Eurovision Song Competition 2011

Subject: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 01:30 PM

Unfortunately it is on tonight and my wife and daughter love it. Over the last few years I have managed to put a folk concert on when it is on. However tonight I will be at home from a medical point of view.

So I am going to get into the mood.

I think the Irish teenage twins Jedward will win. I know many people dislike them, but they do entertain :-)

I certainly do not like the Uk entry. I think the song that Blue are doing is very poor and deffo not up to their standard.

Who do you think will win?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 May 11 - 01:37 PM

I have German Salami, Polish Sausage, French Cheese, Spanish Tapas, Norweigian Roll-Mops, French Cheese, Irish Soda Bread, Italian Salami, Greek Olives, Belgian Waffles, French Wine and Danish Beer.

So I am on a winner right away :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 01:43 PM

Can I come and visit you Dave :-)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arnie
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:02 PM

One thing is for sure - tactical voting will ensure that the UK entry gets nowhere, whatever the merits of the song.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:10 PM

Of course you can, Arthur:-) We decided to make it a tradition years ago. It was best, in my opinion, when Wogan provided the commentry but Norton isn't too bad. One year in particular we managed to get drinks from around 17 of the entrant nations and toasted each song accordingly. I don't remember the end of that one!

:D tG

Subject: Eurosong Vision Competition 2011
From: GUEST,999
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:23 PM

Having read the thread entitled Eurovision Song Competition and a remark by one of the posters, I`m prompted to ask two things:

Does the contest mean anything to most UKers

Will you be swilled by the end of it

---

No go, 999. Can't have two current threads with the same title, so they got combined. Sorry 'bout dat.
-Joe Spoilsport-

Subject: RE: Eurosong Vision Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:35 PM

Yes it does so butt out and go back to the original thread.
From a UK err

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:36 PM

It's a great idea Dave. Do enjoy yourselves.

Subject: RE: Eurosong Vision Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:38 PM

No.

& No.

But I always watch it, for the same reason as I love Las Vegas: it's the Kitsch Capital Of The Universe.

But I don't gamble;

& I don't drink.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,999
Date: 14 May 11 - 02:47 PM

Of course you`re correct, Joe.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 03:09 PM

It's started.

I am missing Terry Wogan. When did he stop taking the mick out of it?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 14 May 11 - 04:41 PM

I never watch it - far too cool for that. Amyway I don't know where half of these countries are.

However, I love the irish dimension to this competition. The irish have made this their main contribution to world culture - dwarfing ireland's puny efforts in the fields of folk music, poetry, literature, and drama.

What's Another Year, The Rock and Roll Kids, Dustin the the talking turkey, Riverdance, My Little Horse, All Kinds of Everything (but nothing too mucky), Dana,,,,, Jedward!

They're just unbeatable...like the Germans at football. I bet they even practise taking penalties.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Reinhard
Date: 14 May 11 - 04:53 PM

I wondered about the acronym ESC that I saw nearly everywhere in the last days. Why was everyone talking about the escape key on my keyboard? But then I realised that the Eurovision Song Competition is just one more escape from reality.

(And Alan, us Germans aren't unbeatable at football. I don't see any silly German team in the Champions League finals; they got kicked out a long time ago.)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 May 11 - 04:54 PM

LOL Al

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 May 11 - 06:43 PM

Well, Emma & I were torn between Hungary & Spain ~~ both of whom came just about nowhere,

Who was the wise Frenchman who said the majority are always wrong?

~M~

But thank heaven anyway that boring fart Wogan with his smartarse would-be putdowns that put down no-one but himself has finally gone. Graham Norton such a cipher you don't even notice him.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 May 11 - 06:53 PM

Not the same without Terry Wogan. In my experience people who cry "boring" tend to exemplify it.

