Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - A winner is...

[Carnivol]

Norway!

Take that, Europe!

So, yeah, the finale was tonight and Norway ran off with an insane victory (387 points, new world record) with more than twice the amount of points that second place had.

Winner: Alexander Rybak - Fairytale

There were some really... uhm... what should I say...
weird contributions this year. It's as if many tried to go for a Balkan Approach after realizing that since the Baltic countries joined the song contest, they've been voting for eachother (and since there are a lot of countries there, that's a lot of points given away to the neighbors... just 'cause they're your neighbors)

I was pleased to see Ukraine deliver once more too. Seriously, I honestly believe there's no way to predict what kind of stuff Ukraine pushes out into the finals.


Anyway, hilariously enough, since Norway will now be the host of this cultural atrocity/phenomenon next year... it means Norway will hosting it on their 50th anniversary as a participant in the song contest, and, to kick it up a notch, the winner was announced after midnight local time, making it the 17th of May, the constitutional/national day of Norway too. Extra w00t for us, I suppose.

[Anders]

Great. Now please let this be over. If I hear that song one more time I'll...

[aris13]

Are you from Norway carn?

[The Dude]

After hearing that this monstrosity which Europe seems to love was on tonight, I bring forth a new question, who cares? Really.

I kind of feel sorry for Norway, considering Hosting this diabolical excuse of a contest will put them at least £50m out of pocket, part of the reason why Ireland stopped sending in Good artists *after winning it 2 years in a row in the 90's and accepting that it pretty much f*cked the national economy* :p.

It just seems a bit of a waste of time really, mediocre singers, diabolically cheesy broadcasters, no more Terry Wogan anymore *sob...he was so awesome when Drunk* and a judging system which has Europe's true political colours and alliegances come to light with countries voting for their best mates and so on :p.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I think it was a joke. Everyone voted for their neighbours. In my opinion, it was a travesty that Sweden didn't win or even get in the top 5. I thought their entry was brlliant.

[Anders]

Are you from Norway carn?

Confirmed.

[Alexia_Ashford]

Are you from Norway carn?

He's one of them there Norwegians.

[Manji]

It actually lived up to the hype ? Unbelievable. Our contribution was mediocre at best. The local radio torture continues. Spontaneous human combustion, anyone ? 3---2---1 ... fuck. Still here.

[Mr. Spencer]

no more Terry Wogan anymore *sob...he was so awesome when Drunk*.

That was the only way he could get through it! Especially in the later years. Though I must say, Graham Norton was surprisingly easy to listen to. He seemed more normal acting as a commentator.

[Guest]

It's a SHIT, everything is political, no one appreciates the musical quality.

Do Europeans know very little about music? UK had a great performance, Turkey and Ukraine also was spectacular.

Spain 24th position¿? It's a joke festival...

PS: Congrats to Norway.

[aris13]

He's one of them there Norwegians.

That's "Wire" talk.

[Carnivol]

Great. Now please let this be over. If I hear that song one more time I'll...

THAT WAS THEN, BUT THEN IT'S TRUE!
(I'd fail this guy in English any day. Fortunately he's not got a new "Take on me~ Take me oooooooooooooon~" going there in terms of great English )

I kind of feel sorry for Norway, considering Hosting this diabolical excuse of a contest will put them at least £50m out of pocket, part of the reason why Ireland stopped sending in Good artists *after winning it 2 years in a row in the 90's and accepting that it pretty much f*cked the national economy* :p.

We've actually been trying to dodge it 'cause of the costs too, but it's not like we can't afford it. (Though, a certain country has got no excuse for a certain abomination they sent in last year.)

It just seems a bit of a waste of time really, mediocre singers, diabolically cheesy broadcasters, no more Terry Wogan anymore *sob...he was so awesome when Drunk* and a judging system which has Europe's true political colours and alliegances come to light with countries voting for their best mates and so on :p.

