Eurovision

[Dance*is*life]

I really, really liked Bonnie Tyler's song Believe in Me.  Fingers crossed that she wins!!!!

[balletla]

Hmmm personally I think she'd have been better singing 'Total eclipse of the heart'.

 

Lets face it, regardless of the song, we haven't got a hope.

 

So far, my money's on Denmark or Azerbaijan but we're only half way through.

 

The standard so far has actually been quite good - very little typical Eurovisian songs. Interestingly, nearly all singing in English which I find odd. I thought the whole point of a song from a specific country would be that the language is part of it.

[Dance*is*life]

I suppose it's because the UK isn't really part of a voting block like all the former soviet countries or the scandinavian ones - they all seem to vote for each other......  But I do like Believe in Me - whilst it's not Total Eclipse it is a good song and worth listening to.  Most of the songs were instantly forgettable. 

[Dance*is*life]

Good heavens!  19th    Something is definitely fishy in the voting..............

[Sim]

There is no way that the UK or Ireland will ever win again....in the past 20 years with the addition of all the new countries who just vote for each other, no matter how bad the song, neither of these two countries stands a chance.  As is said in post #3 above, there are obvious voting blocks every year, which is why the contest has changed so much, and why neither of the countries I mentioned here will win for a very long time, if ever.  Hubby and I, together with Graham Norton, were right almost every time about which country was going to give 10 and 12 points to whom.  Hardly a fair and unbiased competition.  But who cares?  We have the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, Yes, ELP, David Bowie, T-Rex, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Oasis, Blur, Fairport Convention, Adele,.....the list goes on and on.  Who needs Eurovision??!!!!

[Dance*is*life]

Once upon a time the Eurovision was rather a special event that we all enjoyed watching.  I remember that when I was dancing in a ballet company in Germany in 1967 and had no TV in my digs, I was so upset at missing the Eurovision that I knocked on my neighbour's door and begged her to let me watch!   Ah such happy innocent days when Cliff won with the delightfully twee song Congratulations!  Oh and not to forget Ian McKellar and Looking High High High!!!!!  

[Jan McNulty]

I thought Congratulations only came second! Bah Humbug - we shouldn't enter this rubbish anymore!

[Dance*is*life]

Yup he came second!   I can't believe it - I was sure he won!  Who beat Cliff????  And apparently Bryan Johnson sang Looking High High High not Kenneth (sorry not Ian) McKellar (who recorded it later I think) and he also came 2nd.  Oh well - good thing there's an Internet to check these things! 

 

I looked it up some Spanish girl singer beat Cliff!  Her song was called La La La and basically that's all she sang!   Bah humbug!

Edited May 19, 2013 by Dance*is*life

[taxi4ballet]

Ah well, never mind - we probably won't win it again, but has anyone else noticed....

 

The announcers all speak English and most of the songs are in English too

[Dance*is*life]

Rule Britannia - Britannia rules the waves!

[Ann Williams]

I only watched intermittently, and even then only briefly, but I did catch the Finnish entry "Marry Me", which I thought was terrific fun - mocking, cheeky, abd delivered with enormous wit and energy.  Naturally, it got nowhere.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Ann Williams

[Anna C]

I decided Azerbaijan should win purely on the basis that it had a man in a box. :-D

 

Who did win, in the end? I dropped off halfway through the voting!

[Sim]

Denmark, with an ok song but by no means the best one!

[Anna C]

Thanks Sim. We had clocked that one as a winner. Dd's favourite was Greece! :-D

[John Mallinson]

International repercussions: Lavrov Blasts 'Vote Theft' at Eurovision

[Anna C]

This bit was news to me: "Jarmo Siim, spokesman for the European Broadcasting Union which holds the competition, said the final tally for each country is a 50/50 combination of the telephone votes and the votes of a national jury. A country that received a good result in the telephone vote could still be left with no points in the overall tally if the jury gave its highest points to other contestants, he said."

[taxi4ballet]

I decided Azerbaijan should win purely on the basis that it had a man in a box. :-D

 

 

We were rooting for them as well. Great choreography, and also with some of the other entries too.

[taxi4ballet]

Eurovision 2015

 

This year a new country will be taking part - Australia.

 

?

[AnneMarriott]

Perhaps the organisers have confused it with Austria.

[taxi4ballet]

Nope - it really is Australia - it was on the news last night! They are entering as a one-off.

 

Who would you like to see in 2016?

 

My suggestion is Venezuela

[Lisa O`Brien]

Yes I read that Australia were entering too. I thought it was called Eurovision as in the countries taking part had to be in Europe ???

[taxi4ballet]

Well, yes!

[AnneMarriott]

Nope - it really is Australia - it was on the news last night! They are entering as a one-off.

 

 

 

I know - I was joking! But then Israel enters and it's a bit of a stretch to consider Israel as part of Europe. And I'm always a bit doubtful about how European all those former Soviet "...stans" are now they're independent entities.

[trog]

Yes I read that Australia were entering too. I thought it was called Eurovision as in the countries taking part had to be in Europe ???

 

But then Israel enters and it's a bit of a stretch to consider Israel as part of Europe. And I'm always a bit doubtful about how European all those former Soviet "...stans" are now they're independent entities.

 

The Eurovision Song Contest is open to members of the European Broadcasting Union. Egypt, Israel, Jordon, Libya, Morroco, Tunisia and Turkey are all members and so are eligible to enter the ESC. Morroco entererd once, in 1980, Tunisia were to perform in 1977 but withdrew. The other African countries have never entered. Lebanon, who are eligible, were due to enter in 2005, but withdrew due to their TV laws preventing the broadcast of Israeli content.

 

Australia are associate members of the EBU, as are Canada, Japan, the USA etc and any of these countries could be given a wild card entry.

 

With it's large number of Eurpoean immigrants, ESC has always been of interest to Australians. Hence it's one off entry. Also, Jessica Mauboy performed at last years conntest. The contest has always been transmitted in Australia, starting on ABC but there was very little advanced build up. The exception to this, was when Sandie Shaw entered. The Rolf Harris Show was broadcast on the ABC and Shaw was a guest singing Puppet On A String. In 1985, SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) launched nationally, with 90% non-English programs and ESC was a natural program for them. Their coverage has gone from strength to strength. Initally, they just took the BBC feed (as did the ABC) but now local commentators host it.

 

What happens if Australia wins? They will co-host the contest in a European city, most likey London.

[Jan McNulty]

Trog, you are an absolute mine of information.

 

I think the voting is sooooooo ludicrous these days that I haven't watched it for some years now despite Graham Norton's wonderful commentaries.

[Fonty]

I used to like Eurovision, but now there are so many competitors, I get a bit bored.

 

And it seems ludicrous to open the voting to the public before everyone has performed.