Go Latvia!! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

bosssmiley

2008-05-23, 10:30 AM

Bloody Latvian Tourist Board ad-spam threads! :smalltongue:

Hopefully the Baltic states will be bringing their usual rich stores of lunacy to EuroVision this year. Between the Scandinavians and the Balts there's always something good for a laugh. :smallcool:

Oh, and if Britain get nul point again this year then there' may be trouble. No, seriously. Terry Wogan (the patron saint of Eurovision his very self!) is suggesting we follow the example of the Italians and give the whole thing up as a bad lot.

v---- Crazy damn Finns and their crazy damn music! :smallbiggrin:

Attilargh

2008-05-23, 10:40 AM

What, no mention of our contestant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKcGf0y8lA) yet? *manly tears*

Dihan

2008-05-23, 10:47 AM

I wanted San Marino to go through (and eventually win) purely for the lulz.

Closet_Skeleton

2008-05-23, 10:57 AM

I'm not going to vote for Latvia because a Latvian refused to go out with me :smalltongue:

Adumbration

2008-05-23, 11:13 AM

v---- Crazy damn Finns and their crazy damn music! :smallbiggrin:

Ah, our genius is being recognized! Excellent. :smallamused:

Anyway, I doubt that Teräsbetoni will make it this year.

Lюk

2008-05-23, 11:26 AM

No chance; the Croatians have this one in the bag.:smallwink:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3Fl__fE3E

dogmac

2008-05-23, 06:59 PM

I thought Germany would have a good chance, what with the oggle factor.

Irenaeus, you have to remember that Australia is an immigrant country for the main, and some ridiculous amount are 1st or 2nd generation Australian (including me, on my Dad's side). Once a year, we have these urges, though, let's face it, Holland never does ANYTHING in Eurovision (my background. Hence my support for Latvia instead)

Quincunx

2008-05-24, 03:56 AM

*beats Arang with a length of lead pipe*

Null points! Null points! Null points! I had to tear my eyes out of my head after inadvertently seeing that act. Mind you, that included the small mercy of missing Ukraine. . .After fortification which included liquor, I did watch the second semi-finals. Note: a roomful of Swedes will express disappointment when a song called "Vodka" fails to make the cut.

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 04:09 AM

It's a travesty that Norway got in and Ireland didn't.

I mean, honestly, Norway (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z0RIZ74FMxE)? Over this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-n--JnAwirk&feature=related)?

When I saw the performance of Dustin the Turkey, I couldn't believe my eyes. First of all, has all of the Ireland gone nuts? I mean they voted for him over some other singers, WTF? Second of all, who the hell got the idea to make a freaking Muppet Show? It's a circus... Not to mention that his singing is terrible...

I was invited to one, but won't be able to get babysitting. :(

We have at least couple of Eurovision parties every night. :smallbiggrin:

unstattedCommoner

2008-05-24, 04:28 AM

When I saw the performance of Dustin the Turkey, I couldn't believe my eyes. First of all, has all of the Ireland gone nuts? I mean they voted for him over some other singers, WTF? Second of all, who the hell got the idea to make a freaking Muppet Show? It's a circus... Not to mention that his singing is terrible...

Ireland, having had to fork out to host the entire thing after winning it several times, is now going out of its way to lose. Sensible people, the Irish.
This is an example which the UK can learn from.

Closet_Skeleton

2008-05-24, 04:36 AM

This is an example which the UK can learn from.

I don't quite get your meaning.

Are you implying that the UK should try to win first before trying to lose or what?

unstattedCommoner

2008-05-24, 04:46 AM

I don't quite get your meaning.

Are you implying that the UK should try to win first before trying to lose or what?

I'm suggesting that, since we have no hope of winning, we should make it absolutely clear that we don't expect to.

bosssmiley

2008-05-24, 04:55 AM

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 05:10 AM

Really? Because rest of the world think it's plain awful.

unstattedCommoner

2008-05-24, 05:18 AM

Of course, the UK's major problem is that television phone-in votes have lost all credibility after a wave of scandals from which not even the BBC emerged unscathed.

Irenaeus

2008-05-24, 05:59 AM

Really? Because rest of the world think it's plain awful.That is in fact my sentiment on the entire contest, plain awful. So submitting a Turkey seems very genre-savy to me. :smallwink:

As for Australia, I guess I imagined a larger part of the country's demographic consisted of less recent immigrants. Strange thing about urges, though, about twice a year I feel a strong urge to emigrate.

