Eurovision Song Contest 2008

[Kell]

Did anyone else watch the first semi-final tonight? Dale and I managed to pick out 7 of the 10 that went through to the final from tonight's show (we sat down and went through them all last night - LOL!).

The ones that go through to Saturday are:
Israel
Azerbaijan
Norway
Poland
Bosnia and Herzogovina
Armenia
Finland
Romania
Russia
Greece

You can see what I thought of their performances on my blog HERE (http://kellsmurthwaite.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/eurovision-semi-final-1/).

Looking forward to the second leg of the semi's on Thurdsday night and getting SO excited about the final on Saturday night!

Yes, i'll admit it, i'm a bit sad! :lol:

[prospero]

THESE ARE THE PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE PROPHET PROSPERO:

We won't win.

Cyprus and Greece will give each other douze points.

A Scandinavian or Eastern bloc country will win, after a shameful display of 'bloc-voting' on the parts of Northern and Eastern Europe.

n.b. ii - I HEART LORDY! :D That's a proper Eurovision song, that.

*HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH*

*prospero dances off to the mosh pit in her fake Louboutins*

HERE ENDETH THE PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE PROPHET PROSPERO

[~V~]

Kell, what happened with the thread title? :lol:

[prospero]

What happened with me not noticing it?

I'm losing my powers! :lol:

[Kell]

Prospero - I LOVED Lordi's performance 2 years ago. I always love it when a good, rockin' entry gets through, never mind wins the whole show - LOL! I won money betting on them to steal the show.

I'm also pleased with the way they've split the semi-final into two so that there can't be such block voting as there has been in the past - you can only vote in the semi you're in, so all the Eastern European countries were split out and so were the rest of them - all the political partners are spread out now and it meant that it wasn't all the East Europeans that went through from the first leg, This year we might actually get some qualifiers from the South, the West and the North! :lol:

V - All I can say is it was a very long day - I'm off to fix the title right now. ;)

[Janet]

Prophet Prospero? Pfft those things happen every year! ;)

I love watching it - mainly for Terry's commentary! :lol:

My son (11 at the time) bought the Lordi song on CD because he loved it so much!

[ii]

A Scandinavian or Eastern bloc country will win, after a shameful display of 'bloc-voting' on the parts of Northern and Eastern Europe.

n.b. ii - I HEART LORDY! :D That's a proper Eurovision song, that.

*HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH*

*prospero dances off to the mosh pit in her fake Louboutins*

I would just like to defend my current home country and say that a) northern countries don't "bloc-vote" and b) Finland is not in Scandinavia.

I'm happy you all liked Lordi, though. Finland's this years group is of similar, albeit slightly less 'out there' type. Only this time we have half-naked men instead of monsters. I do like the group, and have their music. So I'm curious of what you thought of them...

I loved Ireland, though. It was funny and witty. Their performance wasn't quite as good as it could have been, though.

And the girl from Armenia had a really pretty dress!

Oh, and don't get me started on the commentators. I love the ones we have! The singer for Poland comes on, and the guy comments "ooooh, so that's why the solarium at the hotel was booked all the time!" And few years ago a guy (he didn't comment the following year, though, which was a shame!) said, when a girl in a very very short dress ended the rutine to a split: "that's going to leave a wet mark on the floor." *falls off the chair, laughing*

[prospero]

I think you'll find I was moving on from my point about the Eastern bloc and Scandinavia before mentioning Lordi...which I did spell all wrong, like. Bah!

Can't believe Dustin the turkey's been knocked out. Me sad. :(

[Kell]

I love this year's Finnish entry, ii - I cheered when they went through to the final. :mrgreen:

[prospero]

So bad it's good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6VzdtmrP6Y&feature=related) :D

[Maureen]

We are on tomorrow, I think........ - though I stand to be corrected.

[Kell]

Yes, Malta are 16th on tomorrow night - it's a bit of a techno-dance-y number - the singer has a pretty good voice though and with a good performance I can see it going through to the final.

All the info can be found HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_2008) at Wikipedia.

