Eurovision

[the Empress]

Soooooo . . . what do you think?!

The song is annoyingly catchy and Jade seemed pretty awesome (Mark was good, but more theatre-y). The Twins, *shudder*.

So, is it ourrrrrrrrrr time?

Also, the Russian guy - so cute. Looking forward to Graham Norton's commentry too:)

[Duggeh]

It will no doubt please you to hear that I watched it with Caroline and ranted incessantly all the way through it, it was worth suffering from the mountains of trite, constipated bullshit and *vomit* Lulu just to see Lord Wabface at the end when it was revealed the twins (never named ever it seemed) hadn't won. I don't think that I'd ever seen someone look so completely and massively pleased and relieved, then I went to the fridge to fill my glass with more gin and saw my own face in the mirror with the knowledge that the sorry fucking farce was over, I came close to Wabber in my joy.

Then Caroline lined up that utterly unspeakably awful Torchwood/Buffy abomination on ITV and I had to leave the room and come through here and put on some choice Europop.

[Thalia]

I'll have you know it was a very emotional episode of Demons tonight - the main character's new girlfriend turned out to be a harpy and he had to kill her - so sad Next week he discovers a secret about his father's death.

But on topic - i think that Jade will be more successful at Eurovision than Mark would have been, though I did like him a bit better. Could not believe that the Twins came in second - they can't sing!

I'm not so sure about the song - it's catchy but i get the feeling it's the kind of song that would be quite good in the middle of a musical where you're rooting for the character but doesn't stand quite as well on its own. Maybe i just have to listen to it again without Doug ranting over it

But ALW did look so cute at the end with that satisfied look on his face like 'yay! i got what i wanted!'

It's not gonna be the same without Terry Wogan though .

[the Empress]

I loved how ALW was like, yeah I can't tell people who to vote for, but Mark lacks charisma, the Twins have peaked and Jade is brilliant. And then telling Mark *I can't understand it* - do you think he knew his mic was on?

Heh, I did think 'Dug will hate this' XD

Thinking of Demons and bad things (have yet to see Demons but my mum was ranting about it, lol) I caught a review to 'Tarot' the comic . . . 'You have to get out of here. Your vagina is haunted'. *brilliant* Yes, I am avoiding work:S

[kate_m]

THE most pointless programme ever, I admit to not watching it, so am no expert on the programme, but I do have many reason for not watching it. The eurovision song or artist will make NO difference whatsoever to our chances in the competition, and never will again as political voting is a certainty.
I watched about the 1st 30 seconds tonight, and was enraged to hear the Lord talking about how this would start someones career. If anything is absolutely 100% certain to eradicate any possible teeny tiny glimmer of hope anyone had of launching a career in music, the eusovision song contest is. Absolute bollocks suggesting that this could possibly in any way, shape or form make anyone successful. The programme itself hasn't even appeared in the top 10 rating list, so has effectively (in tv land, where to be successful you have to be in the top 5) utterly bombed.
In summary, what a total waste of prime time saturday slot bbc, nobody cares, and if they do, they have a thoroughly misguided, romanticised view of what the eurovision contest is, or should be.

[the Empress]

BBC1's search for a Eurovision song contest entry, Your Country Needs You, pulled in >5 million viewers, so yes, there was an interest in this programme. I have no doubt that there are problems with the voting system, but I don't get the need for your self-righteous rant - Eurovision is fun, you either enjoy it or you don't. It's very badness is what makes it great. Simple joys. Here, look at Wikipedia to discover more about a show you don't watch:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kin ... ng_Contest

Andrew Lloyd Webber was making the point that a) public exposure helps artists careers and b) gave examples, such as the increase distribution of Lulu's music following her Eurovision participation.

[Ruru Hedgehog]

Guilty pleasure time...
I actually really like the Eurovision song contest.

I haven't seen the 'British' entry for this year, but I like it that way... I like not hearing how bad it is until it's pitted against Europe's worst.
Saying that, there are always a couple of surprisingly good entries (sadly, the ones that never win...), but I dunno whether or not that's just Eurovision Fever that creates the illusion of musical innovation...
And then we've got Terry Wogan, who could narrate the Gaza conflict and make it funny.

My point is that it's really not something anyone should take seriously... It's far better that way. Otherwise, people just get bitter over the fact that every country is voting for it's favourite neighbour and there is often some form of teaming up against a "common foe", and the whole thing turns into the plot for Desperate Housewives the Musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber...

