Originally Posted By Dabob2 <It's Denmark!> Hurra for Danmark. Og dalmatinere. Det er velkendt, at Danmark elsker dalmatinere.
Originally Posted By mawnck Winning song: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3f9v8ebuD4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...9v8ebuD4</a> Greece's "Alcohol is Free" (6th) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AfrOZersNk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...rOZersNk</a> Azerbaijan's dude-in-a-box (2nd) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN3d_V7KVLE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...d_V7KVLE</a> Finland, with Dat Kiss (24th) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlBXOveVh7c" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...XOveVh7c</a> Ukraine and her giant (3rd) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMxpv8naRd8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...pv8naRd8</a> Netherlands - just a fabulous song (9th) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5iazXvMw5o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...azXvMw5o</a> Malta - another good one (8th) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMK-FUknpY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...K-FUknpY</a> And, of course, Romania, because you just have to have something totally bonkers in the Contest now don't you (13th) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgHWFiavqjA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...WFiavqjA</a>
Originally Posted By u k fan I disappeared for a few days as I only got to watch the show last night (Sunday) and didn't want to be spoiled. I'd have like someone other than Denmark to win just to upset both them and the bookies who thought it was a done deal, but it's a good song. I think the few I'll be going back to will include Norway and The Netherlands. What was up with announcing the winner before all the votes were in. I get that it saves time, but it was a strange thing to do and seemed disrespectful to the few countries still to vote. I also think a lot of countries will seriously consider whether to participate again. Only Italy out of the "big 5" did anything at all and I can see a few of them wondering if it's worth the expense in future. I thought the Smorgasbord song was great fun and The Swedish Chef got a name check!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Only Italy out of the "big 5" did anything at all and I can see a few of them wondering if it's worth the expense in future.<< Germany is having a UK/Jemini-style snit fit about their poor showing, insisting that it's all political ... completely ignoring the fact that their superstar dance music queen sang out of tune and got ahead of her track at one point. Still not nearly as bad as Spain. Must admit, I'm a bit baffled at Ireland coming in last. It certainly wasn't in my top 15, but it was better and/or less controversial than at least the next five entries on the board. To add insult to injury, our hostess, completely out of left field, called Linda Martin a "man in drag" during the interval act - and Linda was in the audience!
Originally Posted By u k fan Yeah, I thought that was a bit mean, but funny! I'm not sure why Ireland did so badly either. It was better performed on the night than in the semi-final and I thought it should have done better (though it wasn't a personal favourite). Spain were awful! I don't think most of the big 5 had a chance - I've heard Bonnie sing her song much better than on Saturday and the songs or performances from all 5 weren't good enough, but with money being tight these days I wonder how long it will be before at least 1 of them pulls out!!!
Originally Posted By u k fan These videos have surfaced of the acts vocals without any backing track/singers. On the whole I think most of them come out of it very well and I do think it's very unfair to judge total performances on this, none of them were singing acapella on the night so it's really only half the picture. It does back up my view that Bonnie Tyler's voice was tired by the time she got to perform on the night. I actually wonder if the was ill!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>It does back up my view that Bonnie Tyler's voice was tired by the time she got to perform on the night. I actually wonder if the was ill!!!<< I dunno ... she just sounded like Bonnie Tyler to me. Interesting about those videos. They were done by a guy in Spain who was tired of hearing everyone saying how out of tune Spain's singing was. Of course, when you remove the backing track completely you don't have a reference to what "in tune" actually is. She was sharp, but *consistently* sharp, so it didn't sound so bad isolated. I'm deeply opposed to isolating vocals from live performances. I recall some audio guy tormenting Linda McCartney by recording just her mic and sending it to radio stations some years ago. Those vocals aren't intended to stand alone, particularly in Belarus's case, where she was doing a lot of choreography, and had designated singers on stage specifically to shore up her vocals. Being unable to sing well while jumping around does not mean she can't sing well. But ranting aside, yeah, most of the performers came out sounding impressive anyway - and these are COMPLETELY raw mic feeds, with no reverb or enhancement of any kind. I just got the 2001 official CD in the mail, and it's amazing how far the Contest has come in 12 years. I thought this year was kind of "meh", song-wise, but I'd bet over half this year's acts would've won a landslide victory, had they been competing in 2001. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frMP_fQasdk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...P_fQasdk</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geBQctGRS4w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...QctGRS4w</a> The iso video for Spain got blocked by YouTube. Figures. Here's the original performance: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_DnM_ANF8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...DnM_ANF8</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I recall some audio guy tormenting Linda McCartney by recording just her mic and sending it to radio stations some years ago. > I remember that. Unfortunately, she wasn't even in the same zip code as the pitch, but it was still a cruel thing to do.
Originally Posted By u k fan <<<I dunno ... she just sounded like Bonnie Tyler to me.>>> While I agree to a certain extent there were definitely a few points where it sounded like she was running out of steam. The gruffness is certainly a natural part of how she sings so I'm not really referring to that it just seemed a little overstretched in parts!!!
