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sir_quirky_k (

sir_quirky_k) wrote,
@ 2008-07-22 20:51:00

So I got the Eurovision CD for my birthday.
You were so right, and I was so wrong, about Switzerland. Still not entirely convinced about the change after the first chorus but it's nowhere near as bad as I thought. Would absolutely adore it if it just built up through layers of strings, though. Edit: and is it just me or do the verses sound not-dissimilar to th excellent Lavigne song When You're Gone?

Bulgaria I like more than I should. Ditto Spain, to be quite honest. Somehow. Iceland I like as well. This is going to be another year where songs with Quirks-unfriendly lighting become favourites, it seems.

Still think Belgium deserved a lot better, but then again it is in a musical idiom I like more than, well, most of Europe. Can definitely see why Greece did so well, and I think it's better than Russia. What do Andorra have to do to make the final? Yet again I like their entry; though last year and 2004 were both better, this one should have appealed more.

Other birthday presents: a new headset with microphone, very good sound quality from the speakers though the mic isn't as good as I hoped; two 60x60cm cushions, decidedly fluffy and eminently squishable, taking my total cushion supply to seven (!); two Sarah Brightman CDs (a compilation and Dive), and an Idina Menzel singer-songwritery album (I Stand), which are each more interesting for being compared with each other (two very different musical theatre singers stepping into their own different styles - Brightman's almost ethereal approach works well for me, not yet as won over as I should be by Menzel's intelligent pop and much of the blame has to go to her melisma overuse); a football video game, which seems to be good fun; some amusing books, including one which hilariously uses names of footballers (usually past) for hilarious footballing definitions. (E.g. 'delap (v.) - to tactfully cancel the end-of-season lap of honour')

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A song of Ranger's's

daweaver
2008-07-23 05:23 pm UTC (link)

Switzerland. Still not entirely convinced about the change after the first chorus but it's nowhere near as bad as I thought. Would absolutely adore it if it just built up through layers of strings, though.

Yes, that would work. Not that the song needs any particular work to be better than the British entry.

is it just me or do the verses sound not-dissimilar to the excellent Lavigne song When You're Gone?

Ooh, good spot.

Bulgaria I like more than I should.

It wasn't a bad three-minute techno anthem, for its genre. I'm still surprised that it passed the rule saying that songs actually have to be songs.

Ditto Spain, to be quite honest.

Estonia was the Wrong Sort of Silly, Bosnia and Macedonia were the Right Sort of Silly, Ireland was Almost the Right Sort of Silly, But Not Quite. Spain was less Right than Ireland.

Still think Belgium deserved a lot better, but then again it is in a musical idiom I like more than, well, most of Europe.

Even though it's only a two-and-a-half minute song, it's still too long, and the fussy presentation did it no favours. Still, the Belgians liked it, it remained top ten in their sales charts for something like two months, far more than certain other entries did in their national charts.

Can definitely see why Greece did so well, and I think it's better than Russia.

I've spoken in the past about a blind spot concerning pop from the eastern Med, and this falls into that spot. Russia's entry is a tremendous grower, and it is the sort of song one can be humming down the chip shop some months after the event. The UK media gatekeepers refuse to acknowledge that Europeans can make music of quality and distinction, and this shallowness bites them from time to time.

(That's the third and final slight against Andy Abrahams. He doesn't deserve it.)

What do Andorra have to do to make the final?

1) Recruit an existing star, cf my cheeky proposal that the UK works with Mika. 2) Send a fabulously brilliant weepy ballad, cf Chiara. 3) Do the Right Sort of Silly, cf Latvia. 4) Keep trying what they're trying, only a little bit better.

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Re: A song of Ranger's's

sir_quirky_k
2008-07-23 05:36 pm UTC (link)

Fair call on Bulgaria, this was not the place to hear it. Better out of context, especially for me.

Ireland and Spain were, indeed, nowhere near as bad as Estonia. They probably relied quite a lot on the staging, and as both opted for Quirks-unfriendly lighting I can't really judge them for that. In the cold light of day, they are second-rate silly songs.

Belgium clearly went for something that was popular there and slightly different, but perhaps tried too hard in the latter. Needed more variety, you're right.

Russia's song sounds like it could be a UK chart hit. So does Greece's to be honest. Nowhere near as good as the last two winners, but then again that is a very high standard to compare it to. And it disproves your suggestion from 2004 that you can't win Eurovision by being a grower, which I believe is down to the fact it was well-publicised in Eastern Europe. This, in turn, made the bloc voting look worse than it was.

Andy had a song that deserved better than last, but wasn't great. With a better draw, it would have gained the lower-mid-table place I predicted after it was chosen.

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