European Song Contest - semi final

[Eldritch]

But how can you explain why Finland won it last year?

One word: masks

It surprises me that I have to tell YOU, a music journalist, why Lordi won Eurovision. It's certainly not because their brillant song, which is totally forgettable. It's because of their show, with the weird costumes and all that crap.

Yes, I agree. Lordi is a brilliant concept but the music is terrible. But that wasn't the point of this discussion. People here were saying that East European countries have won the contest because their neighbour countries block-vote for them. That has never benefited Finland and that was not the case with Lordi. We got 12 points from all over Europe. Now whether it's down to novelty or the quality of the song (*pfft*) is debatable, but it's clearly a fact that it won because it got votes from all over the Europe. So that's one case that's against your complaints of country A winning because sympathetic coutries B, C, D voting for it.

Eurovision has never been the source of classic pop music. Aside from ABBA, no major talents have emerged from that scene. It has always been trash and it always will be trash. Of course it's fun but there has never been a golden age of Eurovision when the music mattered. So deal with it.

[psb-freak]

Let´s not hope that we win. I loathe Hanna Pakarinen so much. She was the winner of our first Idols competition. And I´ve hated her since the program.

And why exactly do you seem to hate all pop singers and bands except PSB? There is nothing to hate about Hanna Pakarinen, because there is nothing to love about her either. You should find more worthy objects for your hate than utterly trivial pop acts.

You gotta eother love or hate her. That´s why. You must hate some stupid singers too...

[Eldritch]

And it's not like Greece and Cyprus are the only ones cheating. There's a whole load of countries that have "special arrangements" with each other It ruins the show as a contest when you know what half the scores will be already..

Jeesh. It's voted by the people in each country. So there are lots of Greek people living in Cyprus and vice versa; plus naturally there are similarities in taste and sensibility. You talk of "special arrangement" like there is some kind of conspiracy between the voters of Cyprus and Greece; like they have arranged the whole thing in closed tavernas.

[Eldritch]

You gotta eother love or hate her. That´s why. You must hate some stupid singers too...

Why? She and her song are not worthy of either emotion, I feel.

[Eldritch]

To become the UK's entry they hardly beat off no-marks either; they defeated Liz from Atomic Kitten (14 top 10 hits, group and solo), Justin from The Darkness (5 top 10 hits), Brian Harvey from East 17 (11 top 10 hits), Big Brovaz (7 top 20 hits) and the only true unknown who (ironically) was actually some French chick who will no doubt sink back into obscurity.

In any case, even if Scooch were unknowns, how would that make them any different from any other country's entrants? I don't think I've ever heard of a single one of these artists the other countries are entering.

But in comparison, usually the artists Finland sends are the most popular artists in our country. We are usually sending our local equivalents of James Blunt, Coldplay, Paolo Nutini etc. Naturally you have not heard of them, but then again, not many Finns have heard of your bestselling artists either, bar the few biggest names.

I have no trouble in admitting that the Finnish music scene loses to the Brit scene about 6-1 in the tennis figures. But we send our "best" people to the Eurovision, whereas UK sends some wannabes or has-beens from the third division. I'm not a Eurovision fan by any stretch but complaining that UK is a victim of some strange conspiracy is just laughable in my opinion.

[Undertaker]

so has Fuc*in Terry Wogan.

Dave

You been shagging Terry Wogan, Dave?

You was quick off the mark there. To which i have no answer.

Dave

[Undertaker]

Jeesh. It's voted by the people in each country. So there are lots of Greek people living in Cyprus and vice versa; plus naturally there are similarities in taste and sensibility.

I can see why England is being taken over by the Eastern Europeans now. They all want those 12 points!

Dave

[One of the crowd]

England is being taken over by the Eastern Europeans now

In more ways than one Dave!

[alig]

Seems like once again, Europeans prove their lack of taste. How on earth can something so abysmally shitty as by Serbia and the Ukraine earn so many votes? Then again, Lordi carried the vote last year with their hackneyed outfits and derivative song. The only decent contribution came from Russia but apparently there are not enough people with taste. No wonder Morrissey refused to be part of this annual debacle.

[Radiophonic]

To become the UK's entry they hardly beat off no-marks either; they defeated Liz from Atomic Kitten (14 top 10 hits, group and solo), Justin from The Darkness (5 top 10 hits), Brian Harvey from East 17 (11 top 10 hits), Big Brovaz (7 top 20 hits)

Not unknowns: has-beens. Do you think any of them are likely to bother the charts again?

[Danny C]

But in comparison, usually the artists Finland sends are the most popular artists in our country. We are usually sending our local equivalents of James Blunt, Coldplay, Paolo Nutini etc. Naturally you have not heard of them, but then again, not many Finns have heard of your bestselling artists either, bar the few biggest names.

