Eurovision!

I'm not sure how many of you know about Eurovision. You may have heard of it because ABBA won it in 1974 for Waterloo. If you have no idea what it is, let me try to sum it up quickly. Eurovision is a song competition between a ton of European nations (43 this year), where all the other countries vote on the performances.

The concept is super awesome and really, I wish that there was something in the USA that was similar. However, the concept pales in comparison to the actual execution of the show. Some of the performances are nice, understated, pleasant. But those are not the fun performances. The ones that are the best are the performances that are weird. In my opinion, Europe has better music than America. It may just be my taste in music, but I enjoy the crazy dance music that Europe gives more than the crap that seems to come from here (though I do also like anything singer-songwriter). The point of Eurovision seems to be to showcase the weirdest music of Europe, which is awesome! My biggest confusion with Eurovision is the voting. Each country has call in voting (much like Idol), with the top 10 vote getters getting points. Fine. The confusion is the actual voting results. It seems like mostly countries vote for a country they like rather than a music group they like (they can't vote for themselves). For example, most of the Baltic nations just vote for each other. Which, yeah, makes some sense. But also, it ends up giving more points to countries that may not have had great performances. So, a lot like Idol!

This past weekend was the Eurovision finale and there were definitely some weird performances. Moldova really brought the crazy with their song and performance; Ukraine also broke out the weirdness with a sand artist doing the backgrounds. My three favorites were Sweden (3rd place), Denmark (5th place), and Ireland (8th place).

Sweden's entry was Popular by Eric Saade. The lyrics are really not great, but the music is extremely catchy and Saade is super hot, if a bit boyband (probably because he used to be in a boyband!). His whole performance is solid, with weird frame things, breaking glass, and hot backup dancer boys. And I have not been able to get his song out of my head. I liked Saade in his interviews, too. He seemed really sweet and just psyched to be toward the top of the results.

Denmark's entry was New Tomorrow by A Friend in London. They really kind of remind me of My Chemical Romance's newest song; they kind of fit in with OneRepublic, The Script, etc. in my head. There performance is rather understated for the competition, which is kinda fun. They just went out on stage and jammed. Also, they get an extra point from me for yelling "I want to fuck you" to all of Europe after they got top points from one of the countries. And one more point for repeating the exact same phrase when apologizing for saying it.

Ireland's entry was Lipstick by Jedward. Ok, I have to admit that I knew who Jedward was before Eurovision because I watch too much UK tv. They were on X Factor a few years and people either love them or hate them. I love them. Jedward is a pop duo that is comprised of Irish twins who are 19 (I think) with ridiculous hair. They are not the best singers or the best dancers, but they are by far the best performers of anything ever. They also have more energy than anything else ever. Besides all that, they are ridiculously sweet in interviews and seem like genuinely nice boys. Their song Lipstick has been stuck in my head since Saturday and I am totally ok with that. I have memorized most of the lyrics. I could probably do most of their choreography. If you want to know why Eurovision is amazing and amazingly weird, watch Jedward.

For my favorite example of weirdness, the Ukraine entry from 2007, which got 2nd place. That kind of performance would never work in America, which is tragique!

I really do love the weirdness of European music and love the internet for giving me access to all of it! Go forth and watch the ridiculata of music from Eurovision!