STARP_Social_Officer
First Post
Was it just me, or did the Eurovision Song Contest suck this year?
Yes, yes, I know, it sucks every year, which is why we watch it.
I don't watch Eurovision because it sucks and its supposed to suck. That's not it at all. Eurovision isn't supposed to suck - that's what makes it so entertaining. It's supposed to be a showcase of the best of European music. The fact that you end up with drag queens, strange Ukrainians in tinfoil and women with whips is what makes it so much fun to watch.
Last year, Finnish hard-rock orcs Lordi surprised (stunned is more the word) everybody by winning the contest with a record score with the memorable Hard Rock Haleluljah. Before that, things were more traditional, with Greece's Elena Paparizou performing a stock-standard Europop affair. Other than Lordi, the winning song I remember most was Ruslana's Wild Dances, which won for Ukraine in 2004, Ruslana being the lady with drums and, yes, a whip. Damn! There have been other standout winners in the country's history. Katrina and the Waves (the "Walkin' On Sunshine" crowd) won with Love Shine a Light for the UK in 1997, the last time the UK won and it was actually an OK song - even good. Ireland, of course, won three times in a row in the 1990s, and have won more times than anybody else (7 victories). This year, incidentally, they came last. Cliff Richard, Lulu, Sandy Shaw, Celine Dion, TaTu, and, of course, ABBA, have all competed in the past. Of these, probably only ABBA made a career out of it, though you might add Celine in there too, while it basically killed TaTu and held Lulu and Cliff back for a while. But I digress. The point is that there has been some recognisable talent at Eurovision in the past (exluding TaTu, of course). This year - not so much.
The winning act sucked hard. This was 22-year-old (who looks 40) Marija Serifovic from Serbia, whose song, Molitva was judged, for some crazy reason, to be the best of the lot. Exactly why this was, I can't tell you. Marija looks like Harry Potter and screams "Lesbian" in her appearance - whether or not she is or not, is, of course, unimportant - my somewhat roundabout point was that she didn't resemble the glamourous, skinny Eurovision winner of the past. Now, that's not a bad thing - don't get me wrong. It's good to see someone win Eurovision, particularly a woman, who doesn't look and act like a Pop Tart. But the thing is - the song sucked. It was a whiny, middle-of-the-road ballad that was thoroughly unmemorable and basically dragged everything down. What made it worse was that the runner-up, Ukraine, were thw afformentioned tinfoil-clad weirdos. And singing in German. What's with that? The Russians, who did look and act like Pop Tarts, were nonetheless rather good and did well to come third. They should have won. Someone else who should have won was Hungary's Magdi Rúzsa, who reminded me of Missy Higgins. She sung a blues song, which was unusual and different enough to make it stand out in the disco-heavy world of Eurovision. Ditto Germany, whose Roger Cicero sung a Vegas-style swing number, attempting to sound like Harry Connick Junior, who of course, attempts to sound like Sinatra.
The two best acts in the whole thing were Andorran rock band Anonymous, who sounded like Blink 182 and were very good. Montenegro's Stevan Faddy (think Rob Thomas) was also very good. Both of them failed to qualify for the final. Israel didn't make it either, though in their case that's good. They looked like they got their outfits by raiding the closest St. Vincent de Paul clothing bin.
All in all, a disappointing Eurovision Song Contest. I have higher hopes for 2008, when the contest, to be held in Belgrade, the eighth consecutive contest held in Eastern Europe. Maybe this year we'll have women with whips again, or some guitar-playing Orcs. Anything has to be better than the winner this time.
Yes, yes, I know, it sucks every year, which is why we watch it.
I don't watch Eurovision because it sucks and its supposed to suck. That's not it at all. Eurovision isn't supposed to suck - that's what makes it so entertaining. It's supposed to be a showcase of the best of European music. The fact that you end up with drag queens, strange Ukrainians in tinfoil and women with whips is what makes it so much fun to watch.
Last year, Finnish hard-rock orcs Lordi surprised (stunned is more the word) everybody by winning the contest with a record score with the memorable Hard Rock Haleluljah. Before that, things were more traditional, with Greece's Elena Paparizou performing a stock-standard Europop affair. Other than Lordi, the winning song I remember most was Ruslana's Wild Dances, which won for Ukraine in 2004, Ruslana being the lady with drums and, yes, a whip. Damn! There have been other standout winners in the country's history. Katrina and the Waves (the "Walkin' On Sunshine" crowd) won with Love Shine a Light for the UK in 1997, the last time the UK won and it was actually an OK song - even good. Ireland, of course, won three times in a row in the 1990s, and have won more times than anybody else (7 victories). This year, incidentally, they came last. Cliff Richard, Lulu, Sandy Shaw, Celine Dion, TaTu, and, of course, ABBA, have all competed in the past. Of these, probably only ABBA made a career out of it, though you might add Celine in there too, while it basically killed TaTu and held Lulu and Cliff back for a while. But I digress. The point is that there has been some recognisable talent at Eurovision in the past (exluding TaTu, of course). This year - not so much.
The winning act sucked hard. This was 22-year-old (who looks 40) Marija Serifovic from Serbia, whose song, Molitva was judged, for some crazy reason, to be the best of the lot. Exactly why this was, I can't tell you. Marija looks like Harry Potter and screams "Lesbian" in her appearance - whether or not she is or not, is, of course, unimportant - my somewhat roundabout point was that she didn't resemble the glamourous, skinny Eurovision winner of the past. Now, that's not a bad thing - don't get me wrong. It's good to see someone win Eurovision, particularly a woman, who doesn't look and act like a Pop Tart. But the thing is - the song sucked. It was a whiny, middle-of-the-road ballad that was thoroughly unmemorable and basically dragged everything down. What made it worse was that the runner-up, Ukraine, were thw afformentioned tinfoil-clad weirdos. And singing in German. What's with that? The Russians, who did look and act like Pop Tarts, were nonetheless rather good and did well to come third. They should have won. Someone else who should have won was Hungary's Magdi Rúzsa, who reminded me of Missy Higgins. She sung a blues song, which was unusual and different enough to make it stand out in the disco-heavy world of Eurovision. Ditto Germany, whose Roger Cicero sung a Vegas-style swing number, attempting to sound like Harry Connick Junior, who of course, attempts to sound like Sinatra.
The two best acts in the whole thing were Andorran rock band Anonymous, who sounded like Blink 182 and were very good. Montenegro's Stevan Faddy (think Rob Thomas) was also very good. Both of them failed to qualify for the final. Israel didn't make it either, though in their case that's good. They looked like they got their outfits by raiding the closest St. Vincent de Paul clothing bin.
All in all, a disappointing Eurovision Song Contest. I have higher hopes for 2008, when the contest, to be held in Belgrade, the eighth consecutive contest held in Eastern Europe. Maybe this year we'll have women with whips again, or some guitar-playing Orcs. Anything has to be better than the winner this time.
