Eurovision 2008- Belgrade

[King Riffle]

It's getting close to that time again! The Eurovision song contest!

All of the music videos are up. Check them out here: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/medialounge

I've only watched a couple so far. My favorite is France's entry; Devine by Sébastien Tellier

So what's your favorite this year? Who do you predict to win? Thoughts about this year's lineup compared to earlier years?

[Bravada]

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Still not the strongest Contest ever, but, on consideration, some surprisingly good things start to happen when it comes to participation and selection of songs. OTOH, an ungodly amount of gimmick entries - if one wins, it might cemment ESC's slow death as a gimmick contest. If they all fail - maybe it's return to SONG contest again. After all, I can see positive effects of last year's Molitva win - more and more actually SUNG entries, with more intricate/inventive melodies and non-nonsensical lyrics.

Unfortunately, still not many sing in native languages, which results in a cacophony of butchered English and ill-fitting translated lyrics.

The pan-European notion that Italy should return is reflected not only by the surprise entry from the tiny San Marino, which was thought to try to collect the votes that usually went to San Remo (Italian preselection) winners (but somehow chose a very un-Italian entry), but also two other songs, not only in Italian, but very "Italian" in taste.


MY FAVOURITES (in no particular order):

1. Norway - simple, but strong (Storeng?) song you wouldn't guess as an Eurovision entry when heard on the radio + superb performance by Maria Haukaas (one of the world's few TV talent contenst winners who can actually sing well, the other is Kurt Nilsen, also from Norway)

2. Sweden - Charlotte Perrelli is back with vengeance! The 1999 winner won Melodifestivalen easily with another ultra-stereotypical schlager - but you have to admit it's good, even if you have to turn a blind ear to the cheesy verses. SAAB should use it in their commercials, much like the 2006 winner. Note: MF was rather weak this year, even with two of four former Swedish ESC winners competing... I'd rather Charlotte won with that: http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=k32EQBzKZpE

3. Hungary - a wonderfully addictive simple yet lush ballad which sounded divine in Hungarian and got killed by translation to English. Hungary lost their chance of emerging as a black horse of sophisticated music after last year's Magdi's blues by forcing Csezy to go English, but I will still love the original.

4. Andorra - guilty pleasure with a typical disco schlock from the very talented Gisela. I could even forgive her for singing only a line in Catalan (I would do away with the line anyway), because the melody is perfectly written - IMHO even better than Charlotte's. PS. Do you know Charlotte is rendered "harlot" in Swedish?

5. Romania - Margerine Yum Yum! Great voices (especially Nicoleta's) in a song so Italian you can almost forget it's half in Romanian. Italy should be proud of such superb mockery of their music! I love Italian ballads and this one has little you can complain about, if you forget the backing singers performing Kegel exercises on stage in Bucharest...


BACKUP JURY WILD CARD:

6. Poland - yup, I'd like to vote myself please. We finally got a decent entry, even if it took convincing an American she's actually Polish and fitting her with a porcelain equestrian smile and ungodly amounts of fake tan. The talented Tamara wrote herself a really enjoyable song, which is perhaps a little stretch on her vocals - but it is such a nice challenge for her to take.


HONORABLE MENTIONS:

7. Turkey - No, not that one. The rimi-rimi-ley country had a penchant for experimenting with musical styles, and this year's rock, but not heavy-metal, styled entry definitely came out well. I can't wait to see how it does in the voting.

8. Switzerland - The other Italian entry. Paolo wrote a really good song, even if the old-fashioned stereotype feel is strong. Very good performance, pity nobody votes Switzerland anyway (but kudos for singing in what is actual their native language after a string of hopeless English-singing imports). PS. Just saw Paolo's final performance with crazy dancers. Insane! Too bad he can't take them all to Belgrade.

9. Germany - but not for their winner song, but for Carolin Fortenbacher's near miss (by 0.5% votes) with Hinterm Ozean, which will probably become an Eurovision classic nonetheless.

[King Riffle]

Originally Posted by Bravada

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Still not the strongest Contest ever, but, on consideration, some surprisingly good things start to happen when it comes to participation and selection of songs. OTOH, an ungodly amount of gimmick entries - if one wins, it might cemment ESC's slow death as a gimmick contest. If they all fail - maybe it's return to SONG contest again. After all, I can see positive effects of last year's Molitva win - more and more actually SUNG entries, with more intricate/inventive melodies and non-nonsensical lyrics.

Unfortunately, still not many sing in native languages, which results in a cacophony of butchered English and ill-fitting translated lyrics.

The pan-European notion that Italy should return is reflected not only by the surprise entry from the tiny San Marino, which was thought to try to collect the votes that usually went to San Remo (Italian preselection) winners (but somehow chose a very un-Italian entry), but also two other songs, not only in Italian, but very "Italian" in taste.


