Eurovision!

[Freaker]

It's that time of year again...

Anyone have any predictions?

Personally, I think the UK song may stand a chance this year. It probably won't win - but it should finish in the top 15, or even top 10. I can't say the same for the entry from Germany, unfortunately...

Norway is my favourite so far, manages to get the pace right and put on a good show. Reminds me a lot of Ruslana's "Wild Dances" from a few years ago, when Ukraine won.

Apparently Turkey and Greece are the other main favourites (depending on which bookie you check for odds, the UK is sometimes listed with third-best odds even!) - but Turkey doesn't strike me as all that great, and Greece is simply hilarious. Those dance moves! We should export them to the bop!

Although highlight so far has to be t.A.T.u. performing with the Red Army Choir as a filler in the first Semi-Final...

For your procrastination pleasure find those videos below...!

Spoiler: show

UK


Germany


Norway


Turkey


Greece


t.A.T.u. with the Red Army Choir

[Hennessy]

Is it ironic the Russians have pulled out the Red Army for this year's competition? Kind of hammering the point home to those little Eastern European nations a bit hard don't you think?

[exnihilo]

No more than the band of the Royal Marines playing at a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

[summerroomavailable]

Are they showing it in the union this year?

[blondejenius]

Yes, from 8pm I think.

[Aureliano]

Iceland FTW!
I may be slightly biased towards Nordic eye candy though. Overall a pretty decent ballad, and their set design is fantastic!

Also... is it me or are Bosnia & Herzegovina basically just wearing Coldplay / Sgt. Pepper attire and channeling 'Can't help falling in love' ?

[Delts]

Yep, we are showing it in the union. I'll be the one dancing like a crazy person and dropping the glasses that I'm meant to be collecting

[Thalia]

Yay, 5th! Way to go, Andrew! Definitely think the jury voting helped make things a bit fairer this year. And dammit Norway - couldn't you just have let us stay in 4th place?

[orudge]

I'm still impressed we managed to remain in 2nd place for the first 20% of the votes! Definitely a good result.

[Craig]

Just curious, but do people actually watch Eurovision in a non-"haha, this is hilariously shit" way?

[orudge]

Maybe this is just an unfair stereotype, but I daresay there are some countries that take it seriously. I think everybody I know watches it in a "har har" way, just for Terry Wogan (and now Graham Norton, who I must say was really rather good, a lot better than I thought he would be). Plus some of the tunes really are quite awesome, like that Dancing Lasha Tumbai one from a couple of years ago.

[Aureliano]

I've always appreciated Eurovision in at least a slightly non- har har way, having grown to love it outside of Britain (i.e. sans Terry attitude).

Yes, my all-time favourite acts are still the cheesy ones (i.e. 2002's S.A.G.A.P.O by Michalis Rakintzis). Yes, I can't wait for the painfully awkward dialogue between hosts and televoting reps.

But this year was a good example of how the contest can provide both ends of the spectrum. I genuinely liked Iceland, Estonia, Bosnia and Armenia for example. Greece, Sweden, and gimp-suits-a-plenty were just icing on the cake of a pretty decent Eurovision year...

[Ruru Hedgehog]

Just curious, but do people actually watch Eurovision in a non-"haha, this is hilariously shit" way?

Primarily, I watch it for the music to see what our fellows on the continent can produce. The hilarity comes as a much-loved added extra.

I mean... Where to begin? From the gyrating goodness of Greece, to the German lower-body brilliance (where it existed), The competition this year did not fail to provide us with a good number of laughs. And who can forget Ukraine's rompilicious display that screamed: "Madness? this is EUROVISION!"

Other than that, though, I have to say that the standard this year was amazing, as far as past Eurovisions have gone, and I'm pleased that it became a Song Contest and not a "vote for me, or I'll invade your country" affair (exaggeration, please do not misquote me on that). The Norwegian entry this year actually got a well-desrved win, with hardly any political voting (the fact that Mr Norway looked like an older and slightly more tolerable version of Zac Efron probably held power over the voting, but meh), and it broke the record for the highest number of points! And the cinematography - for want of a better word - was, frankly, awesome.

And Graham Norton was alright. Not exactly Wogan, but he did well.

I really do like Eurovision. =)

[jollytiddlywink]

I must confess to watching Eurovision largely for the camp value.

[Anon.]

I've had Estonia's song stuck in my head all day.

[Aureliano]

I've had Estonia's song stuck in my head all day.

I've had Estonia's singer stuck in my head all day. If she were a president, she'd be Babebraham Lincoln.