Most Eurovisions seem to contain one or two quite good entries which generally get nowhere. I don't think this year did. The UK entry was down to the usual standard.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Jeanie
Date: 14 May 11 - 08:20 PM

I voted for Italy - which came second. It's a great pity it didn't win, as I think it was head and shoulders above all the rest. I'd never heard of Raphael Gualazzi before & have been listening to lots of his music (jazz/blues) now on Youtube. This guy has *style* and I'm so glad that so many people had the good taste to vote for this kind of music - so very different from the run-of-the-mill Eurovision:
Raphael Gualazzi - 2nd in Eurovision

- jeanie (devoted Eurovision viewer since the days of Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson and Katie Boyle...)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 May 11 - 02:09 AM

Sorry I bore you McGrath ~ I generally find your posts quite interesting, so there you are.*

Re who one voted for ~~ I wouldn't dream of voting till all songs had been heard; then I got constant constant 'engaged' until they closed, so my endeavours to vote for Hungary were frustrated: something which has never happened to me before, & I go way back beyond Puppet On A String to about the beginning of the competition. Clearly fewer lines or more attempting voters than before. Hope the organisers get this as some sort of feedback to that effect & rectify such a situation in future.

~Michael~

*Or was it just a slightly smartarse attempt at rhetorical antithesis, McG?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 May 11 - 02:12 AM

Further to last post ~~ WHY are the phone lines open thruout? Surely anyone who votes as soon as they have heard a # they like without waiting to hear if there will be an even better one doesn't deserve a vote anyway?

What do others think on this point?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 15 May 11 - 03:49 AM

Art, democracy, TV "entertainment", and national rivalry are four distinct entities. They should never be mixed.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:03 AM

Well I got mine wrong, but at least right about Blue.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Allan Conn
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:35 AM

"Well I got mine wrong, but at least right about Blue." I watched with my wife and daughter who were baulking at the ex-Soviet and ex-Yugoslav states all giving each other the big points. I said "well you know the only way the UK is getting many max points is if Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland all had their own entries - now just watch we'll give Ireland 12 and they'll do the same". So of course we gave Ireland 12 as we always seems to do - then we only got 6 back in return. That was my theory shot down in flames :-)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: DMcG
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:37 AM

I was thinking about how innocuous most of the songs are and whether that met whatever the original brief was, so went off to Wiki to try to find out what that original concept was. I was amused to notice that in the table showing the history of the competion it has these captions:

Edition Finals date Year Broadcaster Venue City Countries Winner

'Winner' is the winning country. So the Wiki history includes things like the Venue (do people really care what hall it took place in?) but omits things like .. oh ... the name of the song and the singer.

"Unforgettable. That's what you aren't"

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: breezy
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:44 AM

so what chance was there of us hosting soccer's world cup ?

Foo fighters was a better option last night but even that became tedious

Then Cliff's World Tour !

if you watched it that was a waste of life-time, as was the cup final.

Please organise a folk concert next year

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: DMcG
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:46 AM

Nah, I vote now for getting the Demon Barbers to do the UK entry next year. Should be different, at least!

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Ernest
Date: 15 May 11 - 05:11 AM

One part of the outcome was quite predictable:

Certain countries (known as the "pigs") would not send a winner because they couldn`t afford hosting next years contest...*fg*

;0)
Ernest

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 15 May 11 - 05:42 AM

Ah that means the UK then

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 15 May 11 - 07:31 AM

Well, as i didn't get this in my mailbox till Sunday I speak with hindsight, surprise surprise some former eastern block obscure state won it. But the UK was clearly robbed by dodgy voting, out of the LAST place the UK entry was most qualified for, it was well down to their usual stantards. But given that everyone knows this contest is a fix, no one even bothers to pretend otherwise these days, WHY then does the BBC adverstise phone numbers to vote on! If that's not daft enough, thousands of otherwise normal people go and waste money phoning them!!?   We really need to introduce phone voting for Parliamentary elections, put a charge on them and you solve the economic crisis at the same

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Ernest
Date: 15 May 11 - 10:51 AM

Arthur, actually it is Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain - but same thing is probably true for all those countries which spent money to help the aforementioned... ;0)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Allan Conn
Date: 15 May 11 - 11:43 AM

And aren't the UK and Spain along with France and germany, the so called Big Four? That is we are guaranteed a place in the final because we contribute far more towards the running of the competition than the other nations. It is about time that stopped. What is the point of the BBC continuing to bankroll it when the voting is political anyway?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Ebor_Fiddler
Date: 15 May 11 - 12:23 PM

Does anybody know who won?

