Mateja

Yeah, I don't know. It looks like Russia has no intention to win Eurovision this year.

She was on Russian X Factor in 2013. She is severely disabled, in a wheelchair. https://static.life.ru/posts/2016/10/924013...89fe1__980x.jpg

The winning song is okay, I guess. Probably the right choice based on what was on offer in the final. That said, I find the lyrics and the whole act a bit off putting. No song or performance in the final came close to 'Statements'. I actually went and downloaded the song from iTunes.

The OCC is supposed to track the methods of music consumption that make the music industry money. If the younger demographic outstreams and completely dwarfs the impact of sales, that's not really a problem for them. Sales are still included in the chart - but as streaming grows, their impact is getting smaller. Trying to protect the representation of older music consumers in the chart at all costs is not going to provide the real picture of the music consumption. Mind you, some older music consumers switched to streaming, too. Isn't streaming 97% or so of Sweden's singles' chart? Well, prepare for that in a few years. If you just want a diverse chart, perhaps it's time for the OCC to stop collecting the sales and streaming data and start doing surveys of chart fans on forums like this one so the OCC can compile charts that the chart fans will enjoy.

Streaming changed the music charts forever - it's time for everyone to accept that. As days and weeks go by, more and more people stream music and less and less people buy it (especially digitally). Removing streaming now from the charts isn't an option and they won't be changing the ratio in favor of sales indefinitely just to prop up the impact of dwindling sales. I understand that some people really like to watch the charts on a weekly basis, but the main purpose of the charts is not to entertain the chart watchers. It's to present a realistic representation of music consumption. I don't like the double counting of streams in the singles and album charts either, but it's possible that the streaming services simply deliver the number of streams for each track and don't give any info on how many people streamed the whole album, a few tracks from the album or just the singles on random playlist. Or if the do, perhaps the OCC doesn't have the time or isn't willing to annalyze that.

Agreed. Considering that the general public is moving on from buying music to streaming that would make no sense at all. There is no way a chart without streaming included can be considered relevant in 2017.

The song has a lot of promise and modern production, but I'm not sure it's going to work for Eurovision. Also, the vocals are just not doing it for me.

Charts are supposed to represent the popularity of music. Ed Sheeran's music happens to be by far the most popular right now. Yeah, most other artists can't compete with him right now. Who are you to dictate what the people should buy or stream?

Are you for real? Streaming is becoming more and more popular by the day and less and less people are downloading music from iTunes. It's time to accept that streaming is becoming the main form of music consumption. Downloading is dying and it makes no sense to support it in the charts by trying to decrease the impact of streaming. That's why changing the streaming ratio from 100 to 150 didn't make any sense either. In this day and age every album track can be also considered a single in a way. And if it's popular enough, it should chart. Yes, the dominance of Ed Sheeran will cause some other artists to lose higher chart positions. But surely their label won't hold that against them?

Didn't Tina Arena just recently announce a GH album? I wouldn't mind Isaiah - if he got another song.

The 'Angels' song was the only one halfway decent. Terrible selection.

Well, the BB HOT 100 chart includes radio airplay. And YouTube. That prevents the album tracks from occupying the whole TOP 10. But to be honest, I'm not a fan of including radio in the official charts.

I've just listened to Ed's new album. I don't get the hate. Yes, it's very poppy and made to appeal to the mainstream audience. But at the same time, it's very listenable. I plan to listen more in the coming days. I understand that many chart watchers don't want album tracks to chart on the singles chart, but at this point, every song on the album can be considered a single. And the biggest artists will continue putting their album tracks on the chart.

18-30 I voted for streaming. I buy albums on iTunes for some of my favorites, but otherwise I'm pretty much done with buying music.

RTV SLO posted some results on FB: SEMI 1: Omar Naber won the televote and was also the jury's top choice. Sell out was second on televote, but dead last with the jury. King Foo and Nika Zorjan were the jury's second and third pick and qualified for the final. SEMI 2: BQL won the televote, Nuska Drascek was second on televote. Nuska was the jury's first choice, but was already qualified for the final on televote. Tim Kores was the jury's second choice and BQL third. Since BQL qualified on televote, Raiven got the second ticket from the jury. We also got the names of all 18 jury members in the final (they were divided in 6 juries and four of them gave the top points to Omar Naber.

I imagine the sales component will always exist. Unless Apple decides to shut down the iTunes Music store. But most people will move on to streaming.

Charts are not about chart watcher's enjoyment. They are supposed to reflect the music consumption.

I think at some point the OCC and every chart watcher will just have to admit that streaming is now the main component of the singles chart and accept it. They won't be able to support the dying method of consumption (sales) forever.

LOL, I don't think Eurovision is on the cards for Saara this year. She will be rehearsing for the X Factor tour, go on tour and then she will have to work on her album.

Reportedly she is getting a joint record deal with Syco and Sony Music Finland. That makes sense to me - Sony label from her homeland and SYCO can promote her music in the UK. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz-tv/musi...or-Simon-Cowell It does look like SYCO was mainly interested in 5AM this season.

I don't think they can touch One Direction's WW sales. Probably most successful winning act.

I must be one of the few that can't warm up to Saara at all. She is a competent singer and performer, but I just can't bring myself to care for her in any way at all. Perhaps I wrote her off completely at her 6 Chair Challenge disaster or after a few unfortunate VTs that made her come across really fake. That said, I did feel sorry for her when she was in the bottom 2 in the first few weeks of the live shows. She was too good to be on the chopping block that early. However, once she made it on tour (TOP 8), I started hoping she would go home soon.

Louis Tomlinson The Weeknd, apparently.

I have major doubts about Bohemian Rhapsody as a good song choice for a duet. It's an iconic song, but the songs structure is a mess. And from what I know, even the original band never performed it live completely. Who Wants to Live Forever would be a much better choice.

Geri, Emma and Mel B from Spice Girls.