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| Eurovision Song Contest |
| Love it |
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30% |
[ 3 ] |
| Like it |
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40% |
[ 4 ] |
| Leave it |
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20% |
[ 2 ] |
| Loathe it |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Never heard of it |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
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| Total Votes : 10 |
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tirlittan
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Posts: 213
Location: Northern Finland
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 Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:38 pm Post subject: Eurovision Song Contest 2008 |
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You know summer is almost here when it's time for the Eurovision Song Contest. The very definition of a kitsch tv-show, and as such, live broadcast entertainment at it's best.  Are you watching it? It's become a somewhat of a tradition of mine to watch it with a group of friends, grade the songs and laugh ourselves silly in the process.
I wanted to do a "Who's your favourite" -poll, but there were too many options with the 25 contestants.  So here's a list of the songs in the order of appearance in the final on Saturday. Who's your favourite? And who do you think will win? Is there a song in there that should never have been made? ;)
1 Romania: Nico and Vlad | Pe-o Margine De Lume
2 UK: Andy Abraham | Even If
3 Albania: Olta Boka | Zemren E Lame Peng
4 Germany: No Angels | Disappear
5 Armenia: Sirusho | Qele, Qele
6 Bosnia & Herzegovina: Laka | Pokuoaj
7 Israel: Boaz | The Fire in Your Eyes
8 Finland: Teräsbetoni | Missä Miehet Ratsastaa
9 Croatia: Kraljevi Ulice and 75 Cents | Romanca
10 Poland: Isis Gee | For Life
11 Iceland: Euroband | This Is My Life
12 Turkey: Mor ve Otesi | Deli
13 Portugal: Vania Fernandes | Senhora Do Mar (Negras Aguas)
14 Latvia: Pirates of the Sea | Wolves of the Sea
15 Sweden: Charlotte Perrelli | Hero
16 Denmark: Simon Mathew | All Night Long
17 Georgia: Diana Gurtskaya | Peace Will Come
18 Ukraine: Ani Lorak | Shady Lady
19 France: Sebastien Tellier | Divine
20 Azerbaijan: Elnur and Samir | Day After Day
21 Greece: Kalomira | Secret Combination
22 Spain: Rodolfo Chikilicuatre | Baila El Chiki Chiki
23 Serbia: Jelena Tomaoevic feat. Bora Dugic | Oro
24 Russia: Dima Bilan | Believe
25 Norway: Maria | Hold On Be Strong |
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Sally in Scotland
Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject: Eurovision Song Contest |
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I never watch the contest as I don't like it. I would not stop the contest as many people enjoy it but it is not for me. However, it is not truly a song contest as politics play a large part. Many countries don't vote for what they consider the best song, they vote for their political allies or make sure a country that they are not happy with gets 'nil points'. I just love the way Terry Wogan pokes fun at all the absurdities of it. It is really funny.
I also feel that the artists are never quite that good. I have never heard of the British entry nor any of the others. The only truly great artists who made their name through the contest are Abba. |
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Cora
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 1091
Location: Bremen, Germany
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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I've seen snippets of the semi-finales and from what I've seen, it's the usual collection of very scary freaks (Latvian pirates!) and ladies who look like soft-porn stars pretending to sing. It was never something to take seriously, but in recent years the Eurovision Song Contest has descended into a joke. I may watch it for a laugh, if I have nothing better to do.
And I wish the German contestants, the casting girly band No Angels who are long past their prime (and they were ridiculously awful even in their prime), would just take the title of their song to heart and disappear. Though maybe they'll gain us a point or two from Bulgaria, as one of the singers is a Bulgarian immigrant. |
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Rosario
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 326
Location: Liverpool, UK
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 2:26 am Post subject: |
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I don't have a TV right now, so I won't be able to watch it this year, but I always did so back home in Uruguay. It's great, campy fun! My sister and I would watch it together and, like you, grade the songs, and then test our knowledge of international politics and try to guess who each country would vote for
Musically, I agree, it's... er, not great, but I love it anyway. There are always some jewels, like the Ukranian entry last year. They should have won:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3XGMb5PakOQ&
(and no, I'm not joking. We laughed ourselves silly and then I was humming the song for weeks  )
_________________
My Reading Journal
http://rosario.blogspot.com |
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Karaa
Joined: 17 Apr 2008
Posts: 86
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: |
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It's entertainment! A show contest rather than a song contest.
Therefore, I'll vote for RUSSIA. Not for Dima or the song, but for giving us Plushenko! Bravo! Yagudin would have been even better, but I'm not complaining.
The FINNISH entry has the shrewdest lyrics. The LITHUANIAN youn man was certainly easy on the eye but the song was terrible so he didn't make it to the finals. PORTUGAL's entry seems like a copy of Serbia's last year entry but is sure to garner votes nevertheless. |
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tirlittan
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Posts: 213
Location: Northern Finland
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:00 am Post subject: |
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It isn't (at) all about the music for me either. 8)
I liked Turkey's performance (playing your own instruments is a big plus!) and Israel (eye candy  + I liked the "folk-songish" parts). The Norwegian singer had a great voice, but the song was too much like something Beyoncé might've sung (?IMO). I don't think it'll stand out enough. The Danish song was a good mix of brit-pop and Justin Timberlakeish-showmanship, but could it win?
