A kung fu fighter in a disco

I am counting "stage props" in with "choreography".

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alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

Surely "key change" is then also part of "great tune"?

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It is such a part of Eurovision folklore that it deserves its own section.

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Sorry, what's the legend on the key change?

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every song with a key change gets a +1 in my voting system.

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anatol-merklich.livejournal.com

Well it's not just any key change is it, the Eurovision thing is the very blatant up-half-a-tone* key change for the last couple of runthroughs of the chorus, right?

*) or possibly whole-tone?

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Who should replace Wogan when he ~~dies~~ stops?
Who will replace him? :(

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He should have been replaced about five years ago! (not by Fearn Cottong though obv)

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bengraham.livejournal.com

Who should replace him? I don't know, I think David Mitchell would probably make an excellent sarcastic Eurovision commentator. Or Jack Dee. Yes, that's it. Jack Dee would be genius.

Who will replace him? My money's on Jamie Theakston or Colin Murray. W**kers.

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ninebelow.livejournal.com

Colin Murray wouldn't do it, would he? He left daytime Radio 1 cos it wasn't cool enough for him.

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bengraham.livejournal.com

Colin Murray would do anything if the money was right and it helped to "enhance his profile". Have you seen him presenting US sports late at night on Channel 5?

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braisedbywolves.livejournal.com

Jack Dee would be too unpleasant, the thing about Our Tel is that he's a true poptimist at heart, you can tell he loves the Eurovisionosity of it all.

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katstevens.livejournal.com

Ah, we did this one last year!

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It gets more urgent every year though!

(deleted comment)

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I think Paddy does a great job commenting on the semi-final - he strikes the right balance between taking the piss out of the silly bits but also appreciating the genuinely good ones; Wogan these does only does the former (which is entertaining), and I suspect most alternatives would do the same.

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lauren laverne was touting for it in yesterday's observer...

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THE YOUNG FOOL. Does she not realise it's a job for life?

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jel-bugle.livejournal.com

I WILL REPLACE TERRY WOGAN in about 25 years from now.

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katstevens.livejournal.com

See my thoughts on this year's entries here (http://katstevens.livejournal.com/488686.html) (not exhaustive).

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Good point from Jeff W re. voices - this is a weirdly neglected part of Eurovision - a lot of the performers are pretty AWFUL and it stands out especially in an era where having a "good voice" is central to so many talent/voting shows. I don't mind it myself, you understand.

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I think my other point about what songs work on a stage is even more significant, e.g. last year:

Las Ketchup: pretty good on the CD, risible live
Daz Sampson & co.: kinda irritating on the CD, awesome every time they performed the song live

Wise old heads on the

eurovision community are placing no bets on what will win this year until they see the dress rehearsals. (OK, you asked about factors that make up "your ideal winner", not "the actual winner in practice", but there's some overlap here for me.)

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Yes, this is totally true. The Ukrainian song was very meh on record, but her performance was brilliant and totally put her in the top 10.

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1. I quite dislike (hm. I think I ticked choreography) is how much it's become about "spectacle" - you pretty much know from the get-go that if there aren't eight dancers, then the song won't win. I actually think they should FORBID anybody but the actual performers from being on stage.

2. I am still annoyed at the (ehtnic Russian) Latvian singer who won a few years ago with some latin mambo crap. What the heck did that have to with Latvia?

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http://users.livejournal.com/xyzzzz__/

Latvia might have a Mambo scene? I did watch an old documentary about Finnish Tango, so you never know :-)

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People like Latin dancing all over the world, I have no doubt. But why the heck do you send that to Eurovision?

(I guess, of course, I'm making the usual mistake of assuming that verse-verse-chorus pop or weepy ballads are "standard" music and everything else is some kind of specialized sub-genre. But still... A strange choice for representing your country in light of the way almost every other country plays it.)

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BUT it should rly BE the Eurovision Spectacle Competition, because the only reason it exists is to show off TEH AWESOME POWER of being able to simulcast PICTURES across europe. the fact that the hit upon songs as a way to use this power is mere coincidence...

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If it's the Eurovision Spectacle Competition then how come Elton has never won? EH???

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i assume that you are here all week?

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jauntyalan.livejournal.com

was on top form we thought. some great ferne C put downs

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byebyepride.livejournal.com

on youtube I saw him suggest he might rub goose grease on her chest!! Dirty old perve. Plus she mings.

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Is Wogan the Poptimist John Peel?

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I'm thinking here of our pub conversation re. Fever Pitch/masochistic fandoms

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?

You'll need to unpack that one for non pub-goers.

Instinctively I would say:
1. the Poptimist John Peel = John Peel!
2. Tel = the Poptimist Jeremy Clarkson

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byebyepride.livejournal.com

I am totally not bothered about eurovision this year. I think this comes down to not really knowing anyone up here who would be into it, or even interested in watching it, so I'd feel even more out of step with the rest of the world if I did take notice of it.

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COME TO LONDON THEN! we will, no doubt, be having a gathering of some sorts...

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I wd like to host something so as to combine Eurovision & paternal duties. However my place is a bit small for full on EUROFRENZY (plus you rly need to have a louder tellybox)

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all back to isabel's parents then? ;)

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Bloc / neighbourly voting hasn't determined the winner, certainly in recent years - the winning song (in fact most of the top 3 or 4) tends to get consensus across most of the continent. Bloc voting only affects the middle of the table - e.g. rubbish songs only getting votes from their neighbours thus keeping them from getting 0 points.

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I would argue that Tatu DIDN'T win only for bloc voting reasons (although I dimly remember how it played out). The sense here in Moscow is that people are always voting AGAINST us.

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katstevens.livejournal.com

Often mentioned but soon forgotten is the fact that UK, Spain, France, & Germany have all been lurking in the bottom ten for the last couple of years - the other countries have to go through semi-finals and prove their songs have SOME merit. Since 2000 the 'big four' financial backers of Eurovision have got a bye through to the final and hence can submit whatever sh1t they have lying around at the time.

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I kind of admire France's bloodymindedness in submitting an enormously slow Proper French Ballad every year and coming a proud 22nd.

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this is clearly a good thing though.

clearly now we have pan-european voting we should count actual vote totals, but do it smallest country to biggest, so that andorra still gets its moment in the sun...

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Important point, badly made.

I think all the big four have tried to submit winners rather than "whatever's lying around" but (a) they are generally a bit clueless about what stands a chance of winning; and (b) nearly everyone else resents their bye and punishes them accordingly.

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Tatu didn't win because of the whole "Tatu are encouraging paedophilia" "scandal" in the british / irish press around the same time - Russia got points from every country except the UK & Ireland (and they only lost by 3 points)

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i think with the balkanisation of, um, the balkans, there was definitely a period where it felt like they were totally just voting for each other, but, as you point out this has not led to a winner for them.

the scando/baltic-bloc, on the other hand, did have it sewn up for a few years there. looking at this list (http://www.keithm.utvinternet.ie/Winners.htm) though, i'm surprised how few i can remember, even from the last ten years (Katrina, Ruslana and Dana I only, pretty much)...

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Katrina and the Waves won in 1997! (I wondered why I ever heard their name anymore.) You Brits really don't have much to complain about overall, that's not so long ago to have won.

Ireland won FIVE out of FIVE years in a row in the early 90s. wowza...

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