Eurovision 2006

[Marbella]

I hope you will all support the Las Ketchup girls on Saturday. They will represent Spain in the yearly political spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest.

They are called Las Ketchup because their father was a flamenco guitarist called El Tomate. Their entry into this years competition is called Bloody Mary. Was their mother called Mary?

For those who have heard their all-time fiesta classic 'Asereje' this song will be a disappointment.

You can watch the video here though: :o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2006/contestants/index.shtml

[Alan]

I'll be supporting Finland :)

Their entry is "Lordi", a death metal band - http://www.lordi.org/

. . . It's laughable.

[Marbella]

Good call Alan, you picked the winner.

http://www.elpais.es/articulo/gente/elpporgen/20060521elpepuage_2/Tes/

[ValenciaSon]

At the risk of sounding like an ignorant american (is that redundant?), what is Eurovision?

[Marbella]

At the risk of sounding like an ignorant american (is that redundant?), what is Eurovision?

It's just a yearly singing (and I use the term loosely) contest with each participating country submitting one 'act'. The acts perform live in the show and then each country holds a vote to allocate points to each act. The points are totted up and the one with the most points wins.

http://www.eurovision.tv/english/index.htm

Do not believe for one moment that countries put forward their best people for the contest (see the winner this year), only Ireland takes it seriously.:rolleyes:

[cubix]

At the risk of sounding like an ignorant american (is that redundant?), what is Eurovision?

I was gonna ask the same thing, I guess we could sort of relate it to American Idol..

[Marbella]

I guess we could sort of relate it to American Idol..

Close cubix. American Idol is a talent contest. Take out the word 'talent' and you've got Eurovision.

[gary]

Its only worth watching the UK feed I Imagine, for over 20 years the tone of the comentary has been the only thing to recommend it. If Terry Wogan's tongue is pushed any harder into his cheek it might pop right through!!

[Alan]

It's terrible stuff alright, but it has a loyal following. I try to miss it every year and went out to a nice Belgian restaurant last night to continue that tradition.

Eurovision is bad because the winner gets to host the event the next year - something which has cost a lot in the past due to the link up between loads of countries. Not so expensive now, but the tradition of sending terrible acts has stuck. It is an event which you try to lose without letting the other countries know you're trying to lose it. It's also well-known for intra-European politics. Countries are given points because they're liked and not because of the quality of the act.

There is one entry which sticks in my mind, although I can't remember which country she represented. She was an operatic type singer, singing a traditional style song about a boat. Terry Wogan pipes up: "For goodness sake! It's only an oul' boat!".

[Brian]

I only watched the Las Ketchup video, and agree that if they're representative of the rest of the talent, we didn't miss too much.

[ValenciaSon]

Lordi's schtick is sort of reminiscent of the rock band of the 70s/80s known as "KISS".

[Seán]

only Ireland takes it seriously.:rolleyes:

Funny you should say that. I live in Ireland and wasn't even aware the contest was being held at the present time until I read about it on the this forum. Not a single person has mentioned it to me.

Seán

[Pepino]

For the Americans on the forum who haven't had the pleasure of Eurovision, watch out! It's coming your way! Check this out...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4703748.stm

Let's hope they keep all the "kitsch camp semi-political debacle" to the whole thing, it's the only reason to watch! And you'll soon find out who your inter-state friends are when the voting comes in!

The UK will never win Eurovision again no matter how good our song might be, thanks to the fact that no one seems to like us anymore! :'(

Do I look bothered? >:D

PS. I bumped into the "nul points" guy from Gemini in a bar a few weeks after their famous failure, and it looked like he was feeling the strain of a nation's hopes dashed! hehe

[Alan]

No, Ireland used to take it seriously until they realised how much it cost to stage. The new European countries are now finding that out.

Oh, and Eurovision thinks that Israel is a European country. Hrm.

[Marbella]

Sorry for the awful segue into international current affairs but I guess this means yet another country will enter Eurovision soon?

[Alan]

Well Iraq borders Turkey, so maybe that'll be next. Or perhaps Egypt, which borders Israel.

[timg]

Well Iraq borders Turkey, so maybe that'll be next. Or perhaps Egypt, which borders Israel.
I'm not sure borders have anything to do with it (since when was Israel in Europe?) I think they're all just members of the European Broadcasting Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Broadcasting_Union), which is totally unrelated to the European Union.

[Alan]

I'm not sure borders have anything to do with it (since when was Israel in Europe?) I think they're all just members of the European Broadcasting Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Broadcasting_Union), which is totally unrelated to the European Union.

That was my point :) But I've never heard of the European Broadcasting Union. Nonetheless, "Euro" should imply Europe. There are countries which are not in the EU which are in Europe. Israel is not one of them.

[ValenciaSon]

Didn't the autonomous sovereignty of the nation of Catalonia have an entry at Eurovision?

[Greg]

You're probably thinking of Andorra, whose official language is Catalan, but isn't a part of Spain (or, for that matter, the EU). Andorra's sort of a strange place politically: its two co-heads of state are Jacques Chirac and the Bishop of Urgell (Spain). It's also a pretty popular destination for tax-free shopping.

Their Eurovision entries are generally in Catalan...surprisingly enough, this doesn't usually get them many votes, since for some reason it's considered an advantage when the voting public can understand the lyrics. :)

[Marbella]

Only 2 countries gave Spain any points at all. Albania gifted 6 points for some reason and Andorra gave the maximum 12 points. The Andorra maximum caused Wogan to comment "ah of course, they don't want their borders closed do they!".

[ValenciaSon]

No, I meant Catalonia. Sorry, I was being sarcastic and trying to poke fun at the whole autonomous thing.

[ValenciaSon]

Is Lordi hosting for Eurovision 2007 then?

[Edith]

It's also well-known for intra-European politics. Countries are given points because they're liked and not because of the quality of the act.

LOl, true. I'm not very interested in this kind of pop music anyway, with some exceptions. I loved 'Asejeré'! :)

[gary]

"Un bloody toro, por favor.."


Yawn....

[Brian]

¿Un bloody Spanish Hater? ¡Por favor!