Sunday, May 25, 2008
eurovision 2008
The Russians won. Once again Eurovision shows how much European culture has gone downhill since Homer. The song is horrible, the presentation, inconceivably bizarre.
UPDATE: Sitemeter just told me a visitor from Holland stopped by. Anyone who knows me knows I'm joking about European culture. One thing though -- dudes, you have to do something about Eurovision.
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15 comments:
Heh :) Once I had a post and a YouTube of the band a-ha, and then got some hits from Norway ..... I had to wonder.
it had an faux ice-skater and a violinist. Classicly bad eurovision. not a winner, though.
i miss tatu singing for them and threatening to have sex on stage.
They delayed broadcasting Doctor Who for *that*?
I cannot help thinking that it would be slightly better if each country’s competitor(s) sang in Esperanto. Take a look at http://www.esperanto.net
Esperanto works! I’ve used it in speech and writing = and sung in it - in a dozen countries over recent years.
Indeed, the language has some remarkable practical benefits. Personally, I’ve made friends around the world through Esperanto that I would never have been able to communicate with otherwise. And then there’s the Pasporta Servo, which provides free lodging and local information to Esperanto-speaking travellers in over 90 countries. In the past year I have had guided tours of Berlin and Milan in the planned language. I have discussed philosophy with a Slovene poet, humour on television with a Bulgarian TV producer. I’ve discussed what life was like in East Berlin before the wall came down, how to cook perfect spaghetti, the advantages and disadvantages of monarchy, and so on.
What do you think?
This is partly our fault. American Idol has proven to be like a viral pandemic... but what can you say? This is the same continent that gave the world Nena, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Spandau Ballet.
Crystal,
I only recently found out that a-ha was from Norway. I confess to a sentimental weakness for "Take on Me."
Hi Garpu,
I promise eventually to get into Dr. Who.
mbritton and Bill,
thanks for dropping by. Bill, I've always appreciated the nobility of the idea behind esperanto, but personally I'm a big fan of diversity. I speak a couple of languages, and you just can't say the same things in different tongues. Language difference can be a great divider, but it also allows for great richness. One of my favorite things about NYC is that I can here several languages during a short walk.
Jeff--
Eurovision is much older than American Idol. And though we tend to think that some of our worst cultural commodities always must originate in the US, a lot of the big reality shows (Survivor, Big Brother) started out in Europe.
A Spanish friend once said to me, "Liam, let me lend you my Frankie Goes to Hollywood CD." I replied, "Relax -- don't do it."
I don't know . . . The skater kind of raises this to another level. Sort of like Kansas doing "Dust in the Wind" at an Ice Capades program in 1979.
What surprises me is that President Putin, I mean, Prime Minister Putin allows Russian contestants to sing in English. We really did win the Cold War!!!
how much European culture has gone downhill since Homer
Dude, why are blaming the Simpsons for Europe's tragic slide into cultural mediocrity?
This is the same continent that gave the world Nena, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Spandau Ballet.
As opposed to the continent that gave the world Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and New Kids on the Block.
Where was NKOB from anyway? What kind of place produces a band like that?!?!?!? Bet they love Frankie Goes to Hollywood there!
;-)
Very true about languages. Try discussing Heidegger in Indonesian, for instance, without a "to be" verb. Not fun.
And I can hook you up with some older episodes. May have to bug me repeatedly, though. (Still owe Crystal some stuff...)
And Crystal is keeping track .... maybe next Easter :)
As opposed to the continent that gave the world Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and New Kids on the Block.
Where was NKOB from anyway? What kind of place produces a band like that?!?!?!? Bet they love Frankie Goes to Hollywood there!
You, you... New York Dolls fan.
At least the people you mentioned didn't try to really sing themselves....
I ought to kick your Menudo-loving ass...
I ought to kick your Menudo-loving ass...
Bar Fight!!!!
Menudo was from Puerto Rico. You can't pin them on me.
I do like the real Mexican menudo. A bloody Mary and some spicy tripe soup. The all-time hangover cure.
Mmmm. Menudo's good for what ails ye. I swear there isn't something a hot bowl of menudo wouldn't take care of. You just don't get good Mexican food in Seattle. I've heard there are places further out, like near Everett, but they're hard to get to.
I'm impressed by the philosophy behind Esperanto, but I've also seen "Incubus."
www.imdb.com/title/tt0059311/
I'm from Belarus, and I thought our song was at least a little better than the top three (the songs from Russia, Ukraine and Greece). It's too bad the Belarusian singer, Ruslan Alehno, didn't make it into the final.
Otherwise, I thought San Marino's song was all right -- but they didn't qualify for the final either.
Mbritton: The ice skater was the real thing; he's an Olympic medallist.
Bill Chapman: I'm a fan of Esperanto, but I've never managed to find the time to take it up seriously.
Jeff: American Idol is the American version of the British show Pop Idol.
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