Edit: And that Father Ted episode was wonderful.

Arang

2008-05-24, 06:24 AM

When I saw the performance of Dustin the Turkey, I couldn't believe my eyes. First of all, has all of the Ireland gone nuts? I mean they voted for him over some other singers, WTF? Second of all, who the hell got the idea to make a freaking Muppet Show? It's a circus... Not to mention that his singing is terrible...

The best entries are always jokes. Finland learned this two years ago. I think the UK had a joke entry that year as well.

Besides, the appeal of the song is that it so simple. It's not a dramatic retelling of a folk story or some kind of feel-good love song, it's just a desperate plea for points. I had real hope for Ireland this year.

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 06:39 AM

The best entries are always jokes. Finland learned this two years ago. I think the UK had a joke entry that year as well.

Yeah, but even Lordi had a good performance, their song is actually catchy (the name and lyrics are a joke), and their singing is ok. But this... A muppet turkey singing some god-awful song in a terrible voice with a ridiculous performance...

That is in fact my sentiment on the entire contest, plain awful. So submitting a Turkey seems very genre-savy to me.

Mine too... But sometimes, there's a good song. Even though the whole contest is a freakshow (Last year's winner, Marija Sherifovic, for example) and a circus, a catchy tune sometimes appears...

Drascin

2008-05-24, 06:47 AM

I'm suggesting that, since we have no hope of winning, we should make it absolutely clear that we don't expect to.

Our submission (I'm Spanish) is basically on the same line of thought, only a tad more... bleeding. Namely, it seems to be the opinion of the whole country that Eurovision is nothing but a really bad comedy, so the guy voted is not a singer, but a proffessional comedian who entered that song into the vote-offs as a joke. The song is horribly awful and campy, having been specifically created to be so bad it's funny (I personally just find it awful without the funny, but YMMV), the dancers purposely "forget" their already simple steps, etcetera. If we win, we're going to have one hell of a laugh at the jury :smallamused:

Dihan

2008-05-24, 07:18 AM

Yeah, but even Lordi had a good performance, their song is actually catchy (the name and lyrics are a joke), and their singing is ok. But this... A muppet turkey singing some god-awful song in a terrible voice with a ridiculous performance...

I personally found the Estonian entry a lot worse than Dustin the Turkey. Ireland's entry was supposed to be awful, it was supposed to have extremely bad French pronunciation, it was supposed to be a joke.

Now, Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry shouldn't have gone through. That was awful, the orange Polish woman shouldn't have gone through. The only entry that went through that isn't a part of the Balkan, Baltic or Scandinavian blocks was Portugal, even then it had to be the jury vote. It should be called Balkavision to be quite frank.

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 07:37 AM

Oh, come on, did you really think that this one, like every other contest, isn't a set up?

I'm still flabbergasted at the fact that we actually won last year... It's entirely political...

Smeik

2008-05-24, 07:54 AM

I actually grown quite fond of the Azerbaijan entry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8VH_icN5Bk) this year, which is actually a really good song, at least in my ears.:smallwink:

Germany won't win. Again. Why do we actually still try?:smallconfused:

Serpentine

2008-05-24, 11:14 AM

You watch Eurovision in Australia? Don't you poor Aussies have any homemade camp? :smalleek:Camp? You mean like Abba (not ours, but way too popular here)? Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras? Drag queens? Dame Edna Everage? I think we have plenty of our homemade camp...

Gorbash, I didn't see that entry, but my friends who did claimed it was one big "up yours" at Eurovision.

I saw Latvia. Woo pirates! :smallbiggrin:

Quincunx

2008-05-24, 02:46 PM

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 04:05 PM

I'm flabbergasted that they managed to find a female presenter whose voice is the most artificial thing about her. All of Europe is assured that her canned expressions of excitement are so fresh from the can that they still smell of preservatives. More to be edited in later once I get tipsy.

Are you reffering to last year's winner?

The only entry that went through that isn't a part of the Balkan, Baltic or Scandinavian blocks was Portugal, even then it had to be the jury vote. It should be called Balkavision to be quite frank.

I agree, but that makes perfect sense, actually. Because it's not always about the song, it's about the country they represent. And since Europe was home to some big countries that are now separated, it should come as no surprise that Ukrainians will vote for Russians, Macedonians for my country, Cyprus for Greece, Moldavia for Romania etc etc...

