Last Sunday I just watched the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 which was held in Ukraine. On my initial reaction I was glad because although I had missed the semi-finals, I had the chance to experience what European music feels like.
Ever since I went to Europe 2 years ago, and recently studying French, European culture had suddenly become my obsession. Countries that are so diverse but yet united in a single continent. I fell in love with it as it gave my life a new purpose. After being constrained by Asian culture even after working overseas now, I finally found something to break my barrier and expand my views on everything.
Now on to the review, the final started on 7.30 -11.00 pm nighttime with more than 30 minutes for counting the votes. The contestants came from 24 countries, each I hope to bring their own flavour to the show. However after watching everyone, I realized that half of the performance wasn't good at all. The reason being that half of them was using the 80s rock/punk style which is very outdated and embarrassing to look at. One of them even dressed like a transvestite and singing a lousy rock song. I can't believe this is the music they chose to represent their country. What the hell were they thinking?!
My personal disappointment lies with Germany in which the singer Gracia sang Run & Hyde. She wasn't a bad performer but her song choice was very boring and didn't keep my interest. As a matter of fact, plenty of the bad singers were plagued by a bad song choice rather than bad performance.
On the plus side, half of the other performances were good. I really like the ones from Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia and few others because they tried their best and sang well. However the top three performers according to my taste are: 1. Hasheket shenish'ar (The silence that was left), by Shiri Maimon form Israel, ranked 4th in the final score. Opinion: Very unique and well carried out 2. Call me, by Feminnem from Bosnia & Herzegovina, ranked 14th in the final score. Opinion: Very 80s style but sweet & catchy 3. Cool vibes, by Vanilla Ninja from Switzerland, ranked 8th in the final score Opinion: Nice rock song, and I love the melody
Okay I admit, those 3 above are very pretty girls but they're also great singers. After all, their songs are the only ones I can remember when the show finished. I even sang "Call me" on my way to work today.
The winner of the contest was Helena Paparizou from Greece who sang "My number one". While she's not my favorite, at least she has great voice & strong vocal control so I guess she deserved to win.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show despite its shortcomings. It's hilarious to see the lousy performers making fun of themselves on the stage whilst the good ones are there to take the glory.
And for those in the world languages group who happen to read my review, it wasn't meant to be offensive since I merely reviewed from my point of view after watching it. The criterias are based on my taste so yours will probably be different from mine. Even my co-workers who are from Italian & Spanish descendant, who had previously seen the 2004 one, agreed that it sucks big time and the song style never change. I sincerely hope they do in the future.
If you want to catch the show, both the semi-finals and finals are available on DVD (double-disc) with plenty of extra materials on Sydney stores on 20th of June, along with CD containing most, if not all the songs performed.
I'll definitely look forward for 2006 contest, and thank the current contestants (the good ones only) who gave me their best.
Ever since I went to Europe 2 years ago, and recently studying French, European culture had suddenly become my obsession. Countries that are so diverse but yet united in a single continent. I fell in love with it as it gave my life a new purpose. After being constrained by Asian culture even after working overseas now, I finally found something to break my barrier and expand my views on everything.
Now on to the review, the final started on 7.30 -11.00 pm nighttime with more than 30 minutes for counting the votes. The contestants came from 24 countries, each I hope to bring their own flavour to the show. However after watching everyone, I realized that half of the performance wasn't good at all. The reason being that half of them was using the 80s rock/punk style which is very outdated and embarrassing to look at. One of them even dressed like a transvestite and singing a lousy rock song. I can't believe this is the music they chose to represent their country. What the hell were they thinking?!
My personal disappointment lies with Germany in which the singer Gracia sang Run & Hyde. She wasn't a bad performer but her song choice was very boring and didn't keep my interest. As a matter of fact, plenty of the bad singers were plagued by a bad song choice rather than bad performance.
On the plus side, half of the other performances were good. I really like the ones from Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia and few others because they tried their best and sang well. However the top three performers according to my taste are: 1. Hasheket shenish'ar (The silence that was left), by Shiri Maimon form Israel, ranked 4th in the final score. Opinion: Very unique and well carried out 2. Call me, by Feminnem from Bosnia & Herzegovina, ranked 14th in the final score. Opinion: Very 80s style but sweet & catchy 3. Cool vibes, by Vanilla Ninja from Switzerland, ranked 8th in the final score Opinion: Nice rock song, and I love the melody
Okay I admit, those 3 above are very pretty girls but they're also great singers. After all, their songs are the only ones I can remember when the show finished. I even sang "Call me" on my way to work today.
The winner of the contest was Helena Paparizou from Greece who sang "My number one". While she's not my favorite, at least she has great voice & strong vocal control so I guess she deserved to win.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show despite its shortcomings. It's hilarious to see the lousy performers making fun of themselves on the stage whilst the good ones are there to take the glory.
And for those in the world languages group who happen to read my review, it wasn't meant to be offensive since I merely reviewed from my point of view after watching it. The criterias are based on my taste so yours will probably be different from mine. Even my co-workers who are from Italian & Spanish descendant, who had previously seen the 2004 one, agreed that it sucks big time and the song style never change. I sincerely hope they do in the future.
If you want to catch the show, both the semi-finals and finals are available on DVD (double-disc) with plenty of extra materials on Sydney stores on 20th of June, along with CD containing most, if not all the songs performed.
I'll definitely look forward for 2006 contest, and thank the current contestants (the good ones only) who gave me their best.