A review of the 2005 ESC album.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was definitely one of
the better years in the topsy-turvy history of this more and more unwiedly TV
show.
Organized in Kiev, it was most notable for all the political scandals. The Ukraine had just been rocked by the "orange revolution", and the political situation was still highly unstable. The concert area was guarded by hundreds of riot police, since an even larger contingent of dissaffected crypto-Communists wanted to storm it! The new Ukrainian president, Yushchenko, wanted to give a political speech to the ESC audience, but since this is against the rules, he had to rest contended awarding the price. The Ukrainian entry was a political song in favour of the orange revolution, but the band had to rewrite the lyrics, since the ESC is supposed to be non-political. Yet, the Norwegian band Wig Wam was allowed to use orange flags on stage...
That's not political?
As for the actual songs, they are (as usual) of very varied quality and represent a bewildering array of different styles. Some work pretty well on the album, but were badly performed live. Others have to be seen to be believed, such as the Moldovan entry, featuring a - wait for it - very old lady with a drum. Another low point was the Irish entry. Why didn't Riverdance sue them? The Irish song may actually have been the worst ever in ESC history (worse than Dustin the Turkey).
The best entries were probably Switzerland, Serbia-Montenegro, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and (of course) Greece. The Swedish-Greek singer Elena Paparizou won the contest with relative ease, but personally I don't like her anti-feminist, "bimbo" attitude. I would have preferred another winner, say Hungary with their mysterious folk dance-inspired show.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 has aged with grace, and lives on. The orange revolution, on the other hand, has fallen on very hard times. But that is another story...
Organized in Kiev, it was most notable for all the political scandals. The Ukraine had just been rocked by the "orange revolution", and the political situation was still highly unstable. The concert area was guarded by hundreds of riot police, since an even larger contingent of dissaffected crypto-Communists wanted to storm it! The new Ukrainian president, Yushchenko, wanted to give a political speech to the ESC audience, but since this is against the rules, he had to rest contended awarding the price. The Ukrainian entry was a political song in favour of the orange revolution, but the band had to rewrite the lyrics, since the ESC is supposed to be non-political. Yet, the Norwegian band Wig Wam was allowed to use orange flags on stage...
That's not political?
As for the actual songs, they are (as usual) of very varied quality and represent a bewildering array of different styles. Some work pretty well on the album, but were badly performed live. Others have to be seen to be believed, such as the Moldovan entry, featuring a - wait for it - very old lady with a drum. Another low point was the Irish entry. Why didn't Riverdance sue them? The Irish song may actually have been the worst ever in ESC history (worse than Dustin the Turkey).
The best entries were probably Switzerland, Serbia-Montenegro, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and (of course) Greece. The Swedish-Greek singer Elena Paparizou won the contest with relative ease, but personally I don't like her anti-feminist, "bimbo" attitude. I would have preferred another winner, say Hungary with their mysterious folk dance-inspired show.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 has aged with grace, and lives on. The orange revolution, on the other hand, has fallen on very hard times. But that is another story...
No comments:
Post a Comment