EUROVISION!

It's May, and do you know what that means?

EUROVISION 2010!

The Eurovision Song Contest, to those who aren't familiar, is an annual event where each country that is a member of the European Broadcasting Union sends a musical act to one city where they compete for the best act. The countries that participate watch via EBU TV and vote for the acts they like best. The country that wins first place hosts the competition the next year, meaning it gets a huge tourism boost for that year. Last year, Norway won with Alexander Rybak (<3), so Oslo is hosting the competition this year. There are 39 countries participating this year, with the first semi-final on Tuesday, May 25, the second on Thursday the 27th, and the final will be Saturday the 29th. All 39 entries are available online on Eurovision's channel on Youtube, and people are already forming their opinions. There are some common themes throughout the entries this year. There's a ridiculous amount of ballads- fast and slow- probably encouraged by Alexander's success last year with "Fairytale". There's a couple songs about pride in their homeland (Not a great idea, I think, since they're trying to appeal to all of Europe), and most of the songs are in English. That one bothers me- not because it's English, really, I think it makes some sense to sing in a language most people would be able to understand- but because some of these songs just don't make sense! See Exhibit A: Latvia's entry for this year, called "What For? Only Mr. God Knows Why"
I'm sorry Latvia, but those lyrics are HILARIOUS! Come on, if you're going to sing in English, do it right!

Anyway, I've been watching them, and I have my top 3 (and 5 runner ups that I know aren't as good, but I can't figure out what order they go in). So, without further ado, here's Kelsey's top 3:

1. TURKEY
I LOVE this song SO MUCH. The band maNga has a similar style to Linkin Park, and their song "We Could be the Same" is very, very cool. I've definitely found my new favorite band.
The other songs on my list aren't so stuck in their spots, but this is a definite 1st place.



I'm obsessed with their song "Beni Benimle Birak". I might have to feature it in another post :)

2. SPAIN
The singer Daniel Diges is such a stereotypical Spaniard, as you will see from the video. It's like he can't help but come in for close-ups and send flirty faces to the camera! Nevertheless, I really do love this song. It's a waltz with a circus-y feel, and his voice is sooo nice. It's an unusual style of song for Eurovision, which is maybe why I like it. We'll see how it does in the final though.

WARNING: If you're deathly afraid of clowns, don't watch the video. They're really not that bad though, I promise.



3. LITHUANIA
This song grew on me. It's just so fun! Get up and dance to their Eastern European Funk :)



Other runner ups-
GERMANY - Lena Meyer-Landrut, "Satellite" Yes, this is Alexander Rybak's favorite entry for this year, but I really can't get past her strange accent- it's too funny! Like, German-British, but WAY over the top. It's a pretty fun song, though.

FRANCE - Jessy Matador, "Allez Ola Ole" Very fun dance song.

GREECE - Giorgos Alkaios & Friends, "OPA" Despite the fact that the singer seems pretty disinterested in what he's singing, and the dancing guys in the background are kinda weird, it's a pretty fun song.

POLAND - Marcin Mronzinski, "Legenda" Another waltz feel, and pretty strange at first, but it's interesting. The lyrics don't always make sense, but overall it's a good song.

SERBIA- Milan Stankovic, "Ovo Je Balkan" Such a strange song; but maybe because of the extreme folk influence, or because it's just funny, I rather like it. People criticize Milan for his style, but since I'm so used to what Asian pop stars look like, he's pretty normal to me. Besides, he's a good singer, and that's what really matters.

Have fun listening! I'll be sure to post the results of Eurovision after the 29th :)