We had an extreme cultural experience last night.
For years I have heard about the
Eurovision Song Contest. Each year, entrants from dozens of countries
try to win the award for best pop song and it is a very big deal. The finals were last night and we were excited to watch.
It is kind of a cross between
American Idol and the Olympics. Except
it is far more popular than the two put together. It has more viewers than the Super Bowl!
The contest started in the 1950’s
and notable winners include Celine Dion and ABBA. Well, actually those are the only notable winners. Remember Helena Paparizou? Or Marija Šerifović? Exactly.
We had heard that some of the acts were terrific, some were incredibly
cheesy, and some were both. We were not
disappointed.
26 different counties were in the finals, from mighty Germany to tiny San
Marino.
Everyone sang in English. Well,
almost everyone. Who didn’t? I’ll give you three guesses. Yes, that would be the French, who were
rewarded for their linguistic loyalty by finishing dead last.
The Swiss were true to form – straightforward, efficient and boring. But fortunately no yodeling.
My favorite was the Dutch duo who sang kind of a country western ballad
and finished second. Val preferred the
Hungarian singer, half African American, who sang a very moving song and
finished fifth. The Swedish singer was
also very good.
But let’s get to the good part – the cheese.
The Azerbaijan contestant must have needed something to distract the audience
from her not-so-great voice because she sang while another lady cavorted around
on a trapeze.
Montenegro took the same approach, but this time it was an ice skater
gliding around onstage.
And the Iceland boy band sang while bouncing up and down on a trampoline.
Russia’s entry was a pair of twin teenage girls, with long blonde hair
that was somehow woven together so they looked like Siamese twins. Given all that has been going on with Russia
lately, it wasn’t surprising that they were booed. And it probably didn’t help that their song
was called “Crimea and Punishment.”
Ukraine was excellent. Their
entrant sang a catchy tune while a guy ran around inside a giant hamster
wheel. I kid you not.
I figured the hamster wheel was about the peak of cheesiness until
Austria came up. Their entrant was the
bearded lady. No, not a circus act but a
drag queen with a beard. You can’t make
this stuff up!
Here’s his video:
The best part? The bearded lady
won! Maybe he will start a new fashion
trend. In that case, I’d better start
shopping for an evening gown.
KVS
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