Random thoughts about Eurovision

I don't know why, given my resistance to television in general, I have such a weakness for the Eurovision Song Contest. But everyone has a secret indulgence for some form of junk food, and Eurovision is mine. At least it's essentially sociable: it's a programme to share with friends, to settle down for the evening in front of the television with food and drink and company, and argue about which songs and dance routines and costumes are best (or worst, or strangest).

So last night durham_rambler and I invited over a friend who we knew would join in this pointless activity, and lured in a passing valydiarosada, and gathered up food and drink, and set about the serious business of awarding points for whatever pleased us: points for singing in your own language (and, in the case of Latvia, points for singing in Italian while wearing a top hat), points for pinkness of costume (won by France, who also lost points for singing in Franglais. We suspect that les Fatals Picards were not taking this entirely seriously), The Swedish entry gained points for androgyny, and for most familiar music (eventually identified as Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes); runner up was the German entry (with bonus points for retro appeal), always on the point of lapsing into Mac the Knife. Most baffling entry was Ukraine, the bookies' favourite: why were the band dressed as blue meanies in aluminium foil? (and no, finding the subtitles didn't help); most blatantly anious to please was Romania, whose song switched language with each verse.

Not that this won them many votes - but then, the voting is a whole other can of worms. It's always been political, but this year seemed more blatant than I remember it in the past: possibly the decision to cut short the reporting by giving each country's lower choices en bloc emphasised the partisan nature of the top choices, or possibly the switch from national juries to a phone-in vote removed any chance of limiting the popularity contest aspect of the vote. For whatever reason, the result was as inscrutable as ever: Turkey, whose song (and singer) I profoundly disliked, did inexplicably well. The much-reviled Scooch (who were certainly better than last-year's ill-judged entry) may have paid the price for the UK's anti-Europeanism, but were saved from last place by the Irish entry (a piece of saccharine pseudo-traditionalism, complete with bodhran) doing even worse. It's all a mystery...

And I really don't know what to say about Serbia's victory, so I will evade the issue by remarking instead that the opening sequence (last year's winners, Lordi, in fields of ice and flames) was spectacular, and that I enjoyed the trapeze artiste at the interval.