Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Post by **Edi** » 2005-05-20 03:25pm

Has anybody bothered to keep an eye on this years Eurovision contest? The finals are tomorrow, the semifinals were yesterday.

Looks to be the all time worst showing this year, the 50th anniversary of the contest, and that's saying something given how horrible it has been so very often. I watched the semifinals from tape, and by damn, it looks like the only places that have contestants with good songs are Eastern Europe and the Balkans. And that's several years in a row right now.

So, if you have bothered to watch, who is your favorite? I've liked Belgium's song this year, as well as Romania, Israel, Macedonia and Norway. And Moldova deserves a high ranking just for the sheer cheek in picking the song they did. I wish Andorra hadn't failed in the semis, they had a good song this year, very impressive. It just happened to be in a language I didn't even recognize, might have been Catalan, Basque or something like that. But it was a good song, and the singer was very easy on the eyes as well.

Edi

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-05-20 03:44pm

Its all politics. The voting system is a joke. Probably the east europeans give eachother points so the winner will come out of one of those countries again

nobody like Belgium, so we're already out

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-05-20 03:48pm

At least I am satisfied that Romania made it into the finals

Perhaps I could take a look at it tomorrow evening.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2005-05-20 03:59pm

Goddamnit, you had to go and remind me that that horrible, horrible thing existed. (And with that I think I just answered the question in the OP

)

Post by **Edi** » 2005-05-20 04:03pm

wautd wrote:Its all politics. The voting system is a joke. Probably the east europeans give eachother points so the winner will come out of one of those countries again

I think it's more to do with the fact that countries in close proximity also tend to have similar tastes in music, and so they are more likely to vote for each other's songs. Aside from obvious cases like Cyprus and Greece that always give each other almost maximum points.

The biggest problem is that since the language rule change, the songs from all the long time participant countries have become carbon copies of the same bad pop theme. Add to that the fact that the selection processes inside the countries, usually being weighted toward a panel of judges who tend to be "professional" critics and other such useless twits who have no idea what the public likes, consistently pick utter shite based on some supposedly artistic merit. No wonder there have been some "surprise" upsets (yeah, BIG surprise

) in recent years.

The difference with the East Europeans and the Balkan countries is that their music is different from a lot of what Western Europe puts out, they aren't afraid to sing in their own languages which can be quite beautiful, and even when they do generic pop-themed songs, they usually have distinctly different eastern influenced elements in the background, so it sounds fresh and new. Besides, I happen to like a lot of the eastern style music, I've voted different Eastern European countries for three years running now.

wautd wrote:nobody like Belgium, so we're already out

Well, I have no reason to dislike Belgium, so it is entirely possible that I will vote for you tomorrow. My gf also liked your song best, so that's two votes down and a shitload more to go from Finland anyway...

Comoscius wrote:At least I am satisfied that Romania made it into the finals Perhaps I could take a look at it tomorrow evening.

Your singer had easily the most impressive voice of the lot yesterday, and the song itself wasn't half bad, so good luck, I think you will do pretty well tomorrow. I liked it anyway.

Edi

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-05-20 04:22pm

Belgium already went out today (semi finals)

not that i cared much this year anyway

Post by **Edi** » 2005-05-20 04:24pm

Ah, damn, I didn't pay that much attention. Will have to vote for somebody else then. Moldova is looking better and better as a candidate. Their song just HAS to be heard to be believed...

Edi

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-05-20 05:25pm

Edi wrote:Ah, damn, I didn't pay that much attention. Will have to vote for somebody else then. Moldova is looking better and better as a candidate. Their song just HAS to be heard to be believed...

Edi

You made me curious

I am pretty satisfied with the song Romania came this year, featuring one of the most original bands in Romanian showbiz: "System" - a percution band that use all types of barrels and containters instead of drums.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2005-05-21 10:32am

I am happy as long as Sweden loses.

I hate that fucking Lasvegas song.

WTH is the connection betveen Europe and Sweden and LasVegas???

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2005-05-21 12:48pm

I usually skip the horrid singing part and watch the part afterwards, always cheering if Germany gets no points

salm · Post by **salm** » 2005-05-21 02:02pm

So, did Germany make it to the finals?

Post by **Edi** » 2005-05-21 06:20pm

Yes, by virtue of being one of the biggest financiers. Their song was pure crap though. The same could actually be said of almost all the songs this year, usually there at least a couple of good ones but this time around they were all utterly forgettable.

Results just in, Greece won by a big margin, Malta, Romania and Israel were some of the other top contenders. Sweden got almost nothing and Germany was last or second to last. Not that I actually give a shit, not this year.

Edi

Jawawithagun · Post by **Jawawithagun** » 2005-05-21 06:37pm

Well, and Germany ended up at the bottom of the whole pile, together with France, the UK and Spain, all of the Big Four.

Oh yes, and Greece won *yawn*

The voting process seems to be by popular vote now all around as it seems.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2005-05-21 07:14pm

Hehehe ... we're Number 1 ... honestly though, we got 12 from UK, Germany and Sweden ... come on man the Anglo-Saxon vote and the Nordic vote

I'm happy, people are beeping on the streets, and of course the news channels will be covering Helena for the next week or so ...

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2005-05-21 07:16pm

salm wrote:So, did Germany make it to the finals?

Germany always is in and never has to run through finals, as we're one of the founding members or somesuch...

salm · Post by **salm** » 2005-05-21 10:23pm

Dahak wrote:
salm wrote:So, did Germany make it to the finals?
Germany always is in and never has to run through finals, as we're one of the founding members or somesuch...

Ah cool, we rule.

Post by **Edi** » 2005-05-22 02:39am

Crown wrote:Hehehe ... we're Number 1 ... honestly though, we got 12 from UK, Germany and Sweden ... come on man the Anglo-Saxon vote and the Nordic vote

I'm happy, people are beeping on the streets, and of course the news channels will be covering Helena for the next week or so ...

And I just can't understand why you did win. *puzzled*

Honestly, the Greek song this year was crap, though not as bad as last year (and they still did well then, but at least that one was somewhat more memorable). Utterly forgettable. Of course, the same could be said of almost every other song as well. I heard the song just last night, and I can't recall the melody, the words or anything other than that the singer looked somewhat like Jennifer Lopez. This year was the most pathetic showing overall in at least six years.

Edi

Post by **fgalkin** » 2005-05-22 03:09am

Hey, both Podloskaya and Zdob si Zdub made it to the finals. Cool

have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-05-22 04:27am

fgalkin wrote:Hey, both Podloskaya and Zdob si Zdub made it to the finals. Cool

have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

I think that the granny beating the drum made a good impression for Zdob si Zdup

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2005-05-22 05:42am

A friend and I came to the conclusion that it must, somehow, be a requirement for male singers to be flamingly gay or at least pretend to be....

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2005-05-22 06:52am

Heheh. Look at the silly Europeans celebrating their cultural independence.

Get back in line for those Britney Spears albums, maggots!

salm · Post by **salm** » 2005-05-22 05:48pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Heheh. Look at the silly Europeans celebrating their cultural independence.

Get back in line for those Britney Spears albums, maggots!

I´d wager that Britney Spears has more braincells than the average contender of the Eurovision.