Eurovision....

Yesterday, my MIL Skyped us as she was settling down with a nice glass of white to watch Britain's Got Talent
Apparently she had been chatting to her friend at the gym ( a lady who has a son who is "on the same bus as us"....so to speak) who informed her that The Eurovision Song Contest ( the final of which, was to be shown on the BBC last night)  was heavily supported and enjoyed by the GAY community.
surprisingly, this seemed to be new news to my mother in law....after all why on earth would anyone gay follow something that could not get any camper unless Judy Garland had been exhumed to appear singing a duet with Barry Manilow whilst Liberace accompanied them on the piano?

Now perhaps , for the sake of my follower Fanny who lives in Tasmania, I should explain what Eurovison actually is?........simply put, Eurovision is a camp, kitsch, unfairly judged, international song contest that is gently ridiculed by many and taken incredibly seriously by many more..
It has production values that could keep Malta going for ten years, more divas than in the Joan Collins appreciation society and from it's simple 1950 roots where Judith Chalmers actually rang the judges up on the telephone contraption for their marks....it has become an epic on a par with JJ Abrams Star Trek for it has smoke , mirrors and lots of explosions.....

As a child , I adored Eurovision .
As an adult, I can take or leave it.....but last night.....after enjoying two hours of serial killer lecture... I did find myself drawn into the campy, unreality of the show, as one of the Scandinavian hosts belted out a rubbishy ditty whilst Dancers dressed as large Swedish meatballs bounced around the stage...
No wonder gays from across the globe enjoy it...
More escapism you could only get if you were suffering from a florid schizophrenic episode.

Here is my favourite of the evening... Georgia's " WATERFALL" by the delightfully restrained And remarkably classy looking Sophie Gelovani and the rather dashing Nodi Tatishvili....
They didn't do well, unfortunately, but did get 20 points more than poor Bonnie Tyler.... The old Welsh rocker.....bless her little cotton socks




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62 comments:

  1. People get all steamed up about the unfair voting - we wouldn't stand a chance of winning no matter who was singing for us, so good for Bonnie Tyler for having a go.
    But as a music festival it's great fun and Graham Norton's wit makes it worth watching!

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    1. Terry Wogan was better, that was until he was told offforbeing rude

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  2. Is it just me or do all our singers - I'm thinking Bonnie, Engie, Blue, Gemini (remember them?) all sound like karaoke at the local dive when all the other acts sound beautifully engineered and technically correct? Bonnie isn't my favourite kind of voice, but everyone else sounded great?

    I know people say we Don't Want to win and I feel we are universally disliked, but blimey I felt obliged to watch again this year (Graham Norton - love him) and wasted 3+ hours of Tivo catch up (Arne Dahl/Endeavour/Broadchurch).

    Susan x
    Man, I am a miserable whatsit!
    I Love The Voice, hate Simon Cowell ANYthing!! larf

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    1. Is it just me or do all our singers - I'm thinking Bonnie, Engie, Blue, Gemini (remember them?) all sound like karaoke at the local dive


      That's the idea me thinks

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  3. No need to explain to your friends in Tasmania - it's shown here in Oz in all it's glory! Such a multi-cultural mix! Nx

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    1. Congrats on your run my dearest darlings xxxxxxx

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  4. I enjoyed this years campathon more than many previous ones. The Swedes put on a glittering show and I loved the hostess - she was vaguely scary in a dominatrix sort of way. I liked Georgia's entry too and expected it to contend. My favourite was actually Hungary - a very simple little song. God knows why I liked it but I did.

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    1. I agree the staging and main presenter could not be bettered

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  5. I just found your blog by hopping around in blogland - you have made me laugh Judy Garland, Liberace and Barry Manilow combo!

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    1. Another sucker caught in my web......
      Lol
      Welcome aboard x

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  6. I'm still recovering from the Romanian entry!

    Best of the night - Norway, but the also rans in the Estonian Song for Europe would have run away with it. Only the Greek entry was remotely quirky - three minutes of Winny Puhh dressed in wrestlers leotards wearing werewolf make up while slowly being hoisted upside down from the stage would have really livened it up.

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    1. I kind of liked Ireland's in a Viking , rape and pillage way

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  7. Aw bless her for ringing and sharing that info with you!
    I can take or leave the contest but I have noticed it makes a lot of people smile so s'all good.

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  8. A (very) Gay couple of mates of mine went to a special viewing party for Eurovision in London - a real fun-packed night out for them. I sort of understand.

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    1. I say 'very' because I actually thought that one of them was a pretty, young, short-haired, dark-skinned woman before I met them at a stag-party!

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    2. Frothy. And good natured
      Pity most of the other nights out in this land couldn't say the same thomas

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  9. Anonymous10:54 am

    I had never taken much notice of it until my four year old niece tried to tell me something about Russian grandmothers. http://highriser.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/little-jo-and-grannies.html

    I am surprised that someone from my own country is not aware of the show. While I have never bothered, many people focus strongly on the process and news bulletins report the final result preceded by a spoiler alert as it is shown here in delay. Our government funded multicultural tv broadcaster presents the show each evening hosted by the marvellous Sam Pang and, even I can see some hotness in her, the gorgeous and witty Julia Zemiro.

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    1. The Russian grandmothers didn't win did that..... And the. Shock of the probably killed half of them off.......

