smofbabe

One of the best things about having moved to Australia is being able to watch the Eurovision Song Contest every year. (Don't ask me why they broadcast it in Australia or why Israel is one of the qualifying countries.) This year was unfortunately light on the goofball entries that make it so much fun, but there were a few here and there to leaven the boring pop ballads. ( Review )

Finally caught up on Eurovision, the annual European song contest, which occurred while we were in the US. It was a fairly boring year, with many ballads (one of which Stephen said reminded him of Ariel's songs from The Little Mermaid) or Europop Abba wannabes. Unfortunately, there were hardly any of the wonderfully wacky entries we've come to expect, like our two favorite past entries, both, oddly, from Ukraine: last year, Svetlana Loboda performing Anti Crisis Girl complete with half-naked Centurions and pistons driving (very subtle :->), and our all-time favorite, 2007's Dancing Lasha Tumbai performed by drag queen Verka Serduchka.

Closest this year was probably the Serbian entry Ovo Je Balkan, featuring an eternally smiling guy named Milan Stanković with a blond Dutch-doll haircut. Funkiest costume reveal was from Lithuania, although it deservedly didn't make the finals. The most puzzling entry was probably from Ukraine - an angst-ridden screech from a woman wearing slashed chiffon, which amazed us by actually getting through the semifinals. Biggest surprise for a contest known for excess in presentation was probably the simple Belgian entry, Me and My Guitar, which finished sixth. Worst surprise was the popularity of the entry from Azerbeijan, which featured a trick costume and a lead singer who obviously had learned the lyrics phonetically and had no idea what she was singing but finished fifth.

The winner was from Germany, Lena's Satellite, which was already a hit on the charts in Europe. For a change, we both actually liked the winner. For example, I really liked the winner from 2007, Serbia's Marija Šerifović performing Molitva, but Stephen hated it. His favorite this year was the winner but although I liked the winner, my own favorites were probably Albania and, for the sheer energy and folk-dance feel, Greece.

Eurovision is known for its geographic bloc voting, especially from the Eastern European countries, which they've tried to ameliorate somewhat in the past couple of years with 50% popular voting and 50% jury vote. This year it wasn't quite as predictable, with Germany winning, and Slovakia, for example, giving its top three vote totals to Israel, Belgium, and Germany! Hopefully, this trend will continue.