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sir_quirky_k (

sir_quirky_k) wrote,
@ 2008-05-25 12:43:00

The highlight of last night...
...moving on from the concert (which greatly exceeded my very modest expectations, and looks set to be the making of us rather than the breaking of us as I half-expected) to the Eurovision party at the Union pub, and a few songs later (we arrived just as Denmark started) came the Azerbaijan entry, and one of the music students was trying to work out how high it was, and then EM - remember her? - tried singing said note. Put it this way, I think it's the highest note I've ever heard her sing, and she's a classically-trained soprano. (I think it was suggested the note was B5...)

The Greek entry had a backing track that sounded like Promiscuous to me. Given that, I suspect

daweaver would probably have liked it more than me, contrary to his normal opinion of songs from that part of the world.

Not too many complaints about the winner, no truly great song like the last two years meant that aesthetic appeal and good production of an adequate song combined with the perfect draw was a winning formula. I rated Iceland rather more than

daweaver, Wrong Kind of Shiny notwithstanding, but the pick of the bunch for me was Latvia. Or Serbia.

Spain offered the Silly, but with horrific Shiny too (and watching it in the pub, there was no truly safe angle to turn away, for the screens are liberally placed so everyone can see them). Probably second worst in that department behind Bulgaria, and I didn't catch any warnings on the Wogan commentary from what little of it I heard in that din...

...is it at all possible that the host broadcaster neglected to provide any strobe warnings? If that is indeed the case, then I would imagine that with a pan-European audience of tens of millions, last night may have been responsible for possibly several thousand seizures (given that the incidence of photosensitive epilepsy is around 1 in 5,000, and that one or more of the songs last night would surely have triggered a seizure in that population, and assuming that those with photosensitive epilepsy are as likely to watch Eurovision as the general population - and I can't offer evidence for a dramatically different assertion).

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daweaver
2008-05-26 02:11 pm UTC (link)

one of the music students was trying to work out how high it was, and then EM - remember her? - tried singing said note.

Ouch.

The Greek entry had a backing track that sounded like Promiscuous to me.

At some point - possibly to-morrow and Wednesday - I shall sit down and play the CDs on a proper stereo, so that I might judge the songs as songs, not television presentations.

Not too many complaints about the winner, no truly great song like the last two years meant that aesthetic appeal and good production of an adequate song combined with the perfect draw was a winning formula.

I'd say, no outstanding song, because there were plenty of great ones, and very few grate ones.

I rated Iceland rather more than [info]daweaver

It worked a heck of a lot better when playing 11th than first.

is it at all possible that the host broadcaster neglected to provide any strobe warnings?

Well, if the national commentators do their job properly, they're in attendance at the Friday and Saturday afternoon dress rehearsals.

Oh.

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sir_quirky_k
2008-05-27 12:11 pm UTC (link)

Well, if the national commentators do their job properly, they're in attendance at the Friday and Saturday afternoon dress rehearsals.

Oh.

Ha.

This year, there were lots of very good songs, none of which really stood out in the way that Molitva did last year. That meant these songs probably took votes off each other, clearing the way for probably the night's best televisual performance.

It's the first time since 2005 that my favourite song of the whole contest didn't win, so I'm not complaining, especially as I can see how this victory was attained.

EM does have that note, but I think it's higher than any I've heard her use in performance (I've definitely heard her sing A5, don't think I've heard her go higher; back when I was considering writing for her, a plan still not dead, she referred to C6 as her highest note, if memory serves)...

...I can't put it better than the (soprano) friend I spoke to online later. 'Countertenors are weird.'

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daweaver
2008-05-28 06:29 pm UTC (link)

This year, there were lots of very good songs, none of which really stood out in the way that Molitva did last year. That meant these songs probably took votes off each other, clearing the way for probably the night's best televisual performance.

Still think that Bosnia and Croatia worked better as television, ditto Molitva II, but you have a point. It feels like the default options for voters are currently Russia and Greece, just as the default option in the mid-90s was Ireland, and in the 70s was the UK.

It's the first time since 2005 that my favourite song of the whole contest didn't win, so I'm not complaining, especially as I can see how this victory was attained.

To be fair, if one were picking songs at random, there would only be about one winner every ten to fifteen years. I had three in the previous four years, so was due one I didn't much rate.

'Countertenors are weird.'

And baritones are evil, and viola players are fools.

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	sir_quirky_k 2008-05-28 06:39 pm UTC (link)
	It feels like the default options for voters are currently Russia and Greece, just as the default option in the mid-90s was Ireland, and in the 70s was the UK. Good point, these things do go around rather. And baritones are evil doesn't know whether to don devil horns or self-identify as a bass (Reply to this)(Parent)