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  10. Twelve years ago, alone, I phoned this man who had answered my ad. in the FT. As it turned out, quite wrongly I thought... 'It's only sad gits like me that are in on Saturday night watching the Eurovison thingy, so I will be able to leave a message and the ball, if you'll pardon the expression, will be back in his court!' Shows what I know; he was in...
    twelve years later, we are happily married and sharing food with friends instead of watching with rose-tinted memories.

    LLX

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    1. Awwww...........how very romantic..........
      In a camp sort of way

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  11. I've not watched it for years...but know many people who have Eurovision parties...it's a glorious throwback that has become a national treasure even if we will never win it again due to the politics, etc!

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    1. It's a bit like. The Olympics for poor people

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  12. Never watch it these days though do love Graham Norton.

    The girl on Britain's got talent with the Raccoon named Melanie lives in our village !

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  13. I'm still cringing with embarrassment when I think about the song 'Ein bisschen Frieden' with which Germany won in 1982. That was awful.

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    1. I will look that you on YouTube......
      Just dd
      You ain't kiddin are you?

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  14. Anonymous1:32 pm

    well boo hiss...right in the middle of the vid I got an error message!! :D any chance we'll get to see "The old Welsh rocker.....bless her little cotton socks"?? and I'm so out of touch with reality I'd never heard of Eurovision...I MUST be living under a rock!!

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    1. Give it a. Watch....... It'll make you crack open a smile x

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    2. Anonymous3:48 pm

      have TV...no connection to channels...if it comes on Hulu or Netflix I'll give it a watch...smiling is always a good thing :)

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  15. Our favourite was Greece!

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    1. What did you think of Romania?

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    2. Great! We gave them 9 out of 10 :-P

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  16. Right over my head..........
    Happy Sunday, John!

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  17. Luckily I was still coming back from our holidays John, so I missed the whole thing. I belong to that small percentage who think the whole thing is absolutely awful. Nice to be back though and to begin reading through all your blogs I have missed.

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  18. No points for Anouk - The Netherlands? :(
    Sad song about birds that fall down from rooftops?
    Els

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    1. That one WAS. A bit depressing was it not?

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    2. Not depressive, just profound.

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    3. It was certainly different

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  19. Being from the U.S., I've never seen/heard of this show before. I'm betting, though, it's only a matter of time before some "enterprising" young network exec 'borrows' the concept to bring over here...

    ...like they did with 'Survivor', 'American Idol', 'America's Got Talent', 'Three's Company'...etc., etc... ;)

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    1. You would have to enter with canada, Mexico, and all the Latin American countries as well as perhaps Bermuda etc

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  20. Wait! Barry Manilow is gay? Another man I can't have????

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  21. The best bit about Eurovision is the scoring process. In fact next year they should ditch the songs and just have the scoring... Sheffield calling! Sheffield calling! Here is the voting of the Sheffield jury. Going Gently nil points...Bingley the Randy Turkey douze points!

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    1. I think I would have beaten old bonnie Yp

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  22. Just got round to reading your contribution here, J.G. I've said it all in my own posting, which you've already visited. Meanwhile perhaps I should keep playing Georgia until I finally see what the attraction was.
    Btw: Didn't anyone else like Netherlands? It - and the Romanian falsetto - were the most original acts in the entire contest. Oh, well together with those Greek hairy hotties!

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    1. Thanks Raybeard!
      Els from Amsterdam

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    2. The pleasure was all mine, Els. And I'm NOT just talking about watching those crazy, hunky Greeks. ;-)

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  23. I have the album...

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  24. You'll never believe it but I was invited along to my pals, Matt and Al, (who also share the same bus as you!) to endure the whole gruelling three hours! They were disappointed when I didn't turn up dressed like a Swedish meatball but the bottle of rich,red wine I was donating compensated. My friend, Matt remarked that Bonnie knew full well she was going to be on the telly last night in front of the whole of Europe and beyond and therefore should have gone on a diet at least three months previously. Also, with all her money she should have done something about her face!(although by all accounts, she already has!) and why was she dressed like an escapee from 'Bat Out of Hell'?....and various other pearls of wisdom. I love those 'Stitch and Bitch' nights we share together. They have me in stitches and they bitch about anything and anybody!Bet you and Chris don't behave like that!

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  25. ps 'Case Histories', Beeb One tonight - set in and around Edinburgh and featuring 'Jackson Brodie', a right tasty geezer, especially with his kit off!

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    1. Two of your best blog comments to date nanaX

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    2. Why thank you, my good man and may you have a tremendous week.
      ps I don't do hats, ya cheeky bugger!

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  26. Eurovision is unknown to us innocents here in Kiwiland (well, this innocent, anyway) so thanks for the explanation, John. Though we do get Graham Norton's talk show here.

    I agree with Nana about Jackson Brodie - very tasty.

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    1. He is a bit of a dish is he not?

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    2. He looks even better in a toga - he can peel me a grape anytime!

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    3. When have you seen him in a toga?

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    4. Wasn't he Julius Caesar in something recently? I'll ask Al tomorrow - he's big on that sort of thing. Buona Notte :-)

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    5. And what about with the long blond hair in the Harry Potter movies? I liked that look. (See also Orlando Bloom in LOTR)

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  27. I thought I'd be unable to forget the one with the bloke squirming around in the box trying to do a mirror image of the singer. Very funny but have now totally forgotten which country it was. I miss making a night of it with friends of a similar mind....not so great on your own!

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