I think the following countries will make it through to the final tomorrow night:
1. Iceland
2. Sweden (actually my hot tip for winning the whole thing!)
3. Turkey (totally rockin' track)
4. Ukraine
5. Latvia (it's a lot of fun, this one!)
6. Bulgaria
7. Georgia (it's a message song sung by a blind woman)
8. Malta

It's a bit of a toss-up for picking two others though. I do, however,think that this year the UK stands a very good chance of finishing in the top 10, as we have a pretty strong entry (certainly the strongest of the automatic qualifiers), but not strong enough to win the whole thing.

[Inver]

GO ANDY :D

[Spooncat]

Can't wait for Saturday ! love Terry Wogan's quips and of course its always an entertaining show that has me doubled up with laughter!:mrgreen:

[prospero]

There's no way the UK will win. We don't have any supporters for bloc-voting and politically, we're the whipping-boy of Europe.

No, politics shouldn't come into it but try telling that to Greece and Cyprus.

[Nici76]

What's up with all the leather trousers this evening??!

I really liked Switzerland, they have my vote! ;)

Oh and I thought the pirates (Latvia) were annoyingly catchy! :roll:

[ii]

I really liked Switzerland, they have my vote! ;)

You liked Switzerland 'cause you found him totally cute! *grin*

And the silver dresses, size postage stamp, what's with those??

[Kell]

I thought tonight was a bit disappointing in comparison to Tuesday night's leg of the semi-finals. Although this leg had the better songs, the performances weren't so hot as the first lot - perhaps they didn't feel they had to try so hard - LOL!

There were some really flat vocals on display tonight, notably from Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Belarus - ouch! That effectively took three of my own predictions out of the running. :irked: I did think that Malta should have gone through over Portugal, as the Maltese entry gave a great performance, whereas Portugal, I felt, was rather bland.

Amyway, my thoughts on those who made the cut are on my BLOG (http://kellsmurthwaite.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/eurovision-semi-final-2/).

The real rule of thumb on tonight's show, though, came from Tadpole. On Tuesday night our little Tad wouldn't keep still, whereas tonight, there was barely a nudge from the little mite - clearly not excited in the least by tonight's offerings!

[Maureen]

Oh, a lot of Eurovision fans are really disappointed! And I did think she deserved to go through. :-((

[Spooncat]

You liked Switzerland 'cause you found him totally cute! *grin*

And the silver dresses, size postage stamp, what's with those??

did Switzerland get though?!:smile2:

[Nici76]

No they didn't Spooncat. :(

[Spooncat]

Does anyone else think Michelle Gayle should have won?!:motz:

[OnyxAngel]

Latvia's song this year is so funny!

Dustin the Turkey is just plain scary and disturbing :lol:

At least we don't have a scary cheesy song this year :)

Last year with all the gothic Evanescence like songs were amazing and Lordi - best Eurovision song ever! :mrgreen:

[Kell]

Does anyone else think Michelle Gayle should have won?!:motz:
Nah - I think Andy Abrahams is our best shot in years. I still don't think we'll win, but I think this is our best entry since the last time we won it (which was Katrina & the Waves back in 1997).

[Spooncat]

Unfortunately a good song doesnt mean it will do well I agree with the previous comments the rest of Europe dont like us much:smile2:

[Kell]

True - the Eastern Bloc tend to vote for each other and there are other "political pals" dotted throughout Europe, but we only really have Ireland. Everyone else in Eurpoe hates us - LOL! I'm pleased to see it's not entirely Eastern in this year's final though - quite a decent mix really.

[Maureen]

Well, if we were there still, you'd have 12 points guaranteed.....!

[prospero]

Andy, Andy, Andy...I thought black men were supposed to be able to dance?

*sigh*

I can't see 'us' winning though, as everyone hates us (we don't care) and the song's too upbeat. The UK needs to start coming up with songs called 'Let's hold hands and love each other' or 'Our love can break down any barrier' or 'La la la bummy dingy flollopy wibble' to get anywhere.

[Lilywhite]

Well erm Bosnia&Herzegovina....... That was, erm interesting. :10_confused:

[prospero]

Oh, you saw it too? Phew; thought it was those flipping migraine drugs playing silly beggars with my head again!

[Lilywhite]

Trust me, I don't think the deepest depths of my imagination could have made that up!

[prospero]

I'm not just saying this to kiss up to ii, but FINLAND ROCKED!