There weren't any songs/performances that really rocked my day (rocking my world is a little too much to ask of an Eurovision song contest song), so I don't think I'll be voting anyone this year.
I aree with the Portugal's song being a lot like Serbia's last year, and I'm a little surprized I like it, as I never quite understood what my friends liked about the winning Serbian song. Familiarity maybe?
The Finnish band is macho-heavy-metal with a bit of tongue-in-cheek-attitude and I for one didn't think the gist of it would translate very well (+ for me their act is an old joke by now, they were a hit in Finland a couple of years ago), but good luck to the guys anyway! They've already done a lot better than I thought they would. :)
And finally, from a fashion perspective: apparently metallic mini dresses with a Hungarian puli sheep dog -inspired fabrics are huge in Europe. 
Last edited by tirlittan on Sat May 24, 2008 8:36 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Kerstin
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1124
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2008 |
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I really like the Israeli contestant. Very oriental, beautiful voice, great singing.
But of course the guy has no chance, performance too subtle, voice too great, singer neither conventionally handsome nor freaky. And then all the politics unfairly mixing in. *Sigh*
I always try to watch it but seldom can stand to watch it to the end. You have to watch that with a group of friends or you go nuts.
Kerstin |
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tirlittan
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Posts: 213
Location: Northern Finland
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| Rosario wrote: | I don't have a TV right now, so I won't be able to watch it this year, but I always did so back home in Uruguay. It's great, campy fun! My sister and I would watch it together and, like you, grade the songs, and then test our knowledge of international politics and try to guess who each country would vote for
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I think they're showing it live on the internet (I think I saw a link on the eurovision song contest site).
Just in case you'll find you've time on your hands and nothing else to do. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: Eurovision Song Contest 2008 |
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I used to watch every year when I was younger. Then it became too gimmicky, everyone started singing in English, and there are too many countries to follow and way too much bloc voting. I usually watch for a bit but not the whole thing and definitely not the semis.
| Kerstin wrote: | | I really like the Israeli contestant. Very oriental, beautiful voice, great singing. But of course the guy has no chance, performance too subtle, voice too great, singer neither conventionally handsome nor freaky. And then all the politics unfairly mixing in. *Sigh* |
Boaz Mauda does have a lovely voice. He's the second "A Star is Born" (Israeli Idol) alum to do Eurovision; Shiri Maimon finished 4th in 2005. Fun fact: his song was co-written by Dana International, who won in 1998. As you wrote, political voting makes it extremely unlikely that he'll finish near the top. Anyway, it looks like he's on next; I guess that's the part I'll watch.
Edited to add - I think the most ridiculous gimmick this year has to be in the Russian song. In addition to violinist Edvin Marton performing on stage with the singer, 2006 Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko shows up in the second half to skate in the background. I could not figure out any reason for this. |
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Cora
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 1091
Location: Bremen, Germany
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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Well, apparently the silly ice skating gimmick worked, for the Russian entry won, even though the song was pretty meh IMO. And that was one of the performances I saw completely. The rest of the top spots went to young, scantily clad ladies jiggling their attributes, though one of those, Armenia I think, actually had a decent voice and song. I only saw a clip of the Israeli song, but that looked like one of the better entries. Glad that he made it into the final. Turkey and Finland looked decent as well.
Germany, not surprisingly, tied for last place with the UK and someone else. And just as I predicted, the fact that one of the singers (the redhead, in case anyone remembers them) is Bulgarian gained us 12 points from Bulgaria.
But then, Germany hasn't made it into the top spots in ages now, whether we have good entries (Texas Lightning or Max Mutzke), joke entries (Guildo Horn or Stefan Raab) or just plan bad entries (No Angels, Michelle, anything by Ralf Siegel). |
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Natalie
Joined: 25 Mar 2007
Posts: 1566
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| My friends in Russia were not happy with Dima Bilan in the first place but they'll probably be happy that Moscow is going to host next contest anyway. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 6:28 am Post subject: |
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| Cora wrote: | | Well, apparently the silly ice skating gimmick worked, for the Russian entry won, even though the song was pretty meh IMO. |
The song was pretty lame, though no worse than Greece's awful bubble gum pop song, which sounded like something that Britney Spears would have rejected as too uninspired. Of course, Greece won a few years ago with a song that included the stunning lyrics "you are the one, my number one". I miss the old times. In the bit I saw, I could not detect a single good song. Norway's seemed ok in the recap clip. The Ukranian singer seemed one misstep away from a serious wardrobe malfunction. I was very concerned .
