Eurovision 2015
Discussion
Sweden is a bit like Canada, pretty much everyone seems to like them, or at least not dislike them. Give a country like that a reasonable song and a spectacular set / FX, then they are always going to poll well.
The UK entry wan't that bad musically. Okay, so it didn't deserve to win (if only because I can't get Birds Eye Potato Waffles out of my head now) but it was the staging that killed it. It was clumsy at best, and the naff LED clothes looked like something from a student party at Glastonbury. It also made the girl look pregnant and/or fat. Zero chemistry between the performers too. Every year the BBC and ITV spend millions of pounds on Saturday night talent shows whose winners do absolutely nothing. Why not come up with a format that produces a Eurovision performer and song?
Talking of Conchita Worst, one reason she won was because just before last years ESC, Putin was making all sorts of threats that if they didn't ban the entry, he would withdraw Russia from the EBU, banning the broadcast and all the usual political crap. (Western) Europe has moved on and doesn't tolerate this sort of bullying. The other reason she won is because she can actually sing, had a really rather good James Bond-ish song, and a very good stage set. I think the thing that scares people isn't that it is a bloke in drag (Tomas Neuwirth has said that he isn't a transexual, Conchita is just a stage character) but the painted on / dyed beard. If it were a normal beard it probably wouldn't look half so intimidating.
This is Thomas Neuwirth without his drag on:
The UK entry wan't that bad musically. Okay, so it didn't deserve to win (if only because I can't get Birds Eye Potato Waffles out of my head now) but it was the staging that killed it. It was clumsy at best, and the naff LED clothes looked like something from a student party at Glastonbury. It also made the girl look pregnant and/or fat. Zero chemistry between the performers too. Every year the BBC and ITV spend millions of pounds on Saturday night talent shows whose winners do absolutely nothing. Why not come up with a format that produces a Eurovision performer and song?
Talking of Conchita Worst, one reason she won was because just before last years ESC, Putin was making all sorts of threats that if they didn't ban the entry, he would withdraw Russia from the EBU, banning the broadcast and all the usual political crap. (Western) Europe has moved on and doesn't tolerate this sort of bullying. The other reason she won is because she can actually sing, had a really rather good James Bond-ish song, and a very good stage set. I think the thing that scares people isn't that it is a bloke in drag (Tomas Neuwirth has said that he isn't a transexual, Conchita is just a stage character) but the painted on / dyed beard. If it were a normal beard it probably wouldn't look half so intimidating.
This is Thomas Neuwirth without his drag on:
drivin_me_nuts said:
Oh no, please don't take it seriously. We need someone like Timmy Mallet to pen it, and Black Lace with the Wurzels to sing it.
That would be awesome. If we're going to do badly, we might as well do spectacularly badly & make everyone laugh. Rather bizarrely, I reckon we'd get some votes if we did this. Lets be honest, if we had a Eurovision super group consisting of Gary Barlow, Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher and a reincarnated Freddie Mercury singing, we'd still do badly.I think we should let Scooch have another go.
No, Scootch were awful.
Bad sexual innuendos that weren't funny and had to be changed for children's TV, and overblown camp stereotyping, it also did abysmally.
Black Lace have done it before, many years ago.
Novelty acts don't seem to cut it now, especially if it is only the host country that gets the humour, Dustin the Turkey seems to spring to mind. I am sure Ireland appreciated the humour, even if no one else knew what an earth was going on.
Mind you I think I'd rather have Scootch having another pop at it than Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith singing together. That would cause widespread dreariness and depression across Europe!
Bad sexual innuendos that weren't funny and had to be changed for children's TV, and overblown camp stereotyping, it also did abysmally.
Black Lace have done it before, many years ago.
Novelty acts don't seem to cut it now, especially if it is only the host country that gets the humour, Dustin the Turkey seems to spring to mind. I am sure Ireland appreciated the humour, even if no one else knew what an earth was going on.
Mind you I think I'd rather have Scootch having another pop at it than Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith singing together. That would cause widespread dreariness and depression across Europe!
Sweden's song was good, but the clever front-projection effects were what the military call a "force multiplier". In other words, they really lifted it to another level.
I thought Thomas could have gone to the effort of growing a real beard for Conchita though - the 'beard' looked like a quick smear of makeup this year. It's not like he wouldn't have had the handful of weeks notice necessary to grow one.
I thought Thomas could have gone to the effort of growing a real beard for Conchita though - the 'beard' looked like a quick smear of makeup this year. It's not like he wouldn't have had the handful of weeks notice necessary to grow one.
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