Dihan

2008-05-24, 05:00 PM

Ok. I'm appalled.

a) Latvia didn't win
b) Croatia didn't win
c) The annoying American Greek woman came third
d) Malta didn't vote UK! Queen Elizabeth II shall be having words with you!

Ah well, we have a new friend now...

*Hugs San Marino*

Atleast someone other than Ireland loves us... Perhaps... Or not...

EDIT: Oh yeah! I laugh in the faces of those who called Sweden favourite to win... Though Bjorn, the Swedish ambassador, was a legend.

Wraithy

2008-05-24, 05:24 PM

Well Greece's entry was complete ****
The Swedish Announcer was hilarious.
As for Terry Wogan, he was a highlight of the evening, he's so sick of Eurovision, but I hope I have a sense of humour like that when I'm his age eighty years from now.

unstattedCommoner

2008-05-24, 05:26 PM

(incomplete list of people who didn't win)

Why, WHY, would you possibly omit such vital information as the identity of the winner?

Dihan

2008-05-24, 05:29 PM

Why, WHY, would you possibly omit such vital information as the identity of the winner?

I don't care who wins, I only care for those who were robbed from winning. Specifically the Pirates and the OAP with an attitude.

But if you insist...

Russia won! Yay *waves flag*

Happy now? :smalltongue:

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 05:36 PM

Well, I knew the Pirates won't win, but I expected they will at least be in the top 8... Theirs' is the only catchy song. :smallbiggrin:

With a hi hi ho and a hi hi hey
We’re hoisting the flag to be free
We will steal the show, Jolly Rogers go
We are wolves of the sea

I'm listening to it all the time in the past few days. :D

Project_Mayhem

2008-05-24, 07:27 PM

Ah drat, I see England didn't win. I suppose its because the rest of Europe hates us. Anyway, I chose to watch American History X instead. Far better. Oh Edward Norton you heartbreaker:smallsmile:

Also, I'm suprised Doctor Doom allowed the Latvarian citizens to enter.

Don Julio Anejo

2008-05-24, 07:45 PM

Project_Mayhem

2008-05-24, 07:56 PM

BTW, I doubt it's the country other countries vote for. They probably vote for the song they like the best, but it just happens that countries that have the same or similar language and culture are more likely to like songs that are the most similar to their own (you can't vote for yourself after all).

I believe you underestimate quite how much European people enjoy England failing ... Although I'll give you the fact that our entries are terrible. It's just that everyone elses are too

Aidan305

2008-05-24, 07:59 PM

Gorbash, to answer your question about the Irish entry. We voted him in because the whole thing's a joke, thus we decided to send a joke entry. 'Twas all for a laugh.

Dustin is also hugely popular in our country. It might give you some insight into our national mindset about these things if I were to point out that in our '97 presidential election, he got more first preference votes in many counties than any of the other candidates.

Gorbash

2008-05-24, 08:42 PM

Dammit!!! :mad:

I seriously hate Bilan and he won =( And Ani Lorak (I now have Shady Lady stuck in my head) came in second... Her or Kalomira (Greece) or maybe Armenia deserved to win, they had the best songs there. Not the [censored] 12 year old fangirl magnet.

You do realize that Kalomira is just the same as Bilan, only the opposite gender?

BTW, I doubt it's the country other countries vote for. They probably vote for the song they like the best, but it just happens that countries that have the same or similar language and culture are more likely to like songs that are the most similar to their own (you can't vote for yourself after all).

Oh come on, you can't be that naive. I can say with 100% certainity that it is not so. It can't just happen that every former Yugoslavia country gave each other top votes, Cyprus gave Greece, Moldavia gave Romanica, Scandinavian countries gave each other, former SSSR countries also... Not to mention that almost none of the songs are bound to certain culture (otherwise we would be seeing Dubliners singing Skibereen not some Muppet Turkey singing god-knows what), so not even that applies. It goes like this - Hmm, I can't vote for my country, then I guess I'll vote for the next best thing. And those are mentioned above. Some of the more sensible people actually vote for songs they like, but most of them vote for the neighbouring country. Multiple times.

Don Julio Anejo

2008-05-24, 09:19 PM

You do realize that Kalomira is just the same as Bilan, only the opposite gender?