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 15 May 11 - 12:33 PM

Some unpronouncable state near Iran I think!!

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: David C. Carter
Date: 15 May 11 - 01:01 PM

Azerbaijan.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Commander Crabbe
Date: 15 May 11 - 01:05 PM

Azerbaijan

Apparently as an oil producer they are able to afford to host the next competion!!!!

CC

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: bubblyrat
Date: 15 May 11 - 01:55 PM

Load of crap anyway ; I haven't bothered with it much since Nana Mouskouri sang "Colouring Book " on it ( nice song , that ).

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 May 11 - 02:10 PM

buublyrat,i agree

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,BobL
Date: 15 May 11 - 04:57 PM

>>>Art, democracy, TV "entertainment", and national rivalry are four distinct entities<<<

Grishka, I make that five. But then I always made a distinction between TV and entertainment.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: SRD
Date: 15 May 11 - 05:54 PM

I reckon we ought to get Bellowhead to do next years.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 May 11 - 06:04 PM

I am just cheesed off that Moldova didn't win. What is there not to like about a bunch of head banging gnomes and pretty brunette on a unicycle?

DtG

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 15 May 11 - 07:02 PM

Bellowhead doing Boom Bang-a-Bang!. Then half way through they rip each others trousers off......

Yes, I can see how that might work!

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 15 May 11 - 07:15 PM

hey when was it on oh bugger missed the musical hioghlight of my year..
Thats about twenty times ont he trot that has happened to me..:-(

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 16 May 11 - 12:32 AM

Still time to get it on i-Player, Tim= ;~}

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Hamish
Date: 16 May 11 - 02:33 AM

Well... sorry to put in a good word, but I rather like the winning song. Also enjoyed the pure pop of the Romanian entry. But my top favourite was the Slovenian one. Compulsive! Great video, too: see www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision. (Didn't actually see the show, but listened on the radio to the second half whilst driving back from a gig.)

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 16 May 11 - 02:51 AM

I still went most for the Hungarian & my wife for the Spanish, neither of which got far. But we both agreed that the winning Azerbaijan one was one of the better entries, so the result was far from absurd ~~ and it did have the advantage of going to a state who will be well able to afford the staging of next year's!

~M~

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 May 11 - 08:01 AM

And on the Eurovision Song Contest website you can get all 43 songs,including the ones chucked out in the semi-finals. That's a special offer for musical masochists.

Just try the Belarus entry...

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 May 11 - 08:15 AM

And for something completely different, try the operatic French entry, sung in Corsican - far better in the video here than on the night, when something went wrong.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 16 May 11 - 08:18 AM

This show is not conducted on a level playing field!
The rule should be that the first time that the public hear the entries is during the actual performance.
I bet the winning entry has been blasting out over Eastern Europe for weeks before the actual show.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 May 11 - 08:48 AM

Of course the Eurovision website has all the videos there to be viewed well in advance.

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 16 May 11 - 09:06 AM

Quote from the BBC News website

"More than nine million viewers in the UK watched Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest, according to early estimates.

The audience peaked at 12.7m towards the end of the show as Azerbaijan won, while the average viewing figure for the three-hour broadcast was 9.5m.

This compared with 5.5m viewers in 2010"

Subject: RE: Eurovision Song Competition 2011
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 16 May 11 - 09:19 AM

'This show is not conducted on a level playing field!'

No its a television studio.