Deserved win for Switzerland and I'm also very happy that Croatia made 2nd place! But Finland were robbed! JUSTICE FOR WINDOWS95MAN!

Statement by the Dutch broadcaster regarding the disqualification of Joost Klein:

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We have taken note of the disqualification by the EBU. AVROTROS finds the disqualification disproportionate and is shocked by the decision. We deeply regret this.

An incident occurred after last Thursday's performance. Against clearly made agreements, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the greenroom. At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn’t respected. This led to a threatening movement from Joost towards the camera. Joost did not touch the camera woman. This incident was reported, followed by an investigation by the EBU and police.

Yesterday and today we consulted extensively with the EBU and proposed several solutions. Nevertheless, the EBU has still decided to disqualify Joost Klein. AVROTROS finds the penalty very heavy and disproportionate. We stand for good manners -let there be no misunderstanding about that- but in our view, an exclusion order is not proportional to this incident.

We are very disappointed and upset for the millions of fans who were so excited for tonight. What Joost brought to the Netherlands and Europe shouldn’t have ended this way.

https://www.avrotros.nl/article/nederland-gediskwalificeerd-van-eurovisie-songfestival~527/

If this is really all it was, the disqualification is laughable.

And apparently the EBU went full WWE when the Israeli candidate performed. They turned off the crowd-mics and piped in cheers during their performance in the 2nd semi-finale:

Apparently there was another incident that made Bambi Thug, the Irish entry in the contest, miss the flag parade dress rehearsal. But it looks like things are being taken care of and that they'll perform tonight.

Edit: Apparently Bambi Thug took offence with the commentary about their song during the Israeli broadcast of the 2nd semi-final: https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2024/0511/1448614-bambie-thug-angry-at-israeli-eurovision-commentary/

And the Norwegian spokesperson for the ESC has withdrawn from the finale tonight citing the "inflamed situation".

Joost Klein has officially been disqualified:

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Statement on Dutch participation in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Dutch artist Joost Klein will not be competing in the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night’s Semi Final. While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest.

We would like to make it clear that, contrary to some media reports and social media speculation, this incident did not involve any other performer or delegation member.

We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the Contest. In light of this, Joost Klein’s behaviour towards a team member is deemed in breach of Contest rules.

The Grand Final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will now proceed with 25 participating songs.

 

 

https://eurovision.tv/mediacentre/release/statement-dutch-participation-eurovision-song-contest

I echo the opinions here that the show was superb. The only aspect about it I didn't enjoy was

Here are screenshots for the entire Twitter thread for those without Twitter:

He also use the alt-account to defend himself and argue with people. He then started a TikTok account using AI voice and an emoji Avatar before eventually revealing his face. That TikTok account is now deleted.

Good news: There will be a new game in the Batman: Arkham series
Bad news: It will be Meta Quest 3 exclusive

I think Frieren is brilliant for what it is. But I get why it might not be for everyone.

This is truly awful news to wake up to. From the Dragon Ball franchise to Dr. Slump, Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon and even the odd Dragon Quest game here and there his work has been a big part of my childhood and teenage years. I'm pretty sure that the first manga I bought was a Dragon Ball one. May he rest in peace. 

In an tragic turn of events, Somerton has posted what appears to be a suicide note on his Twitter account:

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/concern-for-youtuber-james-somerton-after-posting-apparent-suicide-note-on-social-media-2571068/

On 27/02/2024 at 23:27, Your Mom said:

Has anyone played Alan Wake 2? Just wondering about something. It doesn't have any story spoilers but I'll put it in spoilers just to be safe

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I enjoyed the start of the game where I was playing as Saga and trying to solve the murders and I thought it was really intriguing but I rescued Alan and now I'm playing as him trying to escape the Dark Place and I'm finding the stuff with getting the different story beats and having to switch between them kind of tedious. Is this like the rest of the game? Because I kinda hate it  

 

Here is this year's soundtrack, hand-picked by Post Malone as per the 2K website:

• Post Malone - Chemical;
• Post Malone - Laugh It Off;
• 100 gecs - Hand Crushed By A Mallet;
• Busta Rhymes - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See;
• Colter Wall - Motorcycle;
• Grimes - Genesis;
• Militarie Gun - Do It Faster;
• Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Big Rig;
• Speed - Not That Nice;
• Turnstile - Mystery;
• Tyler Childers - House Fire;
• Yeat - Bëttr 0ff.

A very meh soundtrack as per usual. But usually, I just turn these songs off and have wrestler's themes play in the background. What sucks about that is that most themes fade out after about a minute.

The man who set fire to the Kyoto Animation studio a few years back and killed 36 people in the process has been sentenced to death: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/25/kyoto-animation-fire-japan-man-shinji-aoba-sentenced-to-death-arson-anime-studio

CM Punk is not going to be in this, is he? I feel like they would have made a bigger deal out of it if he was.

One of guys in Sleep Token got doxxed. Someone apparently shared his damn birth certificate online. As a response, the member in question has deleted his social media pages and the band has wiped their Instagram page and their bio now reads "Nothing lasts forever".

https://loudwire.com/sleep-token-wipe-instagram-fans-crossed-line/

This is especially strange given that these guys' identities have already been revealed about a year ago by someone who looked at the songwriting credits and some social media posts.

Helloween have Perfect Gentleman from 1994 about this narcissistic dude who thinks that he is the modern day Casanova. Then in 2010 they released the song Who Is Mr. Madman which is about the same guy and how he ended up in a mental hospital.

And I guess Keeper Of The Seven Keys and King For A 1000 Years are related. Keeper Of The Seven Keys is about a hero going on a quest to throw the 7 keys into the 7 seas to banish the devil. In King For A 1000 Years, we learn that the location of the 7th sea which shelters the 7th key has been revealed to the devil and he is now trying to persuade someone to be his "terrestrial hand" and presumably find the key to free him from his banishment. In return, that person will become "King For A 1000 Years" and rule alongside the devil.

42 minutes ago, Maxx said:

I think they just move on from the character entirely.

The fact that they could probably pull that off without much trouble just goes to show how much the producers of the MCU have lost the plot and what a directionless mess the MCU has become. In the early phases it always felt like they were building toward something. Like they had an end goal in mind. But past Endgame it feels like they are just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Hell, soon it will be 5 years since Endgame arrived in cinemas and they just started teasing at rebuilding the Avengers.

Good riddance. Seeing as the multiverse is a central story element in the MCU, it shouldn't be difficult to come up with an explanation on why Kang suddenly looks different. 

James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, Alex Casey as well as Tom Zane in the first Alan Wake game, has passed away at age 65 from cancer.

https://www.tmz.com/2023/12/18/max-payne-star-james-mccaffrey-dead-dies-cancer/

Confirmed by Remedy:

The free God Of War Ragnarok rogue-like DLC dropped today

The Final Draft New Game + mode for Alen Wake 2 has been unlocked with the most recent update. And yes, you have to play through the entire game again to get the real ending.

A video with all the important new content for everyone who doesn't feel like doing that:

The Visions Of Mana trailer looks awesome. Could this finally be the first good Mana since Seiken Densetsu 3/Trails Of Mana?

I loved that Old Gods Of Asgard performance. The instrumental was playback but the vocals were done live. At least Odin/Marko Saaresto was live. Not so sure about David Harewood and Matthew Porretta. And Same Lake looked so happy to be there too!