Comment from Tom Clarke
Time: April 10, 2008, 10:40 am

Yes, this should win. Check out my site for a video of some colleagues ‘doing the chikichiki’.

Comment from soy pescador
Time: April 10, 2008, 10:57 am

@tom

You cant be serious , I think the climate has got to you and your colleagues. (no offense ) but it’s not even laughable.
Up with British humour , number 1 in the world.

Comment from luke
Time: April 10, 2008, 10:58 am

Why did I like that?

Comment from luke
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:02 am

To answer my own question: schadenfreude.

Comment from richardksa
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:14 am

Last night Madrid had it’s own talent show. Broadcast on Ch8 the idea was to find Madrid’s Singing Superstar. The songs were bland, the singing dire and the legs on one female contestant in a short skirt would have an elephant wanting to diet.
Meanwhile, on Ch6, the lovely Patricia Conde and company on “Sé que lo hacisteis” were showing the worst of the primary contestants for Madrid Superstar. It seems that taken as a whole, the Spanish Eurovision entry is quite intellectual compared with what I saw last night.

Comment from richardksa
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:16 am

And this from last night’s Madrid News:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-OM4Okcn1n0

Comment from soy pescador
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:16 am

And to second that : Schadenfreude ( you have got to love the Germans )

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:17 am

We were regaled with this one-hit blunder on TVE Internacional. If that’s what’s going to represent Spain in Eurovision, then Spain needs a humor intervention stat!

Comment from Ben
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:18 am

@Luke - I actually have to admit to finding it quite likable / funny as well! Now to go and look up ’schadenfreude’!

Edit: “Schadenfreude = Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.” That just about sums it up!!!!

Comment from Ben
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:31 am

@ Richard - re the news video - so he has national grass roots level support, which in turn becomes newsworthy… and people say Spain isn’t what it used to be…

Comment from chris
Time: April 10, 2008, 11:43 am

Where have you been Ben? I think you need to start doing company classes again

Comment from Ben
Time: April 10, 2008, 12:09 pm

@Chris - no! please! Some of those company classes haunt my nightmares…

Comment from Tom Clarke
Time: April 10, 2008, 12:29 pm

@soy pescador - I think it’s kind of funny, and a not too bad little promotion technique. My colleagues’ video was #2 most discussed on YouTube Spain yesterday, so it obviously worked!

And again, for the record, I did not take part

Comment from Parubin
Time: April 10, 2008, 12:40 pm

Ben :
See what happens when you start giving up beer for non-alcoholic beer??

You start finding embarrassing ‘the chiki-chiki’ and God knows what next.

¡¡Viva el chiki-chiki, viva la cerveza y viva San Fermín!!

Comment from Stephen
Time: April 10, 2008, 12:42 pm

Never mind boycott the Olympics, shouldn’t we boycott the Eurovision Song Contest? Gordon Brown! I demand you tell us if you will be watching it.

Comment from soy pescador
Time: April 10, 2008, 1:00 pm

@Tom

I just find Spanish humour to be very weak. If this was used as a Promotion Technique and it has had response , great !!
I have a good friend who is a British comedian now residing in Cape Town who has been extremely sucessful there. Maybe its a Anglo Saxon thing.
As to the Eurovision contest if these are some of the entrants , I for one won’t be watching.

Comment from Tom Clarke
Time: April 10, 2008, 1:55 pm

@soy pescador - it’s just a ‘piss take’ of some really shoddy pop music. Surely Spanish pop music is worse than Spanish comedy?!?

Spanish humour isn’t that weak. The problem is that it’s often very dry and subtle. Good example: a wry comment of three words from my wife’s grandfather (who will have sat silently for the previous 15 minutes) is always enough to set the whole table laughing.

Comedy in Spanish films (from Bienvenido Mr Marshall to Habla Con Ella) always seems to have a slightly odd edge to it, be it surrealism, desperation or perversity. It’s still bloody funny though!

Comment from Beckett
Time: April 10, 2008, 3:04 pm

Ben,
How could you have missed this incredible cultural phenom??? He was No. 9 on my list of Spanish famosos!!

Comment from Moscow
Time: April 10, 2008, 3:06 pm

I don’t think Spanish humour is weak, but to compare it to British humour is unfair. Humour plays a role in British culture which can perhaps be compared to that of food, for example, in Spanish culture. It is an intengral and essential part of daily life. “Professional” humour, then again, is a completely different kettle of fish. Here the UK is on league of it’s own. In which other country have so many “professional” comedians studied in one of the two top universities? Humour, like TV (much like food in Spain) are taken very, very seriously. There is a lot of hard work behind the success. Spanish comedians (as in most countries) rely too much on their “natural” abilities. Brains and a lot of hard work (professionalism) is what make British humour top of the world.

Comment from phil walker
Time: April 10, 2008, 3:35 pm

I think the song’s perfect for Eurovision - I’ve never quite been sure what the point of Eurovision was, but be honest - it’s never been about good music has it? Anyway, seeing as Spain isn’t part of Eastern Europe,who these days all seem to vote for each other and snub the west, nobody will be voting for them whatever song they have! Oooh, controversial!

