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Special Event: Live Stream: The Grand Final (2023 Eurovision Song Contest)

Since I mentioned my Eurovision Baking in the last couple threads, today I thought it was only fair to share a picture of the goodies.

Got my setup for the official stream all ready, and the SVT app on our Apple TV is also ready to go as a backup.

Thank goodness Austria isn't in the death slot, but I'm sad that Portugal is.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 9:52 AM on May 13, 2023

Return of the pink bucket hat!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:06 PM on May 13, 2023

JAMALA I STILL LOVE YOU <3
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:12 PM on May 13, 2023

Yeah, I agree that the sound mix didn't do Austria any favors :(
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:24 PM on May 13, 2023

Portugal bringing the energy today!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:27 PM on May 13, 2023

Switzerland is the intermission.

(Serious answer: yes, every three to four acts or so, but they're fairly short)
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:31 PM on May 13, 2023

Well, France is already the opposite of lying down.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:42 PM on May 13, 2023

I love the Banana Wolves walking past the King and Queen.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:47 PM on May 13, 2023

Cyprus probably has the best Sad Boy Ballad in this year's show, but it's still a Sad Boy Ballad.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:49 PM on May 13, 2023

Special Event: Special Event: Live Stream: Semifinal 2 (2023 Eurovision Song Contest)

Eurovision Baking is done as of yesterday! Made some mini strawberry tarts with the leftover mince pie pastry for a guest on Saturday who is allergic to raisins.

Thanks as always to PearlRose for these threads. Looking forward to today's show!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 9:52 AM on May 11, 2023

Official stream is giving me trouble today...
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:07 PM on May 11, 2023

Finally got the video problems sorted out. Missed most of Estonia, unfortunately, and a chunk of Romania and Belgium.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:27 PM on May 11, 2023

Does it count as a sad boy ballad if there's pyrotechnics?
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:35 PM on May 11, 2023

Iceland sent a great singer this year, but the song itself isn't doing anything for me.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:40 PM on May 11, 2023

Hey, I like the Steve Irwin costume! Sadly, that was probably the best part of the performance.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:45 PM on May 11, 2023

Slovenia is decent. Reminds me of Urge Overkill.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:51 PM on May 11, 2023

I LOVE THIS?!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:06 PM on May 11, 2023

Thank goodness we have Austria and Albania saving us from an otherwise middling Semi-Final.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:11 PM on May 11, 2023

No jetlag on that stage! Good job, Aussies.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:21 PM on May 11, 2023

Top four: Austria, Austria, Austria, Austria

Runners-up: Albania, Australia

Honorable mentions: Poland, Slovenia, Georgia, Lithuania
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:23 PM on May 11, 2023

Too bad for you PearlRose, I threw a vote to Poland! (I really did like them enough to do so.)
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:31 PM on May 11, 2023

Hell yeah AUSTRIA!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:05 PM on May 11, 2023

I was kinda pulling for Georgia, but otherwise, no real complaints with the qualifiers.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:11 PM on May 11, 2023

Special Event: Live Stream: Semifinal 1 (2023 Eurovision Song Contest)

I didn't get any sleep last night, so I'm feeling bleh, plus work started to replace our front porch today, so it's kind of noisy outside. Will still watch today's Semis, though.

Still can't believe this year's installment is happening in Liverpool, only one of my favorite cities in the world. I so, so wish I could be there in person.

For this year's Eurovision Baking, I've already made a couple of loaves of Ukrainian poppy seed cake, which I… [more]
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 11:18 AM on May 9, 2023

Bella Donna: Same! That was really moving.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:06 PM on May 9, 2023

Ohh, love the three-country concept for the intro videos!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:12 PM on May 9, 2023

Norway is... very Norway, in a good way.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:16 PM on May 9, 2023

Wait, when did the sweaters get all sparkly?
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:19 PM on May 9, 2023

Yeah, not feeling Serbia's song, either. They're trying to hard to be edgy.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:23 PM on May 9, 2023

Latvia is really good! Alt rock with a touch of drum and bass. I like it.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:27 PM on May 9, 2023

Portugal is awesome. Simple staging, but it totally works, and the song is excellent.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:34 PM on May 9, 2023

Ireland's mix of U2-style arrangement, borderline-whiny 90s alt-rock singer, and, uh, disco is certainly something.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:38 PM on May 9, 2023

So, we're having a couple of friends over on Saturday to watch the Grand Final with us. They have never watched Eurovision before, as far as I know. That said, I hope Croatia gets in if for no other reason than to give them the full Eurovision experience.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 12:42 PM on May 9, 2023

Holy shit, can she sing.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:01 PM on May 9, 2023

Big Sugar Ray vibes from Azerbaijan, not a bad thing if I'm being honest.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:05 PM on May 9, 2023

Czechia is sending chills not down my spine, but my whole body. Wow.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:09 PM on May 9, 2023

Netherlands trying to recreate whatever it was that "Arcade" had, I see.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:14 PM on May 9, 2023

If Finland is ever not on it, there's no hope for Eurovision.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:16 PM on May 9, 2023

I loved the song even more once the chorus hit.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:19 PM on May 9, 2023

Top four: Portugal, Sweden, Czechia, Finland

Runners up: Norway, Latvia, Moldova, Croatia

Also, woo, I get to vote this year!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:23 PM on May 9, 2023

Eagerly awaiting France's performance in the Grand Final. This song is hitting nearly all my buttons just in this little snippet.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:56 PM on May 9, 2023

Dang, Germany is fantastic as well!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:58 PM on May 9, 2023

Yesss, Czechia!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:05 PM on May 9, 2023

PORTUGAL!!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:06 PM on May 9, 2023

All the countries I voted for got in except for Latvia. Not too shabby!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:09 PM on May 9, 2023

Oh, this was so much fun, even though I had to watch on my tiny laptop screen thanks to the porch construction outside. See you all again on Thursday!
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:11 PM on May 9, 2023

Spring 2023 Anime Season

My anime database of choice is Anime-Planet, whose Spring 2023 chart is here.

As for the shows themselves, I'm so happy that Skip and Loafer sounds like it'll be great, going by ANN's first impressions. The manga it's based on is one of my current favorites, with realistic, likeable characters, plus one of the best trans characters ever in fictional manga, Mitsumi's aunt Nao-chan. This is a top-tier high school comedy, and I'm really… [more]
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 1:48 PM on April 4, 2023

Winter 2023 Anime Season

ANN has this season's Preview Guide up and pretty much complete at this point. I'm most excited for the second season of Bofuri, a hilarious MMO gamer comedy. Out of the new stuff, "Ippon" Again! looks up my alley; good sports series featuring girls are few and far between.
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 2:42 PM on January 13, 2023

The Peripheral: The Creation of a Thousand Forests

This whole show was... well, to put it in gamer terms, tryhard. The opening credit sequence is decent (and makes me envious of those who were able to break into motion graphics whereas I couldn't), and there are a handful of genuinely interesting characters-- Flynn, Burton, Connor, Lowbeer, etc.

However, there's too much else that's half-baked. Bob was a pointless filler character-- filler, in a show with only eight episodes!… [more]
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 6:25 PM on December 2, 2022

One thing I forgot to mention: at least this episode didn't have any (that I can remember) belabored metaphors or folksy similes that "my dad/mom/cousin used to say". There was way too much of that in this show. Such lazy writing pretending to be deep.

I’ve taken to watching as if it’s an entirely original show, and not adapted from any book. It doesn’t make things work any better, but it saves wear-and-tear on the tv from thrown objects.… [more]
posted to FanFare by May Kasahara at 7:52 AM on December 3, 2022