# Eurovision Song Contest: Do they not all sing live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377 "2003-05-25T07:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/1 "2003-05-25T07:10:01Z")
A post in another thread prompted me to seek out the BBC site for the Eurovision Song Contest. I checked out all the performances and downloaded some of them (Alf Poier, OMG! Leningrad Cowboys, anyone?). But the first ones I checked out were live performances, and I was disappointed to see that so many of the other entries were videos. At least, that’s what they had on the site. Being a Yank who’s been steeped in American Idol for the past few months, I’ve become attuned to live performances. I like the sense of excitement you get with an audience, and (just MHO) it’s a more true test of talent to see someone sing the whole song live, instead of lipsynching through multiple takes of a video. I can understand that not every contestant would be able to travel from, say, Israel, for the competition. But OTOH, why not, if they’re ambitious enough to be in this at all? Oh, and another question. Again, since I’m American, when I hear “Eurovision Song Contest”, I automatically think “Oh, that’s where ABBA got their big break”: that’s really my only frame of reference. Because of that, I was under the impression that only unsigned artists were eligible, but apparently not, since t. A. T. u. competed this year. And they came third! So how is that fair? Naturally, they perform better, because they have more experience! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/2 "2003-05-25T09:37:59Z")
All artist are there, and all of them sing live. There is no orchestra, though. There used to be, and there were more glamour in those days. All countries send a video as a preview ahead of the actual competition. Some produce a video, others just send in the tape from the TV show where the local act won. And no, it doesn’t have to be unsigned artists. Sadly so. It’s getting more and more to be ‘American Idol’ to use your own references. With an audience of the broadcast of 140 million, it’s a great way to market a new artist. Abba were very succesful nationally, before making it big through the ESC. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/3 "2003-05-25T10:34:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*Oh, and another question. Again, since I’m American, when I hear “Eurovision Song Contest”, I automatically think “Oh, that’s where ABBA got their big break”: that’s really my only frame of reference. Because of that, I was under the impression that only unsigned artists were eligible, but apparently not, since t. A. T. u. competed this year. And they came third! So how is that fair? Naturally, they perform better, because they have more experience! \*\* Way back when the whole song contest idea came about, the idea was to showcase each country’s _songwriting_ talent. The rules are, I believe, still written this way, even though the songwriters are now totally overshadowed by the performers. So no, there’s no rule that says the performers must be unsigned or “unknowns”. Many performers - including ABBA - have been fairly to very well-known in their own countries before the contest, and t.A.T.u. are not the first well-known international artists to perform. Cliff Richards, for instance, performed for the UK after he’d become well-known throughout Europe. Personally I don’t like it, but I’m not making the rules, so… ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/4 "2003-05-25T12:09:28Z")
If you heard the UK entry you would realise they were singing live! They were singing badly completely out of key and came last 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/5 "2003-05-25T12:27:23Z")
**Tuco** : The BBC site only had a video for the UK entry. I read the linked article, in which Jemini blamed their ranking on a “backlash” against the UK because of the Iraq war. Whatever… **flodnak** : So who gets the award — the performers or the songwriters? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/6 "2003-05-25T12:31:29Z")
Terry Wogan, who hosted the BBC broadcast, also blamed the war. Undoubtedly there are political undertones to some of the voting, but that doesn’t change the fact that this song was really, _really_ bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/7 "2003-05-25T12:33:41Z")
[Here’s](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2935874.stm) the article. It wasn’t Jemini who claimed “backlash”. > [@](#): > > But former Eurovision winner Cheryl Baker said the UK scored nothing because it had “the wrong song”. > > She was a member of Bucks Fizz, who triumphed in 1981 with Making Your Mind Up. > > “There’s always politics involved. In every single Eurovision there is and there always has been so perhaps there was an element involved of whether we should have gone into the Iraq war.” she said. > > “But even so, we wouldn’t have won. Despite the politics, despite the euro, we wouldn’t have won last night.” ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/8 "2003-05-25T12:40:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > The BBC site only had a video for the UK entry. It doesn’t matter what it had on the BBC website, all the performers did appear live on the show itself. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/9 "2003-05-25T12:49:38Z")
I got that already. I’m just saying that the BBC site has the most comprehensive ESC coverage I can find, and while it has **a** clip for each entry, only a few of them are from the live broadcast. Based on what people have been saying, I **wish** I could see Jemini’s performance! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/10 "2003-05-25T12:53:50Z")
You can check it out [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/contestants/). ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/11 "2003-05-25T12:54:17Z")
Yes the UK act were unremitting shite that only a double public beheading would of atoned for. But we all know that voting in the Eurovision is done along political lines and I think the nil points is a clear indication of the UK’s popularity in Europe at this exact moment. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/12 "2003-05-25T13:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*And no, it doesn’t have to be unsigned artists. Sadly so. It’s getting more and more to be ‘American Idol’ to use your own references. With an audience of the broadcast of 140 million, it’s a great way to market a new artist. \*\* That makes it LESS like “American Idol,” not more. “American Idol” permits only unsigned artists. They can’t have a performing contract of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/13 "2003-05-25T13:20:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\ ***flodnak** : So who gets the award — the performers or the songwriters? \*\* As far as I’m aware, both. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/14 "2003-05-25T17:34:21Z")
The song is competing, not the artists. So the songwriter gets it. Much in the same way ‘Best Picture’ goes to the producer. **RickJay**. I’m aware of that. But many of these acts, that appear in the ESC come directly from ‘Popstars’, ‘Fame Factory’ ASF. The girl who sang for Spain was number three in their ‘Operacion Triunfo’. That’s why I’m saying that it’s sad that established artist stay out of the competition - it’s getting to be more and more Karaoke and the broadcast is too long. Three hours. ---
**Author:** ![superstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@superstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superstar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/15 "2003-05-25T22:19:10Z")
Eurovision was on TV here in Australia last night, and seeing as though we don’t have ‘American Idol’ down here yet I have nothing to compare it to. But it should be called Eurovision POP Contest, because all the songs sound like they should be sung by the “Spice Girls” or “Britney Spears”! They were all crap, except for Eustonia who actually sang a cool song. I’m assuming they were all live…God help them if they weren’t!! If ABBA performed today I think they still would have won because the song style hasn’t changed in 20 years. Do any of these gits play an instrument? Sorry now I’m just raving!!! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/16 "2003-05-25T23:52:20Z")
No, I hear you, **superstar**. Several people were eliminated early on from **AmIdol** , or didn’t make the first audition, because their style was not pop. Fellow Americans probably remember the Southerner with the red hair and the goatee who rocked hard, but was cut **because** he was too “rock”. Not complaining, just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eurovision-song-contest-do-they-not-all-sing-live/177377/17 "2003-05-26T13:47:06Z")
How cool was the Austrian guy? He’s got a career ahead of him, I reckon.