Eurovision Song Contest

Started by SugarShane, May 17, 2009, 12:30:22 PM

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SugarShane

I guess you Americans don't know what you’re missing out on in this annual European musical extravaganza.  Norway's song thrashed everyone else’s and is apparently going to make it big in America, hm we'll see.

Alexander Rybak - Fairytale (2009 Eurovision Song Contest Wi
Why didn't Germany win? I promise it wasn’t my favourite because of the dancing girls, those girls deserved better than 20th.
Eurovision Songcontest 2009 GERMANY ! alex swings oscar sings! miss kiss kiss bang + lyrics
Finally what the heck was that interval?  Worth a look if you like seeing scantily clad women, swimming/crashing in two see thru/plastic pools of emptying water 50-60 feet in the air above thousands of people while lowering(!)  Damn I want to see that in person.
Eurovision 2009 - Final - Interval Act - Fuerza Bruta
SugarShane - 492nd 459th in the world rankings of light welterweight boxers. Up 31 places without a fight. heh.

Chevalier des Poissons

OH, I SAW THAT!!!

Damn, I envy my cousin so much right now. I wanted to go to the festival, but I didn't had the opportunity (aka money).
-I have Maro's heart, and I promise to take good care of it-

A & A

Captain Maltese

Oh no. No....please. No more MGP now. I'm Norwegian. We've been knee deep in that stuff for months, and after WINNING....! Argh!

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Skye

#3
Haha! Fragile Dreams video streamed me the best of the contest yesterday!
I'm jealous! *Chuckles at the fact that they called the winner the "Singing Harry Potter"*
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Lithos

Oh my frigging god, eurovision is terrible

They should export it to USA, Australia, Africa or other backwater place and not torment people with it each year :(

There are some presentations that are fun cause they suck so much but thats about it quality wise.
There is no innocence, only layers upon layers of guilt
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Lilias

I absolutely love Eurovision. There's no way in hell I might miss the broadcast or not buy the CD. So there.

By the way, Lithos, the Finnish entry this year was fantastic. It deserved to do much better, but I can see it becoming a summer club hit.

And for our Trieste...

...the German entry, featuring Dita
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

SugarShane

My favourite Lilias.  The UK gave Germany 7 points, probably thanks to all those votes I made ;D
SugarShane - 492nd 459th in the world rankings of light welterweight boxers. Up 31 places without a fight. heh.

Lilias

I cheered for Greece (naturally), and my classically-trained husband insists it was still the best song. Estonia was good as well, despite lifting the basic theme directly off a Four Tops song - and nobody noticed!
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

Captain Maltese

Interesting fact? The MGP is THE annual program for the gay community, particularly here in Norway but also elsewhere in Europe. Not very surprising really; there's no other television program here with anything near as much glitter and sparks and frilly costumes and lavish makeup.

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Ridcully

And the lady who danced in the background on this "couch" during Germanys "contribution" is actually a well known professional stripper.

Yes. We desperately want to win. The last time we won was...1982? Nicole? "Ein bischen Frieden" :D

But, at least we had Guildo Horn...(skip the first minute)

Eurovision 1998 - Guildo Horn & Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe - Guildo hat euch lieb!

SugarShane

#10
What are your guys thoughts on the songs being sung in English?  When I was a teen German was still seen as an important language to learn, seems kinda sad that you obviously think you have a better chance of winning singing in English.
SugarShane - 492nd 459th in the world rankings of light welterweight boxers. Up 31 places without a fight. heh.

Ridcully

It's really kinda weird. I remember the German songs as well too (some of them still creep me out in my darkest nightmares :D). It was weird at first, now you're really used to it. A lot of new german popstars sing in English right from the beginning when they come out. Like, most popstar teeny bands, "stars" coming from German TV shows...it's just the time. A lot of kids here start learning English at third grade, and some even much earlier when their parents put them in classes to learn English at a very young age.

It's just part of the good old globalisation of the world.

Honestly, "German" is just not a nice language to learn for foreigners i think, but I am native German, so it's hard to judge but for trying to teach my ex-girlfriend (she was American) german. Though it's like uber-cute when Americans try to speak it :D

"Ok, listen: "Ich" means "I", okay? So: Ich. ICH."
"IK"
"No, no, "Ich""
"Ik. Ik."
"Noooo. Ich. With chhhhhh."
"Ik?"
"Yeah, you got it."

Lilias

I don't mind people choosing to sing in English. Some language cadences simply don't lend themselves to rhythms that would help push them higher up. Finland springs to mind - they'd been consistently sending great songs over the years, but the language sounded too weird to get many votes.

