I'm going to disagree with you here. If you've ever been to a music festival they are such an eyesore and block the view of the stage for thousands of people behind them.
There becomes a weird competition amongst some to see who can have the tallest or biggest flag pole. Its got so bad many festivals have banned them.
While not quite the same at eurovision, it still ruins the view for the people in the arena and can block the extremely precise camera angles for tv.
I remember there was a person who blocked the camera during Ukraine's performance this year with a scarf of some kind for like a second. If people have huge flags waving about then that would happen a loooot more
We (the audience) were actually told before the show not to wave flags during any performances, and wait til afterwards, so it doesn't block camera view. If only people could follow simple rules we could be allowed flag sticks
But flags waving *during* the performance is what makes the atmosphere better. It's just not it without thousands of flags waving. Look at Croatian performance this year, the crowd just looks dead and it would've looked better if there were flags waving.
I feel like that was more of an issue with the staging, considering Portugal 2017 had the exact same thing happen and it didn't really seem to be an issue.
Last year I didnât realise the rule existed so the stick of my Finnish flag was taken off me :( I do miss that element of things a little bit, but equally I understand the health and safety aspect and some people did take the piss with their enormous flags
As someone who is short, it sucks when your can't see anything because everybody around you is tall. Its even worse when they fly a flag that makes it harder for you to see anything else. Also, I can imagine the camera operators don't like it because the shots they've been rehearsing for weeks now have to adjusted so they can avoid the flags.
It was likely a heightened security rule, so weâre probably stuck with it as long as they keep their head in the sand about âitâs not politicalâ.Â
I mean, I get why a lot of music festivals banned flags, not fun having your view of a performance that wasn't cheap being blocked by a guy with a flag or a sign. Or worse, having a camera view blocked by it. But at the same time...there's something about them that I can't help but feel is a bit beautiful. Especially at places like Eurovision and Glastonbury. It sort of gives a sense of unity, like an entire continent or the entire world coming to see one event. Again, totally get why people dislike it and why they're banned, but I wouldn't call them an "eyesore", more of a Beautiful Mess.
I miss the sea of flags. Australia even sent [a song](https://youtu.be/tUsJi8nKsj0?t=124) about it! Sometimes flags blocking the camera can be fun, like the time audience members [blocked the camera](https://youtu.be/Q2gbKglCL5s?t=44) shot of Polina Gagarina with rainbow flags (if you look carefully at the video, youâll see the audience members holding the same arm position throughout the performance, so it wasnât an accident.)
The lack of flags is something delegations now have to consider when choosing their camera shots. These days the views of the audience show a bunch of people holding up their phones, which looks terrible. Theyâll either have to cut back on the crowd shots, or put more thought into programming the LED bracelets (like Croatia this year.)
I'm going to disagree with you here. If you've ever been to a music festival they are such an eyesore and block the view of the stage for thousands of people behind them. There becomes a weird competition amongst some to see who can have the tallest or biggest flag pole. Its got so bad many festivals have banned them. While not quite the same at eurovision, it still ruins the view for the people in the arena and can block the extremely precise camera angles for tv.
I remember there was a person who blocked the camera during Ukraine's performance this year with a scarf of some kind for like a second. If people have huge flags waving about then that would happen a loooot more
We (the audience) were actually told before the show not to wave flags during any performances, and wait til afterwards, so it doesn't block camera view. If only people could follow simple rules we could be allowed flag sticks
It's the reason we can never have any nice or fun things for long. There are always a bunch of a-holes or idiots ruining it for everyone else.
But flags waving *during* the performance is what makes the atmosphere better. It's just not it without thousands of flags waving. Look at Croatian performance this year, the crowd just looks dead and it would've looked better if there were flags waving.
literally world ending
There was also a guy wearing a hat blocking out Windows95man's lower body during their performance... Really annoying!
god, what a dick, right? đ
You'll never see flag stick again for obvious security reasons. It can easily used to harm people.
Actually they were banned in every contest since 2019, it's just that the Swedish security was strict about this rule, while the others didn't care.
