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The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

bbc.com

11–20 of 58 posts

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#11
I'd really love an alternative broadcast which shows the set changes rather than the postcards, I'm sure the people making the postcards are very good at what they do but they're almost designed to be as bland as possible, I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set.

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#12

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

This might help: https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-... In short: When you’re referring to the collective noun as a unit, treat it as singular: The band lost its spot in the top ten this week. When you’re referring to the individuals within the group, treat it as plural: The jury had to sign for their ID badges.

In Italian we don't have this distinction, when we use a collective noun we always treat it as singular (unless there are multiple collection, like multiple crews). Thank you for the explanation

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#13

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

'Crew' implies that it is a group of people doing this and therefore they have 35 seconds. You can reconstitute the sentence to check what you should use. In this case you could say in your head:" the crew as a team check the video feed. They have 35 seconds to do this." If this was referring to an individual it would be: "Peter checks the video feed, he has 35 seconds to do this."

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#14

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

as a plural noun, it refers to the individuals part of the crew. similar to people, flock

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#15

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

If a noun denotes a group of people – even if it's technically a singular noun – it's okay (but not compulsory) to use a plural verb.

The sentences 'Real Madrid have performed well this year' and 'Real Madrid has performed well this year' are both grammatically acceptable, and probably used roughly the same amount.

A related example is the word 'none' (= 'not one'). Technically it should govern a singular verb (e.g. 'None of the players is good enough') but you'll now see it a lot with a plural verb (e.g. 'None of the players are good enough').

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#16

I'd really love an alternative broadcast which shows the set changes rather than the postcards, I'm sure the people making the postcards are very good at what they do but they're almost designed to be as bland as possible, I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set.

I would absolutely watch a full-length behind the scenes version of Eurovision. The technicial aspect is a huge part of my fascination.

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#17

I know this is not the right place for this but english is not my first language. How is "have" the correct verb here? Shouldn't it be "has"? Like, the crew is the subject, and it has 35 seconds. I'm trying to understand what I'm missing here, because I'm sure BBC did not make a mistake

This might help: https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/are-words-... In short: When you’re referring to the collective noun as a unit, treat it as singular: The band lost its spot in the top ten this week. When you’re referring to the individuals within the group, treat it as plural: The jury had to sign for their ID badges.

Doesn't your advice contradict the BBC's phrasing? Collectively, the band lost its spot in the top ten. And, collectively, the crew has 35 seconds to prepare the stage for the next performer.

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#18
post #5

Honestly this sounds way more interesting than Eurovision itself.

I’ve been a fan for almost 18 years, ever since some euro friends were talking about the voting system on IRC. Love the intersection between culture and geopolitics.

What politics? Saying or doing anything political gets you mad shade thrown your way, a lot of bad press, up to expulsion.

I get that the big scrutiny against overt politics is something political in itself, but...

To me the strictness towards the presiding mainstream opinion, the forced harmony, makes it less interesting.

Re: The 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder

#20
post #16

I'd really love an alternative broadcast which shows the set changes rather than the postcards, I'm sure the people making the postcards are very good at what they do but they're almost designed to be as bland as possible, I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set.

I would absolutely watch a full-length behind the scenes version of Eurovision. The technicial aspect is a huge part of my fascination.

Fernand's Live Show Show has a great behind-the-scenes minidocunentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_7uPzs188
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