Members rasputin1963 Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Soon it will be the night of the ESC.... the (in)famous EUROVISION SONG CONTEST. Are you a follower of this long-running phenom? All fingers are pointing to Sweden's song entry to win the contest... Their official entry is called "Hero", performed by the shapely, Madonna-esque Charlotte Perrelli. Here's the official song and official video: jWFm0648qig So... does this song curl your toes and make you see God? Does the rather obvious autotune and crispy/trebly sound bother you? There was a time when the ESC could launch major careers.... like the 1974 winner: "Waterloo" by an unknown little Swedish group called Abba. Nowadays, most Europeans--- with only a few countries excepted--- seem to think this contest is a joke. Rumor has it that the Eastern bloc countries have all secretly agreed to vote for each other's entries, no matter how egregious they are. Used to, the UK would figure prominently in the show's wins (Lulu, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw)... but apparently everyone "has it in" for the UK now, and they couldn't win no matter how wonderful and unique was their song entry. Other critics today say that the ESC-- say, in its heyday in the 50's and 60's-- used to be a strong way for European countries to establish goodwill and solidarity, but now, due to a variety of political and financial changes, it has outlived its usefulness... Thoughts? Comments? Experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Paully Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 So... does this song curl your toes and make you see God? Does the rather obvious autotune and crispy/trebly sound bother you? Well, politics aside I wonder what the producers were going for.. a message song(hard to pick out the vocal for the clutter), a dance song(confused rhythm), or simply a chance to promote another self-centered diva with a "look at me, aren't I hot" vid. AAR, there's no accounting for taste. Tain't what I'd buy . Best, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dreabfly Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Oh, yes - eurovision has become (sadly) the euro version of American Idol. There was a time when eurovision was taken seriously. I think it's over. I'll need to check with my euro friends. But - tellingly - they don't talk about it like they used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 22, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Here's the 50-year history of EUROVISION in two little videos. Sit back and watch the decline of Western music. Our Euro-buddies are mysteriously silent on this thread...? _Xb9LXuROGI&feature=related O2OXSCopCYM&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 22, 2008 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2008 Well... I have a soft spot for disposable Euro electro pop. It's sort of like those lollipops called Dum Dums. They're really sweet. And the pineapple or lime or coconut taste nothing like the real thing. And yet... that fake lime flavor totally satisfies for a couple of minutes. Like if Kylie Minogue were a lollipop. Really tasty in a shallow sort of way. Kylie lollipop? OK! I'm fine with the shallow nature of the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Charles Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 I hate vids like that. Editing that makes me sea sick and a singer with no band behind them. I do dig pop music though, just give me ABBA for that style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boosh Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Well... I have a soft spot for disposable Euro electro pop. It's sort of like those lollipops called Dum Dums. They're really sweet. And the pineapple or lime or coconut taste nothing like the real thing. And yet... that fake lime flavor totally satisfies for a couple of minutes.Like if Kylie Minogue were a lollipop. Really tasty in a shallow sort of way. Kylie lollipop? OK! I'm fine with the shallow nature of the competition. Kylie is Australian,.... not Austrian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 22, 2008 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2008 Kylie is Australian,.... not Austrian. I'm aware of here origin of birth. Still... she's delicous. And her style of music is very Euro Pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Here's the 50-year history of EUROVISION...Our Euro-buddies are mysteriously silent on this thread...? You are talking about an amateur tv contest format [YOUTUBE]_WvYa1rH2ns[/YOUTUBE] . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mats Nermark Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Hi, Being European I feel I should tell my story regarding the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). I will soon be 50 (next thursday) and I can't remember not following the ESC. Even before I became a musician the ESC was the entertainment highlight of the year for me and my family. I have only missed one year and that was unfortunately in 1974 when ABBA won. We were on holiday and came home the day after the event. I still feel sad about this. Over the years there have been a number of great songs written and performed in the ESC. There have also been some truly entertaining turkeys as well. In my mind the decline of the quality of both the songs and the singers started about the same time as music technology started taking off and the productions tools became widely available. When everybody could produce their own tunes. Then there was a movement away