I'm Russian and I haven't heard about Kalomira until Eurovision. And I genuinely liked the song, unlike Believe which won mainly because of Bilan's PR and not very heterosexual stage show which for some weird reason included a figure skater. If he actually sang a nice song, I would have no problems with him winning despite me not liking him. Plus he's a jerk... Remember when some singer (I have no idea who it was) came up to congratulate him and he just turned and walked away with a "talk to the hand" attitude? Also, I hate JT for the same reason I hate Bilan but it doesn't stop me from enjoying 4 Minutes and Love Stoned.

Oh come on, you can't be that naive. I can say with 100% certainity that it is not so. It can't just happen that every former Yugoslavia country gave each other top votes, Cyprus gave Greece, Moldavia gave Romanica, Scandinavian countries gave each other, former SSSR countries also... Not to mention that almost none of the songs are bound to certain culture (otherwise we would be seeing Dubliners singing Skibereen not some Muppet Turkey singing god-knows what), so not even that applies. It goes like this - Hmm, I can't vote for my country, then I guess I'll vote for the next best thing. And those are mentioned above. Some of the more sensible people actually vote for songs they like, but most of them vote for the neighbouring country. Multiple times.
Even if it does happen, a truly sucky song will never get enough votes from neighbours to get anywhere near the top 15+. Okay, Russia and Ukraine placed #1 and #2... SOUND THE ALARM, BLOCK VOTING! No one seems to care that Belarus didn't even make the final although it all those former Soviet countries should have given it at least 8's. Even if they did (I didn't check the score), shouldn't the country at least make it to the final?

Oh, and when no-one votes for England (that paid to get in the final without going through the selection process), OMG THAT'S BECAUSE EVERYONE VOTED FOR THEIR NEIGHBOURS AND NOT ENGLAND LIKE THEY SHOULD.

Jibar

2008-05-25, 01:11 AM

See, that would work if it hadn't been going that way for many many years now.Seriously, just look at the results in past contests. Voting became highly political somewhere along the line.

As for Terry Wogan, he was a highlight of the evening, he's so sick of Eurovision, but I hope I have a sense of humour like that when I'm his age eighty years from now.

The part I found funniest was when, right at the beginning, he offhandly mentioned he hadn't been allowed a drink. Usually they let him get kinda drunk and he's even more condescending, but tonight he was actually nice to some band.

And thank you to the England entry for wearing a jacket.

And dammit. I wanted Latvia to win.

Serpentine

2008-05-25, 01:18 AM

Why, WHY, would you possibly omit such vital information as the identity of the winner?Because it would completely ruin the whole bloody thing for people who have been hanging out to watch the finals all the way through with some sense of suspense when it's aired in full later tonight at a party organised especially for the occasion?! :smallfurious:

H. Zee

2008-05-25, 02:39 AM

Even if it does happen, a truly sucky song will never get enough votes from neighbours to get anywhere near the top 15+. Okay, Russia and Ukraine placed #1 and #2... SOUND THE ALARM, BLOCK VOTING! No one seems to care that Belarus didn't even make the final although it all those former Soviet countries should have given it at least 8's. Even if they did (I didn't check the score), shouldn't the country at least make it to the final?

Oh, and when no-one votes for England (that paid to get in the final without going through the selection process), OMG THAT'S BECAUSE EVERYONE VOTED FOR THEIR NEIGHBOURS AND NOT ENGLAND LIKE THEY SHOULD.

Oh, please. You can't deny that the English entry was better than quite a few of the others, and yet it came joint-last. It was comprehensively beaten by Spain, for heaven's sakes, and - no offence to the Spanish - but their entry was ear-bleedingly bad, even if it was a joke! The political voting was ludicrous - I was able to shout out who was going to get a 12 before it was actually said, and almost every time I got it right, thanks not to having seen and heard the songs but thanks to having a basic knowledge of the geographical layout of Europe.

Like Terry Wogan, I prefer to watch it with a healthy dose of wry cynicism. I don't watch it because I give a fig about who wins, but because I like to laugh at all the bad entries. And I'll laugh at and mock the UK's entry too, if it's bad - which it was last year and the year before - but I genuinely believe that this year we didn't do as well as we should have.

I reckon we should do the contest without telling anyone the names of the countries singing, except for each country's own entry which they can't vote for anyway, and then only tell them which song belongs to which country after the voting is done. That way, it'll be the song that wins it, not the position of the country.

