Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 May 12 - 02:50 PM

Me too. I generally like Eastern European music.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:13 AM

Since the East Europeans started taking over Eurovision
there's at least 2 'songs' each year
I genuinely like.....

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Banjiman
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:04 AM

We had our own Euro thing going on at kirkby Fleetham Folk Club on Saturday night......

Flossie Malavialle (from France)
Sarah McQuaid (Spanish, Irish and American roots)
Wendy Arrowsmith (Scotland)

The winners........ the rather large audience (by our standards) who had avoided the drivel on the telly!

grand it was.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 30 May 12 - 09:35 AM

Englebert doesn't live in Market Harborough, he lives in Great Glen which is on the A6 south of Leicester. In a BIG house!

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: zozimus
Date: 30 May 12 - 04:32 AM

Fair play to Britain for trying to turn back the clock and enter a song and a real singer in the Eurovision farce. If you listened to it on radio, as in the old days, it would have stood out among the crap.
The only fun these days is to predict who will vote for who, regardless of performance, and congraulate yourself for getting it right.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: melodeonboy
Date: 29 May 12 - 06:18 PM

I thought the choice was quite in keeping with the "competition". Tat for tat!

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 29 May 12 - 10:50 AM

URL for a video of "the Russian grannies"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNRGc71hjc

I can see how they would have swept the audience off its feet. Somebody needs to remind the music biz that variety is the spice of life.

A technical note here - notice the shiny background with its blurry, flashing effects? I hate that kind of stuff. When I tell people I don't watch TV, they sometimes call me a snob, but I'm not a snob. My nervous system just hates things that flash.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 29 May 12 - 06:56 AM

Rusty Dobro, excellent idea re Roy Harper & Eurovision. He could sing "Have a Cigar" with his backing group.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 29 May 12 - 06:37 AM

Actually Engelbert is a hell of a singer - the verse for the last waltz is in the tenor range - the chorus baritone .

He sings in both ranges with complete authority.

Technically he can piss rings round most other singers - and I'm not even a fan. But I recognise talent.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 29 May 12 - 03:25 AM

Back in the '60's a friend of mine wrote a song for Eurovision: it made the shortlist for the last six and came out on a compilation EP - he made enough money from it to build a home studio. The song sounded like a direct steal from 'Fire and Rain', though.

Anyway, was Roy Harper not available for this year?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 28 May 12 - 11:30 PM

Anybody remember Kenneth MacKellar's "A Man Without Love" in the Eurovulsion years ago? Light operatic tenors usually don't fare so well in a pop song contest.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 May 12 - 06:15 PM

I was never a big fan of his first time round as Gerry or second as Englebert but the song itself wasn't too bad I suppose. Sounded a bit Cohen-esque to me.

As for anything by Kate Rusby or Seth Lakeman No, no and thousand times no! They are quite pleasant-ish in a eurovisuion sort of way but far from representative of UK culture. How about Jethro Tull? Or Status Quo - Both been going far lonfer that so many of the so called 'traditional' acts!

:D (tG)

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 May 12 - 06:01 PM

(Cheers, GSS.) It would have been good to hear the "postcards" we saw of Azerbaijani folk, yes?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 May 12 - 04:19 PM

Cricket? Is that a game or a joke?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 28 May 12 - 04:11 PM

The swedish entry is just another fucking disco throw away song.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,davemc
Date: 28 May 12 - 03:50 PM

"Who the **** cares? "

I do as I'm forced to pay for it through the telly tax.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 28 May 12 - 02:56 PM

Bring back Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson I say.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 May 12 - 02:53 PM

its good to hear from walkabout verse.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 28 May 12 - 02:49 PM

'ello, Will. Now then, don't you hold back, eh!.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Will Fly
Date: 28 May 12 - 02:35 PM

Au contraire - just read the thread in passing (out of curiosity) and was amazed at the interest in such a piece of televisual and musical trash. :-)

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 28 May 12 - 02:01 PM

Who the **** cares?

Well you clearly care enough to post to this thread, Will...

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Will Fly
Date: 28 May 12 - 01:53 PM

Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?

