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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Eurovision Time Again




More and more people are turning off to Eurovision for one reason or another, but I also suspect that the programme is drawing far more people than it repulses. It started as a contest between the nations of Europe but now, Russia, Australia and The Ukraine have become involved. In my house I was keen to watch and my wife was not. Just as well we have two televisions and they are not within sound of one another.

The contest is between twenty-six contestants, so we sit through 26 songs. It becomes immediately clear that most singers have lost the plot because they present  songs that are nice, and album ready, but in order to be in  the running your song has to be different than something average and has to incorporate a few highly essential elements: It has to have visual appeal other than what the technicians produce. The favorite to win last night was Russia because the stagecraft and special effects were absolutely superb. I have never seen anything like it, and if there were a special category for that it would have won. However, the song itself, sung without the special effects was ordinary.

A good example was the year that the man who presented himself as a woman, complete with beard was an image that drew our attention and never let go.

The song must be intelligent, passionate, and have a clear message.The rest is completely up to the singer in the presentation of the song. A singer who has been trained for the opera and who has power to reach the high notes in crystal clear fashion is bound to impress. That was the case with the afore-mentioned man, which is why he won that year.

I sat through the songs, and to be honest I enjoyed each one, but then I turned off as I chose not to sit through the tedious voting. They say that Eurovision is not political, but it is with countries giving their biggest vote to their neighbours, and nobody voting for Britain.

As I turned away from the programme my projections and opinions were as follows: Russia would probably win, but it shouldn't for the reasons given above.

My home country of Spain produced a lively and world-class entry that had the audience bouncing in the aisles, and I was proud of  the presentation, however, it was unlikely we would win.

The very last song was that from Armenia and it was the most original. It certainly took my attention and I would like to hear it again. Kudos to the singer and her team. It should have been the one to beat and therefore should have rated high on points.

The one song that totally moved me was the song from The Ukraine. The staging was superb but the song itself embodied the heart of a hurt nation that had been invaded by Russia which has inflicted serious pain on its people, simply because they wanted to turn away from their brutal neighbour and to move closer to the West. I knew the history, as we all do, and I heard the cry of an oppressed people, loud and clear.

I declared that was the song that would have my vote to win because it had it all.

And the winner was: Ukraine ! Bravo!

The Eurovision song contest! Long may it continue!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael