Eurovision

[schneefink]

This week Austria had student union election and I didn't go. It's the first election I was eligible for that I didn't vote in, and I feel a bit guilty about it. But I was sick the whole week and didn't have the brain to look at any of the party programs, so I decided to spare myself the trip. The union will survive.

I also didn't vote for a Eurovision contestant, though in hindsight I wish I had. I watched it with LB tonight, which we never did before, but it was a lot of fun. He usually almost exclusively listens to classical music, and my musical taste is most times "whatever's on the radio" and I switch stations three times a year, but we have surprisingly strong opinions about songs. Very important for both of us is that we want songs to have a good structure and not just repeat the same phrase all the time, which is why we're both very unhappy with Sweden winning :( The song was boring, 0815 pop lalala. Russia, on the other hand, had a very good song, and Gagarina would have made an excellent ambassador. Disappointing.

Other countries: I really liked Serbia's song, I was surprised she got so few votes. Her voice is fantastic. Australia had a flawless presentation and a good song. I really liked Romania, and also Montenegro, who both also got bonus points from me for using their native languages. Georgia had a good presentation, but should have tweaked the song just a little, same with Latvia. Israel and Italy were fun.
Countries I didn't like very much: Estonia (boring and repetitive), the UK (as the Austrian announcer said, wtf), Germany (terrible presentation), Spain (wannabe queen of the universe) and a few others were boring but I don't remember them.

I thought Austria did a good job with hosting. The short intros before each song were fun, and a Grubinger percusssion performance during voting was perfect.

Comments

[extempore]

Stimme bezgl. Rumänien und Montenegro zu. Eines der faszinierenden Merkmale unseres Kontinents sind ja die vielen Sprachen. Das so unter den Tisch fallen zu lassen, finde ich sehr schade. Vor allem Rumänien hätte ich aber auch wegen des Liedthemas mehr Stimmen gewünscht. Belgien fand ich klasse, und ja, Deutschland hat mir zu einfallslos den Bond gegeben (Conchita war wenigstens Bond mit Einfall *g*).

Nur bei den Moderatorinnen bin ich anderer Meinung. Die einzige, die natürlich und zugleich professionell rüberkam, war die ARTE-Dame. Arabella und Miriam sind neben ihr völlig abgesackt.

[schneefink]

Nein, die Moderatorinnen waren nicht gut, hast du Recht. Ich hab die Filmchen zwischendurch gemeint, wo sie die SängerInnen nach Österreich eingeladen haben, die waren nett. Und sie waren glücklicherweise kurz.

Belgien war eines der Stücke, die sehr viel Potenzial hatten, aber mich nicht ganz überzeugt haben. A bissl was hat gfehlt.

[st_aurafina]

I'm kind of glad it's not going to Russia? I don't think they deserve to have something as queer-accepting and fabulous as Eurovision. The Winter Olympics were hard enough to watch.

[schneefink]

Why "deserve"? Who "deserves" Eurovision? Eurovision isn't for the government, Eurovision is for the people. Russia's LGBTQ population faces a worse situation than in most countries in Europe, and yet they still fight for their rights. They "deserve" a chance to celebrate like this as much as anyone else, and they get far fewer opportunities to do so. They hoped that Sochi would give them international attention and support, but that didn't happen and they were left alone. With Eurovision that couldn't happen because that's what Eurovision is for. Rainbow flags all over the Red Square.

Gagarina placed herself as visibly as she could at the side of Russia's queer population. Her win would have been a sign that the rest of Europe can recognize the positive and progressive in Russia over Russia's oppressive government, which the Russian people are also suffering under, especially the young people. Eurovision in Russia would have built bridges, which is what Eurovision is all about. It was a great opportunity, and I'm sad that it was wasted.

[extrapenguin]

What was your opinion on the Finnish Punk group? Did both of your ears spontaneously combust?

[schneefink]

I didn't watch the semifinals, so I didn't see them originally. I had to turn down the volume when watching on youtube.

[tielan]

I watched Eurovision with my sister last night on the TV. (There were two broadcasts of it - the "on time" one at 5am on Sunday morning so Australians could vote, and the customary 7:30pm 'late broadcast' on Sunday night.) We enjoyed it one way or the other. Where we didn't enjoy the song, we enjoyed snarking about it. :)

And, of course, it was nice for Australia not to come last. That's all we were really hoping for, I think. :D

[schneefink]

Australia and Italy had the most polished performances, it was obvious those guys were pros. Our commentators were joking about how convenient it would be if Australia won, because the next Eurovision would still be in Europe but Australia would have to pay ;)
I'm happy Australia didn't come last, I just hoped someone else would instead of us! (And Germany. At least that's something.)

[tielan]

Our commentators were joking about how convenient it would be if Australia won, because the next Eurovision would still be in Europe but Australia would have to pay ;)

Now I'm even more glad that we didn't win! :D

Funny story: my sis and I were watching/listening to Eurovision, and my sis had her back to the screen. When the Australians came on she said "this must be the song for Australia, I actually understand what they're saying". And when the Italians sang, she turned around, started reading the subtitles, and then turned back around again. "I prefer not knowing what they're singing; it sounds more magnificent, less soppy."

[schneefink]

Subtitles are probably smart, but it feels like cheating. Sometimes when I roll my eyes at how bad German translations of English songs or movies sound I wonder how much of that is because of the translation, and how much of it is that it just bothers me less in other languages.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

It's interesting we had such completely different opinions abiut the Russian song. I thought it was a fairly boring power ballad. I do agree that the Swedish song wasn't the best, but I thought the effects were amazing.

Austria did an excellent job with hosting!

Which song was your favourite? Mine was Georgia.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Georgia was great. At first I was very skeptical about her outfit, but it grew on me. She pulled it off, even the dramatic thunderstorm background.

I liked the Russian song because I liked its structure (it has a proper bridge! not just a repeat of the chorus with different music!) and how it escalated, and how she sung it. I just realized I don't have the vocabulary to talk about music in English...

If I had to pick a favorite, maybe Serbia? I really liked her song.

I honestly think that one of the reasons why Sweden won (and why Russia did so well) is because they had feel-good songs. Especially the Swedish one: we are all heroes! Who cares what the rest of the lyrics say (imo they didn't make much sense.)