Eurovision Song Contest

So that's Eurovision over for another year, then.

I have to say that I though Graham Norton did very well, filling Sir Terry's shoes and I hope he stays with it. The winner was pretty obvious from the start, well before the voting started. Having scored, I believe, the record number of 'nul points' entries over the years (despite the UK's recent run), Norway decided to have a go this year and their entry ticked all the boxes for Eurovision success. Firstly it had the necessary Bavarian "oopmah" beat, so Europeans can get down and boogie, whether they be in County Kildare or hanging from a cave roof in Transylvania. It was sung by a lad all the grandmas in the continent would want to take home and feed and more importantly, it is an earworm. It will get into your head even if you hate that style of music and force you to hum it until your vocal chords bleed. Ho hum. I predict a ruined summer, with that song blaring out of the radio for months. I remember something similar many moons ago, when (not Eurovision) Mary Hopkin hit the charts with "Those Were The Days". After six continual months of the damned song, it was another 20 years before I felt like listening to it again.

Germany might have scored higher with the chap with gold lamé chicken legs and plucked eyebrows, who made Freddie Mercury look butch. The whole Weimar thing was quite entertaining, though the addition of burlesque queen Dita Von Teese did little to help them in the end. Now she's an odd woman: exceptionally pretty and apart from that waist, quite voluptuous. Now I know that corsets are supposed to be bound tightly, but surely that was going to cause kidney damage? No-body is that shape in nature. I have looked at her website (purely for research, you understand) and it doesn't seem to be her normal shape, either. Of course, we should expect something like this, I suspect from someone who was once married to Marilyn Manson.

This picture, hoiked from the rehearsal doesn't capture the reality. In this shot she has a very thin waist. In the show it was thinner, though the rest of the corset covered her rather more¹. (Ahem).



Odd folks the Germans: they won't do well in Eurovision for a few more years, I suspect; the voting bloc in the east isn't ready to cut them any slack for the foreseeable future. Except, perhaps for the Turks.

Of the other entries, I remember rather less, though I fancy I may have attended live role play events with the Albanians.

It was the first time I'd heard the UK entry. Jade Ewen made a good fist of singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's song It's My Time as he accompanied her on piano. It was better than the pap we've entered for some years, but old Sag-Face wasn't really trying when he wrote it, was he? It sounded like his "Genesis Song" (to use a phrase that Furtle and I invented) by which I mean when he sits down to write a show, he starts off with that and then varies it until he has something he's happy with. Only this time he didn't vary it, so it sounded as though it could fit into any one of his musicals without modification. Shouldn't grumble, I guess, it gulled enough people to get us 5th place.


¹Snaffled from Wikipedia: Von Teese achieved some level of recognition in the fetish world as a tightlacer. Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her natural waistline to 22 inches (56 cm), and can be laced down as far as 16.5 inches (42 cm). A thin person already, Von Teese stands at 5 feet 2 inches (160 cm) and weighs 105 pounds (48 kg).

Eurovision Song Contest

So that's Eurovision over for another year, then.

I have to say that I though Graham Norton did very well, filling Sir Terry's shoes and I hope he stays with it. The winner was pretty obvious from the start, well before the voting started. Having scored, I believe, the record number of 'nul points' entries over the years (despite the UK's recent run), Norway decided to have a go this year and their entry ticked all the boxes for Eurovision success. Firstly it had the necessary Bavarian "oopmah" beat, so Europeans can get down and boogie, whether they be in County Kildare or hanging from a cave roof in Transylvania. It was sung by a lad all the grandmas in the continent would want to take home and feed and more importantly, it is an earworm. It will get into your head even if you hate that style of music and force you to hum it until your vocal chords bleed. Ho hum. I predict a ruined summer, with that song blaring out of the radio for months. I remember something similar many moons ago, when (not Eurovision) Mary Hopkin hit the charts with "Those Were The Days". After six continual months of the damned song, it was another 20 years before I felt like listening to it again.

Germany might have scored higher with the chap with gold lamé chicken legs and plucked eyebrows, who made Freddie Mercury look butch. The whole Weimar thing was quite entertaining, though the addition of burlesque queen Dita Von Teese did little to help them in the end. Now she's an odd woman: exceptionally pretty and apart from that waist, quite voluptuous. Now I know that corsets are supposed to be bound tightly, but surely that was going to cause kidney damage? No-body is that shape in nature. I have looked at her website (purely for research, you understand) and it doesn't seem to be her normal shape, either. Of course, we should expect something like this, I suspect from someone who was once married to Marilyn Manson.

This picture, hoiked from the rehearsal doesn't capture the reality. In this shot she has a very thin waist. In the show it was thinner, though the rest of the corset covered her rather more¹. (Ahem).



Odd folks the Germans: they won't do well in Eurovision for a few more years, I suspect; the voting bloc in the east isn't ready to cut them any slack for the foreseeable future. Except, perhaps for the Turks.

Of the other entries, I remember rather less, though I fancy I may have attended live role play events with the Albanians.

It was the first time I'd heard the UK entry. Jade Ewen made a good fist of singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's song It's My Time as he accompanied her on piano. It was better than the pap we've entered for some years, but old Sag-Face wasn't really trying when he wrote it, was he? It sounded like his "Genesis Song" (to use a phrase that Furtle and I invented) by which I mean when he sits down to write a show, he starts off with that and then varies it until he has something he's happy with. Only this time he didn't vary it, so it sounded as though it could fit into any one of his musicals without modification. Shouldn't grumble, I guess, it gulled enough people to get us 5th place.


¹Snaffled from Wikipedia: Von Teese achieved some level of recognition in the fetish world as a tightlacer. Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her natural waistline to 22 inches (56 cm), and can be laced down as far as 16.5 inches (42 cm). A thin person already, Von Teese stands at 5 feet 2 inches (160 cm) and weighs 105 pounds (48 kg).

Thought for the day

"The worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades." (Demitri)

Thought for the day

"The worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades." (Demitri)

Left Arm in a Sling

A couple of days ago, budgie_uk posted a request for sketches of superheroes with their left arm in a sling, for his 13 year old son Phil, who injured a tendon in that arm and who had to undergo an operation to repair it.

By all accounts the arm is healing nicely, so all is well. In the meantime, here is my contribution to the cause. It had to be my personal favourite, Blue-eyed Benjamin J Grimm, the ever lovin' Thing:



I hope Phil likes it!

Left Arm in a Sling

A couple of days ago, budgie_uk posted a request for sketches of superheroes with their left arm in a sling, for his 13 year old son Phil, who injured a tendon in that arm and who had to undergo an operation to repair it.

By all accounts the arm is healing nicely, so all is well. In the meantime, here is my contribution to the cause. It had to be my personal favourite, Blue-eyed Benjamin J Grimm, the ever lovin' Thing:



I hope Phil likes it!