Eurovision is a tongue-in-cheek contest. Most of the entries are admitted within a specific Eurovision paradigm, it is not taken seriously, even by the supposed serious entries. It’s just for fun. I watch it with friends and we laugh and drink through the whole thing. The entrants are rarely popular stars beforehand in their home countries (although sometimes they become stars after).
Eurovision is an extremely specific weird thing that we do in Europe. It’s very hard to explain really. It’s one of those things you’ve had to grow up with, I suppose. But you should never ever think it represents any actual taste in music.
Let’s put it this way, if you don’t get top five the goal is to get as close to zero points as possible. (Norway’s gotten zero four times and we’re weirdly proud of this accomplishment) It’s also fun to watch to consider the political implications of the voting. Ever notice how Germany always give Turkey 10 or 12 points? There’s a large Turkish minority in Germany. The former Yugoslav countries were in a bitter, horrible war 10 years ago, now they faithfully vote for each other, as do the former Soviet Union. Someone should really study the nationalistic and political implications of Eurovision after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Funny thing is that this was the first time in many years that the German entry wasn’t an absolute newcomer, a novelty/joke entry, from Schlager - pop music’s evil twin - or any combination of the above. They were the 2000 “Popstars” winners. That doesn’t exactly speak for quality but at least they had a number of #1 albums and singles and sold millions of records.
We obviously also have a large Greek minority that I wasn’t aware of - Greece, douze points
Also, we’re now all going to vacation in Bulgaria. Bulgaria, we love you! (One of the girls from our entry is from Bulgaria, and also in the jury of the “Bulgarian Idol”, which is why Germany is now on the 23rd rank instead of dead last, gotta love the friendly voting.)
No. While the fall wasn’t intended, the whole thing is a joke that was more wildly succesful than the guys behind it ever expected, as JoseB explained.
I fear this may be the proud inheritor of such Spanish plagues as Los Pajaritos, La Macarena and Aserejé…
