Its that time of year again…..Eurovision is upon us.
Now for someone that doesnt follow sports it is my once a year time to get worked up over an event shared by millions all over Europe and slightly beyond.
There are plenty of acts this year to get excited about and some, as usual, to forget, but that is the beauty of the diversity of the Eurovision Song Contest. Something for everyone to get excited about, to be moved by, to scorn and to laugh at, good bad and indifferent.
I have just watched the first of two semi-finals and I enjoyed it, I had already picked five of the winners of this heat, so not too bad. I’ll have to see how well I can do in the second part. Some surprise winners and some not so.
The voting changes appear to have evened the playing field. I dont hold with the block vote theory 100 percent of the time, I think cultures mix in a competition where most countries are bordered by at least one other country, unlike the UK and Ireland which both sit alone in the water and would probably vote for the USA if it were part of this. That is how we are, culturally and so why can we find it so hard to accept that others are also culturally aligned with their neighbors or past rulers .
Again, this year is a multi-event festival of music, dance and spectacle that has spawned a merchandising frenzy with books, CD’s, DVD’s and much more. A big business with goods being sold all over the world. Eurovision is no longer just a bit of fun, it is big business and we should give it a little more respect.
To that end, I personally feel it is time for out commentator of choice, Terry Wogan to step aside gracefully this year or next and allow the show to move on.
Terry has been a joy to listen to for many years and has helped the British public stay with the competition through the bad times with his quick witted quips and observations. However, times have changed and even the head of the Eurovision himself has stated he step down as he merely perpetuates the myth that the whole event is to be merely laughed at and scorned as some circus sideshow, that the performers, in the main, are less than the finest europe has to offer.
These views are no longer true. While we in the UK may watch and scorn, the rest of Europe is participating and utilising the fame and fortune a stint at one of the most watched television programmes in the world can offer. Its time we stopped mocking and embraced this opportunity and integrated it into our world.
I could talk for days about this and the thoughts here are written with speed. I could and should let them form more into more intelligent and intelligible sentences and then release them into the wild of my blog but hey, that is the way blogs work isnt it so you will just have to accept this as is for the moment.
I would love your comments, what are your views out there in internet land? Share! People Share!
