Wie heben a (Eurovision) party
May. 21st, 2006 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcI have been forced to fill my husband's absence with forced frivolity. Watching the Eurovision with friends. My second Eurovion party--and the first using a webcast.
I wasn't sure how many I'd get, and realistically most knew little about the event, so I went with La partie d'Eurovision légère. It was a pot luck (but not necessarily euro food), and we did have scorecards and ballots. And there was even a wee door prize for the balloting for the Vancouver Jury.
I had piloted the webstream on Thursday and it worked like a charm. I even demo'd it to 2 friends the next day and they agreed the quality was super. And I even logged onto the stream 2 hours early, and it was fine (with the test pattern and then an empty scorecard. So of course when we switched to the stream there was no sound. Beautiful picture, flawless video, no sound. Mauditkrisssestietabarnouchefuckshit!
So we switched to the Slovene feed, which was pretty good but did crap out on us from time to time. We had the Romanian stream running on a backup machine, but it was dicier. Somehow we didn't the Swedish song at all...but we saw enough and heard enough to get a sense of it. The highlight of course was me singing like Anna Vissi during her spazz fest...and now I'd not seen her sing before, I just knew she'd be a thrasher. And if she had worn a proper dress she probably would have ranked higher than 9th. Probably. OK, maybe.
By the end of the broadcast everyone "got" the fabulousness. They appreciated the good songs, the horrible, got right into trashing the bad costumes, and learned about "Eurovision by the numbers." For a room of newbies (excepting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pythagorarse and Winnie) it was a great year to be initiated. A country with only 2 possible allies (Sweden and Estonia, though neither has supported them with consistent votes), won with a song unlike anything heard--or seen--ever at the Eurovision.
Congratulations Finland and Lordi
Finland waited 45 years for their first win--their first time in the top 5 actually--and it was a convincing one. All but 2 countries gave them points, and every region ranked them in the top 3. Scandinavia largely ignores Finland, but Lordi swept them with 4 douze points: Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.. Half of Europe had them in the top 3--that's of 37 other voting countries. They're only the third band to win (Riva 1989 and Katrina & the Waves 1997).
I was pleased Ireland did so well (10th) with such a so-so song: here's hoping next year they get another great singer, but with a better song. It was difficult to watch Fabrizio totally choke for Malta--I love Malta--and get a single point. But I was glad that dross like Switzerland were mostly ignored. I feel badly for the UK because to them it was something new and fresh, and to the rest of Europe it looked like a white guy doing rap music with a bunch of school girls. And I still think Bosnia was a total rip of Serbia 2004 (well same dude wrote that one, but the staging was pinched as well). Though how can anyone begrudge Bosnia doing well?
Won't be going to Helsinki. I've been before and it was fine. I want to attend Eurovision somewhere I'd like to visit. Ljubliana, Sarajevo, Talinn, Dublin, Lisbon, Bucharest, even Valletta would be great.
Or Reykjavik. *sniff*
I wasn't sure how many I'd get, and realistically most knew little about the event, so I went with La partie d'Eurovision légère. It was a pot luck (but not necessarily euro food), and we did have scorecards and ballots. And there was even a wee door prize for the balloting for the Vancouver Jury.
I had piloted the webstream on Thursday and it worked like a charm. I even demo'd it to 2 friends the next day and they agreed the quality was super. And I even logged onto the stream 2 hours early, and it was fine (with the test pattern and then an empty scorecard. So of course when we switched to the stream there was no sound. Beautiful picture, flawless video, no sound. Mauditkrisssestietabarnouchefuckshit!
So we switched to the Slovene feed, which was pretty good but did crap out on us from time to time. We had the Romanian stream running on a backup machine, but it was dicier. Somehow we didn't the Swedish song at all...but we saw enough and heard enough to get a sense of it. The highlight of course was me singing like Anna Vissi during her spazz fest...and now I'd not seen her sing before, I just knew she'd be a thrasher. And if she had worn a proper dress she probably would have ranked higher than 9th. Probably. OK, maybe.
