 30 minutes ago, is that really telling of its potential?
Posted by: Colm 13th March 2021, 09:46 PM
Yes. I expect immediate responses from every fan around the world. FAIL
Posted by: ScottyEm 14th March 2021, 12:57 AM
I was of the 0.5% that found Think About Things borderline excruciating but I’m into this. Sounds like Nile Rogers has had a hand in it. Infectious stuff.
Posted by: J❄️hq 14th March 2021, 01:52 PM
To be fair, the community scoreboard app does 'reset' after each song release to only count people who've ranked every single song.
This is fine I guess but the song isn't as strong as TAT and the performance/look is just...the same? Can't really blame him for going for something as similar as possible given what a big favourite he was last year, but I'm more interested in the countries/acts that have really changed it up this year.
Posted by: Colm 14th March 2021, 02:05 PM
...plus it hasn't budged from 12th where as Switzerland and San Marino opened in 1st place.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 14th March 2021, 04:00 PM
I do find the criticism interesting when people say it's too similar to Think About Things (which I agree with to a certain extent) but I don't understand why Lithuania and Bulgaria and even Switzerland haven't faced the same criticism when their songs are all quite heavily influenced by their previous entries and especially Lithuania hasn't really done much to change what worked for them last year and for good reason: They never got to perform these songs in 2020, they were all expected to do really well in ESC 2020, the majority of those who will tune in for the show in May did not hear the songs they had last year (Europe: Shine A Light had approx 70 million viewers as opposed to Eurovision 2019's ~182 million viewers) and most casual viewers only see&hear the songs for the first time when they are performed live in Eurovision. But why is it only Iceland that's facing criticism for not changing it up enough? Obviously I know I'm biased towards this, being from Iceland and all, but I think it's fair to argue that Daði got the raw end of the deal here as it seems people were expecting him to reinvent the wheel and do something completely different. Most of the acts who changed it up proper (by doing something completely different) this year are those who were either expected to flop hard (eg. Moldova, Latvia, San Marino, Belgium) or those who got a good reception but were still thought to not be interesting enough to be guaranteed to do well which probably made the artists feel it's worth taking more of a risk (eg. United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands).
It also feels worth pointing out that Daði's hype only started when they performed it live (proper) in Söngvakeppnin 2020 and I'd argue that ~80% of the hype was because of Daði and Gagnamagnið and their dance/personality/everything while maybe only ~20% was because of the song itself although obviously people also loved the song but IMO it was (generally) performance #1, song #2. When the audio version was released it hardly even got any coverage in Iceland, let alone Europe. When Daði won the NF, the ESC community was salty that IVA had been robbed (thankfully, seeing as she's since revealed herself to be a TERF) and it was only after he won that the hype started because of the live performance. We haven't gotten a proper live performance yet as the one last night was stripped back and they said beforehand that it's not at all reflective of what the final one will be like and likely the only thing that will stay is the dance in the chorus so I think it's safe to say that they can still turn things around with a great music video and great staging in Rotterdam.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 14th March 2021, 04:08 PM
If people truly feel the song is not good without comparing it to Think About Things that's certainly a fair criticism, but I think it's unfair to say it's bad because Think About Things was better or because it's too similar to Think About Things when that comparison isn't being made for other acts that are taking what seemed to work for them last year and using it again this year.
Posted by: Colm 14th March 2021, 04:30 PM
It's noteworthy that the 4 favourites in 2020 didn't stray from the sound of their entries last year.
Posted by: Umi 15th March 2021, 12:13 AM
QUOTE(diva thin muffin @ Mar 14 2021, 04:00 PM)
I do find the criticism interesting when people say it's too similar to Think About Things (which I agree with to a certain extent) but I don't understand why Lithuania and Bulgaria and even Switzerland haven't faced the same criticism when their songs are all quite heavily influenced by their previous entries and especially Lithuania hasn't really done much to change what worked for them last year and for good reason: They never got to perform these songs in 2020, they were all expected to do really well in ESC 2020, the majority of those who will tune in for the show in May did not hear the songs they had last year (Europe: Shine A Light had approx 70 million viewers as opposed to Eurovision 2019's ~182 million viewers) and most casual viewers only see&hear the songs for the first time when they are performed live in Eurovision. But why is it only Iceland that's facing criticism for not changing it up enough? Obviously I know I'm biased towards this, being from Iceland and all, but I think it's fair to argue that Daði got the raw end of the deal here as it seems people were expecting him to reinvent the wheel and do something completely different. Most of the acts who changed it up proper (by doing something completely different) this year are those who were either expected to flop hard (eg. Moldova, Latvia, San Marino, Belgium) or those who got a good reception but were still thought to not be interesting enough to be guaranteed to do well which probably made the artists feel it's worth taking more of a risk (eg. United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands).
