On the Saturday just past we had one of the more unique music events of the year- the 55th Eurovision Song Contest. As a very much European event it is naturally derided in both the UK and Ireland but year after year it retains its high viewing figures. Part of this may also though be due to the fact that we in recent years have done so lamentably bad in the contest. The reasons for this recent downturn in form (both countries are among two of the most successful Eurovision states) are varied and disputed with some arguing tactical voting- that countries vote for their neighbours and as islands we are naturally deficient in this respect. Others though feel (myself included) that recently our songs have all been awful, soulless ballads and few popular artists are ever actually involved. This year was unfortunately no exception 
Eurovision 2010 took place in Oslo, Norway having won the contest the previous year. In recent years the format of the contest has changed- mostly due to the huge influx new Eastern European states and so now there are two qualification rounds which take place in the week before for all the states bar the big four (Germany, United Kingdom, France and Spain). Unfortunately this year two of the better acts dropped out at this stage- Estonia and Lithuania (again perhaps disproving the East European bias which some in the West seem to feel). Granted Estonias entry really was atypical for a Eurovision entry, which tend to be bright and poppy, but I thought the song was actually pretty good. Lithuanias entry was just lots of fun and I loved how they were able to joke against themselves- the lead singer also had a lot of charisma.
Back to the tournament proper Eurovision continued in the normal manner with a mix of up tempo Europop and ballads mixed in with a range of hilarious stage personas. One act was dedicated around a Apricot stone- and consisted of many people dancing around a huge model of said stone. Another featured a massive glass duel piano, and Denmark ripped off Every Breath You Take without any seeming shame. One of the very best was the entry for Moldova- just wait for that sax solo out of nowhere
Other exciting events included the catch and youll miss it, stage invasion of Spains entry which required the song to be repeated again at the end. Apparently he was later then put under arrest. One act who managed to successfully combine this with a decent song was the Turkish entry- a band called maNga who had apparently had preformed at the MTV Europe Awards.
My favourite of the night though was the Ukrainian participant (all the acts I liked seemed to come from Eastern Europe this year for some reason- Iceland or Sweden never put forward the acts I think they should). This act again though did really badly.
The runaway success of the night of course was Germany and their 19 year old entry- Lena. She sang one of the most modern and up to date songs this year, and sounds quite a bit like Marina and the Diamonds. I liked the song- (just wasnt my favourite) and it will be interesting to see where her career goes from here.
So yes, did anyone else watch the Eurovision? If not- any plans to change that?
Eurovision 2010 took place in Oslo, Norway having won the contest the previous year. In recent years the format of the contest has changed- mostly due to the huge influx new Eastern European states and so now there are two qualification rounds which take place in the week before for all the states bar the big four (Germany, United Kingdom, France and Spain). Unfortunately this year two of the better acts dropped out at this stage- Estonia and Lithuania (again perhaps disproving the East European bias which some in the West seem to feel). Granted Estonias entry really was atypical for a Eurovision entry, which tend to be bright and poppy, but I thought the song was actually pretty good. Lithuanias entry was just lots of fun and I loved how they were able to joke against themselves- the lead singer also had a lot of charisma.
[YOUTUBE]KEcNfmuF4YA[/YOUTUBE]
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[YOUTUBE]1-TWYvbytxY[/YOUTUBE]
Back to the tournament proper Eurovision continued in the normal manner with a mix of up tempo Europop and ballads mixed in with a range of hilarious stage personas. One act was dedicated around a Apricot stone- and consisted of many people dancing around a huge model of said stone. Another featured a massive glass duel piano, and Denmark ripped off Every Breath You Take without any seeming shame. One of the very best was the entry for Moldova- just wait for that sax solo out of nowhere
[YOUTUBE]6UuPuedZNe4[/YOUTUBE]
Other exciting events included the catch and youll miss it, stage invasion of Spains entry which required the song to be repeated again at the end. Apparently he was later then put under arrest. One act who managed to successfully combine this with a decent song was the Turkish entry- a band called maNga who had apparently had preformed at the MTV Europe Awards.
[YOUTUBE]9XwlTisbPdw[/YOUTUBE]
My favourite of the night though was the Ukrainian participant (all the acts I liked seemed to come from Eastern Europe this year for some reason- Iceland or Sweden never put forward the acts I think they should). This act again though did really badly.
[YOUTUBE]8gS6RLTK7bU&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
The runaway success of the night of course was Germany and their 19 year old entry- Lena. She sang one of the most modern and up to date songs this year, and sounds quite a bit like Marina and the Diamonds. I liked the song- (just wasnt my favourite
) and it will be interesting to see where her career goes from here.[YOUTUBE]8QSgNM9yNjo[/YOUTUBE]
So yes, did anyone else watch the Eurovision? If not- any plans to change that?