[kate_m]

ok, so not once did i say i did not like eurovision. I love eurovision. I just dont think it should be made to be something its not. We will never win, and the quality of the singer and / or song will never make a difference. A music career will never be made great by eurovision. Lulu already had a successful career when she did eurovision, and she was involved in eurovision before political voting was involved, so mention of her is irrelevant. 5 million viewers is tiny compared to other shows of its kind, and even non-related shows such as Eastenders. I am an avid viewer of eurovision every year, i think its hilarious, and i think Graham norton will be just as good as wogan. But we shouldnt romanticise it into some magical, fair competition which will lead to an amazing career for someone, because it wont happen.

[kate_m]

My point is that it's really not something anyone should take seriously... It's far better that way. Otherwise, people just get bitter over the fact that every country is voting for it's favourite neighbour and there is often some form of teaming up against a "common foe", and the whole thing turns into the plot for Desperate Housewives the Musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber...[/quote]

exactly my point: it shouldnt be taken seriously, it should just be taken at face value: a good evenings entertainment which says nothing about the quality of the competing countries' music. i love eurovision, its fantastic, but this lloyd webber programme is trying to make it seem like some serious music competition, when it couldn't be further from that.

[the Empress]

I don't see how ALW has made it 'serious'. I mean, it wasn't a serious show, hell The Twins made it just as cracktastic as Eurovision . . . .

Also 'they have a throughly misguided or romanticised notion of what Eurovision should be'. Thank you for enlightening the unwashed masses.

*goes off to bed*

[Thalia]

See, that attitude is at least partly why we lose at Eurovision - Europe does take the contest seriously. Particularly the eastern countries. So why give us any points if we're just taking the piss out of the whole thing? The worst one was that godawful entry by Daz Sampson with those women dressed up as school girls - i didn't know what our entry was until i saw it on the final and i couldn't believe it.

And whether Jade becomes popular in Britain, a Eurovision entry could make her very popular in European countries if they actually see her as a serious entry - which, considering Andrew Lloyd Webber's popularity in Europe, they should do. In addition to that, Webber has very obviously supported her through the show and will more than likely be able to get her contacts in the music industry that she wouldn't have otherwise. She may never be world famous, but she may at least make a career out of it.

As to the block voting, this year they are trying to do something about it. In the final, the votes will be 50% televoting and 50% national jury to try and bring back the emphasis on song quality. It may not work but they are at least trying to make things a bit more fair.

EDIT: Just to say, I do love Wogan's commentary and see eurovision as a bit of a laugh but i just wanted to get across that just cos that's our attitude, doesn't necessarily mean that that's what every country in the contest thinks. For some of them it's a big deal.

[Power Metal Dom]

I could say Eurovision is more about geopolitics than songwriting blah blah blah...or voting/talent show format programs are a pox on television blah blah blah...but I'd prefer to say that unless anything like this is representing the UK:



...I doubt I'll be watching. Especially if Wogan isn't commenting.

[Ruru Hedgehog]

Times like these, I guess, I wish I was from Finland.
At least I'd be proud of what we churned out. XD

[the Empress]

? The worst one was that godawful entry by Daz Sampson with those women dressed up as school girls - i didn't know what our entry was until i saw it on the final and i couldn't believe it..

I know, that was really embaressing. What were they thinking? It looked like 'lightweight' peodaphile rap . . .

[Guest]

Times like these, I guess, I wish I was from Finland.
At least I'd be proud of what we churned out. XD

Oh, and I am.

No comedy/serious metal acts this year though. Instead we're going for another novelty... deaf rap and hiphop!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XJD_4bQxIoM

It's actually not half bad. And I am... proud... to have seen these guys perform at a small open-air venue when the ESC was hosted in Helsinki.

[Aureliano]

Times like these, I guess, I wish I was from Finland.
At least I'd be proud of what we churned out. XD

Just posted under an anonymous reply by mistake, so apologies for the slight double post.

Fortunately it'll give me time to correct myself. You see I was going on about how we're not doing metal this year, but at least have a good novelty deaf hip hop act called Signmark lined up to represent...

Well, turns out that they lost out in the finals and we're doing full-on Eurotrash instead. Oh, the shame! At least Germany will like it.