Who the **** cares?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Gail
Date: 28 May 12 - 01:01 PM

I've never been a fan of Engelbert Humperdink but he has a an international reputation and a long, successful career. So what really baffles me is, why did his managers let him risk all that so late in life when humiliation was almost certain?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Brian May
Date: 28 May 12 - 12:53 PM

"I'm with davemc, the BBC should pull out, and use the money saved to get back live cricket on terrestrial TV."

Gibsonboy - you get my vote

Englebert - sit down, give your Botox a rest and try very hard to resist idiots that encourage you out of your time - you had yours, give someone else a chance.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 May 12 - 12:53 PM

it is not my kind of music, but of its genre it was well performed, the guy can sing,he did not hit any bum notes and was very competent, not quite as good as roy orbison[ who is no longer with us]. well done gerry dorsey not bad for 76

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Gibsonboy
Date: 28 May 12 - 12:38 PM

It doesn't matter what is said about Engelbert good or bad, he will be there when someone chronicles the last fifty years of Pop Music. Unlike all the others who will have sunk without trace.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 May 12 - 12:20 PM

Although American, because we had someone from England in our workplace who had been a neighbor to the Dorsey's, and who described his development from a grease-covered teenager repairing an old car (some apparently thought he was lowering the quality of the neighborhood) into a musician, we sometimes listened to his singing and we liked it. I think we still have an old recording or two.

Adopting a neutral accent widens an audience. Many vocalists have had to do that.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Dave Illingworth
Date: 28 May 12 - 10:25 AM

Good to get the right spelling of Engelbert. Being an East Midlander
(now living in London), I have to say Market Harborough is a very nice place. And I always liked Leicester on my infrequent visits.
As for fake American accent, surely he had been living in USA for many years, so no bad marks for picking up the accent. Some people do change their accents (mine is now a mix of Northampton, Aussie and Nedway Towns), others keep their original accent. Sadly, many UK pop and jazz singers do adopt a false USA accent (we won't mention the UK
"country" singers and the so-called blues-singers) But this could be the start of a whole new thread - if it hasn't already been done.
Anyway, a good effort Gerry Dorsey.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 27 May 12 - 08:35 PM

'Another fake American accent and not even a very good fake.'

In Leicester, The Last Walttz and Please release Me are the national anthem. Everybody used to live next door to Gerry Dorsey and they were in and out of his house for a cup of sugar most days.

In short, Engelbert is a huge success story in a city that's had the shit kicked out of it by successive lousy government policies. he is a source of pride to Leicester people. In a way that certainly none of the current crop of folksingers are, and a way that doesn't even occurr to them to try and be.

Hands off!

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Tootler
Date: 27 May 12 - 06:43 PM

I don't know how many years it is since I last watched the Eurovision song contest. I gave up on it a long time ago.

As far as I can see, the BBC are desperate for a win and as a result they try too hard. Their choice of Englebert Humperdink was better than anything in recent years and the song was pretty good of its kind and competently delivered but it was not the sort of thing that stood a chance in Eurovision even if the UK were popular.

Perhaps if the BBC stopped worrying about winning and considered Eurovision as a way of showcasing some of our musical talent and told the entrants to simply go and enjoy themselves, they might do better.

My daughter says there is story going round that Spain told their entrant to make sure they didn't win so they wouldn't have to bear the expense of staging it next year.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 May 12 - 04:42 PM

...every "Hansel" (above) needs a Gretel, I suppose! ;-)

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: autoharpbob
Date: 27 May 12 - 04:22 PM

Pressing the Like button on your comment Lizzie!

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish
Date: 27 May 12 - 04:18 PM

Gawd, what a lot of Moaning Minnies!!

Englebert did a great job with a beautiful song. Yes, he hit a few bum notes, but so did most of the others and he was first on too, which is always daunting.

To be honest, he must be one of the few singers on there who knows how to sing. The guitarist was excellent, as were the dancers and choreography.

For once, it was a visual creation which actually had some class in it, all the artists together that is.

I doubt many people would have the guts to sing in a situation like that, with so many folks watching, when they're 76, for voices age, just like every other part of us.



Engelbert - Eurovision performance of 'Love Will Set You Free'

The 'official' version of the song....

"If you love someone follow your heart because love comes once if you're lucky enough. Though I'll miss you forever and the hurt will run deep, only Love can set you free......"

Yup.......

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 27 May 12 - 04:14 PM

Another fake American accent and not even a very good fake.

