mousey musings

Eurovision Song Contest While I watched the performances I jotted down a few notes. Here they are -- I'm still waiting for the results of voting.... Eurovision 2004 reactions The presenters were awful. The streaming video was mediocre; Tiscali did not impress me. As for the show... 1. Spain What a weak beginning to the show. What was the point of having a guitar for three seconds at the beginning of the song? The song was as generic as they come, unworthy of note. 4 2. Austria The song was OK, but the endless repetition of its "hook" became grating towards the end. There just wasn't enough substance here -- it was like half of a decent song. 5.5 3. Norway Now here's a complete song, though of course it's campletely vapid. Still, it was the best song so far. 7 4. France What's with the chicks on sticks? Or was that a strange perspective issue? In any case, the song was OK but nothing to write home about. 6.5 5. Serbia & Montenegro This is a pretty song. The vocals are appropriately subdued, giving the music a chance to shine. I think I like this one better than Norway's entry. 7.5 6. Malta This is a nice old-fashined tune sung by a strange duo: one very perky pop princess and one operatic male. I don't sense the tiniest bit of chemistry between the two, but the song has quite a bit of variety. This one may have been better than previous entries, but it's close. 7.5 7. Netherlands This is the sort of song that would have been popular in the US in the early 90s. The lyrics are sweet enough, but the song is pretty dull. 6 8. Germany I know this is supposed to be soulful and jazzy, but I just found it tedious. I never much liked this sort of thing. The singer also had trouble carrying the tune in places. At least it wasn't completely generic. 6.5 9. Albania It was a bit too hard to make out the vocals behind the dance beat, which is a shame since I liked what I heard. The backup singers stank. I think this woman could be a star with some coaching and production work. 6.5 10. Ukraine What a nice song; it has rhythm and energy. I can see why there was so much advance buzz about these poeple, since they put on a great performance of a pretty good song. 8.5 11. Croatia This guy belongs in Vegas. His old-fashioned crooning is actually pretty good, but it's certainly nothing adventurous. I'm sure this plays well in his own country. 6.5 12. Bosnia & Herzegovina Someone's been watching Kylie videos. Alas, he seemed to have picked up some of her filler material. It's not bad, but a bit of creativity could make it so much better. 7 13. Belgium Apparently, disco lives on. This reminded me of something the Bee Gees would do -- and that's quite a complement. She seemed to run out of ideas halfway through the song, undortunately. It's still not bad. 7 14. Russia The junior-high cheerleading acrobatic moves are just distracting without being impressive. As for the music, it would have been better without the pounding backbeat. There seems to be a missing chorus here. In the end, it's just plain forgettable. 4.5 15. Macedonia This guy has heart, but his song is just so mediocre. I suppose this is better than Spain, but not by much. 5 16. Greece This was another hyped performance. It turned out to be a competent but unremarkable performance. It made me hungry for Shake 'n' Bake. Overall, this one was a disappointment. 6.5 17. Iceland This is a decent song, but the singer's voice sounded alternately muddy and off-key. He seemed to have avery narrow vocal range. His random staggering around stage added nothing to the performance. 6 18. Ireland This guy can sing, which means I added a point to his otherwise mediocre score. The song is nothing special, but the performance was more enjoyable than most. I wouldn't mind seeing him win even though I'm not sure he's the best artist here. 7.5 19. Poland This woman has energy in the second half of the song. Still, the rest of the material gets old really quick. There's only so many times you can chant the same four words before it becomes grating. 5.5 20. United Kingdom This isn't too bad, but it certainly isn't breaking any new ground. Mostly it's a bunch of sentimental tripe. I'm not even sure the singer is trying. 5 21. Cyprus I like this woman. Her voice reminds me of a cross between Olivia Newton-John and Jewel. She seems to be trying hard not to screw up. My only real complaint is aboput the song. I kept waiting for the interesting parts but they never came. It's pretty but unexceptional. 8 22. Turkey The song is very average. At least the performers look like they're having fun. These people want to win, but their material just isn't good enough. 6 23. Romania I'm scared of this woman. It was sometimes hard to make out what she was saying, and she didn't seem to be entirely on-key. The performance was around the same level as Norway. 7 24. Sweden There's no new ground being broken in this performance, but it's a decent song with a competent delivery. It's a cut above most Eurovision material. 8 No single song really stood out above the others this year. Ukraine had the best one in my opinion, but it was nothing special. The quality of this year's show seemed to be on par with last year and below the previous few years. My rankings: 1 Ukraine 2 Sweden / Cyprus 4 Ireland / Serbia & Montenegro / Malta 7 Norway / Bosnia & Hercegovia / Belgium / Romania 11 France / Germany / Albania / Croatia / Greece 16 Turkey / Netherlands / Iceland 19 Austria / Poland 21 Macedonia / UK 23 Russia 24 Spain This is pretty close to a normal distribution, which is to be expected. There were no appalling performances this year and no real standouts either.

posted by Jeffrey # 5/15/2004 03:01:00 PM