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Community => The Space Tavern => Topic started by: The GrimSqueaker on May 14, 2022, 07:13:51 PM
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Well, bugger me. Actually got to see it this year. Not a surprise win as the contest has always been political but in that the UK not only got points but also most of them.
Moldova got robbed though. Obviously the best. :)
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It was a strange and rather surreal contest for obvious reasons. The best songs of the night were Laura Pausini's acapella version of Volante (the 1958 Italian entry) and Gigliola Cinquetti reprising her 1964 winning entry Non ho l'età. Most of the entries in the actual contest were just average and it was no surprise at all that Ukraine won the public vote so dramatically. For once in the last few years, I predicted the winner before any of the songs were even performed in Torino.
As has often been the case in the last few years I felt frustrated because the best song did not win. That said, it was a contest like no other and the current political situation and war meant that any result other than a Ukrainian victory was very unlikely. The UK finishing second was a surprise, but to be fair it was their best entry for many years. It wasn't really good enough to finish second, but then there were no songs that really stood out in terms of the actualy vocal performances or lyrics. The staging was certainly memorable in many cases, but I still believe that it's a song contest, and on that aspect of the competition, it was a disappointing night.
The interludes between the acts depicting the splendour of Italy were beautiful and the contest itself looked as stunning as ever. The fact that I would have preferred to listen to Laura Pausini perform all her hits though says it all. Let's hope for better songs next year.
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Not gonna lie i did not watch it.
But for you guy's watching it. Why are you watching it?
I don't want to sound like an rather unsavoury chap, what-ho old bean? to much, but I feel like the very concept of this show at least in the name, feels lost to me. The name is euro vision, as in it's in Europe and it's visual right? Why do I feel like then, that most of the time the performing artist, if we can even call all of them that, seem to completely forgo the visual part of the exercise?
Also it's way to political i feel these days.
Genuinely, what do you guy's find intresting with this show?
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Well, it's called Eurovision because it's run by the European Broadcasting Association, and any country that's a part of that association, even if they're not in Europe, can join. I mean, I do find it a bit lolworthy to have Australia there, and it's always worth a joke or two, but strictly speaking it's a private organization inviting its members, not some sort of public function.
As for the visual part, I'm not sure what you mean. I didn't watch this year, but those years I've watched there have always been a bunch of weird stage performances inbetween various more conventional ballad singers or whatever.
On another note, for a lot of people, I think it's simply traditional, it's comfortable, and I know a bunch of people either watch it as a family, or host watch parties. And then there's the competitive aspect of course. Which has always been political, it's inevitable.
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In addition to the points that Sir_Godspeed has made, it's also about being united in diversity, promoting coming together, and celebrating different nationalities and cultures all participating in something that is about much more than just singing and dancing. It really is quite a spectacle and there is a lot of depth to it that can be easily overlooked.
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I watch it for the pageantry. Many of the performances are balls to the grindstone insane and sometimes have no relevancy to the actual song at all. For instance, one performance this year had a the mostly expressionless singer wash her hands while being surrounded by monks. A song about physical and mental health. The hosts are often a lot of fun all on their own. Not so much this year but other years have been great sport. Johnny Weir was the US broadcast host this year and you could say he's somewhat flamboyant. I'd like to see him do more of it as he and the studio crew were clearly having a lot of fun.
Love, Love, Peace, Peace - Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede create the perfect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv6tgnx6jTQ)
As I said in the OP, it's *always* been political.