Unless they really do speak like that in Market Harborough, wherever that is.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Gibsonboy
Date: 27 May 12 - 03:36 PM

I'm with davemc, the BBC should pull out, and use the money saved to get back live cricket on terrestrial TV.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 May 12 - 02:54 PM

In my post, I was not dismissing Englebert Humperdink. One of the last popular vocalists who knew how to sing.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Dave Illingworth
Date: 27 May 12 - 02:32 PM

Sorry - the Dan Ar Braz song was in 1996 (not 1966).

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 27 May 12 - 02:26 PM

Just watched The Shadows' "Let me be the one" from the 1975 Eurovision - absolutely superb, and came 2nd!

The Shadows - Let me be the one

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 May 12 - 02:21 PM

Maybe he should rename himself Hansel..?! Anyway, at least we got snippets/postcards of folk, in between all the AmericaVision of pop and rock.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Dave Illingworth
Date: 27 May 12 - 02:06 PM

I am not really an Engelbert fan (nor a Eurovision fan over the last few decades) but I agree with those who did defend him. He sang a song with a melody (not many of those on Eurovision) and his voice has developed a nice "edge" in his later years.
But a singer without inane dance routines and silly gimmicks stands no chance.
I would choose Frank Turner or John Shuttleworth as our next entrant.
The best Eurovision song ever was (in my opinion) the French entry (1966) by Dan Ar Braz and L'Heritage de Celtes "Diwanit Bugale".
Sung in Breton - the line-up also included Karen Matheson and Elaine Morgan. I actually bought the single. Not a classic, and needless to say it did not win - but what a breath of fresh air.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 May 12 - 01:24 PM

A lot of hype on BBC about this "event." It hasn't aired in Canada as far as I know, but I am afraid it will come, to join the other "contest" programs on the networks.

Drivel, unfortunately noisy, pap for the booboisee.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 May 12 - 01:06 PM

I just listened to the Humperdink video. He did a really good job but I could have done without the excessive orchestration.

Raggy, shall we start a new thread about those irritating little boys and girls with the asthmatic voices who seem to be dominating scene today?

The Bonomo video had one moment of real truth, repeated severeal times. That was the rising water in the temple. Perhaps they are being flooded out and it's the end of the contest.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Musket
Date: 27 May 12 - 12:44 PM

Norway didn't come last.

Human rights did.





THAT close to satire eh?

(I have been to Azerbaijan and it makes our politicians look as if they don't fiddle their expenses. Mind you, to be in with a shout, you have to be related to the President. Full marks to all for giving the disgusting tyrant the veneer of international respectability.)

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 27 May 12 - 12:31 PM

As for the song itself ...
It has been played on Radio 2 numerous times in the last few weeks, As I only knew it was coming when it was announced in advance. Otherwise, for the whole of the into I was expecting a repeat of "Mother of Mine". Generic intro's anyone?

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 27 May 12 - 12:30 PM

John, no offence intended. Apologies if it came off that way.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,davemc
Date: 27 May 12 - 11:40 AM

The BBC needs to stop wasting our money on this drivel. We get automatic access to the final because we pay more than most other countries to support this bollocks. Time to stop. There's a recession on; and even if there wasn't the BBC should be supporting excellence not commercial downmarket crud.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 May 12 - 11:36 AM

We'll agree to disagree then Ed. Not that I'd be rude enough to call your valued opinion crap, of course ;)

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 27 May 12 - 11:20 AM

Now for a serious nomination for next years UK entry -

Bellowhead would be an excellent choice performing their spin on a good strong catchy mainstream pop song...

In fact if I didn't know better, it'd not be too unreasonable to suspect that this years entry from Turkey
is Bellowhead orchestrating a sly elaborate spoof of the entire annual Euro song fiasco..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7PneOwzMz4M

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 27 May 12 - 10:57 AM

'Hump' could work without amplification. That's more than you can say for Ms Rusby

I'm sorry? I've seen Kate perform unamplified on numerous occasions, and doing it well.

You're talking crap, John.

Subject: RE: Review: Who the **** chose Englebert Humperdink?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 May 12 - 10:36 AM

At least 'Hump' could work without amplification. That's more than you can say for Ms Rusby, and many other of today's performers.