• Sweden's Loreen wins Eurovision Song Contest
    44 replies, posted
[QUOTE]BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Sweden's Loreen clinched the top spot at this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her dance hit "Euphoria," pushing aside competition from a sextet of Russian grannies and a Serbian balladeer. Juries and television viewers from across Europe awarded Loreen a total of 372 points, handing her an easy win in an event that ended in the early hours Sunday in host country Azerbaijan. Sweden will take over hosting duties next year. Softly spoken Loreen, a 28-year-old of Moroccan-Berber descent, thanked her fans for their support. "I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. Thank you so much," she said after her victory was announced. Russia's Buranovskiye Babushki garnered much public affection for their cute onstage presence, but their folksy dance ditty "Party for Everybody" couldn't quite match Sweden's more contemporary offering and ended up second on 259 points. Zeljko Joksimovic, a Eurovision regular from Serbia, came in a distant third with his slow and stripped-down "Nije Ljubav Stvar." The 57-year-old pan-European competition viewed by some 125 million people worldwide is hailed by its legion of devoted fans as harmless, kitschy fun that allows Europeans to forget their differences — and economic troubles — for at least one night. The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent, so a broad appeal is deemed key to success. Amid the usual jamboree of youthful exuberance — and questionable taste — a pair of elderly acts had featured among the most high-profile contenders. The UK's black-clad veteran crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, who Scottish comedian Robert Florence acerbically remarked on Twitter looked "like an inaccurate waxwork of Johnny Cash," proved a flop, however, scoring a dismal 12 points. Only Norway's Tooji did worse, coming 26th with seven points. The Buranovskiye Babushki offered a static stage show, but did liven up their rendition of "Party for Everybody" with some choreographed baking in an onstage oven. Europe's more boring countries lived down to expectations with performances that were forgotten even before they were over. Slow ballads were very much the flavor of the evening, with Estonia arguably achieving new depths of bland. Past the half-way mark, Romania's six-piece Mandinga mercifully livened up proceedings with a pounding musical potpourri of bagpipes and brass, extravagant wardrobe choices, and a sultry performance by lead vocalist Elena Ionescu. Winner Loreen went for the windswept look as she battled a wind machine to belt out the club music-lite hit "Euphoria" and assay some vaguely robotic dance moves. Once the competitive section of the show was over, Emin, the pop star son-in-law of Azerbaijan's authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev, was winched down onto the stage to perform his own song. Emin's inclusion in the night's entertainment roster raised eyebrows and refreshed claims of the rampant nepotism that is widely said to benefit members of Aliyev's family. Azerbaijan, a comparatively little-known former Soviet republic, dug deep to make sure it took full advantage of its rare moment in the world limelight. The new Crystal Hall concert venue, a light-bathed arena on a point jutting out into the Caspian Sea, cost $134 million to build and was put up in a speedy eight months. Countless more millions have been spent embellishing the capital, Baku, and buying a huge fleet of brand new London-style taxis. Such profligacy has aroused concerns about the spiraling costs involved in holding the contest in times of austerity. "At the moment, if the costs are growing more and more every year and it needs to be more splendid, there are countries that would have huge difficulties, especially with financial situation in Europe at the moment, in organizing it," said Annika Nyberg Frankenhauser, media department for the European Broadcasting Union, under whose auspices Eurovision is held. Rain fell hard throughout the night in Baku, although diehard Eurovision fans were not deterred, and stuck it out on the windswept seafront promenade to cheer along their contestant in front of the big mega-screen provided. Amid the glitz, antigovernment activists have held a number of protests in the week running up to the final, seizing on the opportunity of the increased international media presence to draw attention to what they describe as the government's authoritarian style of rule. On Friday, police quickly shut down a small flash mob near the competition venue, roughly dragging away dozens of demonstrators and stuffing them into waiting buses, at least of one which bore a Eurovision logo. Three demonstration participants were sentenced to jail terms of five and six days on Saturday, while 17 others were fined 20-25 manat ($25-32).[/QUOTE] [URL]http://news.yahoo.com/swedens-loreen-wins-eurovision-song-contest-224308643.html[/URL] [media][URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4PMQB5zmAU[/URL][/media]
No one will ever beat sexy sax guy
Yay we didnt get to the finals 8 years in a row now. Then again we send in this crap: [img]http://www.bet.nl/images/stories/pictures_/joan-Franka-eurosongfestival_250.jpg[/img] WTF how is that Dutch.!
i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?
denmark should've won [media][URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DJy1uC58pQ[/URL][/media] not only is she amazingly beautiful, but she has an amazing voice and the song is really good, plus she's actually playing an instrument herself i meant WHAT THE FUCK EUROPE
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] Abba aren't [I]that[/I] horrible I suppose...