That said, I'm glad that several countries insist on singing in their native languages, at least partly. France and Spain do it out of national pride (and I happen to love both languages), and I miss Italy. Still, look at all the former Yugoslavian states that have been sweeping the board recently, in languages that nobody else understands but all seem to like.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

SugarShane

I was amazed at how many people spoke English during my trip to Germany during the World Cup. Germany is such a strange place with the old buildings in town centres and yet they have a good transport system (from my experience) and it wasn't uncommon to see modern vibrant buildings.

As for the German language, I gave up after my second lesson at school  ;D

Yeah France and Spain seem more attached to their languages, they are more widely spoken around the world (Africa, Cent/South America) than German I guess, good for them.  Don't get me started with the eastern countires success, they all voted for their neighbours which was a big help.
SugarShane - 492nd 459th in the world rankings of light welterweight boxers. Up 31 places without a fight. heh.

Lilias

What did you expect? It's not really political, it's cultural. They vote for what they find familiar. If you can't vote for your own superstar, vote for the one from just across the border, who is almost just as big. We do it in the West as well. Always have.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

SugarShane

#15
Quote from: Lilias on May 18, 2009, 06:07:11 PM
What did you expect? It's not really political, it's cultural. They vote for what they find familiar. If you can't vote for your own superstar, vote for the one from just across the border, who is almost just as big. We do it in the West as well. Always have.

Yeah I take your point, although it worked in their favour considering just how many of them there is.  The new system seems much fairer anyways and now judges are back, it's a song contest rather than a dance/bongo drums/gimmick contest.  Lordi anyone?  ;D

Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah - Eurovision final 2006
SugarShane - 492nd 459th in the world rankings of light welterweight boxers. Up 31 places without a fight. heh.

Dashenka

The songcontest is no longer just about the song and the countries from the West should accept that in stead of whining every year when they send in a dreadful song and loose again. Why is 'our' fault (Eastern Europe) that you (Western Europe) don't understand how Eurovision works.

As for the political or cultural votes of the former Yugoslavian countries... we had five Scandinavian countries this year and guess who finished first and second. Norway was awefull and Iceland should have won but what I'm trying to say is that Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland all send their 10 and 12 points to the 'neighbours' too.

It's been like that for years now but nobody cares about that and flame at Eastern Europe because we tend to win.

So to all those people who are whining about the ESC not being fair: Wake up, stop whining and get your act together or just stop broadcasting it.
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Lilias

#17
Dashenka, that only continues with the 'us and them' attitude. Of course people are going to vote for their neighbours, but that's not all it takes. Otherwise Russia would have won every single time they were in, and before that, Germany. More neighbours, more votes, eh?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the contest is no longer just about the song'. Nobody here has said it is. We've all said there are political and cultural aspects to factor in. We've seen good and bad songs win, we've seen good and bad songs lose. We've seen, more often than not, the favourites lose - badly. If you can see a pattern, please explain it, because I can't. And that complete unpredictability is what has been making the contest more and more fascinating every year.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

Dashenka

As far as Scandinavia it is I think just neighbour votes. As for the former Yugoslavian countries, they vote for their own country, they simply live in the neighbouring country. For that same reason, Ukraine and Belarus almost always give their twelve points to Russia.

I think there is nothing wrong with that, it's the way things go. As for your last point. I haven't seen bad songs win. I think the previous winners all have been justified winners. They might not be the best but they were certainly among the best.

So the pattern is that people vote for their own countries but the winner is always one of the better songs. Norway wasn't my favorite but I can live with them being the winner.

The problem the Western countries, (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, UK, etc) make is that because of those votes, they end up in the bottom, while the true reason that they end up low, is simply because their acts aren't good enough because they stick too much to the 'old' ESC.

Basically what I'm saying is that I'm pretty tired of those countries mentioned before blaming Eastern Europe for their own incompetence and insulting us for 'friendship votes.' I can tell you one thing... Croatia and Serbia vote eachother but NOT because of friendship....
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Captain Maltese

When Norway was a biiiig favorite in Moscow, it certainly helped that the artist has a whiterussian mother and speaks Russian fairly well - I bet it came in very useful during interviews ;D

Being allowed to sing in English is a huge plus for the artists. Remember, they are ultimately artists who want to sell their music and there IS pretty much only one language you can sing in and hope to sell internationally.

*sniggers* the last time Norway won MGP, only english-language nations were allowed to sing in english. The UK, in other words. But our group was called 'Secret Garden', the melody 'Nocturne' and the text was extremely short. Oh, and we had violins ;D

Hey Dashenka *bows, smiling* pleased to meet a Russian here - for some reason our paths have apparently not crossed before that I can recall. Davai surpris!


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consortium11

One of the reasons malta, England and Ireland have traditionally done so well is that back when countries could only sing in their own language those three got to sing in English...

