[Person Man]

So, who will be watching the Eurovision Song Contest this year? The first semifinal of which will be starting in a couple hours...

I'll be watching it tonight, but not live. It starts at 3:00 pm where I am, and I'm at work during that time, so I'll watch the recorded stream later.

I haven't followed it very much this year, and the only song I've heard is the Greek entry. Surprised that they're actually singing in Greek this year and not English.

Which are your picks this year?

Always fun to watch and make fun of the entries, as usual.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

I haven't followed it very much this year, and the only song I've heard is the Greek entry. Surprised that they're actually singing in Greek this year and not English.
l.

Are they going to make all other European countries pay up before starting to sing ?

*SCNR*

-t

[voodoo]

I'll be watching for sure! Though I haven't picked out any particular favorites this year, I haven't had the time to get acquainted with the various songs.. I like to wait until I see them performed live anyway, since the songs really stand and fall by the performace - not just how good they are.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Are they going to make all other European countries pay up before starting to sing ?

*SCNR*

-t

Heh, they should.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

I'll be watching for sure! Though I haven't picked out any particular favorites this year, I haven't had the time to get acquainted with the various songs.. I like to wait until I see them performed live anyway, since the songs really stand and fall by the performace - not just how good they are.

Is the Spanish entry any good this year? Though, I think anything is better than "nuestro amigo Rodolfo y su chiki chiki..."

They said that after doing Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, David Fernández Ortiz (the actor who played him) went on to do impressions of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I've looked for video clips of this online but haven't been able to find them.

Even though the Baila el Chiki Chiki thing was stupid, I could tell Mr. Ortiz seemed to have a lot of fun playing the Chikilicuatre character. It takes some cojones to play a fool in front of millions of people for several months.

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

Is the Spanish entry any good this year? Though, I think anything is better than "nuestro amigo Rodolfo y su chiki chiki..."

The chiki chiki was... beyond description bad and worse it wasn't funny. It's right up there with the irish turkey - its name escapes me.

This time the spanish entry is relatively good and while it's not going to win (it lacks power somehow, but I put that on the performer) it's a serious entry.

I participated in the voting and while I didn't vote for the song that eventually won, which is called Algo Pequeñito (e. 'something small') it was something I considered voting for. As before, I just thought it lacked some power.

Perhaps the performer Daniel Diges will have brushed up before the final (I hope) and then the song might go relatively far. It's a melodic song and only mildly dramatic. A good spanish entry, but I remain only cautiously optimistic that it can make the top 20 in the final.

It isn't Europop. In it's defense.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

The chiki chiki was... beyond description bad and worse it wasn't funny. It's right up there with the irish turkey - its name escapes me.

That would be Dustin.

The Buenafuente talk show actually had Dustin and Rodolfo together on the show as guests before the Eurovision contest that year. I watched the clip on YouTube. That was... er, special.

Personally I think that the whole thing was a ruse to get "¿Por qué no te callas?" on to Eurovision.

[Oisín]

I watched the first semifinal completely by chance the other night, on ITV3 (or whichever British channel it is airing it) some time around one in the morning. Quite a bad lot this year, I have to say. Absolutely no song stood out as above-average for me, though a few were definitely below-average; I’ll mention no names (*cough* EstoniaPolandRussia *cough*).

Most of the songs were just plain boring this year. Will still probably watch the second semifinal tonight if I’m home (well, at the hotel anyway) when it airs.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

a few were definitely below-average; I’ll mention no names (*cough* EstoniaPolandRussia *cough*).

Ha ha ha ha. I can't believe Russia actually made it through to the finals.

I'm not a huge fan of the Greek entry this year, but I thought it was much, much better than Sakis Rouvas from last year. It again used a traditional Greek rhythm and traditional Greek instruments and they actually sang in Greek. Lyrics are kinda stupid, though.

That said, I thought the Greek entry was perhaps the only one that had any energy to it.

My favorites from the first semifinal, in no particular order: Iceland (nice voice, good stage presence, and the song is growing on me), Greece (see above), Serbia (Goran Bregović is one of my favorite composers; he has a distinct style and he loves brass instruments, which are underutilized in Balkan/Greek music), and Belgium (I have no idea why I like it, but I do).

Will be interesting to see today's semifinal, but after seeing the one the other day I don't have very high hopes...

[Person Man]

I thought that the second semi final had better entries.

Ah well... the final is almost over now, they're just finishing up the voting. My favorite entries are (in no particular order): Romania, Serbia, Moldova, Belgium, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, and Azerbaijan.

Will be interesting to see who makes it this year.

[Spheric Harlot]

Woah.

[turtle777]

Hammer.

-t

[voodoo]

Well done Germany!

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

Well done Germany!

Wow, the girl representing Germany sure freaked out over the win, didn't she? She seemed completely overwhelmed that she won.

[Spheric Harlot]

Yes, she's extremely talented at professionally exhibiting her innocence and blue-eyed overwhelmedness by the whole situation.

She's been in show business for years, has apparently participated in a bunch of "reality" TV shows (they're always actors) and the odd TV serial.

I'm sure the emotion was genuine, but she's absolutely a professional at weaving a public persona out of it and seeming completely natural.

