After
years of partisan voting and club music, did the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest contain
some actual songs? Surprisingly, yes.
The
occasional old clip that turned up during last night’s Eurovision Song Contest
showed how much the competition has changed over the decades. Once a slightly
serious minded song writing affair which wasn’t just about the singer, it has
become a very gaudy, camp affair of late. Over the past three or four years
club music has started to replace actual verses and choruses while some
countries seemed to believe that the more eccentric their entry, the higher
chance of winning. We can blame Lordy for that; ever since they won dressed as
alien monsters playing heavy metal nothing has been too extreme or outrageous. Then
there’s the voting which has become increasingly influenced by matters that have nothing to do with songs
as the UK’s appalling results over the last decade have reflected. Or is that
just because our songs were rubbish? Anyway 2014’s event seemed comparatively staid
with no aliens or even dancing grannies. Instead three really good songs
claimed the top three places. Imagine!
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| Conchita carries on singing despite the volcano outside |
Bar
some booing every time Russia received some points- which I’m sure is making
President Putin re-consider his entire foreign poicy - politics played no part in this year’s
event. Juries and the public seemed to vote for the best songs as they saw them.
Performances were still on the odd side- trapeze artists, funny dances, a giant
hamster wheel and suggestive milk churning were amongst the visuals this time-
and some of the songs seemed to have selected rather obscure subjects
(cheesecake! Moustaches!) But overall it was the most mainstream contest of
recent times.
A minimum of bouncing about club hits meant a number of show stopping ballads. Both first and third place songs would not sound out of place heralding a James Bond film. Austria’s `Rise Like A Phoenix` garnered so much attention because it wasn’t clear if there was a bloke or a woman singing it that few mentioned what a powerful song it was. Sweden’s `Undo` was actually even better slipping in some less conventional chords but Sanna Neilson lacked any angle whereas winner Conchita Wurst was the opposite. Referred to throughout as `she` it turns out she’s a bloke called Tom but it doesn’t really matter because she has an incredible voice that belies a rather fragile appearance, beard notwithstanding. Sanna just had blond hair. Everyone seemed to want Conchita to win if only because media types can declare “the Wurst was the best!”
A minimum of bouncing about club hits meant a number of show stopping ballads. Both first and third place songs would not sound out of place heralding a James Bond film. Austria’s `Rise Like A Phoenix` garnered so much attention because it wasn’t clear if there was a bloke or a woman singing it that few mentioned what a powerful song it was. Sweden’s `Undo` was actually even better slipping in some less conventional chords but Sanna Neilson lacked any angle whereas winner Conchita Wurst was the opposite. Referred to throughout as `she` it turns out she’s a bloke called Tom but it doesn’t really matter because she has an incredible voice that belies a rather fragile appearance, beard notwithstanding. Sanna just had blond hair. Everyone seemed to want Conchita to win if only because media types can declare “the Wurst was the best!”
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| The Common Linnets budget only stretched to one microphone stand |
Sandwiched
in between these two big songs was The Netherlands’ understated `Calm After the
Storm` a country tinged song whose performers name The Common Linnets was the
only weird thing about them as they provided the night’s most downbeat song.
After all this time it’s reassuring to know that the public is tired of
brightly attired dancing loons. The show was slick in terms of on stage presentation
though the presenters betrayed an amateurishness you wouldn’t expect and a
sense of humour that didn’t translate even though they were speaking in
English. There was some interesting short films in which each of the acts
created their nation’s flag using items to hand whether stones, smoke or in our
case a lot of red buses. What is it about red buses?
Which brings us to our song, a would be belter called `Children of the Universe` that was rather undersold by a singer called Molly who looked as if she would rather be somewhere else perhaps on one of those red buses. It’s a song that demands a belter but her voice wouldn’t rise to the occasion and with neither a beard nor blond hair she was sunk and finished 17th which is hailed as an improvement these days. Presumably an automatic entry to the Grand Final is the only reason the UK still contributes large amounts to the contest because, let’s face it, it is years since we would have got through the semi-finals otherwise.
Inevitably the Eurovision Song Contest is usually what you expect it to be but there are signs of new life this time round.
Which brings us to our song, a would be belter called `Children of the Universe` that was rather undersold by a singer called Molly who looked as if she would rather be somewhere else perhaps on one of those red buses. It’s a song that demands a belter but her voice wouldn’t rise to the occasion and with neither a beard nor blond hair she was sunk and finished 17th which is hailed as an improvement these days. Presumably an automatic entry to the Grand Final is the only reason the UK still contributes large amounts to the contest because, let’s face it, it is years since we would have got through the semi-finals otherwise.
Inevitably the Eurovision Song Contest is usually what you expect it to be but there are signs of new life this time round.
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