~V~ would have liked them, I reckon - she's into c**k rock. :lol:

[Michelle]

I liked the Finnish rock song. :D
I bet those pirates win! lol

[prospero]

I have to say it...

Yarr! :D

[happyanddandy]

We've only watched 2 songs and turned right over again - one of them was Latvia - bad pantomime stuff :lol:

[prospero]

France. WTF???

[happyanddandy]

Wtf????

[prospero]

It's comforting in a way. I've been sucked in to watching this for the first time in years and I feel reassured that I'm not the looniest loony-tune on the planet. Those mad-ass Azerbaijani folk! :lol:

[happyanddandy]

France. WTF???

Ah I got it now:smile2:

[Michelle]

The Norway entry was a nice song. :)

[prospero]

Bit cheesy though, all about loving yourself and being strong...so it should do well! :lol:

Spain were a bit loopy I thought.

[The Mad Leprechaun]

Do people actually know how the eurovision song contest came into being? Dont check on wiki for it either! :tong:

[happyanddandy]

I think we should stop entering and leave them to it

[prospero]

We fund it, H&D! We have to enter, so we can hand over the cash and get a damn good kicking every year.

Ukraine should have won, I think. Funny how the Russian guy's shirt 'accidentally' keeps falling open.

Quite a pleasant sight, though.

But there's no way in hell Andy Abraham deserved to come - what was it, third from last? I never thought he'd win or come close, but it's fairly obvious NO ONE LIKES US WE DON'T CARE!!!

[Kell]

How very, very disappointing (http://kellsmurthwaite.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/eurovision-final/).

[~V~]

I'm not just saying this to kiss up to ii, but FINLAND ROCKED!

~V~ would have liked them, I reckon - she's into c**k rock. :lol:

She so isn't

She liked the singist though ;)

[prospero]

Tel Wogan - "Is it just me, or could he use some conditioner?" :lol:

[~V~]

Wogan really let himself down not recognising Pleshchenko. Doh

(Just looked him up - it's 'Plushenko' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeni_Plushenko). Double doh

[prospero]

You mean it WASN'T Michael Flatley?!

[~V~]

You mean it WASN'T Michael Flatley?!

... On roller skates? :lol:

No

[prospero]

So much for Sweden being a favourite, eh? How much botox did that girl have in her scary-dairy eyebrow area?

[~V~]

I liked the Croatian and Israeli songs best.

I missed a few though as my mate phoned from Canada

[Kell]

Well, if we were there still, you'd have 12 points guaranteed.....!
Malta did get to vote in the final. Didn't give the UK douze pointes though. :cry2: Obviously you didn't phone in and tell them about your buddies in the UK. :lol:

I just want to add that although I knew we had no chance of winning - we was robbed! UK did NOT deserve to be at the bottom.

[~V~]

I was more astonished that Poland were at the bottom with us.

I really thought they'd do well as all the Poles are all over Europe and so would be able to vote for themselves from whatever country they are in.

I do think that part of the problem now is that many of the Eastern countrys have votes from their subjects (that doesn't feel like the right word but the only one I can think of right now) living in other countries.

Plus much of western Europe really doesn't take it seriously. Italy withdrew didn't they?

[prospero]

Did they? Or perhaps they were just trying to change sides at the semi-final stage? :D

[Kylie]

Why does everyone hate England? That's sad :(

We don't get Eurovision aired over here until about a week later :irked: I only watched it for the first time last year and forgot to watch the semis this year. I might watch the final (whenever they decide to air it), even though I already know who won.

A newsreader this morning told viewers to block their ears if they didn't want it spoiled for themselves, only there was writing up behind her that clearly said who won :roll: There'll be some unhappy people ringing that network I think :lol:

[~V~]

Why does everyone hate England? That's sad :(


*whispers to Kylie*

It's the UK

[Michelle]

We all gave up and went to bed half way through the voting.. and I hear this morning that Tel might quit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7418940.stm), because he's so fed up with it.