As for the competition itself it's fun for what it is. The drinking game was as enjoyable as ever and for the UK viewers Norton wasn't a terrible replacement for Wogan. Good fun with friends.

Stan'

Firstly, England don't enter the Eurovision (see my rant about the ignorance of people believing England = Scotland + Wales + England).

There's nothing wrong with neighbours giving each other top points?  It goes against the whole point of the competition.  So even if Ukraine has a crap song, and another artist is more deserving of the top points, it is okay for Russia to give them 12 points because they are "friends"?

The U.K. never wins because we are unpopular in Europe.  We are also fools, because we are one of the biggest contributors to funding the crap, which is the Eurovision Song Contest.

Dashenka

Ehm here is another HUGE misunderstanding....

Ukraine gives 12 points to Russia because there are  LOT of Russians living in Ukraine... and Ukraine gave 12 points to Russia this year because the Russian artist was Ukrainian..

Don't EVER say we are friends... because it would be a mild understatement if I say that Russia and Ukraine are NOT friends AT ALL...
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Andy

#23
Eurovision 1978 Denmark

I still say this is the most awesome Music from the Eurovision contest ever!

Demark made it as the 16 in the Eurovision contest 1978 :3


Crappy Translated Lyrics by me,

What's that there's wrong by me, i feel alittle odd.
I think it is a hangup or way too much smoking.
No you i never smoke, and drinking; not at all.
then it's very likely your fitness there's worse from what you think.

No i went to the doctor; and you know what he said?
That you should stop thinking about the questions of life today.
I laid down on the couch, and he examined me.
What happend then,
What did he say,
what's there with you?

It is all natural, the heart is pounding on, When you are in love with a girl.
If youre feeling heavy pounds, you easily loose your girp,
thats the true love thats knocking on the door, to your heart.
and and it goes boom boom and boom booming on,
that like a  thunder, inside my chest
Yeah it goes: boom boom and and throbbing on and on.
that pounding and throbbing day and night.

Now i can see, why youre walking around looking so pale.
Im glad to hear that, but what do you think thats coming?
It is big love, i known that from myself.
So you've had it just like me, Do tell, Do tell, Do tell!

And now for the real Danish Lyrics :3


Hvad er det der er galt med mig, jeg føler mig lidt sløj.
Jeg tror det er problemr eller alt for megen røg.
Nej du jeg ryger ikke, og drikker ikke spor.
Så er det nok din kondition der er værrer end du tror.

Nej jeg gik op til lægen, og ved du hvad han sagde.
At du sku' holde op med livet goder fra i dag
Jeg lagde mig på briksen, og han undersøgte mig.
Hvad skete der, hvad sagde han, hvad er der galt med dig.

Det er helt naturligt at hjerte hamrer løs, når man er forelsket i en pige.
Hvis man mærker kæmpeslag så blir' man let nervøs
Det er kærlighed der banker på inden i.
og det sigr' boom boom og boom boom
det føles som en torden her i mit bryst
og det sigr' boom boom og banker som besat.
det hamrer og banker dag og nat.

Nu kan jeg godt forstå hvorfor du går og er så bleg.
Det glæder mig, men sig mig hvad tror du der er på vej
Det er den store kærlighed jeg ved det fra mig selv.
Så du har hafte det lige som mig, fortæl fortæl fortæl.

Det er helt naturligt at hjerte hamrer løs, når man er forelsket i en pige.
Hvis man mærker kæmpeslag så blir' man let nervøs
Det er kærlighed der banker på inden i.
ja det sigr' boom boom og boom boom
det føles som en torden her i mit bryst
ja det sigr' boom boom og banker som besat.
det hamrer og banker dag og nat.

ja det sigr' boom boom og boom boom
det føles som en torden her i mit bryst
og det sigr' boom boom og banker som besat.
det hamrer og banker dag og nat.
Quote from: Oniya on November 15, 2012, 09:32:19 PM
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Lilias

Quote from: Stanmore' on May 30, 2009, 06:19:28 AM
The U.K. never wins because we are unpopular in Europe.  We are also fools, because we are one of the biggest contributors to funding the crap, which is the Eurovision Song Contest.

ESC winners by country:
7: Ireland
5: France, Luxembourg, UK
4: Netherlands, Sweden
3: Israel, Norway
2: Denmark, Italy, Spain, Switzerland
1: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Monaco, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Yugoslavia

So, the UK has done pretty damn well - 5 wins and 15 second places are nothing to sneeze at. It's just that, over the last decade, after the rules changed, automatic entry means no challenge, and they keep sending crap songs (coughJeminicoughScoochcough). Crap songs mean crap points, especially to a country that rules the European music scene. If the UK doesn't like its ratings, it can take the high road and pull out of the contest, like Italy has, though that would be a hard thing to live down.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI