Love Me Two Times
Anyone expecting me to blog about my top picks for the second semifinal of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will be disappointed. This is because minutes after watching a full dress rehearsal of the second semifinal I find myself thinking how relatively easy it could have been for Malta to stand out among the other 18 entries it is competing against. As it is, I see Malta's entry as just one of the many uninteresting performances Eurovision televiewers will be subjected to on Thursday evening. What do you expect anyway? It's the Eurovision Song Contest! Some would say. I'm hearing this more and more this year. It could be that it's because I have my head stuck more on my academic interests this year than it has been in any previous year during the contest.
Regardless of this, I still think that this event is just a load of harmless fun. Better still, there are moments that are truly pleasant and even downright remarkable.
If I could have my way about the final vote, I'd see Georgia's Diana Gurtskaya with Peace Will Come as the overall winner of this year's contest. It's not likely that this will come to pass, but stranger things are known to happen at this contest. I'm not saying that Georgia will win. I'm saying I'd be very happy if Diana Gurtskaya's song won. It's the sort of song that can move people of good will all over Europe and beyond, aside from the Eurovision.
As the hackneyed saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So there's little else to say that really matters at this point. And yes, I am enjoying the anonymous comments on my recent blog entries. They're priceless for showing how easily I can be misunderstood, regardless of whether my words are twisted or not.
Feel free to leave your comments here about any of the entries Malta is competing against on Thursday evening. Perhaps there are more lame songs this year in the contest simply because there are more contestants...but please don't let that stop you.
Labels: Eurovision
posted by Toni Sant at 5:30 PM
Having looked at (some of) the video on the web I noticed the following (remember I'm only going on the video footage on the eurovision.tv website you understand; I have no other points of reference):
Romania: she's wearing what might be a bin bag. no, she's gone a bit goth on us. They're on a beach. With clocks. And an orchestra. Ok. Why?
Spain: Is this you in disguise Toni? :-) The song's kind of quirky and I "quite" like it. Probably just a little to out there to actually win but you never quite know
France: Mostly in English, so, mais oui, controversial for les français. I really like this. It has a kind of Beach Boys/meets early 80's electropop feel. and the singer is dressed like Jean Michel Jarre circa Concerts in China, even though he bears a striking resemblance to Charles Manson. I can't decide whether this is a bad thing or not. Then again, I liked last year's French song and look how that did...
UK: Yawn. Next please.
Finland: anything with metal guitar in it is great by me. Clearly won't win but what the hell.
Iceland: if the video's anything to go by this will be a riot. I predict Terry Wogan will spend quite a bit of the UK commentary talking about Ken Dodd and his tickling sticks.
Azerbaijan: not quite scaling the scenery chewing levels of camp of the Icelandic entry. Still, it comes close, what with having someone who sounds like a castrato thrown into a Jim Steinman song. Different.
Sweden: Charlotte Perrelli's song in 1999 was great, so this time round her effort is a bit of a disappointment.
Germany: Serviceable but dull
Latvia: Is this the Wiggles in disguise? Still, the Hi-ho chorus should stick in some people's heads. Big dumb fun.
Greece: OK in an ersatz Beyonce kind of way, but not hugely memorable. Might score on the, ahem, visual side though (note to all lecherous men out there)
Armenia: manages to sound both Europppy and african at the same time. Think Yeke Yeke by Mory Kante. Not bad at all actually
Poland: possibly trying the same approach as Greece, only slightly less effectively.
Russia: it's not looking bad for the Russians; a half-decent (in its way) song and a good draw should hel it mop up any undecided voters once the whole block-vote thing has taken effect.
These are all that I have seen. There's quite a lot of fun songs here as well as some craft on show, so it should be a decent night. Clearly the voting will be the usual farce, but that in itself is part of the entertainment.
Have fun!
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