FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: JBillington on May 30, 2008, 01:39:37 PM
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Really weird hearing the Eurovision Song Contest being discussed, on an american podcast a week after the event. Sir Terry Wogan was knighted for his work for charity, I assume - he is the main presenter of the annual Children In Need telethon. Wogan, incidentally, is Irish and apparently only became a British citizen so that his Knighthood would become real, instead of honorary. As for Eurovision, Wogan has always mocked reciprocal voting, which was very common in the days before televoting. Uk and Ireland always helped each other out, as did Greece and Cyprus and the nordic countries. However, he now believes that there is full on conspiracy, and is getting grumpy.
There is some debate as to whether political voting is on the increase. Eastern counties, particularly those of the former USSR and former yugoslavia are percieved as voting for each other in large blocks. It has been suggested however that most countries vote for their neighbours and countries to which they are traditionally allied, and the results are simply skewed towards these 2 areas because there are so many more countries. It has also been suggested that Eastern european countries take this far more seriously and put forward their biggest stars - in the West, the show is generally seen as camp spectacle, and serious acts are reticient to take part, except maybe in an arch, mocking way (hence Sebastien Tellier)
The 'big four' countries, UK, Spain, Germany and France, have however done very badly in recent years, the UK especially. This is possibly more political - the massive increase in participants in recent years have led to 2 qualifying rounds. These four countries do not have to qualify (for financial reasons) despite doing very badly, and this seems to have led to some resentment.
Woth noting that Greece and Finland have both won in recent years, and although gerographically eastern, both would be considered 'Western' european nations, with no particluar ties to their eastern neighbours.
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I'll grant that Mr. Tellier's performance was a tad arch, but I thought it was a genuinely good song.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MZBjUwcdZpM
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I'll grant that Mr. Tellier's performance was a tad arch, but I thought it was a genuinely good song.
I agree, it was excellent. But not the sort of thing that goes down well at Eurovision.
The video is great too, although this is slightly different edit to the one I saw originally.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfsDjCsU5M[/youtube]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz58Hw9hldw
That's the official video. ^^
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Wogan has always mocked reciprocal voting, which was very common in the days before televoting. Uk and Ireland always helped each other out, as did Greece and Cyprus and the nordic countries. However, he now believes that there is full on conspiracy, and is getting grumpy.
This makes no sense to me. But I haven't watched Eurovision ever so maybe I am missing some sort of super-we-are-the-world-ethic that the show promotes disdaining any local pride.
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Wogan has always mocked reciprocal voting, which was very common in the days before televoting. Uk and Ireland always helped each other out, as did Greece and Cyprus and the nordic countries. However, he now believes that there is full on conspiracy, and is getting grumpy.
This makes no sense to me. But I haven't watched Eurovision ever so maybe I am missing some sort of super-we-are-the-world-ethic that the show promotes disdaining any local pride.
I think that kind of thing is largely due to immigration... people moving to neighbouring countries, then voting for their home country... Poland, for example, has been getting loads more points from Ireland and the UK recently, ever since they became an EU state and da Poles started coming over here (taking our jobs, stealing our woman, etc etc!).
I've yet to hear the podcast, but 'Tom on: The Eurovision'? I'm sold!
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I think that kind of thing is largely due to immigration... people moving to neighbouring countries, then voting for their home country... Poland, for example, has been getting loads more points from Ireland and the UK recently, ever since they became an EU state and da Poles started coming over here (taking our jobs, stealing our woman, etc etc!).
I still don't get why anyone would care. But it's starting to sound ilke racism. Eurovision= a Europe that is more like the UK?
I've yet to hear the podcast, but 'Tom Laurie from Miami on: The Eurovision'? I'm sold!
Fixed.