By the end of the broadcast everyone "got" the fabulousness. They appreciated the good songs, the horrible, got right into trashing the bad costumes, and learned about "Eurovision by the numbers." For a room of newbies (excepting
pythagorarse and Winnie) it was a great year to be initiated. A country with only 2 possible allies (Sweden and Estonia, though neither has supported them with consistent votes), won with a song unlike anything heard--or seen--ever at the Eurovision.Congratulations Finland and Lordi
Finland waited 45 years for their first win--their first time in the top 5 actually--and it was a convincing one. All but 2 countries gave them points, and every region ranked them in the top 3. Scandinavia largely ignores Finland, but Lordi swept them with 4 douze points: Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.. Half of Europe had them in the top 3--that's of 37 other voting countries. They're only the third band to win (Riva 1989 and Katrina & the Waves 1997).
I was pleased Ireland did so well (10th) with such a so-so song: here's hoping next year they get another great singer, but with a better song. It was difficult to watch Fabrizio totally choke for Malta--I love Malta--and get a single point. But I was glad that dross like Switzerland were mostly ignored. I feel badly for the UK because to them it was something new and fresh, and to the rest of Europe it looked like a white guy doing rap music with a bunch of school girls. And I still think Bosnia was a total rip of Serbia 2004 (well same dude wrote that one, but the staging was pinched as well). Though how can anyone begrudge Bosnia doing well?
Won't be going to Helsinki. I've been before and it was fine. I want to attend Eurovision somewhere I'd like to visit. Ljubliana, Sarajevo, Talinn, Dublin, Lisbon, Bucharest, even Valletta would be great.
Or Reykjavik. *sniff*
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 04:47 am (UTC)I am stunned, and not in an altogether blissfully enchanted sort of manner...
Back to Stockholm to mull this one over ...
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Date: 2006-05-22 05:46 am (UTC)Did you get to see how the Dutch vote presenter (who is gay) tried to pick Sakis Rouvas up there during the voting? I thought it was very funny (and gay!)
As a side note, I have the strong feeling that Brian Kennedy would be the hottest thing on earth if he grew a beard.
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Date: 2006-05-22 05:51 am (UTC)You know Brian's gay right? I saw him on the street in Dublin once...very handsome and intense-looking. In that great black Oirish way.
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Date: 2006-05-22 06:09 am (UTC)Dutch Presenter: Sakis, do you want my number now or later..!??
Sakis: ehmm... Give it to me now
DP: ok! It's 00 31 xxxxxxx (I guess he made it up)
Brian Kennedy gay!?? We have to recruit him into the bear troops!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 06:32 am (UTC)Do ABBA and Teach-In not count as “bands”? All right, ABBA is borderline, but Teach-In was a woman fronting a group of male instrumentalists. That equals “band” in my book.
I guess my predictions weren’t so off, as two of the three acts I predicted would finish in the top three of the final (Finland and Bosnia) did indeed finish in the top 3. I wasn’t surprised by Russia doing so well as by Sweden not doing as well as thought they would. Carola has a built-in fan-base and “Invincible” is the sort of thing that generally does well. Perhaps the televoters thought what I did, that it was a little too calculated and contrived.
More likely Sweden was rather forced out by the legions of folks who don’t normally watch Eurovision tuning in to see one and only one act.
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Date: 2006-05-22 06:41 am (UTC)Good ole Carrrrrola, long may she rest. She's no Johnny Logan!
;)
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Date: 2006-05-22 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 06:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 08:42 am (UTC)Actually, I think the song that most surprised me being in the book was “Potato’s In The Paddy Wagon” by the New Main Street Singers.
That’s right, a song from A Mighty Wind!
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Date: 2006-05-22 09:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 09:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-23 01:24 am (UTC)I never thought I'd live to see the day that FINLAND would freakin' win Eurovision. Seriously.