/probably unnecessary rant

On a lighter note, the Latvian, Bosnian and Croatian entries were hilarious! :smalltongue: What the hell was that shouting old man all about???

Smeik

2008-05-25, 05:33 AM

I wanted Azerbaijan to win. Seriously. Well, but they were actually really well-placed in the end. And Turkey gave them 12 points, just as expected.:smallbiggrin:

And thanks to Bulgaria for not letting germany be completely the last. I still don't get why. Our song was just lame.
And how come that although most of the sund system at Eurovision comes from Germany, Germany had the worst sound. :smallconfused:

And now I have to go attend some turkish friends that are still sad because their country didn't win and wasn't even better than Armenia in the end.

And it is true that we do neighbor voting here in Europe. Or in some cases those who live here vote for the countries they come from...:smallbiggrin:

Finn Solomon

2008-05-25, 09:33 AM

I thought this was about Latveria.

Dihan

2008-05-25, 10:12 AM

Oh, and when no-one votes for England (that paid to get in the final without going through the selection process), OMG THAT'S BECAUSE EVERYONE VOTED FOR THEIR NEIGHBOURS AND NOT ENGLAND LIKE THEY SHOULD.

Ahh but two people voted for the UK, San Marino aside, guess who voted for us? Yes, our Irish neighbours. We usually vote for Ireland too.

Andorra, who is owned by Spain, also gave 12 points to Spain. Greece and Cyprus always give eachother 12 points. Malta usually gives the UK 8-12 points but didn't this year for whatever reason.

It would be silly to think that it isn't political.

Which deserved more points, the Spanish, Azerbaijani or Bosnian entries... Or the British entry which is a proper song. It won't even be worth watching next year if Terry Wogan really does quit.

The only decent proper song in the semi-finals was the Sanmarinese entry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXH9Wp2QRPs).

Athaniar

2008-05-25, 01:26 PM

Lo and behold, political neighbour-voting abound.

Latvia got my vote in the Contest, at least. I think that if they continue with this (and I sure hope so), they may even become the next Dschinghis Khan.

Don Julio Anejo

2008-05-25, 03:00 PM

Andorra, who is owned by Spain, also gave 12 points to Spain. Greece and Cyprus always give eachother 12 points. Malta usually gives the UK 8-12 points but didn't this year for whatever reason.
Maybe because the British entry sucked THAT much that people who politically vote for the UK decided to vote for someone else, which makes political voting a moot point?

Which deserved more points, the Spanish, Azerbaijani or Bosnian entries... Or the British entry which is a proper song. It won't even be worth watching next year if Terry Wogan really does quit.
Spanish - yeah. Funny song, funny show, they were having lots of fun and they really entertained everyone... I would have expected at least top 5 for them, not 16th place. The other two were decent but can't say they were great. The British entry - sorry, no. "It was a proper song" is about all I can say about it. Nice song, bot boring and unemotional and with a crappy stage show to boot (if stage show wasn't important, why not make Eurovision a radio show?).

The only decent proper song in the semi-finals was the Sanmarinese entry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXH9Wp2QRPs).
Wait, what? If I was a fan of moaning boys who don't know whether they're rockers or emo, I wouldn't be watching Eurovision in the first place. And the people who watch and vote for Eurovision aren't fans of moaning emo/opera boys either.

Drascin

2008-05-25, 03:33 PM

Spanish - yeah. Funny song, funny show, they were having lots of fun and they really entertained everyone... I would have expected at least top 5 for them, not 16th place. The other two were decent but can't say they were great.

We did send a comedian to laugh at the whole of Eurovision, so that was kind of expected. I myself hate the song with all my might, but I was kinda wanting for it to win so I could point at the jury and laugh my ass off until I died from asphyxia :smallamused:.

Dihan

2008-05-25, 03:46 PM

Maybe because the British entry sucked THAT much that people who politically vote for the UK decided to vote for someone else, which makes political voting a moot point?

Or maybe it was not political for Andy Abraham's case. Maybe it's something a bit more black and white.

Spanish - yeah. Funny song, funny show, they were having lots of fun and they really entertained everyone... I would have expected at least top 5 for them, not 16th place. The other two were decent but can't say they were great. The British entry - sorry, no. "It was a proper song" is about all I can say about it. Nice song, bot boring and unemotional and with a crappy stage show to boot (if stage show wasn't important, why not make Eurovision a radio show?).

