I have not posted new acquisitions to my CATS collection on Tumblr in almost two years (and maybe I will start again soon, we will see), but this is an item I did not think I would have a chance to own.
It looks like an ordinary programme for the most part, but the little theatre company name at the top makes it a special one.
It is an Italian Tour 2009 programme that I obtained, with the help of kind friend (heel erg bedankt @hysperia!), from Bologna, Italy.
It has many wonderful pictures from the show, many which I have never seen, along with a full set of information about the production such as cast, creative, and band bios, theatre company details, and synopsis of the musical and songs throughout.
Roberta Miolla as Victoria.
Stefania Fratepietro as Jennytuttapois.
Andrea Rossi as Ram Tam Taggher with some excited Queens, even Jenny!
Massimiliano Pironti as Mangojerry and Maria Silvia Roli as Zampalesta.
Loredana Sartori as Jellilora and Fabio Monti as Gus.
Loredana Sartori as Occhibui and Gianluca Ciatti as Gattigre (who plays a chrous Cat named Caligola).
Alessandro Neri as Deuteronomio and the rest of the cast.
Alessandro Lanzillotti as Mr. Mistofeles.
A tender acceptance of Giulia Ottobello as Grisabella and Alessandro Neri as Deuteronomio.
I was lucky to come across this looking for the cast recording CD, which I have not found yet, but this programme is not a poor compromise, is it?
@the-cat-at-the-theatre-door
I will let you know if you come across another Jemi, because I know you would love own one of these as well!
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Ok here’s what we’re gonna do: I’m gonna take the top two from this and put them against Helsinki and Chorzów as a sort of sudden death “Round 1.5”
Also, depending on my personal circumstances, round 2 will be posted either tomorrow afternoon or middle-of-the-day Tuesday. :)
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Do you have any book recommendations for the Jane Austen fan who's read every one of her books?
DO I EVER.
Okay, it really depends on your preferences and what you're looking for. If you want to read things that were part of the background noise when Austen started writing and have similar concerns, you might look at things like Frances Burney's Evelina, Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote, The Italian or (more famously) The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, or going a little further afield, William Godwin's Caleb Williams, Mary Wollstonecraft's Maria (or, for non-fiction, "Vindication of the Rights of Woman"), Sarah Scott's Millenium Hall, or various novels of Henry Fielding (I like Jonathan Wild, though it's quite different).
If you want to go nineteenth rather than eighteenth century, you can look at someone like Maria Edgeworth (also mentioned in NA!). Jumping ahead, Emily Eden is clearly an Austen fan (she gives P&P a shout-out in The Semi-Attached Couple, which is significantly different but obviously influenced by Austen). Frances Trollope's One Fault gives a very clear idea of why Elizabeth Bennet was so concerned about good nature as well as basic virtue (it's essentially about psychological abuse). There are the big names like George Eliot and the Brontës (Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is my personal favorite and probably the most akin to Austen of any of them).
If you want to read on Jane Austen, some faves:
Jane Austen and the Fabric of Dialogue by Howard S. Babb is from the 60s, so you may want to take some of it with a grain of salt, but I've always found it really interesting and engaging.
Even earlier, there's Fields of Light by Reuben A. Brower (1951), which I had to save to track down years ago, but which apparently has been republished since. There's a chapter on Austen that's really good IMO.
I like most of Julia Prewitt Brown's work on Austen, though I have a particular fondness for "The Feminist Depreciation of Jane Austen," which is basically a 90s-era guided tour through (and breakdown of) bad takes that had been filtered through a narrow sort of feminism.
I'm really fond of some of John Wiltshire's interpretations in Recreating Jane Austen. This is also from the 90s, iirc, so it doesn't address later adaptations, but he also was a co-author of the later (2009) The Cinematic Jane Austen, in which he expanded his essay on Darcy's smile and its minimization in adaptations (not where I got my gripe over it, but validating to see someone talk about it!).
Persuasions (Jane Austen literary journal): it's a bit hit and miss, but there are some very good articles that can only really be found there. I own a few volumes of it and have used them repeatedly.
The Gentleman's Daughter by Amanda Vickery: this gives more of a historical context leading up to Austen's time that periodically references Austen, but can be useful!
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“I can bring her comfort and respond to her pain, which few can understand as I can”
Past May 29 was the 166th anniversary of the death of Archduchess Sophie, the eldest child of Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth; and because of a turn of fate, the day before that was the 151th anniversary of the death Sophie’s namesake, her grandmother Archduchess Sophie, born a Princess of Bavaria.
In Elisabeth's biographies Baby Sophie's death tends to be portrayed as the first in what would be a long list of tragedies in the Empress' life. And yet many of them also pay little attention to it, dedicating it one or two paragraphs. But a piece of information they (almost) never fail to give in the few lines they use is this: that Archduchess Sophie actively blamed the infant’s death on her daughter-in-law, adding more pain to the already devastated young mother.
There are different variations in each biography, but the story goes as it follows: after the Hungarian tour was announced, Elisabeth had insisted in taking both of her daughters to the trip, which infuriated the Archduchess, since she thought the girls were to delicate to make the trip. A fight broke out. The court doctor decided that the archduchesses were in conditions to go to Hungary, so they went. But the girls fell ill soon after arriving, and eventually the eldest died. Archduchess Sophie thought that the child's death was Elisabeth's fault for taking her against her wishes, and told her so. This story is no more harshly portrayed than in the miniseries Sisi (2009), where Sophie tells “it’s your fault” to Elisabeth as she cries over her daughter's coffin.
This was what I read when I first learned about the little girl’s passing, and, as a newby, I didn’t question it. But as I continued to research Elisabeth and the Imperial family, I became interested in Sophie not as Sisi’s mother-in-law, but as an individual, and since then I started to grab this kind of statements with a grain of salt. Where does this come from, anyway? From someone’s correspondance? From a witness? Did this story originated around the time of the girl's death, or only later on?
Lately I finally got my hands on Unsere liebe Sisi, a collection of Sophie’s letters regarding her daughter-in-law. I read the chapter dedicated to Baby Sophie's death, and what I found in those letters was a far cry from what was depicted in Sisi (2009). So what was Archduchess Sophie's reaction to her granddaughter's death?
Before I beging sharing the letters, I must make the disclaimer that I don't know German and that I used a machine translation, so the nuances are lost. Also Sophie had the habit of abbreviating words, I could guess most of them with my very limited knowledge of German vocabulary but some I had no idea. So that affected the translation in some cases. Lastly, all the bolding in the letters is mine. That being said, let's beging.
First let's put the 1857 trip into context. This was a planned State visit, not a vacation. Relations with Hungary remained tense after the 1849 counter-revolution, so the goal of the tour was to try to reconcile the Hungarians with the still unpopular Emperor. Since the Italian tour of 1856 had gone relatively well, mainly do the young Empress' presence, they tried to replicate the effect in Hungary. They were set to depart on May 4 and stay until June 23. Everyday was packed with activities: meeting with dignitaries and Church representatives, attending to Mass, public parades, visits to every important city in Hungary, gala dinners, etc. The imperial couple's daughters were not meant to appear at any public event, they had been taken to be closer to their parents, but still they were to stay in Buda with their nannies for the entirety of the tour.
Although I'm yet to find a biography that cites a single source about the alleged fight between Elisabeth and her mother-in-law on whether taking the girls to Hungary or not, it could be possible, since Sophie doesn't sound terribly excited about the girls going. In a letter to her son Archduke Max dated May 7 she wrote of the enthusiasm which the imperial couple had been received. On the arrival of the little archduchesses to Hungary a day after their parents she says:
The children arrived on Tuesday at half past seven in the evening in bad weather, but were nevertheless received by a large crowd with stormy cheers; I only hope that they did not scream and cry in their terror…
Only a few days after the tour begun, Gisela fell ill with fever. At first it was thought that it was do to teething, but the next day Baby Sophie also fell ill. As the days passed Gisela got better, but her sister only got worse. When this happened Archduchess Sophie was in Saxony with her twin sister Queen Marie. Slowly, news on the girls’ health reached her. Again to Max she wrote on May 22:
Franzi writes me much and in detail about our poor little Sophie's unfortunately very serious illness, which, however, on the 19th, when he wrote to me, he did not yet seem to believe was dangerous.
(…) I immediately asked Franzi by telegraph for news of the evening, and when we returned yesterday from a beautiful promenade... I received a very reassuring telegraphic dispatch, which I read with fear and anxiety in the presence of good old Cuz.... [not identified], who had taken such deep pity on me and who had prayed so fervently with Aunt Marie and me for our poor baby during the afternoon service in the Chapel on the hill...
In this letter Sophie goes in detail on Baby Sophie’s agony and her parents desperation, but what I wanted to highlight was the ending, which shows how anguished the Archduchess was over her granddaughter’s condition.
Two days later Sophie improved and the parents were given the all-clear to continue their trip. Sophie informed her son Archduke Karl Ludwig on May 24:
... I am now doubly enjoying the pleasant life with good Aunt Marie, since the news from Ofen about our poor baby has been so reassuring. The poor parents were able to leave the children on Saturday with a lighter heart [in order to continue their journey through Hungary], but it takes me a lot to have to be separated from them now. By the way, Gisela has been well and fresh again for a long time
But sadly Baby Sophie's recovery was only momentary, and she died five days later. The whole family was heartbroken. Sophie's pain comes across her letters, but also her faith. She, like her son, tried to accept the child's death with Catholic resignation. She opens this letter from May 31 to her sister Ludovika, Elisabeth's mother, like this:
So we still had to give up our beloved child. She was to die in Hungary; that was God's will; we must hold fast to this faith so as not to perish in lamentation.
