Pap. And we paid for it...
So a modicum of common sense prevailed and an act with some semblance of quality won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Nearly every entry – including our own – was hateful. Serbia at least made a serious attempt with a song of some quality. It was streets ahead of the competition.
Eurovision itself has descended into a stupid pastiche of itself. There was a time when the novelty acts were an amusing sideline. Now they dominate a competition that is based more on politics than talent.
The nadir of this trend was the Ukranian entry from Verka Serduchka. Glitter and mirrors aside, he and his band were dressed as Nazis and Russian soldiers. You can hide it under a camp banner as much as you like, it was still tasteless, gallows humour from a country that was the site of massacres and concentration camps such as Janowska just 60-odd years ago.
No it’s lost its appeal. Perhaps its time that Eurovision was put to bed and forgotten. "Enough, no more. 'Tis not as sweet now as it was before."
Comments
Not sure I agree that it was all pap: the greek guy was really cute and his song pretty good :-) The German swing, the Hungarian blues, and the strummy Lithuanian one were quality songs, albeit not perhaps showy enough for Eurovision. Ernest really liked the Sarah Brightman-esk Slovenian one, and Georgia's was my favorite being a teriffic bit of trancey dance. (Videos on the BBC site).
Posted by: JonathanW | May 13, 2007 12:52 PM
Hmmm. The Greek entry was a rip-off of Ricky Martin's Livin' la Vida Loca. I'll admit the German entry was good, although I am not a big fan of Frank Sinatra styling.
I'm afraid that Lithuania and Slovenia were just unmemorable; in fact there were several songs that Simon and I had already forgotten by the time they came up for a recap.Georgia was OK I suppose but it sounds like a poor Kate Bush B-side remix.
Posted by: Joe | May 14, 2007 6:57 AM
Yes, 100% pap. Couldn't agree more.
I thought the goose-stepping in the Ukraine song was perhaps a step too far (if you'll excuse the pun), but I don't think it was hateful; just ridiculous. I guess when one is so close to an atrocity, the only thing you can do is ridicule it? I let out a genuine ROLFMAYO because I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. Of course, I didn't understand the lyrics, so I could be completely wrong...
I cannot heed Eurovision. Never could. But seeing as it's obligatory viewing in my house, I decided to enjoy it as best I could. Here's my review: http://www.rymix.co.uk/blog/2007/05/would_you_like_something_to_su.php
And you know that we could never pull out of the contest. The political ramifications would be far-reaching.
Posted by: Steve Arnott | May 14, 2007 10:24 AM
I liked Hungary's entry.
I loved Sweden's entry.
I even liked FYR Macedonia's entry.
For the life of me, I can't see the appeal of the winning song.
Ditch the points system!
The winner should be decided by votes and votes alone.
Posted by: newplanet | May 14, 2007 2:55 PM