One of the major selling points of 'Think About Things' was how different it was. Taking everything about that entry together (monotonous vocals, hideous outfits, embarrassing choreography), it was essentially a novelty entry. By releasing such a similar entry this year both musically and otherwise, Iceland are essentially doing novelty again. The problem with that is that "oh wow it's so different" doesn't really work when it's the second time you do it, and the humour of the entry is weaker when it's the second time you tell the joke as well. The comparisons to Bulgaria and Lithuania don't really hold up because uniqueness wasn't their main selling point (they were just good songs) and so they are less damaged by repetition. You don't get tired of well-produced dance music anywhere near as quickly as you get tired of "omg, they're dancing like nerds! lmao!".
I'm sure they will still do well because their shtick will still be fresh to the public, and it's not like Eurovision fans have turned against them en masse anyway. They're just naturally going to be less inspiring to the people who followed them last year because their whole point was offering something new and this year they're not doing that.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 15th March 2021, 12:35 AM
QUOTE(Umi @ Mar 15 2021, 12:13 AM)
One of the major selling points of 'Think About Things' was how different it was. Taking everything about that entry together (monotonous vocals, hideous outfits, embarrassing choreography), it was essentially a novelty entry. By releasing such a similar entry this year both musically and otherwise, Iceland are essentially doing novelty again. The problem with that is that "oh wow it's so different" doesn't really work when it's the second time you do it, and the humour of the entry is weaker when it's the second time you tell the joke as well. The comparisons to Bulgaria and Lithuania don't really hold up because uniqueness wasn't their main selling point (they were just good songs) and so they are less damaged by repetition. You don't get tired of well-produced dance music anywhere near as quickly as you get tired of "omg, they're dancing like nerds! lmao!".
I'm sure they will still do well because their shtick will still be fresh to the public, and it's not like Eurovision fans have turned against them en masse anyway. They're just naturally going to be less inspiring to the people who followed them last year because their whole point was offering something new and this year they're not doing that.
I definitely don’t agree that Lithuania wasn’t a novelty entry last year. It’s popularity and hype basically boiled down to a funny dance (and literally all of the plot points you pointed out for Daði) which is why the two and Russia were compared so much last year. Discoteque is literally just the same thing, a funny dance and generic lyrics about dancing. If the selling point of The Roop wasn’t to be unique then they wouldn’t have felt the need for a TikTok dance to begin with, let alone a second time.
Additionally I strongly believe that Daði’s sound - which has been consistent since he first started releasing music and 10Y is quite on par with his previous music - has been a major selling point so I also disagree with that statement. He has a couple of songs with more than a million listens on Spotify and that’s excluding his Eurovision entries, while The Roop on the other hand only have their Eurovision hits with more than 500k listens.
Posted by: Umi 15th March 2021, 04:21 PM
QUOTE(diva thin muffin @ Mar 15 2021, 12:35 AM)
I definitely don’t agree that Lithuania wasn’t a novelty entry last year. It’s popularity and hype basically boiled down to a funny dance (and literally all of the plot points you pointed out for Daði) which is why the two and Russia were compared so much last year. Discoteque is literally just the same thing, a funny dance and generic lyrics about dancing. If the selling point of The Roop wasn’t to be unique then they wouldn’t have felt the need for a TikTok dance to begin with, let alone a second time.
Additionally I strongly believe that Daði’s sound - which has been consistent since he first started releasing music and 10Y is quite on par with his previous music - has been a major selling point so I also disagree with that statement. He has a couple of songs with more than a million listens on Spotify and that’s excluding his Eurovision entries, while The Roop on the other hand only have their Eurovision hits with more than 500k listens.
What you are missing in your comparison is that Lithuania without its gimmicks is still a very accessible dance song whereas the Icelandic song is far more niche in terms of appeal and is more clearly designed with its performance in mind. For that reason it makes perfect sense that a greater number of people are willing to shrug off the joke of the Lithuanian entry getting old - there's still a likeable song there without the humour. Less people will feel that way about Daði because their sound is less mainstream.
I don't really know what explanation you're looking for here? Either there's a difference between the entries or we're just going to have to settle with "I guess people just hate Iceland now", which clearly isn't the answer. Boiling the situation down to "but Lithuania has a funny dance TOO!" isn't achieving anything.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 15th March 2021, 07:54 PM
QUOTE(Umi @ Mar 15 2021, 04:21 PM)
What you are missing in your comparison is that Lithuania without its gimmicks is still a very accessible dance song whereas the Icelandic song is far more niche in terms of appeal and is more clearly designed with its performance in mind. For that reason it makes perfect sense that a greater number of people are willing to shrug off the joke of the Lithuanian entry getting old - there's still a likeable song there without the humour. Less people will feel that way about Daði because their sound is less mainstream.