She describes Ludovika of the miserable state she found her son and his wife, then she tells her that:
In the short time during which God lent us the sweet child, she spread so much love, joy and happiness over all of us, as her small but already quite abundant powers made possible. There is one thought that is firmly in my mind, which I thought over and over again when I saw the great sacrifice that God demanded of our poor children coming ever closer, namely, thanks to God that you, my poor, much-tried Luise, did not know our dear baby in all her freshness of life, cheerfulness and such charming, loving kindness as I did, for this memory is now my greatest torment.
Sophie was no stranger to this kind of grief. She herself had once lost an infant daughter, Maria Anna, who died after a seizure aged only four-years-old. There is no doubt her little girl was on her mind, since she said it herself. To Karl Ludwig she wrote on June 6:
Sisi feels the need to speak of her beloved child, to surround herself with everything that reminds her of her child, so I can thank God that I can bring her comfort and respond to her pain, which few can understand as I can.
She also remembered her in a letter to Max dated June 4:
...The poor little girl still suffered a lot the last night, but when, thank God, her parents arrived on the 29th at half past ten in the morning, wonderfully fast from Debrecen, which they had left about noon the day before, she was already completely exhausted, but calm and remained conscious until 10 minutes before her death, which took place at half past ten in the evening. The agony began at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but despite some involuntary cries - as with Anna - she does not seem to have suffered
It had been seventeen years since the little Archduchess Maria Anna passed away, but her memory was still present in her mother. Sophie truly understood better than anyone else the pain of loosing a young daughter to an illness, and had nothing but sympathy towards Elisabeth. To think that she, out of all people, would tell her daughter-in-law that her beloved child’s death was her fault seems almost vile to me after reading Sophie’s letters.
But, even if she didn’t say it to her face, did Sophie think Elisabeth somehow was to blame?
If she did, she never wrote it down. I'm sure that if a letter or diary entry from Sophie explicitly blaming Elisabeth existed, it would've been published in every single book about the empress in existence. But in her letters she only talks about the grief of the family and trusting God's will, though in this letter to Max there is an indication that she did thought Hungary had been the cause of the girl's illness:
It was as if the poor child clearly felt that the air in Hungary was not good for her, for even before and during her illness she often said 'Please go to Milan', where she was so well (...) Sisi and Franzi told me that the little one had been so beautiful in the last hour and after death, she also looked so friendly the other day [the day after her death], where the parents still saw her before and after mass before her departure. It hurt Sisi so much to have to leave her, she would have liked to come back with her, but she did not want to let the Emperor leave alone. It was also a heavy sacrifice for her to have to leave the dear poor child on the 23rd, when she was only apparently better, in order to continue the journey through Hungary. She only gave in to [Archduke] Albrecht's imploring plea, who was so keen to give the ever-loyal Jazyphians and Cumanians [?] the good fortune of being able to admire the Empress, who made such a favorable impression everywhere in Hungary as well as in Italy. Now it is so painful for the poorest woman to think that she was away from her beloved child for the last days of her life. I told her in consolation that God would certainly give her credit for the difficult sacrifice.
Not only seems that Elisabeth herself felt guilty about having been away from her child while she was ill, but Sophie actually tried to put her mind at ease, instead of making her feel even more guilty. Also in this letter a figure rather forgotten in the 1857 Hungarian tour emerges, and whom perhaps did had some blame to bear: Archduke Albrecht.
Albrecht was a grandson of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the head of the Teschen Habsburg branch. He was the archduke who had the most influence on Franz Josef, and had been governor of Hungary since 1851. Every step of the tour had been planned by him, and it was because of his insistance that the imperial couple continued with their trip when Baby Sophie only seemed to have improved, despite Elisabeth wanting to stay with her child. We don't know if he ever felt remorse for continuing the tour during the last days of Baby Sophie's life, but interestingly Archduchess Sophie notes that she found Albrecht in Laxemburg, where the young Empress was staying:
(...) The day before yesterday I took Ludwig [Viktor] with me, who was just due for a few hours without lessons, and found Albrecht and Hildegard [his wife, and also a first cousin of Elisabeth] in Laxenburg.... Albrecht returns to Ofen (Budapest) on Friday.
Albrecht and Hildegard probably went to give their condolences to the grieving mother, but we don't know how their meeting went down.
So, if it isn't in the Archduchess' correspondance, where did the idea of Sophie blaming Elisabeth originated?
This time I didn't need to look for some obscure source to find a (likely) answer: it's Egon Corti's classic biography of Empress Elisabeth.
Elizabeth wept from morning till night and talked of nothing but her baby, and she felt her first meeting with the archduchess Sophie most terribly. Seeing the Empress’ grief, her mother-in-law tactfully refrained from comment, but in every order and every word Elizabeth thought she could detect an unspoken reproach, suggesting that the disaster would not have happened if only they had listened to the Archduchess’ wise and experienced advice. Elizabeth was now nineteen, but she felt as though she had been married for at least ten years and could not understand that Sophie’s attitude toward her was still that of a sensible old mother toward an inexperienced child.
Although his biography is generally well-sourced, he doesn't provide any source for this statement. Perhaps it's Countess Mária Festetics' diary? But if that is the source, why not say? Or directly quote it?
It should be noted, however, that according to Corti, Elisabeth thought that her mother-in-law blamed her, not that Sophie told her so. The Empress was full of guilt, so it wouldn't surprise me if she truly felt that everyone, and specially Sophie, held her responsible for what happened. I don't know if Corti was the first biographer in making this claim (during the 1920s there were a couple of biographies of Elisabeth that I hadn't had access), but his work is both very popular and highly regarded, so posterior biographers were likely quoting him when they repeated this claim. But the more the story was repeated, the more it changed, until Sophie turned into a wicked mother-in-law torturing a young grieving mother for something she had no control of, instead of the heartbroken grandmother that, again, had lost her little girl.
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Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but if anyone knows, it would be you :) I know there are several former Phantoms/Raouls who became Andres, but are there any who became Firmins?
I am guessing this is in contect of Earl Carpenter playing André in the current Italian non-replica production. Because that is indeed a fairly common combo, to have an actor play André and the Phantom or Raoul. Their range and voice type seems to correspond well, as does the body type. Thus, the list of people covering two or more of these roles is a fairly long one.
But FIRMIN and The Phantom or Raoul? Rarer combo. I guess the tendency to type cast Firmin as sturdier and sometimes older makes him a less typical candidate for the other roles. More often than not we're talking a u/s Firmin, or someome returning to the role after many years. But it's totally not set in stone, ad this list will show:
David Huneyager: Principal Firmin in Chicago and the US Tour 1990-1996, principal Firmin and u/s Phantom in Hamburg 1997-1999.
Jørn Pedersen: Principal Firmin in Copenhagen 2002, alternate Phantom in Copenhagen 2002, and u/s 2000-2003.
Jun Sawaki: Principal Phantom (shared) in Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo 1990-1992 and in Nagoya and Tokyo 1997 -1999, as well as principal Firmin (shared) in Tokyo 1992.
Tim Morgan: u/s Phantom (2002) and Firmin (2002-2020?) in the original West End production and u/s Firmin in the West End revival 2021-2023.
Stephen John Davis: u/s Firmin in West End 2009, u/s Phantom in West End 2009-2010. He was also principal Buquet! A quite unusual combo of roles.
Toshihide Mura: Principal Firmin (shared) in Tokyo 1992 and in Tokyo 2020-2023, principal Phantom (shared) in Nagoya and Tokyo 1997-1999, Hiroshima 2001, Tokyo 2005-2007, Nagoya 2009-2010.
Sebastian Lamberth: Principal Firmin and u/s Raoul in the non-replica Kristianstad production in Sweden 2023.
Michael Cormick: Principal Raoul in the original West End production 1988-1990, principal Firmin in the non-replica Sydney Harbour production in 2022. He was furthermore principal Phantom in a community theatre production in Canberra 2013.
As always, it's not a complete list, just those I could think of. Feel free to add others in the comments :)
(I did originally also list Young-Seok Yoon, but he went from playing the Phantom to ANDRÉ, not Firmin)
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Hello people it's me. After struggling how to do this, here's finally how I am uploading my post about Lance's F1 career.
I decided to hit you guys with the qualy comparisons of him and his teammates first and foremost. It's just data where I highlight the Qualifyings he did better in but I thought it would be nice to see how far of he actually was.
Before going into my very long rant (about 8000 words) that I tried to keep as objective as possible I do want to note that of course there will be personal opinions and comments throughout as I am also just human and a fan as well. And with that note, let's dive in
Lance Stroll's journey to F1 and the question of why he is
probably one of the most underrated drivers on the current grid
Lance career began in 2008 when he first started carting. During 2008 and 2009 he won multiple
championships in the Canadian junior category. 2010 saw him winning the Rotax Mini Max of the
Florida winter Tour. In that same year he was signed on by the Ferrari driver academy. Considering
he was only 11 at the time and had basically only just started carting, that was a huge deal. Yes not
every signed driver by Ferrari makes it blah blah but they made it very clear that they saw potential
in him and wanted him to be racing in Europe for them. So, 2011 saw Lance first time competing in
European championships. In one of those he was 9th for example. The just mentioned WSK-Euro
Series in KF3 saw some familiar drivers such as the winner, Max Verstappen. Some other names
that might sound family for example P2 would be Esteban Ocon or George Russell in P7.
