Oh goodness...the spectacle I just witnessed...
The jetlag finally hit me today. Just after I posted the entry on Windsor Castle, I promptly passed out in bed and only woke up just before dinner. I proceeded to feel very tired for the rest of the evening, so I didn't go out with Nicola and her friends because I was afraid that I would pass out on a table in the pub if I had anything to drink. My gain.
Jack, Lindsey, and their sister-in-law Donna (married to Jack's brother Johnny) introduced me to probably the most eccentric yet amazing music contest ever, Eurovision 2007. Formerly known as A Song For Europe, the contest has been going on since 1956. The most notable winner ever is probably ABBA, who won in 1974. Looking at the list of winners, I've never heard of any of the others. Over fifty European countries have participated at one time, though this number includes countries such as Morocco, Turkey, and Israel...European? Maybe. This year there were over 42 countries entered, including FYR Macedonia (I didn't realize there was a country Macedonia), Malta (again, didn't know), Ukraine (okay, I knew that one :-P), Belarus, Armenia, and Moldova. And then the typical Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, and United Kingdom.
The interesting thing is that countries tend to vote in blocks, so the Western European nations who started it all rarely get any points. They all go to the Eastern European block (Serbia won). Lindsey called it rubbish. :) But we didn't stop watching. The songs, and especially the singers, were ridiculous. It was like American Idol on crack. Really poorly manufactured crack. And it lasts for three hours on the final night. But, it's only once a year. Oh, the British commentator was hilarious, too. Eventually I was watching just to hear what he would say about the people performing or giving point results.
Other than that, we had a really fun night at the Indian restaurant...I like Indian food a lot, I have decided. :) Donna is really fun. She is a singer/performer...she was part of a production of Chicago in London a while back. She has a very strong Scottish accent which brings out Jack's and Lindsey's a whole lot more than usual, which meant that I had to ask them all to repeat a lot of what they said at dinner. I never realized how many possible UK accents there are. But apparently my conglomerate American accent is cute.
Bedtime for this American girl. :) I've been made fun of all day, but I guess we make fun of our foreign friends when they're in the States, too. I'll go on defending those darned colonists who didn't pay their taxes. ;)
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3 comments:
Hi Abri,
The music contest sounds rigged, but fun. I'm glad you found some humor in it. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's update.
Arnel
Eurovision is not rigged. It's based on fan voting, and you can't control how fans vote. If there was a worldwide contest, American voters would probably vote for Canada or another country they liked. Half of Moldova is Romanian so they always vote for Romania for first place. There's no way to fix block voting unless you forbid countries for voting for any country anywhere near them. Otherwise the Scandinavian countries will all vote for each other, the former Yugoslavia (like the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia - did you know thats what FYR stood for? I didn't)will vote for other former compatriots, etc.
That said, Serbia won because they were really good. A lot of countries nowhere near them supported them as well. Last year Finland won, not just on Scandinavian votes. And the UK got so few votes because they were just plain terrible.
Don't even tell me you went to London only to discover a love of Indian cuisine. Do you know how much I am craving food other than Indian right now? Even that plain stuff they have over in England is sounding appetizing.
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