Not to unfairly cut her down to size, mind you - but anyone pretending that there is even the smallest aspect of the Eurovision Contest that isn't actually business is deluding themselves.

[voodoo]

Yeah whatever, this is showbusiness. She's hot tho. For a Prussian.

[turtle777]

Spheric is exaggerating about "been in show business for years."

She stared in minor roles in some obscure German TV shows.
To imply that she is a professional actor with years of experience is a gross exaggeration.

-t

[Spheric Harlot]

Well, she's not entirely a newcomer, but she obviously takes to the business like a fish to water.

[Oisín]

Most extraordinary. A Eurovision where the two best songs actually came first and second, respectively. I did like the Turkish one better than the German one, but that’s a minor niggle.

And for the first time in at least fifteen years, Denmark actually had a decent song! Shock! Horror! And we finished around fourth or so?

Belgium was definitely a surprise. How did such an extremely dull and boring non-entity of a song manage to finish so high up? It really was a dreadfully boring song.

My favorites from the first semifinal, in no particular order: Iceland (nice voice, good stage presence, and the song is growing on me), Greece (see above), Serbia (Goran Bregović is one of my favorite composers; he has a distinct style and he loves brass instruments, which are underutilized in Balkan/Greek music), and Belgium (I have no idea why I like it, but I do).

Woah. Wooooah there! Serbia?

You mean the Milan Stanković (or whatever his name is) guy? The absolutely atrocious piece of utter crap that made you want to hit your head against the wall repeatedly? You liked that?!

(I watched most of the final in a gay pub in Soho in London and sat next to a couple of guys who tried throughout the entire Serbian performance to figure out whether it was a guy or a girl singing, and ended up concluding that it must definitely be a girl. They were most shocked to be told that they were mostly incorrect.)

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Woah. Wooooah there! Serbia?

You mean the Milan Stanković (or whatever his name is) guy? The absolutely atrocious piece of utter crap that made you want to hit your head against the wall repeatedly? You liked that?! :o

(I watched most of the final in a gay pub in Soho in London and sat next to a couple of guys who tried throughout the entire Serbian performance to figure out whether it was a guy or a girl singing, and ended up concluding that it must definitely be a girl. They were most shocked to be told that they were mostly incorrect.)

hehe, well, the performance and the guy/girl weren't very good (and neither was the singing) but the music was written by Goran Bregović. I liked the music.

[Oisín]

And I thought I knew you!

[turtle777]

I think Oisín should ban Person Man for poor taste

-t

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I think Oisín should ban Person Man for poor taste

-t

(this is for three characters)

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

And I thought I knew you!

Hey, I backtracked (mostly).

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Well, she's not entirely a newcomer, but she obviously takes to the business like a fish to water.

That may be, but:

"How do you feel about winning the contest?"

"uhhh.... hiiiiiii" and then going and hiding her face by putting the flag over her head still means deer-in-the-headlights-wtf-is-going-on-here-I'd-rather-be-anywhere-but-here.

Besides, watching the post-contest winner's press conference it was apparent that it was more about Stefan Raab than about Lena.

[Lateralus]

All I know is that, by my count, Lena is about 84 different kinds of cute.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I think Oisín should ban Person Man for poor taste

-t

That’s a slippery slope I think I of all people should stay very far away from.

Besides, watching the post-contest winner's press conference it was apparent that it was more about Stefan Raab than about Lena.

Oh dear. That name rings a bell. And not one of those cute little Tinkerbell ting-a-ling-a-ling bells, either. More like a we don’t have time to figure out how to best put out the fire while securing our gas masks against the neurotoxins being spread through the ventilation system, ’cause a nuclear bomb just detonated under us kind of screaming fire alarm bell.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

That may be, but:

"How do you feel about winning the contest?"

"uhhh.... hiiiiiii" and then going and hiding her face by putting the flag over her head still means deer-in-the-headlights-wtf-is-going-on-here-I'd-rather-be-anywhere-but-here.

Besides, watching the post-contest winner's press conference it was apparent that it was more about Stefan Raab than about Lena.

True.

He finally broke the spell of Ralph Siegel and the unsurpassable stigma of the 1982 win.

Of course going from a talent casting to Eurovision Winner in four months is overwhelming - it'd be overwhelming for just about *anyone*, regardless of experience.

I did not, even for a second, get the impression that she would rather have been anywhere else. Her "oh shit what do you mean I have to sing again NOW!?" was genuine enough, but professional entertainers always are.

One half of the phrase "second nature" forms the basis of "natural", you know.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I did not, even for a second, get the impression that she would rather have been anywhere else. Her "oh shit what do you mean I have to sing again NOW!?" was genuine enough, but professional entertainers always are.

I didn't mean it literally that she didn't want to be there. But putting the flag over her head was pretty funny.

I've watched several contests now: 2001 and then 2005-2010, and she is the first I've seen to react so strongly to the results.

I still remember 2001. I was actually in Germany visiting relatives from Greece, who of course voted for Antique (the Greek entry that year). When Estonia won we all looked at each other and went, "Estonia? ESTONIA? wtf?"