2012 and
2013 saw him once again in many carting championships before he started Formula racing in 2014.
He competed in the Florida Winter series where he got a pole and two podiums once again up
against Max and drivers such as Tatiana Calderón or Antonio Fuoco. But most importantly from
that year, he won the Italian F4 championship by nearly a hundred points.
2015 saw him competing in the European F3 championship where he finished 5th after the following
drivers (all names many of you will be family with): Jake Dennis, Charles Leclerc, Felix
Rosenquvist and Antonio Giovinazzi. That same year also saw him finishing 8th in the Macau GP
behind once again driver such as Charles Leclerc and Felix Rosenquivst. He also in that year won
the Toyota racing series by over a hundred points. This year he also left the Ferrari driver program
and joined the Williams academy. He became their development driver for 2016.
In 2016 he once again competed in the F3 to this time win it by a nearly 200 point advantage. P2
saw Maximilian Günther and P3 was none other than George Russell. He also raced the Daytona 24
Hours where his team finished 5th overall.
Before we move on F1, I do feel the need to address something that has been brought up multiple
times. The rumours that Lance had a better car because his father was rich, that his team-mates
never had a chance etc. I think that is complete bullshit and frankly manly used to underline his
talent. Even with the best car, the worst driver would do something wrong. Sure you can call him
mid but considering the huge gap he had in his second year, I think it's fair to say he had talent in
him. Also the fact that Felix regularly comments on Lance posts does not seem like there is any bad
will against him. Yes, he had better equipment etc. to win but the way he wrapped up the season still
speaks to his talent.
2017- The start of it all
Lance started his F1 career in 2017 with Williams. His team mate then was Felipe Massa. This was
a huge leap considering Lance short experience with Formula racing and it was understandably
questioned. Nonetheless 2017 saw him starting alongside Felipe who jumped into that seat after Val
signed with Mercedes following Nico's retirement. I think it is also noteworthy to mention here that
in 2016 he already was a development driver for them so there was always the probability for him
to drive. I personally think he could and should have done another year in Formula racing (F2) but
that is my own opinion. What people however also seem to forget is that will it might have been to
early for him in F1, he did have a bit of experience as the Williams development driver. And
considering that they had just lost Val who looked like one of the youngest and most promising
drivers on that grid, it made sense for them to search for another young driver for their team.
He made his depute in the Australian GP. During that third free practice, he crashed as he was going
too fast which then resulted in him having a penalty (he qualified last.) At the race start he gained
about 7 places before he had brake issues and had to retire the car.
His second race saw him qualifying tenth but immediately taken out on the first lap by Sergio
(could be argued for a race incident but I think there's more blame on Perez.)
Now, his third race same him time wise qualify closer to his team mate but only in 12th place. In the
race he flat spotted his tyre and did an early pitstop before his collision with Sainz. (Sainz came out
of the pit lane very quick and just dive bombed into him. He was behind even after exiting the pit
lane so Sainz should have waited for Lance to drive past.)
Russia finally saw a turn around in his luck. He once again qualified 12th and finished the race in
P11. His fifth race after that saw him just mere 3 tenth off his team mate but sadly out in Q1 and
overall he finished P16.
Monaco saw him crash out in FP2 and qualify 18th. He got up to 15th and then later in the race had to
retire because of overheating brakes. Luck once again not on his side.
Canada finally saw a change when he not only qualified 7th but managed to come 9th in the race. He
finally scored his first points in his home race.
Then Azerbaijan happened and for the first time ever Lance out-qualified his team mate and got 8th.
But that is nothing compared to the drive he managed to pull off in that race. He wasn't the quickest
but he once again proved that sometimes just consistently driving is enough to get into a good
position and then profit from it. Many of the top teams drivers dropped out due to penalties or
problems but that doesn't discredit Lance consistent drive in the top 10 which managed to get him a
podium spot. Incredible how he managed to keep a gap and his place and only just missed out
because of Val in the last corners. If not for that he would have gotten P2. A great race from him.
Next race once again not a great Qualifying in P18 but still managed P10. The first two laps saw
Lance move up to P11 and then hang around that most of the race.
Next race he qualified 16h (penalty moving him up 1 place) and dropped to 16th .
The next race he qualified 17th and finished 14th. His qualifying was hindered by Kvyat.
After that he got once again unlucky and because off a damaged rear wing was only able to set one
lap which meant he qualified 18th and finished just outside the points in 11th.
Then, something I feel like many people also don't know, Lance started the next race as the
youngest driver ever on the front row (he originally qualified only 4th but penalties of both RedBull
drivers put him up to second place.) During that entire qualifying he was only slightly off from the
top 3 teams. Did he drop back during the race? Yes, he only finished 7th but you have to consider
that his car did not have the race pace to compete with any of the three top teams and he wasn't even
in the best midfield car.
Side note, this was a wet qualifying and just behind him was Esteban. Funnily enough that changed
in the race where he and Esteban where the best mid field drivers behind the top teams.
The next race yet again saw him qualify 18th and yet he finished the race in 8th. A chaotic race with
many DNFs saw Williams massively profit, especially Lance.
After that the following race saw him qualify 13th and once again finish 8th.
After that another qualifying in 18th. That race saw Lance up to 11th before he sadly went off and
then seemed to struggle with the car. After that he ultimately failed to finish as a result of a puncture
on his front wheel.
In the US GP he qualified 17th as a result of a penalty for him hindering Romain. The race saw him
finish 11th, just outside of the points.
Mexico saw him qualify 12th and finish in 6th. A great race from him where he was in the top 5 until
Seb overtook him.
After that he once again qualified 18th and finished 16th. He was two laps down after a problem with
a front tyre. The last race saw him qualifying 15th and he finished 18th
.
Another incident that many like to blame him for here is the post-race crash with Seb. Bizarre but
truly only because it seems like neither is really fully at fault. Also, if this is one of the only things
you can use against a driver, maybe you might want to reconsider if he truly is such a bad driver.
Anyways, I still put a video here for anyone that is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRAN9pzdwsw
So, what does that mean for his first F1 season?
Well, his qualifying besides Imola you could argue was lacking pace and I absolutely will agree that
it was bad. Then again what would you expect in someone's first F1 season, especially when up
against a solid driver like Massa? Still, his qualifying definitely should have been better, I will
agree. He was too inconsistent and too far off.
In comparison to Massa he seemingly could make up places more easily though.
All of the negatives are clearly overshadowed by the fact that in his first F1 season he was only 3
points behind his team-mate with double the amount of DNFs.
Not to mention that he not only is one of the youngest podium sitters but he is also the youngest
front row starter (All in his first season.)
He had 4 DNFs of which he was not at fault for anyone of those (maybe in the racing incident but
then again I see the blame more at Perez side than anyone else’s.)
Yes he had about 3 free practices were he crashed then again he is was a rookie. Sure it's not great
but accidents like that happen especially when you are not only new to the car but the entire form of
racing.
So, all in all if you look at his statistics:
For his first season he managed a podium, a front row start and 6 points finishes in maybe the 6th
best car? He finished just three points behind his team-mate in 12th (with 40 points) in the overall
standing. His average Qualifying position was 14 and his average race finish was 11th.
Considering he had no F1 experience, had only been racing in Formula championships for 3 years
at that point and was up against Felipe Massa who is still regarded very highly, I would say he did
quiet al-right.
If anyone is interested in his DNFs, so you can form your own opinion:
Sadly I can't find a video of his first incident but the race is easy to find.
Here is him and Perez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka11N-hLshE
Here is a video of him and Sainz colliding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNGfCTpJpQ
This was in China where he had a puncture on his front wheel (Also he could barely avoid Daniel
since it is hard to steer when your wheel is like that yet he still managed to not make it into a big
incident which I think deserves some credit)
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/japan-
2017-lance-strolls-puncture/907887256034924/
2018- a season to forget
Now in 2018, without a doubt there was a huge step back which is because that car was truly not it.
I would say it was the worst car on the grid, therefore you should take these results as the lest
credible. That Williams wasn't predictable in many ways and you could probably name this as the
season the team went downhill. With Sergey as a new teammate and Lance only a year in F1, there
also was the problem with having inexperienced drivers to give feedback for that car and lead the
team.
In the opening race he qualified 14th and finished in that same position. After that he qualified 20th
and finished 14th again. China saw him 18th and once again finish 14th
.
Then he just merely missed out on 10th and qualified 11th and somehow managed to get into the
points at 8th. I should mention however that this race saw may DNFs but I think he still did a good
job with that car.
Spain saw him 19th but he managed to finish 11th in that race. Again capitalizing from DNF but still
impressive considering he qualified behind his teammate.
His bad qualifying continued with 18th and saw him finish in 17th
.
Sadly at his home race it wasn't much better with a 17th place and DNF after a collision with
Brendon Hartley. France saw him qualify last again and DNF as a result of a tyre blow out.
After that he finally managed to get into Q2 again, qualifying 15th and finishing in 14th , getting a
10-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
In Great Britain Lance had to start from the pit lane because parts of his car were changed and still
managed to finish 12th. Once again he was able to profit from some unfortunate DNFs but still a
good drive.
In the 11th race he qualified 19th and once again had a DNF as a result of a problem with his brakes
(They retired the car during a safety car period).