Serbia's entry last year had no stage show. None at all. It still won. Marija (I think that was the winner's name) even said it was to do with the song not the stageshow. He song was also really boring, granted it had emotion, but it was boring. This is a moot point.

Wait, what? If I was a fan of moaning boys who don't know whether they're rockers or emo, I wouldn't be watching Eurovision in the first place. And the people who watch and vote for Eurovision aren't fans of moaning emo/opera boys either.

They're hardly moaning boys. Besides, Lordi wasn't the typical Europop trash.

For the entire history of Eurovision, the Scandinavian countries have voted for eachother, similar with the Balkan and Baltic countries. You may feel that it's not there but I assure you that not everyone would vote purely based on the song.

Here's something from last years Eurovision:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/ESC_2007_east_west.svg/750px-ESC_2007_east_west.svg.png

Note how the further East you go the better the countries performed?

I think they should make four semi-finals. One for West, East, North and South Europe. The best five from each would go through. Alternatively, they shouldn't reveal which songs belong to which country. Though this may not stop East European immigrants from voting for their own countries.

Susil

2008-05-25, 03:59 PM

I agree with the original post. Latvia were awesome.

Also kudos to the spanish entry. My first thought was "is this Sacha Baron Cohen?"

I must admit we were all cheering for Russia - not I hasten to add because we liked the song (it failed) but since one of our friends (female) happens to own a lycra jumpsuit in the russian colours. She is, incidentally, attractive and, *ahem* somewhat busty. She said she'd wear it out to the students union if they won... and to her great regret they did!

Hilarity ensued.

Gorbash

2008-05-25, 05:02 PM

Serbia's entry last year had no stage show. None at all. It still won. Marija (I think that was the winner's name) even said it was to do with the song not the stageshow. Her song was also really boring, granted it had emotion, but it was boring. This is a moot point.

Couldn't agree more. Franky, all of us here (Serbia) were surprised that she won. I don't like her song, I and like her even less.

Gorbash

2008-05-25, 05:33 PM

Don Julio Anejo

2008-05-25, 05:45 PM

Or maybe it was not political for Andy Abraham's case. Maybe it's something a bit more black and white.
90% of the posts I see here is "OMG, NO-ONE VOTED FOR ANDY ABRAHAM! WELL DUH THAT'S CUZ EVERYONE ELSE IS CHEATING or now WELL MAYBE NOT CHEATING BUT THEY'RE STILL RACIST" And the funny thing is that all these posts come from either people from the UK or North America (notice how these countries are English speaking?). Seriously people, he sucked, plain and simple. If England had to qualify for the finals, he wouldn't even be there. So basically it sounds like the English are pissed off because their neighbours didn't support them very much despite having a crappy song, and the Eastern countries (many of which actually did have great songs) voted for each other (because they had great songs).

Serbia's entry last year had no stage show. None at all. It still won. Marija (I think that was the winner's name) even said it was to do with the song not the stageshow. He song was also really boring, granted it had emotion, but it was boring. This is a moot point.
To be honest, I didn't watch last year's Eurovision. I went on Youtube and checked the Serbian entry... Well, with that and Bilan, all I have to do is say that the saddest entry wins. PS: the singer looked like Viola from she's the man.

They're hardly moaning boys. Besides, Lordi wasn't the typical Europop trash.
I have to disagree as for the moaning boys. Yes they are. Maybe it's a beautiful song from a classical music/opera point of view but it's not catchy or entertaining. I don't see very many people listening to this or playing it at a party. All I see are music elitists sitting in a coffee shop and telling each other how great the song is.

Lordi - hey, they had an awesome show and it was different enough without being different in a bad way for people to like it.

Here's something from last years Eurovision:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/ESC_2007_east_west.svg/750px-ESC_2007_east_west.svg.png

Note how the further East you go the better the countries performed?
Make a map for this year. You'll see a very different picture with half the countries in the east (like Estonia, Belarus, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Moldova) not even qualifying, a lot of other ones (Poland, Germany, Romania, Finland) getting last several places...

I think they should make four semi-finals. One for West, East, North and South Europe. The best five from each would go through. Alternatively, they shouldn't reveal which songs belong to which country. Though this may not stop East European immigrants from voting for their own countries.
This is a surprisingly good idea. I mean the four semifinals split geographically.