I don't really know what explanation you're looking for here? Either there's a difference between the entries or we're just going to have to settle with "I guess people just hate Iceland now", which clearly isn't the answer. Boiling the situation down to "but Lithuania has a funny dance TOO!" isn't achieving anything.
I'm not looking for an explanation here? I just don't agree with you which I thought I made quite clear when I said "I don't agree". The whole point of my original post is that I disagree with this take on the whole "it's the same thing as last year" debate, I'm not asking for someone to explain it to me. I don't agree that Lithuania is any more accessible than Iceland without its performance, even if you think it is which is absolutely fine, but no more right than my opinion. I have no idea where you got that "I guess people just hate Iceland now" thing from which is definitely not something I said nor something that I think is the case and summarising my posts as "Lithuania has a funny dance TOO" just tells me you either didn't really read what I said or you didn't understand what I was saying and there's really no need to be so condescending. I don't think we're going to agree on this matter anyway so lets just agree to disagree and move on.
Posted by: J❄️hq 29th March 2021, 11:46 AM
Well the video is very fun. Is that one of the same guys from the Eurovision movie playing the Mayor? And I recognise one of the women from tet "Think About Things" video, nice to see them tie it together like that.
Posted by: diva thin muffin 29th March 2021, 12:04 PM
QUOTE(J❄️hq @ Mar 29 2021, 11:46 AM)
Well the video is very fun. Is that one of the same guys from the Eurovision movie playing the Mayor? And I recognise one of the women from tet "Think About Things" video, nice to see them tie it together like that.
Haha yup that's the same guy from the Eurovision movie (Ólafur Darri), he's a pretty famous icelandic actor and has also crossed over the pond for some movies like The Meg with The Rock. I quite liked this video, it's very them and gives me hopes that they'll bring something totally unexpected to the Eurovision stage.
Btw what the "mayor of Iceland" says after he cuts the phone call with Daði is (in icelandic) "yes, I DO know that he speaks icelandic!"
Posted by: Ho-Lee Smokes 19th May 2021, 02:51 PM
one of the members have covid, will not be taking part in rehearsal and will not be performing live
Posted by: diva thin muffin 19th May 2021, 02:58 PM
The second rehearsal footage will be used which is at least good news as they supposedly did really well there and won the press poll that day.
Posted by: NoBrasNoPanties 19th May 2021, 03:39 PM
Such a misleading f***ing article.
"In close collaboration with the EBU and the host broadcaster, Daði og Gagnamagnið have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from performing in this year’s live Eurovision Song Contest shows, as they only want to perform together as a group."
followed by "Their song will remain in the competition".
shady hoes!
Posted by: Lukuzz 19th May 2021, 04:49 PM
Such a shame they won’t be able to perform live but at least they are still in the competition
Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 19th May 2021, 07:13 PM
Disappointing for all the team especially been so close to performing live in semi 2, main thing is whoever has covid that they make a full recovery.
Posted by: WhoOdyssey 25th May 2021, 03:10 PM
Very excited to see where he goes from here! Hopefully there's some sort of album in the pipeline.
Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 25th May 2021, 04:08 PM
They hopefully have an album ready at this point to release and build on the Eurovision exposure.
Posted by: sn👠ke 10th June 2021, 08:26 PM
QUOTE(Feel_The_Fever @ May 25 2021, 05:08 PM)
They hopefully have an album ready at this point to release and build on the Eurovision exposure.
Hopefully, they are very good. 10 years was like Level 42's Lessons in Love mixed with a bit of George Ezra and early Clean Bandit influence
Posted by: WhoOdyssey 10th June 2021, 09:45 PM
Where do you hear George Ezra in it?
Posted by: sn👠ke 13th June 2021, 11:32 PM
QUOTE(WhoOdyssey @ Jun 10 2021, 10:45 PM)
Where do you hear George Ezra in it?
His voice sounds like George Ezra I think.
Posted by: Ho-Lee Smokes 13th June 2021, 11:34 PM
Hopefully they perform again next year, third time lucky x
Posted by: Juranamo 14th June 2021, 08:03 AM
QUOTE(sn👠ke @ Jun 14 2021, 12:32 AM)
His voice sounds like George Ezra I think.
I hear this: but I wouldn't say there's 'George Ezra influence' purely down to his voice, when nothing else is vaguely similar. 🙊
Is it too early to book hotels for Helsinki 2022?
