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

bbc.com

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

#41

Post by rsynnott »

mon_ wrote: post #17
BlindEyeHalo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think this is to some extent a British English vs US English thing; it's certainly more common to treat words like crew/company/etc as plural in British English. The linked article is being overly prescriptive, though. Both are basically fine.

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

#42

Post by tetris11 »

KineticLensman wrote: post #37
jon-wood wrote: post #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.

> I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set Not quite the same, but I witnessed a performance of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds where there was a complete failure of the stage systems about 15 minutes before the end. All the audio-visuals died and the mics cut off, screens died, animatronics went still, complete silence on the stage and only ambient light. For about 10-15 seconds…

The chances of something like that happening must have been a million-to-one, and yet still they played on

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

#43

Post by Deukhoofd »

em500 wrote: post #40
Freak_NL wrote: post #21

[flagged]

Sanctions on Russia and not on Israel is EU policy. The EBU is likely content to leave this call to actual politicians (European Commission/Parliament), rather than taking a dissonant stance.

The EU and the EBU don't have much to do with each other. The ban on Russia was mostly due to several broadcasts threatening they would pull out if the EBU didn't.

For Israel the topic was seen as more divisive, and broadcasts didn't boycott it, though some spoke out against Israel's participation.

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

#44

Post by mytailorisrich »

Freak_NL wrote: post #21

[flagged]

It is quite interesting that tensions should run high at all because of Israel since this is an European-centric show (don't ask why Australia is there)... Perhaps an illustration of Europe's "changing" demographics...

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

#46

Post by bjourne »

Freak_NL wrote: post #21

[flagged]

> Extra challenging this year with tensions running rather high because of Israel's participation. If they can manage to pull this year off without any significant disruption, then the overall security and orchestration really are top-notch.

On one hand, dozens of activists attempting to interrupt the show, red, black, and green flags in the crows (unless they were confiscated by security), and loud booing when a certain country receives points. Demonstrations outside against that country's participation. On the other hand, none of that. Muted microphones to prevent booing, pixelated crowd shots, and cameramen with strict orders to "pan the other way". Only Swiss people interviewed are happy because "music contents bring all people together!" It's like two alternative realities, one which is televised and the other which isn't.

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

#47

Post by mytailorisrich »

isoprophlex wrote: post #18
Den_VR wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No politics but Russia is banned...

I think that it is rather as you suggest in your last sentence: There is strict "correctness" enforced, which is how things work in the EU in general.

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

#48

Post by rsynnott »

tetris11 wrote: post #42
KineticLensman wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd much rather see a well oiled team perform crazy feats to get the stage set Not quite the same, but I witnessed a performance of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds where there was a complete failure of the stage systems about 15 minutes before the end. All the audio-visuals died and the mics cut off, screens died, animatronics went still, complete silence on the stage and only ambient light. For about 10-15 seconds…

The chances of something like that happening must have been a million-to-one, and yet still they played on

Very good.

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

#49

Post by robertlagrant »

j4coh wrote: post #4
robertlagrant wrote: post #3

Honestly this sounds way more interesting than Eurovision itself.

Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho.

> Reddit style drive by snark doesn’t work as well here imho.

Isn't this the only snark and drive-by comment around? I think it's more interesting, just as I think a pit stop change is more interesting in F1 than most of the race itself.

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

#50

Post by christudor »

poizan42 wrote: post #39
christudor wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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" is saying something about all of the players, so how would that be singular? The word "none" is always used in a plural context, like if there is only one player then you won't say "none of the player"

I'm talking about the verb that follows 'none', not the noun.

'None of the team was [singular] prepared' and 'None of the team were [plural] prepared' are both correct.

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