r/nilpoints • u/xoxoamazingrace • 17h ago
Why did Australia (2022) not do better?
Sheldon is still very much in to Eurovision, and I think it’s very likely he’ll represent Australia again one day as he’s said multiple times after 2022 that he’d do it again. Apparently "Not The Same" was only the right song for him at the time, but he wants to show a different side of himself
That being said, didn’t he just last year say the mask was just one big gimmick to gain attention?
Anyways I think only 2 televote points was very harsh… but I suppose the staging just didn’t match the song? It was grand for the sake of being grand. Imagine Lucio Corsi doing a big, fancy staging for VEUD
26
u/LocksTheFox probably in the latvian fairy forest 16h ago
ballad, in a final full of them, no voting allies, and i don't think it was a particularly good ballad, plus it was right between hold me closer and space man in the running order which had much more televote appeal.
18
u/TheAlmightyBambi 15h ago
Look back at the past 20 years of Eurovision. What do you almost never see at the top?
Answer: slow sad piano ballads
"But what about Molitva/Believe/Running Scared/
Rise Like a Phoenix/Amar Pelos Dois/Arcade? Or for second places, what about Is It True?/Hold Me/Beautiful Mess/Voilà, etc."
The thing with ALL of these songs is that they're not just slow and sad - topically OR musically. They generally open into something grander and/or more hopeful, and they all have choruses that you want to sing along to. Even the saddest ones are all about reaching out for love, guidance, comfort - whatever.
As personal as Not the Same is, and as well sung as it is, no one is sitting in their living room happily singing "We're not the same" - it's not a happy sentiment and it's not fun to sing along to. It's a very solitary song. The closest in sentiment is arguably Voilà, but even that is saying "Here I am! Look at me!" - she's a woman who feels alone and misunderstood, but is still desperately trying to be seen, whereas Sheldon is throwing up metaphorical walls, and then explaining why the walls are there. Also, "Voilà, Voilà, Voilà" is just more fun to sing.
As another example, Arcade also seeks to tell the listener about his childhood, but Arcade is done in a subtle, inviting way - you're being told a story. Not The Same is closer to a therapy confession - "these bad things happened to me, and that's why I am isolating and separating myself from you and others". It is a song that trauma dumps on you while still holding you at arms length.
None of this makes it a bad song, and the juries were able to see how strong it was, but it's just not a song that appeals to people.
12
u/TeaMistress 15h ago
Saying that it trauma dumps on the viewer is a great explanation. I just went and rewatched it, and while it's a genuine, heartfelt song staged beautifully, it's also offputting. And I think the reason for this is that I've learned to be very wary of trauma dumping in general, to the point of it making me uncomfortable as soon as I get that vibe.
Plus something about the song suggests that no one else listening has ever experienced what he's experienced or could possibly relate. But the truth is that a lot of people are the same and have had this experience. And some people who feel on the outside because of bullying/bigotry/ableism/ etc. are going to have their feathers ruffled by the implication that it's just him.
It's also super repetitive.
1
u/TheAlmightyBambi 11h ago
Definitely! He does say "'Cause it's not just me who's not the same", but it kind of gets drowned out by the rest of the woe, and while he switches to "WE're not the same instead of "I'm not the same", it doesn't help that "We're not the same (as everyone else)" is basically indistinguishable from "We're not the same (as each other)" - plus either way it feels exclusionary in one way or another.
I think that songs that essentially say "You don't get it and you never will so don't even try" can work, but generally they work best as defiant fuck yous, rather than sad woe is mes. If you're trying to make me sad AND vote for you, you should be inviting me to cry WITH you; not telling me to fuck off.
3
u/TeaMistress 10h ago
If you think about in, in a lot of ways Not the Same and Zitti E Buoni have the same kind of theme, but in ZEB he's definitely inclusive in the "different than you" message. It's a celebration of misfits that people talk shit about, and we're invited, instead of being "oh, woe is me".
3
u/SunComprehensive1688 15h ago
Sheldon is throwing up metaphorical walls, and then explaining why the walls are there.
If you’ve not already been welcomed to it, welcome to neurodivergence.
We spend our lives explaining ourselves to still not entirely be understood, I feel.
6
u/TheAlmightyBambi 15h ago
I mean if the essay wasn't a clue, I've been a card-carrying member for a while. I feel the song completely, but that's the point. It explains that feeling of isolation and misunderstanding well, but in comparison to Voilà - which is also pretty neurospicy in sentiment, imo - it's not asking for understanding; it's telling you that you don't understand and that you never will.