We had new commentator this year, a plague of her own, really. She may be a recognizable face in mass media (even as the voice of April Ryan in the Norwegian version of The Longest Journey), but.. boy do I think some people will hate her after last night

We're talking awesome comments like:
"Time to see if Norway can take Russia! That's something Hitler and Napoleon never did!"

I think it was a joke. Everyone voted for their neighbours. In my opinion, it was a travesty that Sweden didn't win or even get in the top 5. I thought their entry was brlliant.

Actually, it's always been "everyone votes for their neighbors", it's just that now that you've got the little cluster of Baltic countries in on the fun too, it's easier to notice 'cause it wasn't really a concern before.

It's a SHIT, everything is political, no one appreciates the musical quality.

Do Europeans know very little about music? UK had a great performance, Turkey and Ukraine also was spectacular.

Spain 24th position¿? It's a joke festival...

PS: Congrats to Norway.

Political?
Well, there's still some weird hatred (and love) between countries during the voting, but after this year's weird Baltic influence in a lot of songs from non-Baltic countries (which kinda seems to've paid off)... +seeing stuff like Greece score Turkey high and vice versa... it might be on the right path to break out of all of that.

Though, let's just hope that it can slowly be turned away from the Baltic focus... 'cause, really, I already have 3 TV channels that plays baltic music all day long. It gets old pretty quick.


Anyway, the key to success is to create the next plague, really. (Plague being a simple catchy piece that'll easily stick to the minds of people). In the past 20+ years it's been like that. That's how Norway could win with Bobbysocks in 1985.

If a song is simple and somehow easily sticks to your mind, the chances are it'll get (lots of) votes in the finale. It takes a lot to actually win with something that is genuinely good in the long run.


I don't think the UK's contribution was any good this year. It had the repeating simplicity, but the song was a "musical" song, and that really doesn't work without a narrative to associate it to.

I dunno who to blame for some of the recent stuff you've seen in Eurovision, but I guess Ukraine's victory in 2004 is of great importance to anyone who feel like writing their thesis on the subject


By the way, Michael, I was sad to see Spain not top last year's contribution. I knew you had your contestant there as I was watching the Spanish local finals streamed and a friend of pointed out "That guy is the Spanish internet favorite!"

Ukraine once more delivered, but I still think 2007's contribution is the real winner of 2007. It's only the massive amount of new South/Eastern European countries voting for eachother that made it not crawl from 2nd to 1st. (That night I was sitting in a hotel pub with a young bartender who came from one of those countries. He was in shock over the amount of votes Ukraine kept getting.)

Of course, I guess no one let Finland go unnoticed in 2006 with their slightly... different contribution.

It's pretty hilarious, but two of Norway's recent contributions have been people from the area I live in (some might remember another attempt at sending a charmer, while others may also remember the band that has a lead singer who like someone cosplaying every single Naruto filler bad-guy.



Anyway, will be interesting to see what Russia will do next year. After all, they won with this guy after trying to... uhm... I dunno... present more girl action than t.A.T.u. ever did (t.A.T.u.'s MTV fame after ranking high in the 2003 finals is probably the reason why Russia still remembers them.)


Personally, I hope we'll get rid of things like this and this (Yeah! Greece and Germany, you know it's you two I'm talking about.)


Anyway, yeah, I admit to keeping an eye on the Eurovision song contest. It's an interesting thing as the 500 000 000 ++ viewers and the results makes it an interesting look into the cultures and weirdness of all corners of Europe. Call it a social study (and nothing better to do), if you want.

[BadWolfX]

Germany should've ranked higher, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang was fantastic.

[Gradon]

I only watched the Opening and Semi Final for t.A.T.u.
The final? The "Not Gonna Get Us" played on different instruments.

t.A.T.u. should have won Eurovision 2003 despite how terrible they sounded that preformance.

I liked Armenia and Finlands entry this year, Russia's was terrible, Portugal was hippie-ville, and so much more.

I don't like Dima Bilan, he shouldn't have won 2008, but hey, because he did, t.A.T.u. preformed twice, good on him.

[Mr. Spencer]

Sweden deserved to score higher.