Comment from sacr
Time: April 10, 2008, 3:48 pm

I have to say I find el chiki-chiki quite horrible.If you do a parody of horrible reaggaeton videos, the result should not just be a horrible reggaeton video.

In terms of sense of humour, I am a big fan of British humour. I have lived in the UK for several years now, and absolutely love this great tradition, from Python to the Office (through wonders such as the Royle family, The thick of it, etc…). I also love some old classics that the locals find out of date, such as Wodehouse or Richmal compton.

However, there is quite amazing professional Spanish humour out there.

In the 1980s Martes y Trece (not very tight scripts but a fearless attitude to ridicule) were brilliant. Like most Spaniards I remember many New Year family celebrations watching their special TV shows and crying with laughter. Toward the end they became more conventional, but their late 80s early 90s shows were peerless.

Nowadays, La hora chanante or Muchachada Nui are very avantgarde absurdist humour (they are famous for their impersonation of different celebrities, from Bono to Condolezza Rice, where the celebrities always speak in spanish with an Albacete accent).

In terms of older films and shows, Bienvenido Mr Marshall, Miguel Gila, some of Fernando Trueba’s comedies, Torrente, etc… show quite a variety of styles, although there may be a national affinity to very dark humour (you see that a lot in Gila and in Berlanga).

So, in summary, yes, British humour is great and el Chikilicuatre is pretty awaful, but there is a lot more out there.

To look at el Chikilicuatre as an example of Spanish sense of humour is like looking at Bernard Manning as an example of British humour.

(in terms of looking out further afield, for those of you who speak French I would recommend to check out “Les inconnus” on youtube.
Like Martes y Trece with better scripts).

sacr

Comment from John Ross
Time: April 10, 2008, 3:49 pm

It’s a bit disappointing to see some not being as open-minded as they should. Chikilecuatre is at least a splendid, one-finger salute from Spanish youth to the smarmy artificiality of Eurovision. I don’t want to be pompous, but it’s a kind of humour with deep roots in Spanish culture - Carnaval and the Burial of the Sardine, Don Quixote, parody, burlesque… mockery as a form of rebellion. Love it to death, myself.

Comment from Geoff Harrison
Time: April 10, 2008, 5:31 pm

Ben - you obviously don´t watch La Sexta very much - the whole channel seems to have been given over to promoting this song! I guess on the sale of ringtones alone this guy has probably made a million by now.
Anyway if anyone actually listens to the songs this year before just voting for their best mates, it might actually be bad enough to do quite well!

Comment from Irish eyes
Time: April 10, 2008, 6:15 pm

Well, I guess somebody living in a country that’s being represented by a turkey, can’t really say too much.
Here it was almost a protest vote. We’ve had such dire songs representing Ireland in recent years, I think people thought why not pick a real ‘turkey’ and have done with it.
It’ll be interesting to see if either of these songs come anywhere.

Comment from Beckett
Time: April 10, 2008, 6:59 pm

And Europeans say that America has no culture! I’ll take American Idol any day over Eurovision.

Comment from John Ross
Time: April 10, 2008, 7:43 pm

And you’re very welcome to it. Or both of them, come to that.

Comment from Ben
Time: April 10, 2008, 8:07 pm

@Beckett, ooooops, don’t be offended, I loved your list, but I think that time, as with many others, when I heard the words ‘Eurovision song contest’ I quickly skipped onwards. Only yesterday did I actually stop to listen to the song!

Comment from luke
Time: April 11, 2008, 11:52 am

Showed this to my 2 and 8 year olds, what a mistake, they wanted to see it again and again….

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: April 11, 2008, 12:41 pm

@ Luke: I know what you mean. My 5 year old wants me to put it in his iPod.

Comment from Mark
Time: April 11, 2008, 3:03 pm

Terrible, but certainly very catchy. It has the irritation factor of the “crazy frog ringtone” that was doing the rounds a few years ago. After listening just once I have it running around inside my head. Arrrgh!! The Eurovision Song Contest is generally as camp as a row of pink tents and seems to have ceased any pretence at being an actual talent contest. Anything sufficiently different will probably win as a protest vote. I quite liked the entry from Finland a few years back “Lordi -Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Over the top, and a one finger salute to the whole event!

Comment from Pepino
Time: April 11, 2008, 3:18 pm

It´s a truly awful “song”. Which means I´ll be putting a few Euro´s on it to win.

Mind you, it´ll be a total waste, as Spain like the UK, has zero chance of winning thanks to the cosy voting system.

That said, I enjoy watching Eurovision. I´d hate for it to be any more than once a year, as it´s a painful kind of enjoyment, but it´s as camp as Christmas and loads of fun. I´ll miss Terry Wogan´really makes it for me. I believe he still can´t set foot in Denmark after commenting during the show a few years back that their presenters were like “Doctor Death and the Tooth Fairy”!

