Eurovision Reaction Thread

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I have been arguing about it for half an hour at work. :(

Comments

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an hour well spent!

It didn't start until 11pm locally so I didn't even watch it this year. Shameful, I am, shameful. (Of course, I've already had years to live with Vera Serduchka.)

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Reaction in Slovenia was weird (I was in Ljubljana for a long weekend and watched it in a bar in the centre of the city). The Slovenes generally don't get along that well with their Balkan neighbours, and generally, there was booing of the performances by Serbia and Bosnia. Yet when the voting was announced, Slovenia gave Serbia 12 points, which confused me. Personally, I'm very disappointed that Ukraine didn't win, with the most camp Eurovision song since Dana International, whilst I also had high hopes for Germany's swing effort, and was thoroughly annoyed with Malta and Ireland for ruining our own nil points attempt.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I text-voted for Romania and Georgia. Other highlights: Ukraine, Sweden, Romanian entries on youtube that didn't make it (one called "Dracula, My Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-BxdC3-l0Y)" is SO AWESOME...)

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

I thought Germany's effort was horrible. That whole rat pack re-creation thing gives me the creeps at the best of times and it was like they'd purposefully ratcheted up the creepiness even further. Plus the lyrics were horrendously misogynistic.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Germany was terrible! Almost as bad as Ireland!

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

I actually watched Eurovision for the first time and got really into it! Paul, flatmate K and I were betting on who we THOUGHT was going to win. I wanted to vote Serbia but K got in there first, so I had Ukraine (who I actually liked best of them all) and Paul had Russia. AND THEY WERE THE TOP 3! I am impressed with our collective Eurovision nous.

I larffed non-stop at Sweden and all the GOTHS.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Germany's current strategy seems to be unexpected genre pastiches - viz the country one last time (which I liked a LOT) (this one wasn't so hot).

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Ooh I liked Georgia too! There were some ACE frocks on display also.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I really have no idea why Sweden placed in the bottom half, their song was excellent. Similarly I have no idea why that emo-ballad, above all the others, got so many points (far more than can be explained by just tribalism).

Early on, when it appeared to be between Ukraine, Serbia, Latvia (I think? The mental drumming one) and Turkey, we were saying "anyone but Turkey", but naturally after it thinned out we were rooting for the Ukraine.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Latvia was the rubbish opera Il Divo one. Bulgaria was mental drumming IIRC.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Haha barrysarll has three of their albums:)

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Georgia was ace, but was massively out of place. I've had a grub around on the internet and the Georgians appear to have voted for it ahead of four other candidate songs, all of which were much more typically eurovision (retro-disco, lame euro-rock, big ballad, trad-folky thing), and all of which were sung by the very same lass. Which on the one hand is a bit disappointing - I was hoping that she had done more stuff in this style - but on the other it's kind of interesting that something that sounded like stadium Sugarcubes won their national vote in the first place.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Bulgaria was the mental drumming one - my favourite! And I felt vindicated when G3ir Hongr0 called it the worst song in the contest on The Bad Place. Percussion plus goth plus eurotrance - WINNER.

Ukraine I was disappointed with - tried too hard and too cynically somehow - but at least their mentalist had a streak of actual menace in him.

ALSO: Best pre-voting entertainment ever! We've come a long way since Riverdance?

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Yes, the circus was great (though trapezists look too graceful for even life-threatening stunts to seem dangerous). Is it now customary for the previous winner to perform in the halftime?

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

I thought all the extra-musical stuff was grebt this year, with the exception of the rub Finnish comedian woman. If they'd replaced her with more Moomin action it would have been pretty much perfect.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Also to hell with all of you, the real winner is and remains Terry Wogan.

non tribalism sed tribadism

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i still hold a torch for vanessa mae

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i have located the real actual tribalism

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I was gutted when Andorra's Busted copycat band didn't make it out of the semis personally, once they'd gone it all seemed less fun.

Can't even remember how the Serbia entry went, I can still picture the Zammo-a-like singer but that's about it.

A question for the oldsters

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

When did the perception of Eurovision as 'camp' get so entrenched here?

The most unedifying aspect of the post-match reaction here hasn't been the "oh it's all bloc voting" stuff (which explains which countries are likely to win but not why specific winners and losers do well or badly) but angry reactions about how voters who hated Scooch "don't understand" what Eurovision is "about".

Looking at the last two years, I think we need a return to the jury system, said jury to consist of jel_bugle and NO OTHER.

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I was convinced Latvia were going to win, I could really picture that being performed at the end with lots of confetti and stuff going everywhere. Them or the German crooner prat.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

As for Sweden, admittedly I was too busy trying to stop Lytton eating some paper (http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2007/05/eurovision-song-contest-2007-reviewed-by-a-five-month-old-baby/) to really listen, but it seemed to me that the Ark's rock-band sound was a bit puny next to the full on techno-orchestral mentalism on show elsewhere. Good performance though!

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Oh god I have just remembered that i drunkenly texted you about the moomin. Sorry...

the tipping (the velvet) point

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

= dana international surely?

(wasn't that the first year of viewer-voting? which made it clear "who" was listening)

one MASSIVE thing in favour of serbia -- the song itself WASN'T camp, it was an impassioned, very well-performed power ballad --- "I CAN'T LIE TO GOD"

scooch got exactly what they deserved, seeing as their song screamed "you gheys you will vote for anything" -- maybe they placed one higher than they should, as the irish entry was i think less cynical, and (once you strip out understandable weariuness at dilddly diddly celticry) better

(also just tactically: "MY SONG IT WILL RECREATE THE AMBIENCE OF A TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT" = who the hell is going to think mmm lovely transatlantic flight)

Re: the tipping (the velvet) point

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

I think there's something else here though, the Scooch song sort of went past 'straight' 'camp' (haha now there is a category for you) and into specific Brit 70s Are You Being Served innuendo-camp which doesn't translate AT ALL! I tht it was grebt obv but I hearted my last transatlantic flight a grillion years ago so I get what i deserve.