Tibballs, Geoff "The Good, the Bad and the Wurst. The 100 Craziest Moments from the European Song Contest" - 2016This book is about one of my favourite events of the year. I watch neither the Oscars nor the BAFTA or any of the other award programmes but I have been watching the ESC for a long long time, still back in the day when it was called "Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson" everywhere.
I thought the title was hilarious. And so was the book. Granted, at times, the author overdid it. Come to that … Who is Geoff Tibballs? I am sure it's a pseudonym of someone who doesn't even want to admit that he watches this every year. I couldn't find anything about him on the internet. And there is no description in the book like: He lives with his wife, two lovely daughters, a dog and a cat in the Cotswolds … or something to that effect. If anyone knows something about him, let me know.
Anyway, we hear about the different songs in different years, who was the worst (the wurst?), who had the most interesting costume, what stories happened before, during and after the performance, who votes for whom, what is the impact on politics and vice-versa.
There used to be a Dutch website, the
Barbara Dex Award who selected the worst costume every year. Unfortunately, that went from 1997 to 2016 only. But, the Belgians have started a new one in 2022, for the most remarkable outfit. The winner 2022 was Australia, then Finland. It's called the "
You're a Vision Award" (
Wikipedia).
To the voting, I must say, of course people vote for their neighbour countries since the taste in music is often similar. Except for those who don't really like each other much.
There are some comments about politics and Eurovision but I have to share this one, not because it was a German commentator who gets the mention. Check out
this video clip on YouTube, where German comedian Anke Engelke is telling Azerbaijan that Europe is watching them. And
here it is in writing. Well said, Anke (who is a brilliant presenter, by the way). People should do that more often.
And last but not least: "… and Australia belongs to Europe …"Of course it does. 😉 Would be nice if it was a little closer. But in all honesty, there are many countries participating who are not European. But it is called Eurovision and a lot of non-European countries are members of Eurovision i.e. the European Broadcasting Union. Australia was invited to participate because they are the biggest fans. I just would like to know what they'll do, if Australia wins one day. Not this year, they didn't make it to the final, unfortunately. Better luck next time, Australia.
I know there are a lot of controversies about the ESC. But, let us enjoy one (or three) nights a year. I'm not a fan of football. Do you know how often we non-football lovers have to endure changes in the TV programme because a game goes over?
From the back cover:
"All the highs and lows of over sixty years of Eurovision, from Céline Dion to Dustin the Turkey, and from ABBA to Conchita Wurst: plenty of silly constumes, truly terrible lyrics and all-round unbeatable entertainment.
Since 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest has existed in a parallel universe that continues to beguine and bemuse in equal measure. In this glittering, magical world, a song about the construction of a hydro-electric power station is cutting edge-pop, half a dozen warbling Russian grandmothers make up a band, a song that repeats the word 'la' 138 times is a winner, and Australia is part of Europe.
There has been scandal, too, in the form of an over-long kiss; national outrage in 1976 as a result of the Greek entry's savage indictment of Turkish foreign policy in Cyprus; and a night of near-death in Luxembourg when the floor manager warned the audience against standing up to applaud because they might be shot by security forces."
By the way, my favourites this year was France, followed by Norway. They made #4 and 25 respectively. Shows how much my taste goes with the majority. LOL