Comment from Pepino
Time: April 11, 2008, 3:20 pm

Damn dodgy mouse button sticking and making unwanted cuts to my post. Hope it still made sense

Comment from We Are Never Full
Time: April 11, 2008, 6:43 pm

This video was even posted (and made fun of for being strange) by one of the very loved/hated celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton, here in the States. I’m sure culturally, I just don’t get it, but I will say it IS catchy.

Comment from Gary
Time: April 12, 2008, 11:45 am

@ Becket - sadly American Idol is a piece of European Culture - Simon Cowell brought it as a gift from you to us - its called Pop Idol in the UK. Oh and Dancing with the Stars is a BBC production.

Comment from Gary
Time: April 12, 2008, 11:46 am

Sorry - last post should have said “us to you”

Comment from Beckett
Time: April 12, 2008, 12:07 pm

Yes, Gary, I knew that. I just didn’t want to mention it for fear of hurting European sensibilities. In fact, all the “great” reality TV concepts (Big Brother, Survivor, Pop Idol/American Idol, Who Wants to be A Millionaire, etc.) originated in the U.K. or the Netherlands. Thanks, Europe!

Comment from Beckett
Time: April 12, 2008, 12:13 pm

By the way, Gary, Simon Cowell started a trend of British exports. In the U.S. it seems now that any talent TV show must have a British guy on the panel of judges. And he’s always a curmudgeon.

Comment from Edith
Time: April 12, 2008, 1:03 pm

@ Luke

I must be missing some cues here… what is your schadenfreude about?

Comment from Julie
Time: April 12, 2008, 4:38 pm

Oh my … This cannot be real - the artist looks like some 45 years old on drugs trying to imitate Las Ketchup. I love the retarded 80s style, though - yeah, exactly, schadenfreude. But who takes the Eurovision seriously, anyway? Blame the zeitgeist.

Saludos desde Bolivia
Julie

Comment from Mark
Time: April 12, 2008, 6:55 pm

@Beckett

Can’t take “full” responsibility for Simon Cowell or Piers Morgan but as someone from England I apologise. We bare that shame! Just looking forward to the end of Big Brother, “Grand Hermano” or whatever form this Endemol production takes. Seems to attract the same fame seeking inadequates wherever it appears on our television screens!

Comment from Edith
Time: April 12, 2008, 7:35 pm

Big Brother is a Dutch (Endemol) concept, but I have never watched any of these shows. As far as I’m concerned it’s all ‘pan y circo’!

Comment from Mark
Time: April 12, 2008, 10:00 pm

@Edith

Agreed Big Brother or “Gran Hermano” as I should have said, is a sort of opium for the masses. I’m not totally against “Reality TV” as such . Although “reality” isn’t the sort of word that I would associated with the above programs. It’s just the sheer amount of this type of programming at the moment. Or at least that is the case in the UK. It’s very unimaginative. Some genuine talent does appear from time to time but very often it’s a sad showcase of people with little talent making idiots of themselves for the enjoyment of others.

Comment from BrianA
Time: April 14, 2008, 12:17 pm

Only thing wrong is that he should have stood behind the girls

Comment from richardksa
Time: April 14, 2008, 5:28 pm

Chiki chiki goes choral:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCtD3uOxPtw&feature=related

Comment from Julie
Time: April 14, 2008, 9:04 pm

“¿Calle del Chiki-Chiki en vez de calle Franco?”
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/gente/Calle/Chiki-Chiki/vez/calle/Franco/elpepugen/20080414elpepuage_1/Tes

Comment from Edith
Time: April 30, 2008, 8:25 pm

Agreed, it’s a silly song, but I’d rather dance to the tune of El Chikichiki than to this REALLY ANNOYING Dutch song about two frolicking rabbits which seems to be popular among Dutch teens at the moment! It’s called ‘Huppelen en wiebelen’ (frolicking and wobbling) and the lyrics are truly stupid!

Comment from Mark
Time: May 5, 2008, 2:05 pm

…. and on the Eurovision theme, I’ve just read this. If true, it did deprive “Cliff Richard” of victory so maybe not all bad!

http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/375057/0/tongo/eurovision/massiel/

Comment from Beatrix
Time: May 23, 2008, 9:44 pm

The Spanish song of Chiki Chiki it’s just the reflect of an invalidated contest. No matter if the singer has a good voice, the music incredible or if the dancers are amazing. The votes of Eurovision are given just by the geographical proximity. If you are from Emgland, Malta is going to give you 12 points, if you are Turkey, Germany is going to give to you 12 points for the inmigration, bosnia and macedonia, Ukrania and Russia. So that’s why Spain had made just this ugly thing, easy word, easy music, easy dancing no matter what we will present no country are going to make us win. At least we can laught about all.

Comment from Edith
Time: May 24, 2008, 7:41 pm

Tonight’s the final. I would have been the last to know, if it hadn’t been for the fact that ‘Casualty’ has been canceled on BBC 1.
…….

Comment from Tom
Time: May 26, 2008, 9:20 am

Unfortunately, Russia won (mainly because their former colonies all gave them 12 points). Never mind…