With all the hype about American Blah (oops meant to write Idol), no blog on a song contest can be without a mention of the song contest to end all song contests – Eurovision. Funny how Eurovision has not really become popular this side of the Atlantic, when the rest of the world is watching on tenterhooks to see who will take the prize this year.
A bit of background for those Eurovision virgins. The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Brodcasting Union and has been held every year since its inauguration in 1956. Each member country submits an artist and song in the contest and the decision is made by votes from the other countries. One of the more famous winners of the contest has been ABBA.
Sometimes we see the great, the good and the riduclous, however this is pure entertainment. There is no drawn out torturous procedure, like Idol, which relies on votes from the general public (God bless their little cotton sox), who generally seem to vote for who is cute and not on singing ability. While America is sitting down on their sofas, with a bowl of ice cream watching a sing off between two contestants, the rest of the world is hosting Eurovision parties, drinking champagne, watching a sing off between the best and sometimes the worst that Europe has to offer and hoping that their favourite wins.
Some of this year’s entries are below. Mind you I haven’t labeled them so as to protect the guilty, however savoir faire in some form or another is there! As you can see contestants dont just rely on musical ability to make an impression. Maybe American Idol could take a few pointers?
