In just under a month we again will see on our television screens the terrible horrors of who's friends with who in Europe masquerading as the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest over the years has produced such talents as Abba and Bucks Fizz and also some downright shockers who have never ever been heard from again.
One of the notable things about Eurovision isn't the songs themselves but the bit at the end where they tally up the votes. Points are awarded on a country by country basis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 to every country except their own. Controversy ensues every year when as if almost by magic and irrespective of song quality, nations give their friends "douze point" - without fail we'll see Island give Danmark 12 and Allemagne do the same for Pologne. What's even worse isn't so much the countries with the televote (where people ring in or SMS their votes) but those still with the almost iron curtain panel.
I hope that SBS gives us the BBC feed, for more famous than the songs themselves is probably the BBC's finest advocate of European affairs (cough cough) Terry Wogan. We all remember in 2002 when Marija Naumova had the song "I wanna" and we heard Terry singing in the voiceover in the final performance but adding "drink" to the end. Wogan's quips about how rigged the competition is are famous and it's worth just watching the show just to hear his yearly whinge.
For those who want to hear the contest live, it starts at 8pm BST (5am in Sydney) and can be heard via the web on Radio 2 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 Let's just hope that the UK doesn't suffer the embarassment of 2003 and get "nil point".
Long may Europe be divided and united by music. In my book (and the results of my own televote) the competition gets douze point
1 comment:
Woo hoo!! Eurovision!! I have last year's soundtrack. I know most of the words too.
Scared yet?
Post a Comment