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May 2009
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Eurovision Week!

I’ve already given it away with my title, but for those of you who care, this is Eurovision week!

Yes, it’s time for a week of campy and trashy Europop music with an added dose of inter-country rivalry!

German TV Details

  • 1. Halbfinale am 12. Mai 2009 ab 21:00 Uhr bei PHOENIX
  • 2. Halbfinale am 14. Mai 2009 ab 23:00 Uhr im NDR Fernsehen
  • Finale am 16. Mai 2009 ab 21:00 Uhr im Ersten!

Whose song is best, worst? Actually, Saturday night some obscure eastern European country will win again—actually, its fairly well assured because what wins isn’t necessarily the best song, but the country that is best geographically positioned with a tune that some how speaks to people in the east.

You can rest assured that the big four will not be winning and not just because the east loathes the powers of the UK, France, Germany, and Spain, but because these four counties have yet again failed to understand how Eurovision works in the current millennium. Germany and Spain are mid-ranked by me this year—Germany has some jazzy attempt a pop song that will be remembered for the three minutes its on the air—it’s Miss Kiss Kiss Bang by “Alex Swings Oscar Sings!”

And as I relisten to Spain’s entry, I just realized I made a mistake. It’s really one of the worst songs of the year: La Noche Es Para Mí by Soraya.

France fails for the usual reason—they sing in French and nobody except the French wants to listen to a crappy slow paced ballad in French (or, for that matter, any language).

Finally the UK fails because instead of thinking about what kinds of songs have won Eurovision recently, they went out and hired Andrew Lloyd Weber to write a self-depreciating ditty entitled, “It’s my time.” It’s not going to help Britain win any friends or any competitions.

Which brings me to my favorites—which must be tempered by the fact that I like these songs—and geography might not actually help them win or even advance to the finals. In alphabetical order:

  • Andorra: Get a Life by Susanne Georgi. Ok, this one is partially in French, but it has English segments and a nice beat with an upbeat feeling.
  • Denmark: Believe Again by Brinck. This song is starts of slowly, which hurts it a lot, but its message that “I want to Believe in Love /I want to Believe in Something Bigger than the two of us” might well resonate with listeners in the east, although its more europop and future oriented than recent winners have tended to be.

  • Finland: Lose Control by Waldo’s People. This song has a strong beat and is something that is quite danceable—so while I doubt it will do that well in Eurovision, this one has the potential to last on club dance floors for years.

  • Greece: This Is Our Night by Sakis Rouvas. Like Finland this one has the potential to last for years on the dance floors, but now that I listen to it again, I’m fairly certain it won’t do that well in the actual competition. The song also has some annoying low sounds in it, including a segment which to me sounds like the beeper on the back of a reversing truck.
  • Malta: What If We by Chiara. I really liked Malta’s song a couple years ago, and then their singer sang out of key and lost any hope of winning. This is definitely the slowest paced song of my top favorite six, but it has the most potential because I suspect the stronger beats in combination with pop sounds tend to turn off eastern voters.
  • Slovenia Love Symphony by Quartissimo. This is the oddest song, in many respects, this year. It’s a string festival that is different. The first vocals appear 58 seconds in, which is a long way in for a 3 minute song. If I were a musical expert I would try to insert some jargon here explaining why I like this song, but suffice it to say that although it falls outside my normal parameters, it’s good.

Meanwhile, the worst song of the year? It’s hard for me to pick—I have a record of 8 songs with my lowest mark. That said, Belgium’s entry (Copycat) includes somebody trying to sound like Elvis. It’s awful. Then again, the Netherlands has a song entitled “Shine” that I’d rather forget. Also inhabiting the bottom space are Belarus, Spain, France, the UK, Israel, and Russia. If I had to pick the worst of the worst, I would go with Belgium, but the Netherlands, Belarus, Spain, France, Israel and Russia are right behind them. The UK is marginally better, but barely.

8 comments to Eurovision Week!

  • I can’t beliiiiiiiieve I planned vacation during Eurovision. Maybe I can convince my friends we all want to watch it in Scotland. But then again that seems kind of sad, spending vacation watching TV…argh! Damn!
    I always like the French song! 🙂 Always being the last two years, anyway. I’m going to watch tonight and not listen online until I find out which ones I’m going to miss.

  • J

    I’ve never seen it before, but might give it a shot. I’ve heard it’s awful, but people still love it.

  • J

    ok, I watched it and I voted (I might as well go all the way). Notes on my blog tomorrow.

  • Ooh, I can’t wait to see who J voted for. Did you vote, Adam?
    We were down to Armenia, Turkey, and Portugal. Turkey was quickly eliminated because they don’t need our help thanks to their enormous diaspora. Then we chose Portugal because we thought they had less of a chance and needed it more.

  • Where was the love for Bulgaria? They brought out a countertenor, huge hair and dancers on stilts! They were robbed.

  • Jul

    You forgot to mention that Dita von Teese will be augmenting the German stage show. How can that be anything but fabulous?

  • i can’t celebrate with u, this years eurovision sing-song-thingy, because i got performance somewhere in the south west of germany.

  • @CN: I ended up not voting in this round. I decided that I would wait until Saturday to cast meaningful votes… You can watch Graham Norton’s commentary on the BBC. I hope its good commentary and I hope you will let me know how it goes..

    @J: Keep watching. Two more nights of fun!

    @Sarah… I didn’t want them through…

    @Jul: Because Germany’s song sucks.

    @Anki: I will miss you, but I hope you have a great performance…