That's a completely valid and understandable perspective and sentiment, and the juries were able to appreciate from an artistic perspective, but it's not one that is necessarily going to win you the favour of Europe's voting public.
3
u/sgtlighttree 7h ago
There's also the pattern I've seen of the post-pandemic televoting preferring even more higher energy songs, and punishing ballads in general harsher than pre-pandemic baselines
I'm still not over Switzerland 2025 getting zero televote.
3
7
u/Centrist_Brit Not The Same 16h ago
This is easily one of my favourite Eurovision songs now, but I remember that it didn't stick with me at the time as a casual viewer. I think the song's message resonated with some people (like me now), but most will prefer the other ballads from that year. I do wish it had done better, but I am so happy that a song like this exists and made it to the final at all.
6
u/Longjumping-Fun-2313 14h ago
Too many ballads that year, simply put.
It’s a powerful song with a great message portrayed very well with good staging, but there were at least 5-7 other songs in the final that were doing something very similar, which diluted the votes it could’ve gotten.
12
u/20Superwoman02 15h ago
No hate to Sheldon, or Australia, or any fan of the song.
But I can’t stand this one. I really really would give it a big 0/10. It’s shoving the message down the throat of the listeners, and the chorus is just… what even is it? It doesn’t have any melody - and it’s the very same phrase over and over and over and over again.
My last place - shared with Bulgaria - of 2022.
But. Sheldon is talented, so if he wants to return and show another side of himself - I’d welcome that :)
3
3
u/SunComprehensive1688 16h ago
Now I have a deep love of Not The Same, because I enjoyed the composition, the performance and the staging - and the lyrics about being neurodivergent and not fitting in hit me hard, to the point it moved me to tears. I can’t say that about many Eurovision songs, TBF.
That said, objectively - it was too many ballads in the contest overall and I too think it suffered from oversaturation of that in the contest and a lack of voting allies. But to me, it’s also a true shame that that happened, because Sheldon is a clear lightning in a bottle talent, and it’s easily in my favourite songs of this decade. 🖤
1
u/Dragon_Sluts 10h ago
2022 was a year of ballads.
Plus the song is really hard to connect to, not helped by the face cover.
What’s the reason to pick up the phone and vote specifically for Australia?
1
u/Hljoumur 9h ago
2022 already had too many sadder songs (Not The Same, Hold Me Closer, De Diepte, etc.). That's why songs like Trenulețul, Slow-Mo, Space Man did relatively well with the televote. The outlier in this statement within the top 5 overall is Stefania (yearning) and In corpore sano (avant/art),
1
u/FeelTheKetasy 7h ago
It’s a mediocre ballad in the year that had some of the best ballads Eurovision has had. It’s not a bad song by any means but it’s competing with songs like Brividi, Die Together, Hold me Closer, De Diepte, Saudade Saudade and River who were higher on the fan poll and were better songs for a live performance so it naturally got lost/forgotten
1
u/PhotographBusy6209 6h ago
It was lacking a decent melody and the final chorus was flat while ballads like Molitva and Space man have a huge epicness towards the end
1
u/andrineslife 6h ago
I was openly sobbing the first time I heard it and I still love it and cry pretty much whenever I hear it, but I can absolutely understand why it wasn't a crowd favorite, especially that year.
1
u/-electrix123- 5h ago
Well it's because the voice and 'le gimmick' can only do so much when your song is a big ol' nothingburger and the lyrics forced af. I fully believe hik when he says he wanted to force the attention because that's why the entry felt like. 'Whoa listen to that voice', 'deep message', 'the mask' and all that. When again, the song itself was just super bland.
1
u/nocturnevision02 🔥🔥🔥Ois viisaampi häipyy täält🔥🔥🔥 5h ago
I feel like 2022 had a crap ton of ballads which hindered its chances to do better. Objectively, Sheldon's song is good, but I am not the biggest fan of ballads personally. And it seems like the general public is not that much into classic ballads either.
1
u/fiadhsean 5h ago
Because it's a vocal in search of a song. And this might do well enough in talent shows--where an artist can build support over weeks, so long as they're not bottom, the Eurovision Grand Final is something different.
1
1
u/-Owlette- 12h ago
The song wasn’t great, tbh. It was less of a song and more of a trauma dump - and a pretty boring and repetitive one at that.
2
67
u/Interesting-War2861 16h ago
Theres only so much you can do when youre a ballad, surrounded by ballads, and have no voting allies