| Karaa wrote: | | Therefore, I'll vote for RUSSIA. Not for Dima or the song, but for giving us Plushenko! Bravo! Yagudin would have been even better |
I'd have given Russia 12 points if they'd have had Alexei Yagudin skating. Plushy, well, he needs to start working harder if he's serious about coming back to skating next season. No matter, Israel almost always gives Russia 12 points so my views are besides the point. Anyway, I vote for 2009 Eurovision to bring in Ilia Averbukh's ice show as the intermission performance. |
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Karaa
Joined: 17 Apr 2008
Posts: 86
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | | Cora wrote: | | Well, apparently the silly ice skating gimmick worked, for the Russian entry won, even though the song was pretty meh IMO. |
The song was pretty lame, though no worse than Greece's awful bubble gum pop song, which sounded like something that Britney Spears would have rejected as too uninspired. Of course, Greece won a few years ago with a song that included the stunning lyrics "you are the one, my number one". I miss the old times. In the bit I saw, I could not detect a single good song. Norway's seemed ok in the recap clip. The Ukranian singer seemed one misstep away from a serious wardrobe malfunction. I was very concerned .
I'd have given Russia 12 points if they'd have had Alexei Yagudin skating. Plushy, well, he needs to start working harder if he's serious about coming back to skating next season. No matter, Israel almost always gives Russia 12 points so my views are besides the point. Anyway, I vote for 2009 Eurovision to bring in Ilia Averbukh's ice show as the intermission performance. |
Ah, a fellow Yagudin fan!
I confess to an extravagant fantasy of mine: to have both figure skater Yagudin and fellow Russia hockey player Alexander Ovechkin on ice on stage. LOL. What can I say? For me, it's no longer a song contest (in which case the contestants would simply walk on the stage in jeans and perform their songs ā la "American Idol") but a show contest.
Russian song was pretty lame (although, in the context of the Eurovision, not nearly as boring as many other entries) as you said. Still, the performance had the ingredients that I imagined would win votes across the board: a decent enough voice, dramatic lyrics, a bit of everything for every music taste, a pretty male face, a bit of male chest & flesh, the violin and the violinist (!), Plushenko of course (!), the fact that Dima is already popular in the eastern parts of Europe and proved his mettle two years ago when he took the second place after the monsters, and then of course the fact that border countries from Estonia via Ukraine, Serbia, down to Israel are going to give points to Russia no matter what.
For those who complain about the biased bloc voting I'd say, are you surprised, still? I mean, when the time for Cyprus to cast its vote comes, I say to myself, "and twelve points go to...Gree-eece!" and sure enough, so it goes. Norway gives twelve points to Denmark, Iceland twelve points to Norway, Andorra to Spain, the Balkan FY countries always give points to each other and Russia, Estonia and Norway always give points to Finland no matter what, and who cares? It's not about who wins; three months from now, we don't even remember who won and with what song. It's about the show! The more entertaining the better! :lol:
As for the 2009 Moscow show, oh yes, I can hardly wait! The Russians have money to throw into this and are sure to make the mother of all Eurovision shows.
| tirlittan wrote: | | The Finnish band is macho-heavy-metal with a bit of tongue-in-cheek-attitude and I for one didn't think the gist of it would translate very well (+ for me their act is an old joke by now, they were a hit in Finland a couple of years ago), but good luck to the guys anyway! They've already done a lot better than I thought they would. |
I'm not sure I would call Teräsbetoni ("Reinforced Steel & Concrete") "macho-heavy-metal" or even "camp". The way I see them and their music is more like, I don't know, perhaps something like "meta-metal," down to their name (and those very self-aware lyrics, of course: "Missä miehet ratsastaa..."/ "Where the Men ride there the sheep cannot roam" -- Brilliant! Just brilliant. ) The stuff our romance heroes are made of ... yes? |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Karaa wrote: | Ah, a fellow Yagudin fan!
I confess to an extravagant fantasy of mine: to have both figure skater Yagudin and fellow Russia hockey player Alexander Ovechkin on ice on stage. LOL. |
O/T Don't know about the hockey guy - never seen him, so feel free to post a picture - but Yagudin's fantastic. It's really unfortunate that so many people remember only the pairs scandal from SLC 2002 because he went out there and skated two amazing, beautiful programs. I've been watching figure skating on and off for more than a decade now, and Winter is beyond doubt the best program I've seen anyone skate. A shame he had to retire. |
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MMcA
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 625
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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We didn't really watch it this year - seeing the UK was second on, we watched until then, then turned over to something else. Ireland didn't even get into the final, with good reason.
We've a pantomime here in the local town hall after Christmas. It's written by a local postman. There are some talented people in it, but it seems like every person in the cast has to do their turn, and he casts as many people as fit on to the stage. It goes on forever. It's good that sort of community effort happens, but the show always lacks wit and brevity.
I feel the Eurovision's like that - it has it's moments, but it goes on toooo long, and much as I love Terry Wogan, I think even his commentary is a bit recycled.
Anyway, it meant we didn't get any Dr Who *sulks*. |
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