I have watched Eurovision for years, and have enjoyed the silly songs etc.. but this voting has taken all the fun out of it. We didn't deserve to be last, and some rediculous sings got more votes. I don't think I'm bothering next year, and I agree 100% with HandD.. let's stop entering, and let them get on with it! :(

[Sedge]

I don't think it should be taken so seriously. Terry Wogan was excellent throughout most of his commentary, but did spoil it at the end for me with his moaning (as he has done for the last couple of years).

Everybody knows the dodgy voting system, but that shouln't detract from the fact that it was a damn good show. Even the less 'technically excellent' songs had great entertainment value (does anybody know why the French singer came on in a golf cart?). My favourites were the Latvian pirates!

If you ignore any over-competitive aspect, it's just a great laugh!:lol:

[Michelle]

You're missing my point.. I've never taken it seriously, I do watch it for fun, and it's not about being competitive.. but this year it was just too ridiculous. Why should we make some poor singer stand on that stage, knowing they will come last, no matter how good they are? It's time to pull out, and let everyone get on with it.

[Sedge]

Sorry Michelle, I wasn't responding specifically to your last post, but the reports on News 24 this morning - there just seemed to be a lot of very bad feeling (much criticism of the other acts taking part). I do feel that the contest is no longer the place for the serious, talented artist who wants a career in the music business and do feel sorry for Andy though.

[Kell]

...and I hear this morning that Tel might quit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7418940.stm), because he's so fed up with it.
I thought as much last night by the end of the show. It wouldn't be the same without El Tel, but I can honestly see why he's rather fed up. I still love the show - it's a lot of fun and you get to see a wide range of music genres (and abilities - LOL!) represented throughout the competition - but it does make it all seem a little pointless for many of the countries when everyone knows exactly who will get the points from their political allies even without hearing the songs.

And it really sucks that everybody hates the UK.

You know, you don't have to be part of Europe to enter - you just have to join the European roadcasting Union. I wish Australia would up and join - we might get a couple of votes from them. :lol: Canada & the USA get to see it too - can they please join and send a few votes our way?

[prospero]

Why does everyone hate England? That's sad :(

I THINK you'll find it was the UK. Even though that's incorrect as the UK officially includes N.Ireland which doesn't compete with us.

What we should do is split up Scotland, England and Wales, compete separately and then all vote for each other.

But...why are we hated? Politics. The Iraq 'war'. I know, I know, stupid, but we're seen as America's buttboys in Europe so they all hate us.

Sorry, ~V~...I couldn't resist.

[happyanddandy]

So much for Sweden being a favourite, eh? How much botox did that girl have in her scary-dairy eyebrow area?


I suspect she was a man :smile2:

[prospero]

Pfft. A man becoming a woman and singing at Eurovision! That'd never happen!

[happyanddandy]

I only watched a bit (Sweden, the Pirates) and the scoring - eldest and I were clutching our sides laughing because we could predict almost exactly how each country would vote

[Welshman]

What we should do is split up Scotland, England and Wales, compete separately and then all vote for each other.

But...why are we hated? Politics. The Iraq 'war'. I know, I know, stupid, but we're seen as America's buttboys in Europe so they all hate us.



If Wales has any sense we'll stay out of it. We have our own international song festival anyway - we call it an Eisteddfod :)

My wife says I'm bleating :lol:

[prospero]

I didn't think Andy the Binman would come last; I knew he wouldn't do well, but last place? Ridiculous.

I think Ukraine should have won with maybe Armenia and Greece following.

Keep sucking up to them, Cyprus. Your vote will count one day. ;)

When Andorra were voting, Tel Wogan kept saying, "Spain. They'll vote for Spain. Come on, just put us out of our misery...and...it's...Spain! What a joke."

Well, duh. We've always known it.

I just read a good suggestion on the BBC news site: we should send a huge band like Take That, and if they come last we'll have proof it's all political and bloc voting. Then we pull out, withdraw funding and watch the entire contest collapse.

[Laramie]

My suggestion is better.
Start a war, surreptisiously so nobody knows it's us, then when they're all about to die we swoop in and save them and then we'll have a load of friends and they'll all vote for us and we won't lose!

[prospero]

Or we say, "If you want us to keep funding it, sing in English. Then you sing anonymously so no-one knows which country they're voting for."

Actually it's the songwriter's nationality that counts, not the singer's, so maybe we should start using Balkan or Baltic warblers to fool people into thinking we actually like Croatia and Serbia?

