It's Eurovision time! Yippee!
I love the stylish subtle zombie influence in the Belgian entry
http://youtu.be/IjH-HYAFICg
Not sure how they're going, I need to check if they're in the Grand Final. Current favourites to win are Sweden.
Again, as usual, I have no idea what the UK was thinking with its entry... The clip was busy and the performance is messy, and just plain odd. Musically it just hurts my ears to listen. (Sorry) another entry I can't seem to appreciate this year is Spain's.
I had forgotten that knew about the Finnish entry, a punk rock band with a furious, indecipherable, short and very loud song that naturally they wrote themselves.
They're described as middle-aged, the drummer at 32 is by far the youngest of them all. Their song appeals to the teenage rebel living inside every man, and to everyone under age 30.
http://eurovisionworld.com/?esc=presenting_finland_2015_pertti_kurikan_nimipaeivaet
the Israeli entrant is only 16 (I can't believe it), and it seems a bit awkward in spots, but here's the 2nd Semi Final performance
http://youtu.be/5bi1lK91bas
He's made the Grand Final, I believe.
Then there's the other Eurovision-related activity...
http://dailyreview.crikey.com.au/skol-our-eurovision-drinking-game-2015/24336
From... http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/eurovision-2015-play-our-bingo-game-20150521-gh71qu.html
Voting order and spokespeople have been released!
Newsreader Lee Lin Chin has been chosen as our spokesperson.
http://eurovisionworld.com/?esc=eurovision_2015_voting_order_spokespersons
Just 6 hours (and a bit) to go... And here's a reminder of the running over:
http://eurovisionworld.com/?esc=running_order_in_grand_final_decided
The UK has an electro swing song in there this year!
Haven't heard it yet, though. I've been trying to figure out how to watch it. Might be streaming on the official Eurovision site. What time does it start?
A friend of mine who's in Vienna won two tickets to attend the finals tonight. He submitted the winning slogan in a contest sponsored by the Vienna Tourism Board.
His answer to "What do you like most about Vienna?" = "It could be wurst..."
The start time printed on the ticket is 21:00 (Austrian time). They've been sending pictures all week of the Eurovision festivities. It looks like so much fun!
Okay, so it looks like you can watch it on Youtube from 3pm onward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQETFB4jV_A
Of course, I'm heading out to Ikea as soon as it starts.
Ridski, so sorry I wasn't able to get back to give you the links. Of course, by now it's been over for hours.
I have to confess, the UK entry wasn't my taste in music or staging. The Guardian UK live blog was off the rails awful, not even Euro-awful. I think the UK managed to score 1 or 2 points; surprisingly Austria and Germany both managed nul. They weren't necessarily awful, either.
Do we want spoilers
So the woman who presented the Aussie scores is a well respected highly experienced newsreader and journalist with our multicultural broadcaster, SBS. She's also known for her avant grade fashion sense, great use of colour, and very strong links to alternative & multimedia arts. She's tiny, and fierce but also amongst the funniest and most intelligent people on the continent. Almost a cultural icon herself.
And Australia made the top 5! How did that happen? Guy gave a great performance, but man, I wish he'd ditch that dangling shirt-tail! very nice of those gave us 12.
PeggyC said:
Er, what is Eurovision?
It's a different way of transmitting television, totally unlike the American NTSC system.
PeggyC said:
Er, what is Eurovision?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest
Without it we would never have had ABBA.
ridski said:
PeggyC said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest
Er, what is Eurovision?
Without it we would never have had ABBA.
And without ABBA, the New South Wales town of Trundle (pop. 700) wouldn't be able to host the world's only festival devoted to the Swedish quartet.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-30/trundle-hosts-worlds-only-festival-dedicated-to-abba/6506658
Trundle's pop is 700! You can't halve it, that's unfair! :0
And the, there's the annual Elvis Festival in Parkes...
joanne said:
Trundle's pop is 700! You can't halve it, that's unfair! :0
And the, there's the annual Elvis Festival in Parkes...
You're correct! mea culpa. Corrected.
Elvis and Parkes have nothing to do with Eurovision.
In the sense of music festivals, and of the discussion of unexpected Australian music festivals, there's a tenuous link.
And I'm sure we can find some 6-degrees kind of connection to an Aussie who's been on-stage or written for a Eurovision entry if we really try. Thanks to the tradition of 'returning "home"',Aussies have been turning up at Eurovision long before ONJ did her UK turn.
Chortle! Has anybody told the PM and Cabinet? (I mean about the border situation
A mad weekend of drunken musical cliches, silly staging and - yes! Australia is actually competing this year!!! ( yes, we're all scratching our heads about this too - partly because of the choice of artist and song, and mainly because somehow now we're part of Europe...?!?)
While they're going through the elimination rounds, make your own cheesy Eurovision song...
http://games.usvsth3m.com/eurosong/#9498279400005555Z