MY FAVOURITES (in no particular order):

1. Norway - simple, but strong (Storeng?) song you wouldn't guess as an Eurovision entry when heard on the radio + superb performance by Maria Haukaas (one of the world's few TV talent contenst winners who can actually sing well, the other is Kurt Nilsen, also from Norway)

2. Sweden - Charlotte Perrelli is back with vengeance! The 1999 winner won Melodifestivalen easily with another ultra-stereotypical schlager - but you have to admit it's good, even if you have to turn a blind ear to the cheesy verses. SAAB should use it in their commercials, much like the 2006 winner. Note: MF was rather weak this year, even with two of four former Swedish ESC winners competing... I'd rather Charlotte won with that: http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=k32EQBzKZpE

3. Hungary - a wonderfully addictive simple yet lush ballad which sounded divine in Hungarian and got killed by translation to English. Hungary lost their chance of emerging as a black horse of sophisticated music after last year's Magdi's blues by forcing Csezy to go English, but I will still love the original.

4. Andorra - guilty pleasure with a typical disco schlock from the very talented Gisela. I could even forgive her for singing only a line in Catalan (I would do away with the line anyway), because the melody is perfectly written - IMHO even better than Charlotte's. PS. Do you know Charlotte is rendered "harlot" in Swedish?

5. Romania - Margerine Yum Yum! Great voices (especially Nicoleta's) in a song so Italian you can almost forget it's half in Romanian. Italy should be proud of such superb mockery of their music! I love Italian ballads and this one has little you can complain about, if you forget the backing singers performing Kegel exercises on stage in Bucharest...


BACKUP JURY WILD CARD:

6. Poland - yup, I'd like to vote myself please. We finally got a decent entry, even if it took convincing an American she's actually Polish and fitting her with a porcelain equestrian smile and ungodly amounts of fake tan. The talented Tamara wrote herself a really enjoyable song, which is perhaps a little stretch on her vocals - but it is such a nice challenge for her to take.


HONORABLE MENTIONS:

7. Turkey - No, not that one. The rimi-rimi-ley country had a penchant for experimenting with musical styles, and this year's rock, but not heavy-metal, styled entry definitely came out well. I can't wait to see how it does in the voting.

8. Switzerland - The other Italian entry. Paolo wrote a really good song, even if the old-fashioned stereotype feel is strong. Very good performance, pity nobody votes Switzerland anyway (but kudos for singing in what is actual their native language after a string of hopeless English-singing imports). PS. Just saw Paolo's final performance with crazy dancers. Insane! Too bad he can't take them all to Belgrade.

9. Germany - but not for their winner song, but for Carolin Fortenbacher's near miss (by 0.5% votes) with Hinterm Ozean, which will probably become an Eurovision classic nonetheless.

What? No love for the U.K., who actually have a decent entry this year (unlike flying the flag)?


I've been trying to listen to all of the songs tonight while I have internet. Haven't gotten through all of them, but I really like;
1. France
2. Sweden
3. Malta
4. UK
5. Poland
6. Czech Republic
7. Croatia
8. Armenia


Portugal's song reminds me of Molitva. A lot.

Edit:
DAYUM, you weren't kidding about Sweden.

Edit2: I shouldn't make lists at three in the morning.

[Bravada]

Well, OK - UK did make a good choice this year, they had a rather strong final, suprisingly. I guess Terry got tired of coming at the bottom at their own accord. That said, neither of the entries were as strong as last year near-winner Cyndi (announced as such by the overenthusiastic Wogan only to find out he was fed the wrong result through the earpiece). Andy The Binman is perhaps the best singer of the lot, but The Revelations had a much catchier song. This will do well in the charts but poorly in the ESC.

Malta - what an amateurish attempt at currying favor with the Eastern voting block. The worst part is, that it will probably be successful - even if more with currying favor with the traditional Malta-voting Western audience. Air Malta, here we come! The last time the Maltese entry was worth writing home about was Chiara's second appearance (third time lucky? Come back, Chiara!). Interestingly, the little country can do so well despite its minuscule population as they are incredibly musical. OTOH, by now every other Maltese had a former contestant as a music teacher at some point in life

The bare mention of Armenia and Czech Republic among "best" makes me want to puke. Armenians have long proven they have no musical taste whatsoever, not to mention talent. I have warm feelings for the nation still, but their results compared with the quality of their entries keep my knickers twisted in anger.

[t-rex]

When did Eurovision turn into such a garbagefest? I gave up watching it completely years ago because the entrants were so unbearable.

I yearn for the days when good pop tunes like these got the gong...

