Eurovision

[Carolyn]

Anybody else totally unimpressed by the winning Turkish song? My husband was trying to define the Swedish word "schlager" for me before last night, and I think I finally understand, it means bubblegum music.

I was VERY impressed by the quality of the Swedish group and thought they should have rated higher, although in the end, it wasn't too bad. They at least were professional, the song had some interest in both lyrics and melody, although very much an ABBA pastiche. I was hoping for number one to be either Belgium or Norway, and at least they placed in the top five. That guy from Norway wrote his own piece, and although it was very reminiscent of Elton John, it had some complexity and style. I'd even go so far as to say i would buy his record, and as cheap as I am, that's saying something. I think he had some real talent there.

but that Russian entry was toooooo weird and most of the rest were incredibly boring musically.

[Leslie]

I was rooting for Belgium, but was satisfied that Turkey won. I was just so glad Russia didn't win! Though we called in and voted for Greece because it got the highest combined points from the both of us. Tor gave it a really high score.

As for Sweden's entry "Fame", I thought they did well last night compared to many other acts, but if you had seen the other entries they beat out at Melodifestivalen you would have wondered why they won. There were several others so much better than they. In my opinion at least.

Some of the better acts in Melodifestivalen
Jan Johansen and Pernilla Wahlgren
Jill Johnson
Alcazar

If you get a chance to hear the songs from the Melodifestivalen let me know what you think.

[Natooke]

I had fallen asleep mid way , but there where some better singers/group then Turkey. Belgium and Romania i really liked. How about the GB act

[Carolyn]

Oh god, GB was SO bad, I have to wonder if she slashed her wrists afterwards For anyone with ANY musical ability, that was incredibly painful. And for the commentator to say she was "nervous" afterwards, that doesn't begin to describe it.

As for Greece, I think the dress got as many votes as the actual song! Anders was debating on whether that was real or silicon, but I told him that that type of material, with proper boning, it could look like a LOT more than was there in reality. Costuming can be a wonderful thing.

As for Russia, the commentators said that both were very high-strung girls and apparently, they hadn't even managed to finish a rehearsal all week without hysterics and storming off the stage. I thought it was the LEAST interesting of all the songs in the contest.

[Sabeine]

Was it this past weekend?

Did anyone see it last year? Remember that drag queen group from Slovenia? Good Lord, where they awful! I thought the woman that sang from France was pretty good. She sounded like a French Sarah Brightman. She didn't have the typical bubblegum Euro pop sound though, so she didn't have much of a chance of winning.

Most years all the songs sound the same.