The next race saw him qualify 15th but start from the pit lane due to changes under Parc-fermé
which meant he only finished 17th. Spa saw him qualify 19th again and finish 13th.
Monza finally brought good results in a 10th place in Qualy and a 9th place finish. He was nearly the
best of the rest in a car that somehow just seemed to work on that track. Probably his best race of
that season. A great drive.
After that he qualified 20h again and finished 14th. Once again making up places and outplacing his
teammate.
Russia saw him last in Qualifying and 15th in the race. Then he qualified 14th and finished 17th.
The US GP saw him qualify 18th and finish 14th. Qualifying in Mexico saw Lance 19th again but he
finished the race in 12th.
That picture didn't really change much in Brazil where he once again was 19th and finished 18th. And
the season didn't really end on a high. Qualifying last and finishing in 13th.
So, how can we sum this up?
Well, even though this season was arguably his worst he still somehow got 6 points which is 5 more
than his team mate Sergei Sirotkin. While his Qualifying still was lacking(an average of 17), it is
still impressive that with that car he managed to have an average race finishing position of 13th. It is
also notable that he was often times making up at least 3 places in his races where he finished
higher which given the struggle that car seemed to be is worthy of noting. In comparison to his
team-mate it is clear that Lance struggles in Qualy but consistently finishes in a similar position.
Out of the two of them he also managed to get multiple points finishes even though he qualified
further back, something which I would argue is a strength of him. Yes most of their points finishes
were as a result of the others misfortune but still, they had to capitalize during these races and most
of that did come from Lance. Also, quiet a bit of Qualy saw him closer to his teammate.
Here's the DNFs for anyone that is interested:
Canada was arguably the biggest one where I understand why people might blame Lance but seeing
how unpredictable that oversteer was and how he struggled with the car I would say it was more a
racing incident than anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPn_GCa3mU
The tyre blow out in France https://twitter.com/F1/status/1010997824928878592
There isn't anything about Germany but watching the race you will see them retire the car towards
the end.
2019- a season of change
Lance went to Racing Point and now has Sergio Perez as his team mate. Obviously with Lawrence
buying RP and saving that team as well as Esteban losing his seat, Lance was not at all well
received and already was guaranteed to be heavily judged, more so than what would have likely
been fair. While I do get that point of Esteban losing his seat, I would also argue that the team of
Sergio and Esteban was clearly not working and would have in the long run probably cost that team
more points than they liked so I think there also is a tactical reason behind it.
In Australia he qualifies 16th but what people don't remember is that in Q1 he and Checo were only
separated by less than a tenth of a second. That race sees Lance finishing 9th. After managing his
tyres longer than Perez he managed to stay in the top 10,even closing in to 8th while having to keep
others behind.
The second race of the season sees Lance qualifying 18th and finishing 14th. Next race Lance
qualifies 16th and finished 12th.
The fourth race sees Lance qualify 16th and finishing 9th. He made up a flew places and was even
closing in at the end.
Spain sees Lance qualify 17th and not finishing after coming together with Lando.
The next race saw Lance qualifying 18th just behind Sergio and ultimately finishing 16th.
Lance home race once again sees him qualify 18th just under a tenth behind Sergio. He manages to
finish in 9th place. Just going to add this little video that quickly shows some of the moves he made .
A great race for him.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/canada-2019-stroll-puts-on-a-show-for-his-home-
fans/824107727965322/
The 8th race sees him in 18th but he manages to finish the race in 13th, just a place behind Sergio.
Austria once again sees Lance just a tenth behind Sergio in 17th and that race he finishes in 14th.
Something very similar happens the next race when Lance is just about a tenth of Sergio and
qualifies 18th. That race he finishes 13th.
The German GP sees Lance finally in Q2 in 15th place. That race he comes 4th. An incredible drive
to the surprise of many considering this is a wet race where a lot of drivers got themselves out of
podium positions. Yes he was leading that race for a short while and was potentially on for a
podium but I don't think there is any way he could have beaten that Ferrari or RedBull/Toro Rosso
package who just seemed more dominant. Yeah sure you could argue what would have happened
but the fact was, Racing Point made the smartest decision that race and got the maximum points
thanks to Lance driving.
After that great race he qualifies 19th and finishes 17th.
In Belgium he qualifies 13th but due to changes of car parts starts from the back. Despite that he still
finishes that race in 10th place.
The next race he finally manages to outqualify Sergio by quiet a margin and gets himself into Q3
and 9th place. Sadly he drops back to 12th in the race.
In Singapore he once again is less than a tenth behind Sergio in Q1 but sadly only manages P16.
During that race he gets up to 13th place.
Russia sees him P15 (P14 after a penalty for Pierre) and then up to P11. He just missed out on
points.
In Japan he once again outqualifies Sergio and get P12, managing to climb up to P9. He finished
just behind Checo.
Mexico saw him 16th and getting up to 12th.
In the US GP Lance once again by a huge margin manages to outqualify Sergio and gets 14th place.
In the race he finishes 13th. In Brazil he qualifies 17th and DNFs. The last race sees him qualify 13th
and sadly not finishing.
This was an incident at Monza that many like to use against Lance where Seb clearly rejoins the
track in an unsafe manner causing Lance to nearly crash. Lance does it similarly and I agree that it
was stupid from him but also Lance clearly was on the racing line and his engineers should have
told him who was coming from behind as every driver would want to go back into the race and
away from the racing line. You can clearly see by the speed of the cars behind that the field was
close together. Still not a good manoeuvre from Lance but in my opinion different from Seb.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2019-italian-grand-prix-vettel-and-stroll-collide-at-
monza/269709670687851/
So what can we say about Lance's season?
I think he showed a step up in Qualy. If you look at his and Checo's times in most Q1s they were
often less than 3 tenths apart and they were times when Lance was even less than a tenth off. I think
he was still inconsistent but his Qualifying definitely improved. And I think the big points gap is
largely down to Lance qualifying further back. You can see that there are quiet a few races where
they made up the same places but because Lance qualified further back so he got less points.
Then again you have to question how much of their points or performance difference might be
down to Checo having been with the team for a longer time and being a more experienced driver.
Did he outperform the car? Did Lance underperform? I think you can see progress here from Lance
and I think many people misjudge their points difference. You also have to see that Lance in that
year could have gotten a podium and scored the teams highest result. If you round their averages,
Lance qualifies 15/16th place and finishes 12 while Sergio qualifies around 12/13th place and has an
average finish of 10th
.
Here's the DNFs for anyone that wants to check them out:
This is Lance and Lando. Honestly, for me a pure racing incident. Lance didn't expect Lando to
make a move there, Lando might have been a bit too enthusiastic with that manoeuvre. I wouldn't
put blame on one of them, just a simply misjudgement and miscommunication that cost both of
them the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-gp-norris-stroll-clash-brings-out-
the-safety-car.6060938080001.html
In Brazil he ran over debrief and as a result of that might have broken his front suspension.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.brazilian-gp-stroll-retires-with-front-suspension-damage.1687522499774886264.html
In Abu Dhabi there is firstly a first lap incident which damages his car. I can see fault on his part but
I also think that this is just a typical first lap incident that is unfortunate. I couldn't exactly find a
clip where it shows him retiring but ultimately a brake issue forced him to retire.
2020 and the story of what could have been
Oh 2020 my behated. Lance is still with Racing Point and still has Sergio as a team mate.
The first race saw him qualify 9th and than immediately out of the race. He had to retire with engine
issues and could have possibly scored points had that not happened (he would have likely been P8
or P9.) The next race saw qualify 13th and finish 7th just behind Sergio. An incredible drive that saw
him defending his position until the line quiet literally.
Hungary saw him start from P3, an incredible Qualifying and finish P4, just behind the Mercedes
and Max. He was basically a top driver during that weekend. There was no better result to achieve.
The British GP after that ended with him in P9 after starting P6.
In the Anniversary GP he started P6 and finished in P6.
The sixth race saw him start from P5 and finish in P4. Once again being the best outside of the
expected top 3.
It continued so well with a start and finish of P9 in Spa.
It got even better when Monza came and Lance managed P3 after starting P8. Yes, he did throw
away a potential win but I am certain that he would have been overtaken by Sainz anyway because
he had more speed that weekend with the McLaren package so I don't think he could have ever
finished higher than P2.
And then it went downhill with Mugello, kick-starting the “What ifs”. From P6 (he moved up after
Perez took a penalty) to a DNF. A puncture sent him to the barriers possibly costing him a podium.
Before going off he was P4 chasing P3. At the very least he would have gotten a P5 finish.
Next up was Russia where Lance qualified 13th. When I say it starts to go downhill, I mean it. He
was fighting for P11/P12 and then got taken out by Charles. I am certain he would have at least got
P10 if he hadn't crashed out, potentially even up to P8.
The next race Lance misses out because of Covid so on to Portugal we go. He qualified 12th, not
bad. Then of course there is the incident with Lando which for me personally was a racing incident
but I can see the blame on Lance. It was an ambitious move, some might cool it reckless but so
many people would be praising any other driver if that had worked. It ultimately resulted in him
having to retire because of that damage.
Next up was Imola where Lance started 15th and finished 13th. Due to contact with Esteban during
the first lap he had to pit early and that basically ruined any chance he had at the race.
