| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | Off topic: Eurovision Song Contest Thread poster: Elena Robles Sanjuan
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Good morning,
I can imagine that for many of you, the 2008 edition of the Eurovision contest passed completely unnoticed. I don´t think I would have watched if I hadn´t spent the evening with three 10-year-olds who found out the day before that the Greek contestant was very sexy and pretty and begged me to put it on.
I would like to know your opinion on some of the topics that the contest has generated in Spain. What I´m going to list below is word of mouth, not my o... See more Good morning,
I can imagine that for many of you, the 2008 edition of the Eurovision contest passed completely unnoticed. I don´t think I would have watched if I hadn´t spent the evening with three 10-year-olds who found out the day before that the Greek contestant was very sexy and pretty and begged me to put it on.
I would like to know your opinion on some of the topics that the contest has generated in Spain. What I´m going to list below is word of mouth, not my own opinion. Please choose whichever you´d like to comment on.
+ The contest is completely biased towards Eastern countries. The fact that they dominate the political scene was clearly reflected in the contest.
+ France shouldn´t have sung in English. They have traditionally been very protective of their language, but now, they are losing respect for it.
+ As many countries have realised that the contest ceased to be serious a long time ago, they send off ridiculous performers, just to make a statement in that direction.
+ Spain and other countries where terrorism is a constant threat make a huge effort not to win, so that they don´t have to organise the next contest and therefore, become exposed to security flaws.
Many thanks in advance ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nesrin 
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:33
English to Arabic
+ ...
Here in the UK (the UK came last this year despite offering a song that's - well - at least better than half the rest of the songs) the outrage must be even stronger than in Spain, at the fact that the countries of the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and their neighbours quite blatantly vote for each other, ignoring the musical quality of the songs.
My husband - who doesn't really follow the songs - was suggesting that maybe it's not a case of political voting, th... See more Here in the UK (the UK came last this year despite offering a song that's - well - at least better than half the rest of the songs) the outrage must be even stronger than in Spain, at the fact that the countries of the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and their neighbours quite blatantly vote for each other, ignoring the musical quality of the songs.
My husband - who doesn't really follow the songs - was suggesting that maybe it's not a case of political voting, that neighbours simply have a similar taste for music and that's why they vote for each other. I told him that may have been the case in the past, when Greece presented Greek songs with a Greek touch, Turkey Turkish songs, and Russia Russian songs. But now it's just one big tasteless brew, and if you listen in in the middle of the (probably) English song, there's no way of telling where the singer's from.
I personally think the "contest" is way past it's sell-by date (but I'll keep watching it as long as it's there! ) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Levan Namoradze
Georgia
Local time: 19:33
Member (2005)
English to Georgian
+ ...
I would rather say "The contest was/is/will remain completely biased due to assigning points to neighboring countries." That was/is not a contest of singers at all.
[Edited at 2008-05-29 09:00]
| | | | Levan Namoradze
Georgia
Local time: 19:33
Member (2005)
English to Georgian
+ ...
| Are you kidding? | May 29, 2008 |
Dear Colleagues,
Are you kidding? What about northern countries voting for their neighbors?
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Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:33
English to Arabic
+ ...
| Yeah, them too :-) | May 29, 2008 |
Levan Namoradze wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
Are you kidding? What about northern countries voting for their neighbors?
It seems the only neighbours that don't want to have anything to do with each other are the countries of Western/South Western Europe.
[Edited at 2008-05-29 09:03]
| | | | Levan Namoradze
Georgia
Local time: 19:33
Member (2005)
English to Georgian
+ ...
Come on! All countries did and acted the same way.
| | | | avsie (X)
Local time: 16:33
English to French
+ ...
| When it will be about signing again... | May 29, 2008 |
When it will be about signing and not about wearing the skimpiest dress that barely covers a fully botoxed body, I'll probably watch it again...
Bring back the voting done by judges!!
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 16:33
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Neighbours aren't always friends | May 29, 2008 |
What completely baffles me, is that these neighbours who vote for each other are often a long way from friends. What about Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, where people were bashing each other's heads in only a few years ago, but they happily vote for each other on Eurovision. What about Georgia, that has hefty political problems with Russia, but who do they give their 12 points to? Or even the Scandinavian countries, where people poke fun at each other no end, but this one night in the year, they're... See more What completely baffles me, is that these neighbours who vote for each other are often a long way from friends. What about Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, where people were bashing each other's heads in only a few years ago, but they happily vote for each other on Eurovision. What about Georgia, that has hefty political problems with Russia, but who do they give their 12 points to? Or even the Scandinavian countries, where people poke fun at each other no end, but this one night in the year, they're all united.
BTW, contrary to others, I find that there IS a style difference between countries in different regions. I believe I CAN hear whether a song comes from SE, SW or N Europe.
This year, there weren't really too many songs that were 'different', but last year, the best songs definitively came out on top. I believe that Eurovision is simply taken more seriously in East and SE countries, then in the west. In Eastern European countries, it still is an honour to be the composer of your countries' Eurovision song, whereas in the west, the good composers look down on it. Therefore, the west systematically doesn't send their best songs, whereas the east does. And it shows.
Some countries send in ridiculous songs, and didn't get any votes - rightly so. Some countries tried to copy a past success, and didn't manage to repeat it (Finland, Sweden) - rightly so. In the end, the songs with the most appeal to the public at large, came in top - rightly so. I STILL can't get the Greek song out of my head... Sure, it isn't a great masterpiece of Western culture, but it IS an earworm, a commercial achievement.
Neighbours blatantly voting for each other, right. But, until western countries start actually sending in good songs, they shouldn't moan so much. ▲ Collapse
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JPW (X)
Local time: 15:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Three little words... | May 29, 2008 |
waste of time
And while we're at it, what's Turkey and Israel doing in there? Are they even part of Europe?
I agree with all the '+' points mentioned in Elena's posting, especially the first four.
[Edited at 2008-05-29 09:19]
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 16:33
English to Dutch
+ ...
| It IS about singing | May 29, 2008 |
...and not about the skimpiest dress and botox.
The Polish woman, who was totally devoid of humanness, hardly got any points. A man won, not wearing a dress at all. Last year, a woman won who was oversized, wore thick black spectacles and didn't show any skin at all (except face and hands). This is all prejudice.
I'm a professional musician (next to professional translator), and I tell you all: the best songs generally get the most votes, with only very few exceptions.
| | | | | English for French | May 29, 2008 |
Nesrin wrote:
But now it's just one big tasteless brew
I couldn't agree more! The same recipe: sexy and pretty - and perhaps having a good voice - prevailing everywhere, not only in Eurovision.
I do not watch the "competition", I used to when I was a kid. Now my taste in music has changed.
As for the first message, I didn't like at all the decision of France to sing in English, well I do not like at all the decision of any country to sing in another language than its own. I feel the same for Greece, of course. I know that PERHAPS some languages do not sound nice - not French for that matter - but for a song to be a winner it is not only the language that counts. I think the Russian song was in English, how about the Italian? Italy has such a long tradition, beautiful songs ...
E.
| | | | | It's disgrace of European art... | May 29, 2008 |
Nesrin wrote:
the countries of the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and their neighbours quite blatantly vote for each other, ignoring the musical quality of the songs.
Absolutely. This 'festival' has nothing to do with music. It's disgrace of European art... The only really interesting act this year were two aged street singers from Croatia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwmRD5Gt4Vc
It was nothing special but unlike others their performance was real and moving, it conveyed the spirit of their country. All the others in my opinion were just faceless BS!
Unfortunately it seems very few people did noticed them...
[Edited at 2008-05-29 09:43]
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Saturniana
Local time: 17:33
English to Romanian
+ ...
Excuse me, but how can you say the contest was biased towards Eastern countries, when the Finnish horror rock group Lordi won in 2006? I guess Finland is an Eastern European country then, right?
Just for the record, I was one of the people who voted for them.
| | | | Levan Namoradze
Georgia
Local time: 19:33
Member (2005)
English to Georgian
+ ...
Dear Jan Willem van Dormolen,
You wrote: "I believe that Eurovision is simply taken more seriously in East and SE countries, then in the west." Do we?
Further you wrote: "In Eastern European countries, it still is an honour to be the composer of your countries' Eurovision song, whereas in the west, the good composers look down on it. Therefore, the west systematically doesn't send their best songs, whereas the e... See more
| | | | Dagmara Kuliś (X)
Belgium
Local time: 15:33
English to Polish
+ ...
| A total disgrace | May 29, 2008 |
Jan Willem van Dormolen wrote:
The Polish woman, who was totally devoid of humanness,
I couldn't agree more, but in fact she was only representing Poland as she is in fact American. All of the sudden last year she appeared in the VIPs dancing programme and now, no idea how, got to the Eurovision.
And to show another aspect of the Eurovision - gossips, I can tell you that there was at some point a big doubt if she was a woman at all. There were some who claimed she used to be an American man...
And so it is the clou of the Eurovision contest: not the quality of songs, but the show around and the advertisement.
Not to mention the fact that the only votes she got were from the UK and Ireland, countries where lots of Poles live and so could give their votes...
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