from being professional jurys voting first in the national selections and then in the European finale. Nowdays the voting is done by phone and you are allowed to vote as many times as you like so in theory you can "buy" your position in the finals. In Sweden there is also this asshole who manages the competition who insists on a wide "cultural coverage". Therefore he selects some awfully strange tunes in the Swedish competition. Fact is that this year is the first year that I'm actually considering not watching. To me that says a LOT. Cheers, Mats N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 23, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 23, 2008 It's interesting that Israel participates and indeed has had several top honors in the ESC over the years, starting in the 1970's. Is Israel properly considered "Europe" ? If so, why don't, say, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, Palestine, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria participate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ma Suk Dong Posted May 27, 2008 Members Share Posted May 27, 2008 It's interesting that Israel participates and indeed has had several top honors in the ESC over the years, starting in the 1970's.Is Israel properly considered "Europe" ? If so, why don't, say, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, Palestine, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria participate? Although geographically not in Europe, Israel is allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest as a member of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) and did so for the first time in 1973. Any country which is a member of the EBU (and several non-European countries are members) are eligible to participate in the Song Contest. Morocco for example, did in fact participate once in 1980 and Lebanon is eligible to participate too, although they have not done so yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lakesidedave Posted May 27, 2008 Members Share Posted May 27, 2008 Well, this year it was the usual surreal extravaganza. This year with a hyperactive, shouting, orange-skinned Serbian hostess. Latvia looked good: they dressed as pirates and had a song that went "har-de-har". Azerbaijan (since when were they in Europe?) had a baffling sort of metal opera thing going on, with an angel and the devil, who became another angel in the last bridge. Everyone voted for Russia, because they don't want their gas cut off. I sat through the whole thing (slow night at the lakeside), and I had weird dreams that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 27, 2008 Members Share Posted May 27, 2008 Azerbaijan (since when were they in Europe?) The north of Azerbaijan is in Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ma Suk Dong Posted May 28, 2008 Members Share Posted May 28, 2008 The north of Azerbaijan is in Europe See my post above. That's not why they participate. Any country which is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (and several non-European countries are) is eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest (aka East-Eurovision Baltic Pop Contest) or Dance Contest depending on how you look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 28, 2008 Yeah, if you watch that 50-year history above, you'll see that, at the beginning, the singing was all a sedate, standup, microphoney affair... ...until, around 1978 or 9, when the acts started doing cheezy dance steps. Culminating in extravagance, I think, with that bizarre Romanian (Albanian?) HEAVY METAL SYMPHONY or whatzit, circa 1990. It sounded like {censored}e but looked kewl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 All fingers are pointing to Sweden's song entry to win the contest... Whose tone deaf fingers predicted that ? Because Sweden did really miserably, which was not that unexpected, since their song sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 28, 2008 Whose tone deaf fingers predicted that ? Because Sweden did really miserably, which was not that unexpected, since their song sucked. The presenters on LBC RADIO LONDON were all predicting that Sweden had it all nailed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 The presenters on LBC RADIO LONDON were all predicting that Sweden had it all nailed down. I've heard of the BBC before, but I've never heard of LBC radio London. They should be embarrassed by their total lack of musical judgement, because I don't think that Sweden even ended up in the top 10 or even top 15. It was a total fiasco for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mats Nermark Posted May 28, 2008 Members Share Posted May 28, 2008 I've heard of the BBC before, but I've never heard of LBC radio London. They should be embarrassed by their total lack of musical judgement, because I don't think that Sweden even ended up in the top 10 or even top 15. It was a total fiasco for them. Hi, Sweden ended up at 18. The singer insisted that it was not a fiasco. Cheers, Mats N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thanks god the asshole from Spain did not win.That is embarrassing ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted May 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thanks god the asshole from Spain did not win. That is embarrassing ! I think it's pretty funny.... Here are the lyrics to "Baila El ChikiChiki" in English and Spanish..... http://www.diggiloo.net/?2008es Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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