Immigrant Diaries: A Cross Cultural Experience
Ladies and gents, this morning I bring you a very special cross-cultural experience: Eurovision 2008.
Yes friends, long before Simon Powell got snotty on American Idol ,the citizens of Europe have been fighting amongst themselves to find the best songs/performers for the last 53 years. Last night the big finale was held in Belgrade, Serbia and 43 countries reported in with live voting results. With production numbers akin to the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, and with ratings to rival the Superbowl, Eurovision swept the continent last night. Even in little Denmark it was broadcast on no less than 3 stations with voice-over commentary in Danish, Swedish and German.
Truly, I’ve never seen anything weirder.
So here, to ease your way back into the work week with a smile and a baffled shake of the head, are my top pics from Eurovision 2008.
Most Enthusiastic
Latvia – seriously committed to the pirate look with Wolves of the Sea.
Most Confusing
France – always so classy, what with the women in beards an all…. Maybe they should have let Bret and Jemaine enter Foux Da Fa Fa instead.
Most Warped
Azerbaijan – operatic goth angels and something akin to vampires. Someone should probably check their basement for body parts.
Best of Show (According to Moi)
Croatia (music video, not show performance) — 75 yo rapper scratching on a gramophone w/a great band. This one is actually truly good.
Most Avant Garde
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Like the love child of Weird Al Yancovich and Cindy Lauper. Trip-ee!
Best “Ewwwww!” Factor
Spain – Apparently, Borat’s cousin rocks the house for Spain–complete with playskool electric guitar solo.
Most Likely to Rock Hard
Finland – These guys rock like Vikings! (This isn’t the live performance, but their music video. I actually kind of like ‘em!)
Official Winner (Really)
Russia – Do you think ripping open his shirt put them over the edge, or was it the ice skater?
P.s. My regular Monday post is still going up at BlogHer today. It’s on poetry as prayer and you can find it here.
4 comments
Is there a debate going on about all the political influences in denmark as well?
you know ABBA won with waterloo in the 70’s….?
(this isn’t going to change your impression of it, isn’t it ;)
Oh no don’t, this is SO embarrassing. I can’t imagine any proper European doing anything other than cringing about this dreadful event that’s been going on for so long.
As a Brit, having to be part of this event is the best argument I can think of for getting us out of the European Union!
It was a travesty that Finland didn’t win :)
My lovely European friends…I feel your pain. I cringe like crazy every time I see that The Biggest Loser is running on Danish television!
I undertand that people vote regionally (ie Scandinavia pretty much supports one act from that are, the Easter Block gets behind one performer, etc.) I guess that skews the results.
I have to admit, I almost prefer that a crazy acts wins over someone who is channeling Beyonce. (Hello? What was with the early lead for Greece??) But I do feel badly for the handful of perfomers who were genuinely talented but were overshadowed by the craziness. It wasn’t my tastes at all, but I thought this woman from the Urkraine was a terrific performer. She really pulled out all the stops. You could tell it was her own personal ‘best of show.’ And I adored the act from Croatia.
All in good fun…
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