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

[Bravada]

Funnily enough, the first two songs were much maligned in their own time for bringing Eurovision down as a festival of nonsensical, overly simplistic pop tunes... They are nevertheless enjoyable, as are surprisingly many Eurovision classics from all decades. BTW, watching Massiel's stage movements you wouldn't guess she went on to become a successful actress (and quite embarassed for her entry for many later years, both due to the entry itself and the circumstances that brought her on stage).

What is fun about the ESC is the wide, and wild, variety of music present on stage. There are trends and there is obvious repetitiveness, as the ESC's reflect the spirits of their times, but that's what makes it the wonderful "musical train wreck" as Terry put it aptly. I believe, however, you'd find a bit for yourself even this year. Check those out:

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

...and Germany's near miss:

+ YouTube Video

Germany had a really strong final this year, much like 2006. Out of the Big Four, they probably have the best selection of songs in recent years (since the Vorentscheiden returned to Hamburg).

[tomprice]

UK entry?

Will this be the UK entry that wins Eurovision this time? or will it be the UK entry that gets nul points?

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Funnily enough, the first two songs were much maligned in their own time for bringing Eurovision down as a festival of nonsensical, overly simplistic pop tunes... They are nevertheless enjoyable, as are surprisingly many Eurovision classics from all decades.

BTW, watching Massiel's stage movements you wouldn't guess she went on to become a successful actress (and quite embarassed for her entry for many later years, both due to the entry itself and the circumstances that brought her on stage).

I thought the reason Eurovision was set up was to showcase pleasant, uplifting music to represent Europe's rise from the war's destruction. Any such suggestion that La La La is nonsensical is just play hooey!

Massiel became an actress? Wow. Deedn't know that. What circumstances brought her to stage? At least that would embarrass her? I thought the regular Spanish contestant (name escapes me) quit because he couldn't sing in Catalan?

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by tomprice

UK entry?

Will this be the UK entry that wins Eurovision this time? or will it be the UK entry that gets nul points?

You mean the UK finally quit fielding Cliff Richard as its entry?

[Bravada]

I thought the reason Eurovision was set up was to showcase pleasant, uplifting music to represent Europe's rise from the war's destruction. Any such suggestion that La La La is nonsensical is just play hooey!

It was 1968, Europe had other issues by then than rising from the war's destruction... The main point of the ESC was to make use of the Eurovision network (back in the 1950s there were no satellites, so the original Eurovision broadcasts were over the wire, which ran between cooperating broadcasters!). Anyway, ask Lys Assia, she should know.

+ YouTube Video

Massiel became an actress? Wow. Deedn't know that. What circumstances brought her to stage? At least that would embarrass her? I thought the regular Spanish contestant (name escapes me) quit because he couldn't sing in Catalan?

Well, Serrat, who was to sing the song, was replaced by Massiel due to the Fracoist regime's suppression of Spanish languages other than Castillian, so by replacing him Massiel became a tool in the hands of Franco, who used the contest to try to paint a more positive image of Spain in Europe.

[t-rex]

Okay checked 'em all out...


My favourites so far:
Bulgaria: AWESOME! Fun, "housey", and catchy.
Denmark: Great performer, needs a better song.
Belarus: Generic. Not bad.
Poland: very strong contender
Romania: I'm biased though; I love hearing Romanian sung...
Slovenia: oh, a slavic Anastacia. Decent entrant.
Switzerland: terrific. Too bad he doesn't sound enough like a g*y bar get any votes from Slavic nations.


My least favourites:
Azerbaijan: God please, No. Not even on Fire Island.
Finland. First Lordi, now this horrid waste.
Latvia: Probably will win.
Portugal: Little wonder they never won.
Turkey: weak, especially considering the huge waft of good Turkish pop/disco acts


Strange, very strange:
Croatia
Belgium: what is this? 1937? I thought of an old Charles Trenet tune.
Eire: WTFFFFFF?

[Quickening]

O M G.
What happened to France this year? Last year they had that cute girl with a good voice and a decent song. And now its this crazy guy :/

And Bulgaria is good.

Sigh I can't help but cringe at Sweden, just because I listen to a decent amount of bands from Sweden and they are quite the opposite.

Azerbaijan - L O L
Ok, the WORST one is Ireland.

[Bravada]

What happened to France this year? Last year they had that cute girl with a good voice and a decent song. And now its this crazy guy :/

+ YouTube Video

Which of the Fatales Picards do you consider a cute girl with a good voice?

[Quickening]

Hmm, I guess it was 2006 :O

She was blonde and singing in some place with lots of Christmas lights. I could of sworn it was France.

[Bravada]

It was Virginie Pouchain. There are indeed "Christmas lights" in the video, although I remembered the Mercedes better:

+ YouTube Video

A really good song when you listen to the studio version, but the magic lasted only until we heard Virginie live:

+ YouTube Video