Originally Posted by pycage

It's always fun to watch and it's interesting to see what kind of music is popular in the other European countries. Unfortunately, lately there's not much of a difference between the countries. Kudos to the Finnish people for having brought a fresh wind to the ESC with heavy metal.

Originally Posted by attila77

True, but many DO break this template, especially in their local countries (at least that's how it worked in the past around here in mid-south-east Europe). Roughly one of two becomes a hit regardless how they do/rank in the final ESC chart, but there are those that actually do well on ESC at the same time (for example Marija Serifovic's (2007 ESC winner from Serbia) song was a HUGE hit in the whole region.

Originally Posted by attila77

Actually, I do that, too. ESC songs are nothing like my 'usual' music taste, so I guess once I year I can consume something like that without permanent consequences I usually do 1 or 2 passes of all, and then narrow down at the (not that numerous) favorites I actually find catching. But then again, that has nothing to do with the ESC as a show.

Originally Posted by krisse

The costume aspect possibly explains why Finland won with the biggest score in the history of the programme after failing to get anywhere near the top previously. They departed from the usual pop-and-folk-song formula which dominates the ESC and replaced it with latex horror film outfits. Anyone who even half-watched the prorgamme was bound to remember Lordi when it came to voting, and you're more likely to vote for a band you remember. And Lordi was already an established band in several countries before the contest, so they had a proven track record of international appeal, plus they sang entirely in English.

Originally Posted by fpp

I don't know if there's still any truth in that - it doesn't seem to jibe with the French competitor this year, who is an actual bona fide star here, not a total unknown, and has been for many years. Perhaps her career is declining and she needs a media boost ?...

Of course the costumes helped with the people who actually watched ESC, but from what I know, Lordi gained a lot of votes from people who didn't. I know that all of my friends and colleagues who are into heavy metal/hard rock had received mails, newsletters,.... long before the show asking them to vote for Finland, and that this was an international campaign at this time. They'd exchange text messages with voting instructions when the voting started, so whereever they were at the time of the show, they could call or send a message for Lordi.

The point was to somehow "take over" a show that was perceived as a kitschy, cheesy leftover from the 1950s when for the first time in history they had a chance to do so with "their" music. - It worked, didn't it? And although I'm a 70s disco pop person, I found I could like Lordi, too, after this evening. See the magic of Eurovison....

Originally Posted by fpp

Some years ago I read a tongue-in-cheek article with a theory to explain why the artistic level in that contest has never been very high : small european countries use it to get media air time abroad, others participate because they have to be there, but no one is really very keen to win because the winner has to host the following year's event, so it actually costs money with little in return, so they don't send the best of the best... :-)

I don't know if there's still any truth in that - it doesn't seem to jibe with the French competitor this year, who is an actual bona fide star here, not a total unknown, and has been for many years. Perhaps her career is declining and she needs a media boost ?...

Originally Posted by krisse

I'm predicting something close to zero for the UK this year... :-(

Originally Posted by Jaffa

Your prediction seems pretty likely when even relatively good (for UK Eurovision entries) like last year's result in the UK doing very poorly.