ETNW 2013 - Opening ceremony

Welcome to the Eurovision That Never Was 2013!
If you’re new to the contest, here's a bit of an explanation of what it's about. But even if you’re an old hand, read it anyway ;)

ETNW is about choosing a song you think sounds like it could have been an entry in Eurovision - from any country that’s ever taken part in any year between 1956 and 2012. Maybe there’s some Bosnian song you’ve just discovered (probably full of angst and/or melancholy) which you thought would have made a great entry for the country in Stockholm in 2000; or you’ve always loved some Belarusian song you’re sure the Soviet Union would have sent in 1981... if they’d been taking part.

Your entry might scream Eurovision and pick itself, or it could take you a while before you’re sure it would have slotted in perfectly for that country in that year. But whatever it is you come up with, use your imagination; think ‘what if…?’ – it's the Eurovision That Never Was, after all. It’s up to you how you interpret that. With any luck it’ll provide us with a good variety of music and a worthy winner!

ETNW is about coming up with an entry you reckon is as authentic as possible given the year and country you’ve allocated it to – which is, importantly, how your voting should work. Say there are two songs you’re torn between: one you like but which doesn’t really feel like it comes from ESC, and the other which you don’t like as much but which seems as though it was lifted straight out of Eurovision. Your higher mark should go to the second one.

That’s what distinguishes ETNW from other MB contests: it’s not about personal taste as such, but rewarding good matches. That said, each year people have been getting better and better at matches, so by the time we get to this year’s final we could well end up with 20-whatever plausible entries, in which case it might come down to taste anyway ;) But see the other posts hereabouts for more information about rules and voting.

Submissions will open... as soon as I've hammered out a schedule and set up a new email address ;) Before that, let’s have a recap of last year's winner from Oliver...

Hungary 1968 - Rövid az élet
If the video's not showing up, just click on the link ;)

That’s the kind of thing to aim for! (Not that everyone should submit ballads, of course – Arvid and Roger’s winners from 2010 and 2011, which Mr. Scroll will help you find, were an anthem and an up-tempo number respectively; and stuff from every decade’s done pretty well so far.)

No tips on picking your entry this time – sorry, Oliver! And indeed anyone who might be looking for them; time is against me. You can always ask for advice on the MB, of course. Threads tend to pop up as a matter of course about how people go about it.

So then. Keep your eyes open for news of submissions, and until then get your thinking caps on :)