Twist In The Dark

Another year, another final, another winner. I had a great evening of it with the Judge and James. Some great songs and performances along with some not-so-great ones which still add to the enjoyment.

It is always good to see Europe get together for a show like this. It gives you hope that people can forget their petty dramas and rivalries and replace them with a friendly rivalry and just have fun together. Making the whole of Europe be the intermission act as a huge flash mob was simple but incredibly effective. I had a big smile on my face.

Norway put on a great show. They may not have spent the kind of money that Russia did last year but there was a lot of heart and soul and glitz. The hosts were great unlike most years. I think Erik probably has his own following now with his cute fun scenes. In the final, he did that, how does one describe it, quick change sequence as he changes clothes while walking along and pulling things out of thin air. That could so easily have gone wrong but it didn’t.

I thought the quality of songs in the final overall was quite good this year. My top 5 for the night:

1. Iceland
2. Romania
3. Moldova
4. Belgium
5. Germany

Three of my top 5 did well. Germany, of course, won the whole show. Romania came third and Belgium came sixth. I was disappointed that Iceland and Moldova got lost along the way. Although one could suspect a backlash against Iceland due to the volcano, I suspect more that the style of song wouldn’t have the broad appeal to the person on the street despite being very popular with Eurovision fans. Dare I say that it was too camp (which is definitely not a bad thing in my book). Expect to see Hera Björk making appearances at Pride Festivals around Europe.

I can’t explain Moldova. It even had saxophone and I know that I’m a sucker for good sax but it would appear that not everyone is.

Did anyone else notice how the contestants seem to be getting younger and prettier as the years go by? And there is much more prevalence of reality show contestants representing their countries. Not necessarily a bad thing since there was quite a bit of talent on display.

I liked Turkey, Armenia, Israel, Georgia (with a Swedish song), Ireland (another Swedish song) and Denmark (yet another Swedish song). Enough for me to keep playing the Eurovision CD. I didn’t think that Azerbaijan deserved all the hype and the $3,000,000 spent on it. A nice enough song but ultimately forgettable.

I did like the UK entry a lot and it certainly did not deserve last place. Getting Pete Waterman involved was a big mistake since he has always made it clear that he has contempt for Eurovision. Even as recently as an interview at the second semi-final, Waterman was still arrogantly showing his contempt. I feel sorry for Josh Dubovie who is a very good singer and a very charming one at that. I believe that he was a hit with everyone he met during Eurovision week. I like the song but he deserved a much stronger one for an international contest. My career advice to Josh would be to get as far away from Pete Waterman as possible.

One thing I have to mention that did disappoint me was that despite the sharing of the moment that Eurovision generates, portions of the audience in the stadium felt that they had to boo Russia. Okay, it was not the best song and maybe shouldn’t have got through to the final but it did so deal with it. Imagine how poor Peter Nalitch must have been feeling. Still he soldiered on and even though I didn’t like the song much at first, I didn’t mind it at all by the end of the evening. Maybe he was spurred on by the booing to give an even better performance.

And Eric Saade did make it to Eurovision. He popped up to give the results of the Swedish voting. We all were excited to see him.

I was happy that Germany won. Lena has that kind of sound that you could expect to hear on the charts today so I’m sure she’ll have a worldwide hit with it. It’s also good that it shows the big 4 what you can achieve if you take it seriously. Well done, Germany.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Romania was a big hit around the world. It has certainly overtaken Iceland (my favourite on the night) as the one I play the most and hum along to all the time.

Finally, a shout out to Graham Norton who did a great job with the commentary. He had fun with the show without making fun of it. Much better than our local hosts and way much better than that awful Wogan fellow.

Bring on 2011.

Another year, another Eurovision. I love it. I already have the CD, have watched many of the clips on YouTube and have just watched the first semi final.

The quality of songs is quite good so far this year. Yes, it is ballad-heavy which saps away some of the excitement and atmosphere. Lets face it, there’s enough doom and gloom in the world at the moment and people look to Eurovision for fun, theatrics and escapism. To prove my point, it was mainly the more “up” songs that have gone through to the final and not the ballads. Some countries will be regretting their choices.

I do love the theatrics of Eurovision, the so-called gimmick. This semi-final was no disappointment with apples, dancing trees, a Bird Man (but no Galaxy Trio), a head lock, life size butterflies

I was surprised that Russia was one of the ballads that went through. Although not a bad song in itself and the singer has a great voice, the overall effect of this song is that of a dirge. I wonder if this is one that the judges got through rather than the public. Speaking of which, I am not a fan of the return of judges. I think that judges are more likely to be influenced by politics. The so-called bloc voting in the past has been heavily exaggerated, usually by sore losers who send bad songs (are you listening Terry?).

I am really happy that Moldova, Iceland and Albania have gone through to the final. All very poppy and very Eurovision. The one ballad I do love, Belgium, got through too so I’m happy.

I was disappointed that the blond Estonian indie boys didn’t get through. A different type of song and well sung. I think they were trying to channel Jon Pertwee with those velvet jackets.

Finland was definitely a favourite with the audience with their happy folk song. But this didn’t translate to important votes so they didn’t get through which is a pity.

I quite liked Poland too, although the image of the singer with a head lock on one of the dancers probably conjured an image that was not what they intended. I did like the way that some of it was sung in Polish. More songs should be in their native languages.

And lets not forget the dancing trees from Slovakia.

Roll on the next semi final.

Eurovision sunk to new lows back in the 90s when Ireland kept winning the contest with a series of boring ballads. Even the Irish got sick of winning and it seemed like they kept trying to send the worst possible song so they would never win again.

Things looked bright last year when they sent quite a poppy rock song but this year they’re back with another ballad sung by Niamh Kavanagh who was one of the winners during that 90s slump. Oh no, I cried.

But this ballad is actually really quite nice and I don’t even mind the pan pipes which are used quite sparingly but effectively. So it comes as no surprise that the song is written by Swedes. In fact, Swedish songwriters have also written the entries for Norway, Denmark and of course, Sweden itself.

Here is the song.

And here is the official club remix which takes the song to a whole new level.

This is one of the few ballads that I actually like this year.