We're shattered that Eurovision is over for another year, and it's lucky we had an extra long weekend so we could get over the disappointment of geriatric rapper 75 Cents and his crew not winning.
We did predict, though, that good-looking Russian candidate Dima Bilan had a good chance, and now we wish we'd put some money on it: He and his nation raced away with a more than 40 point victory over Ukraine.
We're also a bit disappointed that the Latvian entry slipped under our radar until grand final night, because we would have liked to show them some support. For reasons surely known only to them, they entered a pirate song! And we loved it. Roll on Eurovision 2009. We'll see ya in Moscow.
The excitement of Eurovision, coming out of Belgrade this year, is coming to climax tomorrow: The semi-finals are all over and we know that quite a few of our favorites have bitten the dust.
We were keen on the invented-language magic of Belgium, but the band Ishtar got knocked out. We've also made no secret of our crush on Ireland's turkey; he didn't make it either.
Depending on who you listen to, the favorites might now be Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli who's singing a song called "Hero," or it might be a 75-year-old Croatian rapper. The French are probably hoping, though, that their electro-pop singer doesn't win because it's a national scandal that he's singing in English.
We're of course behind the geriatric rapper 75 Cents. (Real name!)
The semi-finals for oddly captivating song contest Eurovision happen tonight in Belgrade, and Belgian group Ishtar will be doing their track "O Julissi." Written in a made up language, composer Michel Vangheluwe says it was inspired by the happiness of childhood. But we suspect the song might have more than a little something to do with the constant tension between his homeland's French- and Flemish-speaking halves.
On the eve of his group's performance, Vangheluwe told the BBC:
Language nowadays can be a political issue, but it shouldn't. Music is something that brings people together and whatever language you sing in, you get the message and that's the most important thing.
As it happens, "O Julissi" isn't the first contest song featuring invented language. In 2003, another Belgian act, Urban Trad, took second place with "Sanomi." Check out that video after the jump.
The weirdness that is the Eurovision Song Contest is almost upon us. On Tuesday, the first semi-final will run, and the second one follows on Thursday, when the list of the 25 finalist countries will be ready.
The big event itself is on Saturday May 24, and if it's not screening on a TV near you, don't panic because you can watch online. And if you're living or vacationing in Europe, you can take part in the voting, too.
Eurovision--the contest that brought us ABBA--is full of controversy this year. You can't vote for your own country, but many believe some neighboring countries vote for each other regardless of the quality of the song, so this year they've split these neighbors over the two semi-finals to help fix this problem.
There's also the question of whether some nations are taking the contest seriously or not. While Russia is sending its serious singing sweetheart Dima Bilan, pictured, Ireland is sending a turkey. For us viewers, it's simply serious fun, so don't forget to tune in and see the Bosnian singer who takes his chicken on stage.
With less than a month to go until the big weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest, we hope you've got your tickets booked to Belgrade for May 24. We've got a real soft spot for Ireland's Dustin the Turkey (who's made it to the semi-finals), but nearly any of the semi-serious, semi-novelty acts could be the champion--depending on how incestuous the votes from neighboring countries turn out to be.
No matter which song wins, Serbia's capital Belgrade will be the big winner, with a heap of people realizing it might be a nice place to visit. They're going all out to impress with a record 70 tons of lighting and sound equipment at Belgrade Arena, and to finish off the evening there'll be an "incredible pyrotechnic surprise." Dustin the Turkey exploding? We'll soon find out!
We wish we could time a trip to Europe each year to the various cities that play host to the quirky Eurovision song contest. The Serbian capital of Belgrade will host the 2008 Eurovision contest in May--the grand finale happens on May 24.
In the lead-up to Eurovision, individual European countries have been holding their own finals over the past couple of weeks, and they've produced some, well, interesting results. With Azerbaijan competing for the first time, their winning representatives Elnur and Samir went somewhat over the top in pledging to help the world if they win in Belgrade--Elnur even promised to adopt a child if he's crowned Eurovision king.
On the opposite side of Europe, former British garbage collector Andy Abraham won the right to represent Britain at Eurovision, and is determined to rescue Britain from its position as Eurovision laughing stock. And Finland is looking to repeat its 2006 victory by sending freaky metal act Teräsbetoni to Belgrade to do the soon-to-be-smash hit Missä Miehet Ratsastaa.
Ah, Eurovision. Such a quirky invention, and the world might not have ABBA if it wasn't for the quirky contest. The 2008 Eurovision scene is starting to heat up, with the semi-final allocations taking place last month. This year's Eurovision will be held in Belgrade with 43 competing nations: San Marino and Azerbaijan are new, but Austria's decided to pull out because they reckon the whole thing's unfair.
And unfair it probably is, but we just love seeing the weird things that countries vote as their best song. In Ireland at the moment, one of the frontrunner candidates is a turkey. Unfortunately not a live turkey that they've taught to sing--that would actually be cool--but this sad looking puppet instead. His name is Dustin and he's from a kid's TV program, and he's our secret tip to be a Eurovision finalist this year. Watch this space.
When a Serbian does something, they do it properly: whether it's using a string of taxis to propose marriage or finding a great way to protect their car.
But sometimes it backfires. In Belgrade a penny-pinching man decided leaving a 6-foot snake inside his Merc would be cheaper than buying a car alarm. This seemed to work well--at least, the car wasn't stolen--until the snake found its way out of the car into the engine, and our stingy guy called the police for help. They promptly arrested him for public endangerment.
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by amandak