You know what I don't understand? Bosnians and Serbs were raping each other's children a few years back and now they're voting for each other? Huh?

[Kell]

My suggestion is better.
Start a war, surreptisiously so nobody knows it's us, then when they're all about to die we swoop in and save them and then we'll have a load of friends and they'll all vote for us and we won't lose!
We liberated Europe in WWII - they STILL hate us. :lol:

[prospero]

We liberated them from Germany, who was and still is a part of Europe, so the Second World War argument doesn't really hold.

They hate us because of our 'special relationship' with America.

[Kell]

We liberated them from Germany, who was and still is a part of Europe, so the Second World War argument doesn't really hold.
Yup - even Germany does better than us in Eurovision. ;)

[prospero]

Kell, someone could strangle a cat, record it, and put a Baltic or Balkan artist on stage and tell them to mime to it and they'd STILL do better than us.

[~V~]

I thought Germany were on 14 points along with us last night?

[Tiger]

How did I know that the UK would lose again? :lol:

[lovesreading06]

Its all politcal (sp) now. We may aswell pull out we have no chance of ever winning it.

[OnyxAngel]

I have to admit I did like some of the songs (eg Finland)

Azerbajan (sp) weren't bad for their first turn

But what a surprise about the voting :lol:

[Kell]

I thought Germany were on 14 points along with us last night?
Germany, Poland and UK all ended on 14 points, but when it goes to a tie, they work out who had the most 12-point votes, then who had the most 10-point votes and on downwards. Our highest single vote was the lowest of the three, hence UK come last. :(

[Angel]

As usual I did not watch much of it - never do for all the reasons cited above. The rest of Europe may hate us, but they all know when to ask when they have problems and need some-one to fight their causes, wars and defend their borders! Us !!! :irked:

Perhaps we should say vote for us next year and we'll consider your next request for help:lol:

[thelastwatcher33]

Poor ol' Ireland didnt even get into the final, ok we may have had Dustin the turkey-aka national hero- but did you see Bosnia's entry? It had a washing line in it. Nuff said. Oh and we gave the UK points, so at least we tried to help in a neighbourly fashion.:lol: I liked the French song, I couldnt stop humming, it drove my Mum mad. I m laughing even now when I think of it.

[Kylie]

You know, you don't have to be part of Europe to enter - you just have to join the European roadcasting Union. I wish Australia would up and join - we might get a couple of votes from them. :lol: Canada & the USA get to see it too - can they please join and send a few votes our way?

I didn't know that! I thought you had to be a European nation. Cool :mrgreen:

But...why are we hated? Politics. The Iraq 'war'. I know, I know, stupid, but we're seen as America's buttboys in Europe so they all hate us.


Ooh, maybe we'd better not join. We'd be hated for the same reasons as you :smile2:

It's a shame that politics gets in the way of something that should be fun and uniting...

[Lilywhite]

I can't get that stupid song from Spain out of my head. It was so funny but very strange at the same time. But that's why I love watching Eurovision. I don't normally watch the voting though, too predictable.

[Sarahrob]

In fairness I thought we funded it to a much larger extent than we do - only £173k of license fee money goes towards it. When you look at the millions of viewers it draws, that's pretty good value all told.

:irked: still annoying that we can send in a really good entry and come last though. Hmph.

[Maureen]

Malta did get to vote in the final. Didn't give the UK douze pointes though. :cry2: Obviously you didn't phone in and tell them about your buddies in the UK. :lol:



I believe we always give the UK a high vote - whatever the song is. At least the three times I watched the Eurovision, we did.

[~V~]

Yeah, you and San Marino.

Being brand new, I don't think they'd got the hang of the politics ;)

[Michelle]

Actually, I'm not sure Malta did vote for us this year?

[NiceguyEddie]

I never watch it because the music is the PITS! But it's obvious it's now just a bash Britain fest.

[Janet]

Actually, I'm not sure Malta did vote for us this year?
They didn't this year. We got 8 from Ireland and 6 from San Marino. :)

[~V~]

Doh! That was it *smacks forehead*

[Janet]

Doh! That was it *smacks forehead*
To be fair, I only know because I looked it up on Wikipedia! :D