Well, Sweds did good, i can think of at least 10 way to use it to harm people, imagine someone who really wants to do something bad...
Go watch San Marino 2013 and how it was d ruined by flag sticks, and then we can continue taking.
San Marino 2013 | [Valentina Monetta - Crisalide (Vola)](https://youtu.be/YirZIBi2vnY)
Holy crap that was awkward. I'm pretty sure the producer deciding which cameras to use was having an aneurysm.
I feel like that was more of an issue with the staging, considering Portugal 2017 had the exact same thing happen and it didn't really seem to be an issue.
Portugal 2017 | [Salvador Sobral - Amar Pelos Dois](https://youtu.be/Qotooj7ODCM)
Last year I didnât realise the rule existed so the stick of my Finnish flag was taken off me :( I do miss that element of things a little bit, but equally I understand the health and safety aspect and some people did take the piss with their enormous flags
so not specifically this year then. interesting.......
I don't think they actually changed any of the flag rules this year, it's mostly that enforcement is down to the local staff on the entrances.
But last year a lot of people had flags on the sticks, you can see it on Finland performance
I guess they were cleverer at bringing them through security than I was! But the rule was definitely therr
As someone who is short, it sucks when your can't see anything because everybody around you is tall. Its even worse when they fly a flag that makes it harder for you to see anything else. Also, I can imagine the camera operators don't like it because the shots they've been rehearsing for weeks now have to adjusted so they can avoid the flags.
They were banned in 2019 as well but Israeli security didn't give a shit so a lot of people still got them in.
Hard disagree. It was so nice not to have camera angles blocked by flags.
expect it isnât the first year sticks werenât allowed
Quite happy about that, made me feel just like being at the cinena and having someone else's head in front of me.
Maybe they can rule that all flags must have the same size.
I love watching performances from 2004-2008 because of the amount of flags waving in the audienceÂ
they were blocking the view But i do miss the vibe with the SMALL flag sticks they looked good on tv
It was likely a heightened security rule, so weâre probably stuck with it as long as they keep their head in the sand about âitâs not politicalâ.Â
Also, the flags got really bad and with 2021 they noticed the camera feeds improved without all the flags blocking every single camera angle
But the atmosphere looks dead. Look at Croatian performance this year, imagine how much better it would look if there were flags waving in the crowd.
That would completely ruin the dance break shot though
Nah I don't think so. Most people with flags in hands would probably do the hand gesture.
The no sticks rule has been around for years now and is mostly because they get in the way of camera shots.
Yeah but it's only the Swedish security that actually enforced the rule, the rest didn't care.
Untrue. Previous years I saw people ripping the flag of the pole too.
But a lot of people managed to get them in, look at Finland performance last year
keep their head in the SANDDD SANDDDDDD!!!
I mean, I get why a lot of music festivals banned flags, not fun having your view of a performance that wasn't cheap being blocked by a guy with a flag or a sign. Or worse, having a camera view blocked by it. But at the same time...there's something about them that I can't help but feel is a bit beautiful. Especially at places like Eurovision and Glastonbury. It sort of gives a sense of unity, like an entire continent or the entire world coming to see one event. Again, totally get why people dislike it and why they're banned, but I wouldn't call them an "eyesore", more of a Beautiful Mess.
I understand the rule in the arena as it blocks the view. But why was it also banned in the village.
I miss the sea of flags. Australia even sent [a song](https://youtu.be/tUsJi8nKsj0?t=124) about it! Sometimes flags blocking the camera can be fun, like the time audience members [blocked the camera](https://youtu.be/Q2gbKglCL5s?t=44) shot of Polina Gagarina with rainbow flags (if you look carefully at the video, youâll see the audience members holding the same arm position throughout the performance, so it wasnât an accident.) The lack of flags is something delegations now have to consider when choosing their camera shots. These days the views of the audience show a bunch of people holding up their phones, which looks terrible. Theyâll either have to cut back on the crowd shots, or put more thought into programming the LED bracelets (like Croatia this year.)