Concours de la chanson...encore
Apr. 1st, 2005 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbc[Ouais, ouais je sais, «quel idiot ça gars-là pis faut fermer sa gueule...eurovision, eurovision, c'est plat ça»]
Non, c'est pas plat, c'est magique! D'accord? D'accord! Alors, on y va . . .
Years ago countries tried to use a secret weapon gimmick or schtick to win Eurovision. Some memorable ones have included Sandy Shaw (UK) singing "Puppet on a String" like...a puppet on a string. But barefoot. Aw! (winner); ABBA (Sweden) sang in Swedish until the actual show, where they switched to English (winner); Bucks Fizz (UK) had the 2 guys stripping mini-skirts off the 2 gals (winner); Sandra Kim (Belgium) claimed to be 15, was only 13 and looked 9 (winner); and, The Herreys (Sweden) wore tacky, comical, smurfesque golden slipper (winner).
But lately the surprise is no longer an option: they tape the final dress rehearsal and have it running concurrently. If anyone does anything different, they cut to the tape. A couple of years ago t.A.t.U. managed to miss the dress rehearsal and we all expected them to do something realy outrageous during the live broadcast. Unless you call singing off-key outrageous they sorely disappointed.
With the internet, and the hundreds (yes, I said hundreds) of press who attend the week of rehearsals, there's no room for any big surprises. But by the time folks get to the actual contest, there's little wiggle room in the face of someone else's better-than-yours package. You can't change the mix of the song, you can't change the folks on stage. You can re-choreograph, but if you've spent months on your act, it's a steep slope and the odds of getting something new that is so good--and can be learned quickly--not very big. In 2002 TV viewers were shocked when Ira Losco (Malta) reached down into her gown--to pull out a handfull of sparkle. Whew!
The last 2 contests have been won by established performers, seasoned pros, but each used a schtick. In 2003 Turkey's Sertab Erener wedged a rap into "Every Way That I Can". Yes she belly-danced, but she arguable won the trophy when she got all fierce on us. And last year Ukraine's Ruslana made 6 people look like 100 with her S/M-tinged "Wild Dances". It need be said, however, that both women are excellent, really really good singers and live performers. *snap*
Nowadays, instead of secrecy, the game is about advance promotion. BBC might not give advance air time to 20 unknown performers from across Europe, but most of the smaller ESC participant broadcasters will. So this month and next at least half the singers will be on the road, doing gigs and (mos importantly) radio and TV appearances. It's remarkably effective: Slovenia may have 1/10 of the population of the UK, but they give the same 12 points. And a lot of the...uh, less travelled...corners of Europe appreciate the attention.
And the internet is key: it's now normal to be able to download legal versions of all the songs, depending how enterprising (no![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
querrelle it's not obsessive, just ask zurcherart or aadroma or iberianbear) one is. Though about half will have a remixed version for the show.
But what isn't clear is how important the preview videos are. Yes, each country must prepare and submit a preview video for the song. A lot of countries just use a taped performance, but others go all out. Last year Ruslana's video was MTV quality in scope and most folks thought she couldn't replicate that effect on stage with 6 people (she did). Sertab's 2003 video was professional but not special, and gave no sense of what her actual performance would look like. This year, among the preview videos for Bosnia & Hercegovina and Iceland are clearly tops. But there are clearly a lot of really good singers this year...question is, how will they make themselves stand out in comparison to one another?
Non, c'est pas plat, c'est magique! D'accord? D'accord! Alors, on y va . . .
Years ago countries tried to use a secret weapon gimmick or schtick to win Eurovision. Some memorable ones have included Sandy Shaw (UK) singing "Puppet on a String" like...a puppet on a string. But barefoot. Aw! (winner); ABBA (Sweden) sang in Swedish until the actual show, where they switched to English (winner); Bucks Fizz (UK) had the 2 guys stripping mini-skirts off the 2 gals (winner); Sandra Kim (Belgium) claimed to be 15, was only 13 and looked 9 (winner); and, The Herreys (Sweden) wore tacky, comical, smurfesque golden slipper (winner).
But lately the surprise is no longer an option: they tape the final dress rehearsal and have it running concurrently. If anyone does anything different, they cut to the tape. A couple of years ago t.A.t.U. managed to miss the dress rehearsal and we all expected them to do something realy outrageous during the live broadcast. Unless you call singing off-key outrageous they sorely disappointed.
With the internet, and the hundreds (yes, I said hundreds) of press who attend the week of rehearsals, there's no room for any big surprises. But by the time folks get to the actual contest, there's little wiggle room in the face of someone else's better-than-yours package. You can't change the mix of the song, you can't change the folks on stage. You can re-choreograph, but if you've spent months on your act, it's a steep slope and the odds of getting something new that is so good--and can be learned quickly--not very big. In 2002 TV viewers were shocked when Ira Losco (Malta) reached down into her gown--to pull out a handfull of sparkle. Whew!
The last 2 contests have been won by established performers, seasoned pros, but each used a schtick. In 2003 Turkey's Sertab Erener wedged a rap into "Every Way That I Can". Yes she belly-danced, but she arguable won the trophy when she got all fierce on us. And last year Ukraine's Ruslana made 6 people look like 100 with her S/M-tinged "Wild Dances". It need be said, however, that both women are excellent, really really good singers and live performers. *snap*
Nowadays, instead of secrecy, the game is about advance promotion. BBC might not give advance air time to 20 unknown performers from across Europe, but most of the smaller ESC participant broadcasters will. So this month and next at least half the singers will be on the road, doing gigs and (mos importantly) radio and TV appearances. It's remarkably effective: Slovenia may have 1/10 of the population of the UK, but they give the same 12 points. And a lot of the...uh, less travelled...corners of Europe appreciate the attention.
And the internet is key: it's now normal to be able to download legal versions of all the songs, depending how enterprising (no
querrelle it's not obsessive, just ask zurcherart or aadroma or iberianbear) one is. Though about half will have a remixed version for the show.But what isn't clear is how important the preview videos are. Yes, each country must prepare and submit a preview video for the song. A lot of countries just use a taped performance, but others go all out. Last year Ruslana's video was MTV quality in scope and most folks thought she couldn't replicate that effect on stage with 6 people (she did). Sertab's 2003 video was professional but not special, and gave no sense of what her actual performance would look like. This year, among the preview videos for Bosnia & Hercegovina and Iceland are clearly tops. But there are clearly a lot of really good singers this year...question is, how will they make themselves stand out in comparison to one another?