And then Turkey happened. The heartbreak and elation that weekend inspired. First off all, if
anyone tries to discredit Lance Pole as anything other than possibly one of the greatest Qualifying
results in the last years I am smashing their heads with a hammer. Yes that Racing Point was a fast
car. Yes, they obviously could be podium contenders if Mercedes or RedBull messed up. But considering Max reputation and Lewis pure race craft, I don't think anyone thought that they would
be anything other than the top 2 drivers. And in comes Lance with a lap about 3 tenth faster than
Max in a worse car.
Incredible. And then Racing Point saw that and + Sergio's P3 and went “Nah, we can only have one
of them on the podium.” During that race I genuinely thought the first 30 laps that Lance would
win. And then they go against his pit call which turns out to have made things worse (no pace) and
discover later on that Lance had a problem with his front wing which slowed him down. Therefore
he only got 9th.
I don't really want to talk about Bahrain because the only thing that mattered about that race was
seeing Romain get out of the car but I have to if I want to recap Lance performance. I am going to
keep it short. He qualified 13th and didn't finish as he was turned upside down by Kvyat. Would
have probably been a points finish but truly nothing of that race really matters or mattered other
than Romain being okay.
The next race finally saw something good again with Lance qualifying 10th and being third on that
podium. This was overshadowed by Sergio's win but it was a great result from him and the team.
The last race saw Lance in P8 and finishing in P10.
Spain had a great start for him again which I just want to add here.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-grand-prix-stroll-overtakes-bottas-with-amazing-start.1687526223371988110.html
So, what is the overall season summary?
This was without a doubt Lance best season. I mean come on. The only reason why people think he
did bad is because they merely look at the points which you can't. Lance had so many DNFs this
season where he wasn't at fault and which meant he missed out on huge points. I don't doubt that if
he only had half of the DNFs or even if Turkey had gone the way it should have, he would very
much be closer to Checo. Without a doubt he was never as close to a team-mate than he was in
2020. Even Qualy shows how mostly they were so close pace was. I think he would have had at
least 2 other podiums (Mugello and Turkey) if luck had just been a bit more on his side. So
therefore I think he would have had at least a 100 points. Sadly that didn't happen.
But this was
undoubtedly his greatest season so let's just collect his achievement that he did have:
He got the best qualifying results of the team that year, a pole and a third place. He also got two
podiums and two fourth place finish. All the races expect 1 that he finished were Top 10 finishes.
He outqualified his team mate multiple times.
Here are the DNFs if anyone wants to look them up:
There is no clip I can find of the Austria GP since they basically just call him into the pits.
The Mugello DNF (This is a fairly heavy crash so don't watch it if you can't see stuff like that) A
possible puncture, another incident completely out of his hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ebaeSw8ZE
This was Russia where Lance got taken out by Charles. I don't really think it's the worst attempt I
have seen but yeah, blame to Charles because he clearly saw Lance if that camera perspective is
anything to go by.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-russian-grand-prix-sainz-and-stroll-crash-out-in-chaotic-sochi-race-start.1687515300528811143.html
Lance and Lando's collision during the Portuguese GP (I can accept that the move by Lance wasn't
the smartest and I can also fully understand why people blame him.) However I think so many
people jumped on this because of the Free Practice incident between Max and Lance where it was
clearly just a miscommunication and misunderstanding.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-portuguese-grand-prix-stroll-and-norris-collide-at-turn-1.1687510148078074772.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QJTAVnaLRI
(This is said Free Practice accident)
Kyvat flipping Lance (again you shouldn’t watch this if you cant deal with heavier crashes). Some
say racing incident, I would say more blame an Daniil but I am just happy Lance was okay
especially after Romain's accident before.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-bahrain-grand-prix-stroll-flips-and-crashes-after-kvyat-contact.1687510862145773128.html
2021- up against a champion
Now it's time for change! Not only is the team now Aston Martin but Seb is Lance new team mate.
And the car is well there.
In the first race Lance outqualifies Seb and not only starts but also finishes in 10th.
Imola presents a similar picture where Lance outqualifies Seb and gets 10th place. And he finishes
8th! Sure he got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but that is still a good start to the season.
In the third race it starts to go a bit downhill with Lance qualifying in 17th and finishing in 14th , just
behind Seb in 13th.
Spain once again sees Lance start and finish in the same place, this time 11th. That qualy saw him
just miss out on P10 where he was off less than 10/1000. He had some good battles though like with
Fernando.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-spanish-grand-prix-stroll-wins-wheel-to-wheel-battle-with-alonso.1699487558908336755.html
The next race is good once again. Lance qualifies 13th and finishes 8th. Considering that this is
Monaco and there isn't really any overtaking opportunity, that's huge especially with Seb finishing
P5.
Baku sees well a bit of a downer. First he has his Qualy crash (Absolutely his mistake then again
hitting the wall happens to many drivers) and during his race he suffers a tyre blow out which
causes him to crash
(See the qualy crash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txr4NfOoZys).
In France he once again fails to set a qualy time to get out of Q1 but more as a result of bad timing.
He couldn't have predicted the others would crash so no fault on him there. He even managed to set
a lap which was sadly deleted but would have been faster than Sebs. He somehow manages to get
back to 10th place just one behind Seb in the race.
Styria sees Lance qualify in P10 and finish in P8.
The next race once again sees him P10 in Qualy and then the race finishes with him in P13 with a 5
second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The tenth race sees him start in P15 and finish in P14 in the sprint. In the actual race he gets P8.
Hungary looks promising with a P12 start but then well carnage happens. I will comment on those
incidents in a bit.
On to Spa where he qualified P15 but was sent back to P20 as a result of the collision in Hungary. I
won't talk about this race because it was still one of the biggest jokes and bullshit things this sport
has done in recent years. Lance got a penalty for the work done under the stopped race. All in all a
weekend to forget.
Zandvoort could be promising with a P12 start. Nothing major happens, he also finishes P12. He
has a moment with Seb where Lance moves across from Seb to possibly cover him off from
overtaking him. Dangerous driving I will admit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLT3XQ96FAY
Monza sees him Qualify 12th and manage to get up to 10th during the sprint qualy. In the race he
finishes P7. He does another borderline move on Seb which I won't deny. I however feel like people
over dramatize it. For me that wasn't nice but it was still okay. The only reason why people really
criticize it so much is because you shouldn't do that to a teammate. Again I can understand why
people dislike it but that still doesn't take away from the great job Lance did that weekend,
considering he just missed out on Q3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRMnO3mmPY
Russia is there, with a P8 start and a P11 finish. But we obviously have to talk about it. Not only did
he have a great start where he overtook multiple cars but he also hit the wall and had contact with
Seb. He hit the wall as it started to rain but he was still able to keep going. The incident with Seb is
well yeah Lance fault. But I think it wasn't so much mean spirited as more plain underestimating
space and possible struggle with the conditions. Seb even said that it was a misunderstanding and
that Lance probably didn't see or expect him there.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-russian-grand-prix-mega-stroll-start/228625209311917/
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-russian-grand-prix-onboard-as-stroll-slides-into-the-wall.1712063737151581609.html
Turkey has a P9 start and a P9 finish but once again shows Lance skill as it is a wet race.
The next GP sees a P12 start and P12 finish. Quiet a race though as Lance was first spun by
Nicholas Latifi and then nearly had a collision with Mazepin.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-nicholas-latifi-and-
lance-stroll-collide/248666900567613/
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-mazepin-strolls-close-
call/402411924879898/
Mexico comes with a slap of penalties so qualy doesn't really matter anyway. He also crashes in
Qualy. https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-mexico-city-grand-prix-stroll-crashes-
out-of-quali/627086791628083/
Still a P14 finish though.
Brazil once again sees the useless sprint Qualy which manages to get Lance up from P15 to P14.
Nothing really happens in that race position wise for him so he stays P14. However he has a scrap
with Yuki which honestly was just Yuki in my opinion trying a way too ambitious move. They
actually fought quiet a bit that race. Lance retired in the race as a result of the damage he suffered from the accident in the first lap.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-tsunoda-and-stroll-collide-at-interlagos.1716425125628029095.html
Quater sees Lance in P12 and he manages to get a P6 finish! A great drive from him especially
considering that he had to make his tyres last longer.
The penultimate race sees both Astons struggling in Qualy with Lance in P18. He manages to get up
to P11.
We don't want to talk about Abu Dhabi because it was a robbery and a shit show but we have to
because people keep saying it was only bad for Lewis when drivers like Lance where also
massively effected by the FIAs incompetence. He started P13 and finished that race but by god was
it a nightmare. I am just going to leave the comms between him and his engineer here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5SbgqcjIA
My summary:
While last season showed how great Lance can be, this season was huge for him in terms of
development. Not only did he outqualify Seb multiple times but he also was incredible consistent.
Almost every race saw him somewhere between 8 or 12th with an average finish of 11th. Yes Seb has
more points but almost half of those came from his podium (which I am absolutely not discrediting
or taking away, just merely pointing it out.) If you consider that Seb has over 10 years in that sport
compared to Lance rushed into it and now being in his 5th + Seb being one of the greatest for many,
it truly speaks to Lance credit how close he was to him and how much he managed to consistently
score.
I won't deny that this however also is the season where I would argue Lance had some
questionable manoeuvres and many borderline racing incidents. This however also shows that even
with a car that wasn't great Lance was consistently in the midfield battling for points.
Here's the DNFs:
Baku which sadly was just out of his hands
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-azerbaijan-grand-prix-stroll-escapes-heavy-high-speed-crash.1701823437935060912.html
The Hungary chaos from multiple perspectives. You can clearly see that Lance is of course at fault
for it but he immediately recognizes that and apologizes. There's been mistranslations where it
looks like he blames Val which is not true. He knows he fucked up. Drivers look up but yeah totally
on him although I will say I first thought he was trying to avoid that carnage by going onto the
grass. In his interview after he says he possibly ran over debrief which given the carnage in front of
him isn't hard to believe. So yeah, for me personally more of a domino effect then anything.
Valtteri's bad start set a series of unfortunate events into motion.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-hungarian-grand-prix-drivers-react-to-turn-1-
crash.1707071583705474820.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.lance-stroll-reacts-to-disaster-hungarian-grand-prix-start-crash.1706899140973058269.html
2022- a shitbox in green
Another year at Aston Martin with Seb but instead of a bad car they now got a green tractor to
honour Sebs environmental perspective.
In the first race Lance qualified 19th and finished 12th. The second race sees Lance start in P15 and
finish P13 but a lap earlier due to a longer pit stop and damage after coming together with Alex.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-albon-found-to-blame-for-clash-with-stroll.1728538480607161440.html
Australia sees well a bizarre qualifying. Lance and Nicky crash during Q1 for which Lance later
gets penalized. In my opinion completely undeserved. As you can see, Nicky clearly moves over to
let cars pass which Lance then does only for Nicky to seemingly want to retake that position very
fast with a much to small gap. I don't fully blame Nicky but I understand why Lance didn't expect
him to come back so quickly and I personally see it as a bad communication example more than an
accident where you have to shift blame.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-australian-gp-qualifying-latifis-car-destroyed-in-bizarre-crash-with-stroll.1729611513723725817.html
In the race he manages to get back up to P12.
Imola once again has a sprint weekend which doesn't affect Lance who still remains P15. In the race
he manages to get back to P10.
The new Miami race sees Lance qualify from P10 but due to an issue he has to start from the pit
lane. And still he gets P10.
The sixth race he quallified 18th and finished 15th. He didn't really score points but he could have
scored higher had he not been spun around by Pierre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lSP08f5Slk
Next up was Monaco. Lance qualifies P18 and finishes P14. He hit the wall during the formation
lap but then again it was a wet race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-monaco-grand-prix-latifi-and-stroll-hit-the-barriers-on-wet-formation-lap-in-monaco.1734171020113023239.html
Baku saw Lance qualifying 19th and not finishing. His Qualy which I will give people was bad. Like
crashing twice (also the second time was a result of the first) isn't what you should expect from
someone who at that point was 5 years in F1. However he had engine issues that entire weekend
which is also why he didn't finish so you start to wonder if they maybe played a tiny role.
His home race saw him qualify P18 again but he finally got points again with a P10. His move on
Seb was dangerous and probably cost Seb a position or two. But also, Lance start in that race was
like incredible. What a great start.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1591574059808165888?lang=de
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1587415154936930304
Silverstone sees Lance start last and finish in 11th. A good start which saw him avoid all the chaos
in front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_Elsl4jGM
Austria once again sees a sprint which means he goes from P17 to P13. Nothing changed in the race
and he finished in P13. Some battles that were nice but ultimately with the Aston Martin tractor not
that great.
The next race saw Lance once again in P17 and finishing in P10. An incredible race from him and I just want to show his start because we rarely ever saw how great his starts can be and how close the
midfield is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOaKfdx6wrw
Hungary saw Lance qualify P14, finally into Q2 again. The race saw him finish P11. Considering
he got spun around at one point by Daniel I would say that's a good result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5I-95BkUK4
Next up was Spa where Lance once again got into Q2 and qualified 14th. Because of penalties of
other drivers he started P9 and finished P11.
Zandvoort saw him even into Q3 and qualify P10 which is also where he finished the race.
Up next was Monza where he was once again starting from P17 but because of penalties got pushed
up to 12th which was very promising. Sadly he had to retire the car because of breaks overheating.
The next race had Lance start from P12 and finish in P6.
And then Japan came back. Lance only qualified P19 but finished P12. The start he had to that race
was just wow. During a wet race he not only managed to overtake multiple cars but he also just
quiet literally drove past them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwJvwpCnRwU
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-japanese-grand-prix-lance-stroll-makes-lightning-
start-to-go-from-19th-to-p11-on-opening-lap.1746188182712421933.html
Next up was the US GP where he qualified 7th which considering he was best of the rest in a car that
was 9th fastest deserves a shout-out. Especially when it put him up to 5th because of other penalties.
Sadly his race was over rather quickly. He DNFed after colliding with Fernando.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2022-united-states-grand-prix-fernando-alonso-and-
lance-stroll-come-together/885762125676389/
I have seen people say that Lance move is dangerous but you are allowed to move over to defend
from an opponent, some of you need to remember that. Yes he should have moved more clearly but
there was still like Lance said enough space. I think it was just a bit misjudged which lead to the
racing incident. But yes I can see why people were to put blame on to Lance since he should have
not just moved a bit or could have defended it later. He got a penalty for his move which would be
applied in Mexico.
A penalty that I agree with because his defending was too robust and late.
Mexico saw Lance start as a result of his penalty for last race. He finished 15th.
Brazil saw him qualify 15th and finish 16th in the sprint. What he did during the sprint to Seb I'll
agree was a bad move. In the race he managed to get back up to 10th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCpPzHBQ1k
The last race saw Lance start 14th and finish 8th.
I think looking back on it now especially comparing it to 2021 and 2020 which were undoubtedly
some of Lance best performances, it's hurts seeing 2022. There were many mistakes made by him
and I think a lot of that is also down to him just not seeming to be comfortable with the car plus
Aston just struggling in general. Lance Qualifying was definitely lacking and there is no doubt that
he clashed more with Seb than he should have. I won't say many of the incidents he had that season
reflect good on him.
However I think it's truly unfair that people would judge him based of one
season that was bad when he had a car that was nearly the worst car on the grid. It is also very clear
that controlling that car was very difficult.
I also raise the question again: How much better do we expect him to perform against Seb? This isn't me
dismissing his incidents this is merely looking at results.
How much can you really expect from Lance to be close to Seb in that car without trying to
diminish as arguably the better driver? How much can we compare their performances? Or rather
how much can we judge Lance especially when he was against Seb, a 4 time world champion, a
runner up multiple times?
If we were to merely look at results for this (which I have started before aren't everything), we will
see that really they aren't that far apart. In the races where both of them finished they are mostly
only 2-3 places apart which is interesting if you consider that Lance often qualified further back.
But, like I said results don't speak for everything so if you were to say which season was Lance
worst, I would probably say this.
I want to draw your attention now though to some positives from that season like Lance amazing
start in Japan which shows he is talented.
Or the fact that Lance got Aston Martin's highest Qualifying that season with 7th which turned into a
start from P5 after penalties of other drivers were applied. He also had the most positions gained
and was in the top 10 for most overtakes in that season.
Here are the DNFs:
This is Lance and Alex making contact which resulted in both of them out of the race. Personally a
racing incident for me as they seemingly both misjudged the space or weren't expecting the other to
turn in. I would argue it's a bit ambitious from Alex but I don't think it was penalty deserving on either end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDg9cweEbew
Side-note: I also don't know why people think Lance crashes a lot or is know for his dangerous
driving. Sure during his first season he crashed twice in free practice and had a few DNFs but
almost 80% of his DNFs are either not his fault or simple race incidents. Then again he had 2 other
free practice crashes in his second season but that doesn't make him a bad driver? The worst he ever
clashed with another driver was Seb in 2022 which I will give people. However I really don't see
why people say he is famous for colliding with others when many couldn't recall any incident that
involved him and another driver that wasn't in 2022 or the last season. He isn't memorable for bad
driving although 2022 might reflect badly on him.
So what is the conclusion?
Why did I title this document the way that it is?
That is simple to answer. I completely mean it.
In his career if we ignore 2018, Lance has had/has the following teammates:
- Felipe Massa, who was nearly a WDC
- Sergio Perez who was one of the best midfield drivers at that time
- Sebastian Vettel, a 4x WDC
and now Fernando Alonso, a 2xWDC.
People forget that not only was Lance in F1 with very little experience at an early age but he has
also had world class drivers, some regarded as the greatest as his teammates.
Not only that but he has consistently improved over the years and had rarely any bad clashes that he
was responsible for.
The worst he did was against a 4 x WDC in one of the worst, if not the worst car on the grid, a car
that he didn't feel confident in and that was hardly able to be predicated and difficult to control. That
was his worst year in F1 where a lot of the mistakes where his fault without a doubt.
But people truly forget how great Lance can perform, especially in the wet and how he dominated
Perez in 2020 until his streak of luck was cut short to no fault of his own. Not only that but he
outqualified Seb in 2021 multiple times, was more consistent than him with his race result etc.
Not to mention the things he has already achieved.
He is one of the youngest podium sitters, the youngest front row starter (all from his first season),
has multiple podiums (and would have had more if not for his unlucky streak in the later half of
2020), has a pole and has managed to be close to many of his teammates (if you don't only lock at
results.) Not to mention that even though his qualifying was inconsistent, he always had good
standout performances.
And he is one of the best starters on that grid. There are some races where he just drives past 5+
cars like it's nothing which often shouldn't even be possible with his bad car.
Yes, he was inconsistent in Qualy many times and yes he had some questionable drives but the later
can be said for almost any driver on the grid. Drivers are bound to make mistakes and also
sometimes experienced ones because it happens.
Considering how well he is doing in this season with a still healing injury, I truly do not get how he
is this discredited and underrated. When it comes to teammates he has arguably had some of the
hardest to compete against in the last years.
Not to mention he came into this sport without anyone believing he deserved there. He even questioned his own place in this sport which is bullshit considering he had enough wins and champions to warrant an F1 seat.
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Italian Tour 2009
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Last weeks poll ended with 16 votes, the winner (it was to be expected) was ZZ Top's 1983 "Eliminator" with 31,3%. It was a struggle for me aswell, but i ended up choosing "Afterburner" because it's the one that i keep going back to. It's must have something to do with that unique 80's sound...
The video for "Paranoid" was filmed in Belgium (1970), it was the first song i ever heard by Ozzy and Black Sabbath... i was hooked instantly! It's still my favorite Sabbath album to date, i mean... how can it not be with classics like "War Pigs", Paranoid", "Planet Caravan", "Iron Man" and "Fairies Wear Boots"?
Considered by many to be the first heavy metal band, Black Sabbath was formed in 1968 by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in Birmingham, UK.
The band's original name was the Polka Tulk Blues Band (later shortened to Polka Tulk) and later on changed to Earth before becoming Black Sabbath inspired by an Italian horror movie of the same name.
The original line-up lasted until 1979, after which Osbourne was fired and replaced by Ronnie James Dio. The line-up changes would continue, with no line-up remaining intact for consecutive studio releases. Throughout the changes, only Tony Iommi and keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, who also joined the band in 1979, would remain with Black Sabbath, although Nicholls would not always be credited as a full member. In 1997, Iommi, Butler, Ward, and Osbourne reunited, touring and releasing a live album in 1998, although a long-rumored studio release did not appear (the group attempted to record a new album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin but the sessions were scrapped). After that, the group periodically reunited to tour with Ozzy's "Ozzfest" tour. In 2004, longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls was replaced by Adam Wakeman for an Ozzfest tour. No reason was given for the replacement. In 2006, the original line-up was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame.
In 2007, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (who were featured on 1981's "Mob Rules" and 1992's "Dehumanizer") announced that they would tour together as Heaven & Hell (with Iommi, who owns the Black Sabbath name, deciding to keep the Black Sabbath name solely for the original line-up in light of their Rock 'n' Roll HOF induction) to support a Dio-era greatest hits release, which also featured 3 new Dio/Iommi compositions. A brand new live album was released under the Heaven & Hell name that same year, followed by a studio album in 2009.
In 2009, Osbourne sued Iommi over control of the Black Sabbath name. The lawsuit was settled the following year. In late 2011, it was announced that the original line-up would be recording and touring. Shortly, afterward, Bill Ward dropped out, stating he had been given a contract that was "unsignable". The three remaining members opted to continue without him. In 2013, the band released "13", their first studio album with Osbourne in 34 years. The band played their final live show in Birmingham, UK, on February 4, 2017. Although the band has announced that full-scale touring is done, Tony Iommi has stated that the door is still open for future music and possible live appearances.
Ps, if you vote please also reblog, the more people will do so the more this post will spread and the better the outcome and results will be. A big "thank you" in advance to anyone who will partake in this! Yours truly: @necro69mancer 🤘🍻
Oh, and also... suggestions for future polls are always welcome! 😎
@goblinkleaver @beardedguy1369 @1000deleting @wayward-cat @wolvesofodinedinburgh @manuaani @moonstar-magic @gloria-glitter @maidenintexas1 @machetazos88 @inkedupblondie @very-old-biker ...
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A list of named swings and such
So. I know one of these already exists. BUT. I'm doing another. because i can
Old London Swings (pre-Revival, mostly late 80s and the 90s)
Greycat/Hysperia/NBQ (nameless brown queen)- Greycat was sometimes known as NBQ, it depended on her costume, which ranged from grey to tan. Hysperia is a different cat who has sometimes been called NBQ by fans even though she isn't Greycat/NBQ
AJ- "Almost Jemima". Female kitten
Tabbygirl- more mature queen (usually covered adult roles)
Patches- male kitten, often resembles Admetus
Calico- male or female
Caramel- male, looks very similar to Victor
Victor- originated here but used in productions worldwide
Post-revival London Swings
Electra (also Lightning Ellectra)
George
Pouncival
Victor
Early Broadway Swings (80s and 90s)
Spike- young male
George- young male
AJ- young female
Greycat- female
Carbucketty- male kitten, later cut when Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer became actual cats and not trash puppets
Babygriz's design was also used as a swing
US Tour Swing
Spike- different design. male.
China 2012
Grumbuskin
Jemima
Oliva
Murad
Quaxo
Noilly Prat
Latter four have since been used in other productions
Gothenburg 2006
Isis
Ramses
Garbo
Shakespeare
Tintomara
Agustus
Moses
Savannah
Warsaw 2004
Fraszka
Fantasia
Sierściuch
Zyleta/Kocik Le Miau
Angelika
Mamrotka
Turbo Ptys
Menello Bianco
Kara Kotek
Tecklenburg 2015
Rocketta
Eris
Barnaby
Buttons
Bonzo
Mab
Thunerseespiele 2017
Ishtar
Luna
Roxy
2009 Italian Tour
Caligola
Paride
Helsinki 1986
Aprilli
Gilbert
Lilli
Marina
Meijuli
Grumbuskin/Rokkonen
Russu
Sibylla
Oslo 1985
Kvesesta
Potefar
Godnattakatt
The Named Swings
Some of these are full ensemble characters in certain productions but when other productions cut that character or use an alternative, that name is often used for a swing.
Admetus- when he's replaced by Plato, Admetus is sometimes used by a male/female swing
Augustus
Autumn
Bill Bailey
Carbucketty
Electra
Etcetera
Exotica- first used to create a cameo for Femi Taylor (who played Tantomile in the OLC I'm pretty sure) in the 1998 film but has since been used for swings in large productions
George- male kitten
Jemima- female kitten
Jonathan- male
Murad- young male
Noilly Prat- young female
Olivia- young female
Peter
Quaxo- young male
Victor- kind of an elderly male? his performer usually covers the older roles like Gus and Old Deuteronomy
There's also a swing Babygriz in the current UK Tour
And now the mindfuck that is alternatives:
Bill Bailey/Tumblebrutus- Bill Bailey originated in the original London production. Tumblebrutus was used instead of him on Broadway and in the 1998 film (the latter to maintain international something or other). In the 98 film it was Bill Bailey under the name Tumblebrutus.
Carbucketty/Pouncival- Carbucketty originated in the original London production. As with Bill Bailey/Tumblebrutus, Pouncival was used instead of his London counterpart on Broadway and in the 1998 film. In the 98 film it was Carbucketty under the name Pouncival.
Pouncival/George- the 2014 London Palladium production included a third male kitten aside from Carbucketty and Bil Bailey named Pouncival, who's design was actually much closer to the original London George character than to Carbucketty.
Quaxo/Mistoffelees- Big mindfuck! In UK-style productions, the performer is credited as Quaxo up until his song, where he is revealed to be The Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. This is usually explained as Mr. Mistoffelees being Quaxo's stage name. However, in some productions they're completely different cats, with Quaxo using a totally different design. Also, as Quaxo/Misto used to dance a tap dance duel against Jennyanydots while dressed as the lead beetle. Because of this, all pre-revival London productions attached the name Quaxo to the lead tap dancing beetle regardles of whether or not it was played by Mistoffelees.
Plato/Admetus- Even bigger mindfuck! Admetus was the original double for Macavity in London and I think London-based prodctions still use Admetus. Plato is the Broadway version of the same cat. The Plato you see in the 1998 film is the Admetus design. Plato's design originally had a lot of brown and grey but since the 98 film, which used the Admetus design, you get a lot of "Admetus costume and makeup but named Plato". In productions where Plato is the Macavity double, the name Admetus is sometimes used for a swing (this is common in Australian-style productions)
Admetus/George- This one is purely to do with the 98 film. Frank Thompson was credited with playing the Rumpus Cat and Admetus. Fans assumed the cat who was actually using the George design was Admetus, but it is unknown if the renaling of the George design to Admetus was intentional or not.
Jemima/Sillabub- Jemima originated from the original London production but was renamed Sillabub in the US and in US-based prosuctions to avoid any negative racial connotations. Since then, the name Sillabub is used more often outside of Europe, though in productions where Sillabub is used as the principle version, the name Jemima is sometimes used for a female swing. Jemima is a named swing in the China 2012 and Shiki productions.
Other names
There are two names in Old Possum's that haven't been used in any production (that I know of): James and Cat Morgan.
Then there's Socrates, who is exclusive to the 2019 film.
So! That's that! Wow this got long and kinda detailed. If you've any questions/additions/whatever, send them in an ask and I'll do my best to answer.
There are many, many, more unnamed swings, but this is a compiled list of named swings.
I got the majority of my information from the wiki and also from this post by @/theimpossiblescheme.
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The bracket for Round 1 is Determined!
(I know some are cut off, sorry)
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🔥non-replica productions
Beyond my preference for non-replicas with full cat costuming, I do not really have any specific unpopular opinions. I do not tend to watch non-replicas all that often, so I cannot be too particular about most. The key thing with non-replicas is that they present something different to enjoy from the typical stage show, and you can always find something fun to enjoy!
I guess an unpopular non-replica opinion is that the Italian Tour 2009-2011 had great designs and an interestingly unique approach to the musical. Most opinions I see are that the masks used in the production are weird or creepy, and I disagree with that. I think the work that went into creating and melding the masks to each performer's face is a detail that is overlooked based on topical views of how they look. No other non-replica production comes close to having that unique design quality of the Carnival of Venice.
I really enjoy the Il Sistina production, to the point where I would consider it to be one of the best non-replicas ever performed (and it is my personal favourite), which may be a contentious thing to say. I love the costumes, makeup, and wigs for everyone, and the fact the some designs and parts of the show are influenced directly by the 2019 movie make me love it even more. I do not think I can realistically say anything negative about it other than the fact the Grizabella makeup and wig is pretty meh. I am crossing my fingers that they come back for shows in Milan and I hope that one of the shows is recorded for us to see!
The recent Mexico non-replicas (2013 specifically, due to the higher sponsorship funding that allowed them to have a more professional show) is an amazing one as well! The vibrancy and happiness throughout the show is great and they all seem to be having so much fun!
Gothenburg/Stockholm is something that also looks like so much fun, and they utilize the circus theme much better than a certain other production in my opinion. The designs are interesting of course, and I wish that we had more footage of it!
There is something for everyone.
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9 and 10 for the violence asks (not specifying a fandom bc i want to hear all the opinions you can think of for these prompts)
Answered these for Arknights already.
9) worst part of canon
RWBY: This will be a surprising answer, most likely, but it's actually that scene in the Yellow Trailer where Yang crushes Junior's nuts. I'm sure sexual assault was a funny, edgy way to introduce a heroic character in like 2013 or whatever, but it aged fucking terribly, so I just pretend it never happened and she just grabbed him by the collar or something instead. Like it doesn't make Yang look like a tough, assertive, take-no-shit Strong Female Character, it just makes her look like an asshole.
Fate Grand Order: Either Septem or Agartha, I can't decide which.
Netflix Castlevania: Season 3's bizarre fixation on sexual assault like what the actual fuck
Pokemon: I'm stretching the definition of "canon" here but the decision to introduce dumbass gimmicks like Z-moves/Dynamax/Terastralization or however the hell you spell it absolutely fucked competitive in a way that nothing has before or since. Either that or Aldaron's Proposal, which ruined BW.
Texas Longhorns football: That moment in the 2009 National Championship game when Colt McCoy went out with an injury in the first quarter, completely changing the trajectory of both the game and the two programs playing in it. Alabama won the championship and started a dynasty that lasted for about a dozen years, whereas Texas has been mediocre ever since and is only now starting to return to prominence.
Either that or the 2008 Texas vs. Texas Tech game where Blake Gideon dropped the world's easiest interception and then Michael Crabtree caught a touchdown for Tech, thus keeping Texas out of the BCS Championship due to stupid bullshit tiebreaker rules.
Bleach: The way every woman is useless in a fight unless facing another, inferior woman (shoutouts Yoruichi in particular for living up to her hype for approximately 0.5 seconds, which is still 0.5 seconds longer than any other female character in this show)
10) worst part of fanon
RWBY:
"Yang is a dumb party girl" (she's neither)
"Yang curses all the time" (she's cursed 3 times in canon that I can remember)
"Ironwood is a competent military leader" (he isn't)
"Rubes"
"Yang fights recklessly and needed Taiyang's advice to become a better fighter" (she doesn't and never has, Taiyang's advice was dogshit, and she actually became worse by real-world standards if you compare her technique in the Poser era to her technique in the Maya era)
Everything Coeur Al'Aran fics have convinced the community at large is canon when it's shit he just made up
"Adam is a morally gray freedom fighter"
College Football:
"Texas A&M is a good program" (it isn't)
"Nebraska will be good again" (it won't)
Pokemon:
"[Team in Competitive Pokemon Tournament] isn't cheating" (They are, bonus points if it's an official tour, the team has more than 3 German, French, Brazilian, or Italian players on it or is US East/West, or one of the players/managers is a Tournament Director)
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Eurovision: Really Good or Really Bad
This May for the first time I got the opportunity to work on the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy. Produced by Italian Broadcaster Rai in association with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union).
Coming from the UK, everyone knows Eurovision, I have to confess though I have never been a avid fan, but like most people I have either watched it or parts of it on numerous occasions. I’ve always been slightly perplexed by the genuine excitement from some each year when it’s on. As well as hearing the standard criticism from the older demographic about it "all being political these days".
The UK has clearly performed poorly in the last two decades. The last time the UK won was 1997 when I was six years old and a runner’s up position the following year in 1998. Since then the best results have been a third place in 2002 and fifth in 2009 (the first time I ever actually watched it from start to finish). If Eurovision likes Britain has been a open debate in recent decades, which has only intensified post Brexit with a string of terrible results, finishing on the lower part of the table, often last and even some dreaded “Nul Points” including 2021.
As a Brit when I was contacted by Rai to work on it, I was a little hesitant, is it something I want to be involved in, it's silly right. Well I was so wrong and it is one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done, the fans absolutely love it and helping to shape (just the tiniest amount), what is in my opinion one of the best produced and marketed Eurovision’s ever (I may be a little biased) was a joy. The staging with the full waterfall stage, looked epic on TV and made the whole thing feel like a rock concert, the aim clearly as last year’s Italian winner Maneskin is a seriously credible rock band, even touring America with The Rolling Stones and not the joke winner we tend to associate Eurovision with.
So what is so good about it? One thing often over looked in the UK, is the sheer size of the event and the level of interaction it generates with its seemingly large fan base. Turin did a incredible job with Eurovision parties and events all week long. Many countries in Europe unlike the UK also see this as a serious music competition not a joke and select artist’s and song’s to reflect that. It shouldn’t be a surprise that when we enter a good artist, which Sam Ryder is, as is his song “Space Man” we actually almost won and in a normal year we would have.
The big event feel and must see TV vibe they created especially this year really took the whole thing to another level. The ratings for 2022, 161 million viewers, down on the lower 180′s of recent years, but represents a 7% year on year rise when you take into account the absence of Russia and no available numbers from Ukraine, which combined accounted for 29 million viewers in 2021. Italy recorded it’s highest ever figure of 6.6 million, Spain 6.8 million and the UK 8.9 million a 20% increase year on year, over 50% of the live viewing audience in Britain were watching and the highest individual ratings in Europe.
The other thing Eurovision does so well is engage with it’s online audience, the area I work in. This year for the first time Eurovision was available to watch on TikTok with the Semi-Finals being streamed approximately 4 million times each and 3.3 million times for the Grand Final. Also generating 189 million video views in the fourteen days leading up to the grand final. On YouTube, 42.3 million unique views and 7.6 million viewers for the grand final, a 50% increase, with 63% under 35. In total across all social channels videos were watched 284 million times during Eurovision week. A phenomenal number and truly shows the approach Eurovision have taken this year across social and digital is delivering massive returns.
The Politics, is it political? Yes and No. Without question Ukraine won this year not for the song they entered but for external political reasons, however the “it’s political” stance is wrong, if it was left up to the jury votes alone Ukraine did not come close to winning, it was in fact the general public voting across Europe who backed Ukraine and sent them home with the trophy. A gesture of solidarity and politics I can live with even if I am disappointed for the UK.
Above all the most enjoyable thing about the whole experience was the people and just how much every person in attendance from all over Europe (& Australia) was enjoying it and how everyone from audience members, to artists and production crew was having such a good time.
Eurovision may be seen as cheesy and in parts it is, however personally it was so much fun to work on and the biggest lesson of all from 2022 is that the UK can do well if we don't treat it like a joke and we just try.
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American pop-rock band Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers were born and raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, to Denise (née Miller) and Paul Kevin Jonas Sr. Denise is a former sign language teacher and singer, and Paul is a former musician and songwriter. The couple married in December 1979 and have three sons: Paul Kevin Jonas II "Kevin", Joseph Adam Jonas "Joe", and Nicholas Jerry Jonas "Nick".
The Jonas Brothers grew up in a devout Christian household and traveled to church every week as a family. They have Norwegian, German, Irish, English, and Italian ancestry. The brothers began performing onstage together at age six, when they were cast in a community theater production of Beauty and the Beast. In 2003, they began appearing on the Disney Channel television series Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream. The series followed the brothers as they toured the country as a band and navigated their way through the music industry.
The Jonas Brothers' first album, It's About Time, was released on August 8, 2006. The album's lead single, "Mandy", was released to Radio Disney on August 28, 2006, and peaked at number forty-one on the Billboard Hot 100. The group's self-titled second album, Jonas Brothers, was released on August 7, 2007. The album's lead single, "Hold On", was released to Radio Disney on August 21, 2007, and peaked at number eighty-six on the Billboard Hot 100. The group's third album, A Little Bit Longer, was released on August 12, 2008. The album's lead single, "Burnin' Up", was released to Radio Disney on July 11, 2008, and peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
The group's fourth album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, was released on June 16, 2009. The album's lead single, "Paranoid", was released to Radio Disney on May 18, 2009, and peaked at number fifty-one on the Billboard Hot 100. The group's fifth album, V, was released on October 11, 2013. The album's lead single, "Pom Poms", was released to Radio Disney on September 10, 2013, and peaked at number sixty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Jonas Brothers have sold over seventeen million albums worldwide. They have been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning two. In 2010, they won the American Music Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. In 2013, they won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Music Group. In 2020, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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References
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