[Oisín]

Oh yeah, the Celebration ripoff thing. That was quite crap too, if I remember right. And we came second that year, with Rollo & King, which (just to contradict what I said a bit further up) wasn’t actually an entirely abysmal song, either.

(No, wait … the Estonian one, it wasn’t a ripoff of Celebration … it was called Celebration, but it was a ripoff of some other song … what was it again ..?)

[Spheric Harlot]

It was called "Everybody" and wasn't a rip-off, but merely a completely generic disco-house/funk thing in the genericized vein that Jamiroquai had just about run into the ground after a good and prosperous run.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

You mean the Milan Stanković (or whatever his name is) guy? The absolutely atrocious piece of utter crap that made you want to hit your head against the wall repeatedly? You liked that?!

Don't be knockin' Goran Bregovic. I rather like that piece, even if the production is a little too electronic for my taste, and the performance was rather semi.

Question:

Can you appreciate this piece? (make sure to turn it up loud):
YouTube - Goran Bregovic- Kalasnjikov

If it makes you want to bang your head into a wall rather than just bang it, then we have a good indication that the defect in Serbia's contest entry does not lie with the composer.


(Edit: How odd - the version on "Ederlezi" is quite a bit slower than the original version on the "Underground" soundtrack, and it's much more compressed, as well. Replaced with the better version.)

[Oisín]

^ Well, the first minute was rather nice. After that it became a bit silly, but with a good beat and a happy feel to it. Didn’t make me want to bang my head against anything.

Completely incomparable to the Milan Stanković horror to me. Perhaps if Ove Je Balkan had been performed by someone who didn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out (and someone who could actually sing), it would have been able to bring across a bit of happy feeling as well. But that thing dressed in blue just projectile-vomited all over it and made any merit the music underneath it might have completely impossible to discern.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Well, the first minute was rather nice. After that it became a bit silly, but with a good beat and a happy feel to it. Didn’t make me want to bang my head against anything.

Completely incomparable to the Milan Stanković horror to me. Perhaps if Ove Je Balkan had been performed by someone who didn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out (and someone who could actually sing), it would have been able to bring across a bit of happy feeling as well. But that thing dressed in blue just projectile-vomited all over it and made any merit the music underneath it might have completely impossible to discern.

Exactly my point. The music by Goran Bregović was pretty good. The rest of the performance was pretty dumb.

Bregović collaborated with George Dalaras (Γιώργος Νταλάρας) on an album about 10 years ago, called Θεσσαλονίκη - Γιάννενα με δυό παπούτσια πάνινα (Thessaloniki-Yannena with Two Canvas Shoes), available from Amazon

Here's a couple pieces from that album:

Το τραγούδι της βροχής (Song of the Rain)
Σου άξιζε μια καλύτερη αγκαλιά (You Deserved a Better Love)
Με λένε Πόπη (My name is Popi)
Κέρνα μας (Treat Us [to another Round]) (My favorite line in this song goes "Drink [a little wine] little by little, and little by little 'a little' becomes 'a lot').

And then, one of my favorite Bregović pieces was featured as an interstitial act (with Bregović himself appearing on stage) during the Eurovision Contest in Belgrade in 2008. Gas Gas. Bregović is the guy in white holding the guitar.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Well, the first minute was rather nice. After that it became a bit silly, but with a good beat and a happy feel to it. Didn’t make me want to bang my head against anything.

"Silly?"

I guess.

You should see the party that explodes when they play that live in front of the entire Balkan community.

One of the things I miss most about St. Pauli was the occasional Kurdish weddings in the neighborhood, with a handful of guys with horns and a drummer standing outside the door on the sidewalk going crazy, and a little granny passing out plastic cups with a small sip of limo to any and all passers-by.

Marvellous.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

You should see the party that explodes when they play that live in front of the entire Balkan community.

One of the things I miss most about St. Pauli was the occasional Kurdish weddings in the neighborhood, with a handful of guys with horns and a drummer standing outside the door on the sidewalk going crazy, and a little granny passing out plastic cups with a small sip of limo to any and all passers-by.

Marvellous.

I know what you mean

My father plays bouzouki and he used to play in Greek restaurants/nightclubs around the state before he retired. I remember one evening being with him at the restaurant while he was playing and a large group of Turkish people came in after a wedding.

My father played a set of five Turkish songs during which they all went wild dancing and having a good time. Afterwards this elderly gentleman came up to my father and thanked him for the music and expressed surprise that a Greek would know the songs my father played, for he hadn't played the Turkish songs that every Greek knows; he played more obscure things. The man said he hadn't heard some of those songs for 30 years.

Talk about knowing your audience.

[voodoo]

Kumbaya everyone, kumbaya.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

"Silly?"

I guess.

You should see the party that explodes when they play that live in front of the entire Balkan community.

I can imagine that. Played live, with an audience there to share the vibe, I can imagine it’s quite powerful, and the ‘silliness’ would just turn into sheer happy danciness, which is always good. On a record, though, I think it ends up sounding a bit silly, though not really bad. Just not something I’d put on the stereo at home.

[Doofy]

<intermission>
Happy Balkan danciness.
</intermission>