Even the worst detritus of the British music scene is about 10 times more interesting than the best most other countries have to offer. We should be able to field bloody Ocean Colour Scene and piss all over the competition in a contest like this - if it's about music, which it quite clearly isn't.

I don't know why they even bother with songs to be honest; Slovenia, Croatia, FYROM, Bosnia and Serbia all vote for each other, the Scandies stick together, the former Soviet states give each other maximum points, Turkey and Germany have their mutual love-in going on - what's the point when the music is irrelevant and countries just vote for the nations they like?

I just say thank buggery the EU isn't run like that, and that real power is concentrated in the hands of the countries that matter, and that poxy little non-entities don't have the same voting rights as world powers.

Not unknowns: has-beens. Do you think any of them are likely to bother the charts again?

Maybe not, but a has-been is surely better than a never-was-and-never-will-be.

[Eldritch]

Even the worst detritus of the British music scene is about 10 times more interesting than the best most other countries have to offer. We should be able to field bloody Ocean Colour Scene and piss all over the competition in a contest like this - if it's about music, which it quite clearly isn't.

I don't know why they even bother with songs to be honest; Slovenia, Croatia, FYROM, Bosnia and Serbia all vote for each other, the Scandies stick together, the former Soviet states give each other maximum points, Turkey and Germany have their mutual love-in going on - what's the point when the music is irrelevant and countries just vote for the nations they like?
.

I disagree strongly. Dull British pop music is in no way better than dull Ukrainian pop. In fact it's actually worse, because the Brits should come up with better stuff than the countries from East Europe, due to their strong tradition of making brilliant pop music. Ocean Colour Scene gets no bonus points for being born in the same country as New Order.

Finland got 52 points: 20 of those were from other Scandinavian countries. Sweden got 33 of their 50 points from Scandinavia, but that was also because The Ark is very popular band in the Nordic countries. This year those votes got Finland and Sweden to #17 and #18, no big deal. However, last year Finland won and Sweden was number 5. Which means that in 2006 people all over Europe liked the Finnish and Swedish entries, this year they didn't, which can be seen straight from the results. So the system apparently works.

[Drico One]

I just say thank buggery the EU isn't run like that, and that real power is concentrated in the hands of the countries that matter, and that poxy little non-entities don't have the same voting rights as world powers.

I agree. Thank God for the Germans.

Drico.

[belated]

But in comparison, usually the artists Finland sends are the most popular artists in our country. We are usually sending our local equivalents of James Blunt, Coldplay, Paolo Nutini etc. Naturally you have not heard of them, but then again, not many Finns have heard of your bestselling artists either, bar the few biggest names.

Even the worst detritus of the British music scene is about 10 times more interesting than the best most other countries have to offer. We should be able to field bloody Ocean Colour Scene and piss all over the competition in a contest like this - if it's about music, which it quite clearly isn't.

I don't know why they even bother with songs to be honest; Slovenia, Croatia, FYROM, Bosnia and Serbia all vote for each other, the Scandies stick together, the former Soviet states give each other maximum points, Turkey and Germany have their mutual love-in going on - what's the point when the music is irrelevant and countries just vote for the nations they like?

I just say thank buggery the EU isn't run like that, and that real power is concentrated in the hands of the countries that matter, and that poxy little non-entities don't have the same voting rights as world powers.

Not unknowns: has-beens. Do you think any of them are likely to bother the charts again?

Maybe not, but a has-been is surely better than a never-was-and-never-will-be.

Eurovision has ALWAYS been points-for-neighbour -game. But Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Swiss and Holland gave 8-12 points to Serbia. They're not quite neighbours? UK gave 0 points to the Eurovision winner, and UK was also the second last of all the countries in the end, getting points from Irelans and Malta. Should that tell us something..

Fact is that UK, France, Germany and Spain would hardly never qualify to Final from Semifinals. Their automatic places in final are always away from good songs that could be there instead. It doesnt have to be brilliant and perfect song. As long as the song or show stands out somehow, it shall bring the victory, no matter are you Greek, Finn or a Serbian. Having neighbours and being in Semifinal is a huge help.

[Undertaker]

How did our shower of sh*t do?

I only heared one song. Don't know who it was but the band were shadows behind a screen, with a women singing a slow song. It was ok. At least they weren't dressed up like t****.

The compettion is probably rigged anyway. Eastern Europe especially have been at the forefront of gambling scams. Some of the lengths people will go to to earn a quick buck is unbelievable. Even the Danes are very well reknowned for conning betting exchanges out of millions of pounds.

Dave