Eurovizija!!
One of the most informative things i have encountered in my time here is the Eurovision SOng Contest, by far the highlight of May for European countries, especially i imagine, in eastern and central Europe.
Basically each country picks a new band to represent their country at the European Finals. The countries who scored in the top 10 places the previous year get an automatic bye to the finals, and the other countreis have to compete in a semi-final round. Europeans all vote by SMS (a message on the cell phone) who they think is the best country, but you can't vote for your own country. The top 14 of that round join the 10 automatic finalists to form the final round; a night of pure cheesy but interesting entretainment when 24 of the Council of Europe's countries battle each other for the title of Eurovision song contest finalists. Some previous winners that i have heard of before were Nana Mouskouri, ABBA, Lulu and Celine Dion.
My favorite part is when they call all the capitals of the countries at the end, collecting the votes from each city, waiting to see which band will emerge as the winner. The hosts basically call a country like, Liechtenstein, and them some smartly dressed young guy greets the host in their language (this year it was Greek) and then awards their points, "Ve from Liechtenstein gif our tvelf points to Svitzerland!". It is done on the electoral system, so a country like Andorra or Malta has as much points to award as does Russia or Turkey.
It is a real lesson in European politics as well as tastes. Why would Ireland award its 12 points to Lithuania? The huge Lithuanian community in Dublin has something to do with that! Why would Germany give its 12 points to Turkey? The same reason you can buy Doner kebab on every corner in Germany's big cities. Why would Greece vote for Armenia and Armenia for Greece? They are united by a common factor: Their hatred of Turkey! Its no surprise that Estonia votes for Finland, and if Belarus didn't give its 12 points to Russia, i think Lukashenko would personally track down everyone who voted for a decadent capitalist nation seeking to destroy the great Belarussian state, and throw all those people in jail.
The history of triple entendres and triple alliances is still alive and well in europe, and influences even our pop music :)
I hosted a big euro-vision party, with thai meatballs, couscous, a cornucopia of lithuanian snacks, and a floor crowded with students and alumni from all over europe cheering on their countries. i love those moments- playng a host is my favorite thing almost.
Who won this years contest? A bunch of Finns dressed up like monsters from Halloween XII singe "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Who'd have thunk it.
check it out at www.eurovision.tv
One of the most informative things i have encountered in my time here is the Eurovision SOng Contest, by far the highlight of May for European countries, especially i imagine, in eastern and central Europe.
Basically each country picks a new band to represent their country at the European Finals. The countries who scored in the top 10 places the previous year get an automatic bye to the finals, and the other countreis have to compete in a semi-final round. Europeans all vote by SMS (a message on the cell phone) who they think is the best country, but you can't vote for your own country. The top 14 of that round join the 10 automatic finalists to form the final round; a night of pure cheesy but interesting entretainment when 24 of the Council of Europe's countries battle each other for the title of Eurovision song contest finalists. Some previous winners that i have heard of before were Nana Mouskouri, ABBA, Lulu and Celine Dion.
My favorite part is when they call all the capitals of the countries at the end, collecting the votes from each city, waiting to see which band will emerge as the winner. The hosts basically call a country like, Liechtenstein, and them some smartly dressed young guy greets the host in their language (this year it was Greek) and then awards their points, "Ve from Liechtenstein gif our tvelf points to Svitzerland!". It is done on the electoral system, so a country like Andorra or Malta has as much points to award as does Russia or Turkey.
It is a real lesson in European politics as well as tastes. Why would Ireland award its 12 points to Lithuania? The huge Lithuanian community in Dublin has something to do with that! Why would Germany give its 12 points to Turkey? The same reason you can buy Doner kebab on every corner in Germany's big cities. Why would Greece vote for Armenia and Armenia for Greece? They are united by a common factor: Their hatred of Turkey! Its no surprise that Estonia votes for Finland, and if Belarus didn't give its 12 points to Russia, i think Lukashenko would personally track down everyone who voted for a decadent capitalist nation seeking to destroy the great Belarussian state, and throw all those people in jail.
The history of triple entendres and triple alliances is still alive and well in europe, and influences even our pop music :)
I hosted a big euro-vision party, with thai meatballs, couscous, a cornucopia of lithuanian snacks, and a floor crowded with students and alumni from all over europe cheering on their countries. i love those moments- playng a host is my favorite thing almost.
Who won this years contest? A bunch of Finns dressed up like monsters from Halloween XII singe "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Who'd have thunk it.
check it out at www.eurovision.tv
posted by Thor @ 19:29
5 Comments:
At 9:31 PM,
Anonymous said…
A lot of people associate Lordi with devil worship and stuuf, but here's what they said in their official eurovision (eurovision.lordi.com) page:
Enjoying the music of evil-looking creatures isn’t of course the same as condoning evil. Although some people have misinterpreted Lordi’s fascination with monsters and death, the band is by no means the Devil’s advocate. Lordi has, after all, had a hit in Finland with a song called Devil Is A Loser.
“We have the same aesthetic as horror films. The scarier the film, the more fun it is. And rock music should be all about fun”, Lordi says.
At 4:35 PM,
Thor said…
I never said anything about them being devil worshippers or anything... i just said that they looked like monsters from a Halloween movie. I also read the same interview you quoted here.
I just said who'd have thought that such a group would win Eurovision? I think it kinda surprised everybody.
At 8:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
yeah, my friends, of course, are rootin' for the Russian singer, who's actually fairly good...
answers to your questions on my blog:
ya rabotayu zdec' c Campus Crusade (no ya na samom dele sobirayu podderzhku cherez Foundation for Christian Discipleship/Campus Ventures in Wyoming).
ya zhivu zdec' pochti tri goda.
I'm leaving Russia in August, will be starting seminary in January, 2007 (if I get accepted).
:)
At 3:26 PM,
Thor said…
april- cool... gde immeno v Rossii zhivesh? Ty byla vmeste c Katie i josh v Tuve, kogda oni tam byli?
I voted for Bosnia hercegovina by the way. I always really like the Balkan bands in Eurovision. Serbo-Bosnio-Montenegro-Croatian is a language i would really like to learn someday.
At 11:47 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey, Thor
Didn't see the competition, but I don't doubt that the Bosnian band was quality. I've been in Bosnia, and it is a nice language....the little I remember of it...now, I would just get confused and want to speak Russian there all the time, which is really just a distant slavic relative anyway....
I live in Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal. Josh and Katie and I were in Tuva together in 2002 on summer project....that's how they met (learned a few words in that language, which is Turkic, and so is Yakut...which you probably already knew). Two years before they met, I already had them in mind for each other....glad the Lord made it possible for them to meet.
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