From the Norwegian point of view, the problem with the E.S.C. is that we keep sending them Jahn Teigen, and they keep sending him back. Clearly this strategy isn’t working.
This year, don’t worry, you’re all being spared ol’ Rubber Face. Instead, you get to see the first runner-up in the Mark Hamill Look-Alike Contest.
The funny thing is, I don’t think Finland’s entries are really any more crap than the others. I mean, sure, we gave the viewers “Bye Bye Baby”. But “Ooh, ah, just a little bit” isn’t that much better, is it? Or “Diggiloo, diggiley”?
No Wogan???:eek:
Wogan will be doing his usual hatchet job for BBC1, live from Riga.
Gildo loves you!
You did once enter Pedro Hietanen. Cool. Very cool IMO.
And talking about “Diggiloo, diggiley” (shudder): Two English Sweden-based performers once noticed that Sweden first won the E.S.C. with a song called “Waterloo” and then again with “Diggiloo, diggiley”. Their conclusion was that we Swedes have a preoccupation with toilets.
“Eres Tu” by Mocedades? Yes, that WAS quite a big hit in the U.S., back when I was in grade school… around 1973 or 1974. I must have missed that one when scanning the list.
VERY few non-English language songs ever become major hits here, and that was one. Other than that, “Dominique” by Souer Sourire (the Singing Nun), “Sukiyaki,” “La Bamba” and “Der Komissar” are among the very few I can think of.
What about “Neunundneunzig Luftballons”?
Oh yeah, Nena… forgot that one.
I’m sure there are a few others, but the fact remains, Americans generally don’t buy non-English language records, which is a big part of the reason bands like Abba and the Scorpions always sang in English.
Greeces entry last year was really good, they were from Sweden though, where the ESC is an art form. Jonas Gardells analysis of the “tonartsbyt” (change of key) is hillarious, and is used without fail in every Swedish entry 
The Swedish commentators have apparantly gotten an official complain from whoever it is that is behind the ESC for being overly bitchy last year 
haha!
Not just the Swedish entries… Practically every Eurovision entry I have ever heard ends with a change of key. My friend and I spent last year’s televised contest yelling “annnnd… Yes! THERE IT IS!”
I don’t know. It’s just that as Finns, we end up caring more about the crapness of our own tunes than those of the others.
I mean, remember the year with that woman in the red jacket with the song with all the country names? Could it be any more forgettable? Yes, well, I could have forgotten the red jacket and the city names, but I’ve forced myself to remember them, because that was the year Finland could have nominated Nightwish but didn’t.
Is Eurovision being held in Latvia this year?
Ayup. In Riga, and don’t you forget it. The people who organized the Norwegian national final wanted to fill the voting time with a parody of the “cultural” stuff the host nation usually adds to gaps in the show, and some not terribly bright soul decided to use balalaikas and Cossack dances. The Latvian press was Not Pleased. Guess this means the Norwegian entry won’t be getting any points from any of the Baltic nations this year…
Yay!!!
It’s starting SOON!
Is it just me or are the co-hosts almost embarrassingly unfunny?
Oh, dear. This is going to be a long night!!
Austria.
What the blue-green fornication?
I need a bigger drink.
That’s EU law. They have to be.
I actually kind of liked that Austrian one :o