ABBA is good in an ironic way
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] Lordi.
Humperdinck Engelbert isn't that bad, but all the winners are. However THIS SHOULD HAVE WON: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4qmsmzoRBE[/media]
This was the best Eurovision song imo. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hco0bR_mfzo[/media]
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] The Italian version of "Madness of Love" from last year isn't half-bad at all. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFDDWCUKLh4[/media]
I honestly don't care about Eurovision anymore, because after Finland won, the entire country collectively noticed that it costs a shitload to host the Eurovision song contest, so now all we do is send shit artists that are guaranteed to lose. I mean, for Christ's sake, look at our 2011 entry: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpnbAIysv74[/media]
Greece should have won [IMG]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i0C5suCstMM/T8IfnDULUUI/AAAAAAAAIyQ/PWoOzdaqxLs/s1600/eleftheriou_greece_eurovision_2012_05_10_final_rehearsal.jpg[/IMG]
Turkey should have won for the lolz
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQAKRw6mToA[/media]
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] [media][URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h_hN0xQYv4&feature=related[/URL][/media] Classic. How could anyone forget this one?
if i taught World History at american schools i would start the class with Eurovision.
Lordi is the only half-decent band to come out of Euro-vision. Even then they're only half decent
What is eurovision and why should i care?
[QUOTE=aydin690;36106244]What is eurovision and why should i care?[/QUOTE] Some singing contest that Europe and Israel have and you shouldn't care.
"X should've won" [I]to bad they didnt then.[/I]
[QUOTE=Coffee;36104184]This was the best Eurovision song imo. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hco0bR_mfzo[/media][/QUOTE] For anyone who doesn't know: [sp]It's a man[/sp]
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36104133]Humperdinck Engelbert isn't that bad, but all the winners are. However THIS SHOULD HAVE WON: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4qmsmzoRBE[/media][/QUOTE] The song was decent and the people were humble and I did not realize they were speaking any english at all until the end [editline]27th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Mlisen14;36104859]Greece should have won [IMG]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i0C5suCstMM/T8IfnDULUUI/AAAAAAAAIyQ/PWoOzdaqxLs/s1600/eleftheriou_greece_eurovision_2012_05_10_final_rehearsal.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Then they would have to pay to host next years Eurovision? Greece would implode
[QUOTE=taipan;36103914]Yay we didnt get to the finals 8 years in a row now. Then again we send in this crap: [img]http://www.bet.nl/images/stories/pictures_/joan-Franka-eurosongfestival_250.jpg[/img] WTF how is that Dutch.![/QUOTE] Reminds me of when I went to San Francisco last year.
Most of the song writers where Swedish too, I think 4 of the top 10 were Swedish.
[QUOTE=aydin690;36106244]What is eurovision and why should i care?[/QUOTE] Biggest TV show in the world Horrible music Lethal drinking games etc [editline]28th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5nbOUJeQ7s[/media] 1:25
[QUOTE=nikomo;36104507]I honestly don't care about Eurovision anymore, because after Finland won, the entire country collectively noticed that it costs a shitload to host the Eurovision song contest, so now all we do is send shit artists that are guaranteed to lose. I mean, for Christ's sake, look at our 2011 entry: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpnbAIysv74[/media][/QUOTE] I wasn't able to watch all of that, but I actually think that's pretty good.
[QUOTE=Coffee;36104184]This was the best Eurovision song imo. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hco0bR_mfzo[/media][/QUOTE] Unsure if woman, man or starfish with human-shaped tumor.
[QUOTE=thisispain;36103948]i don't want to be that one asshole... but has Eurovision ever produced anything that wasn't horrible?[/QUOTE] I thought 2009's winner was pretty good [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiH4BFTELME[/media]
it's weird how even if you know Eurovision is shit and you don't even watch it one of the songs will invariably get stuck in your head anyway it's like a law of causality is forcing you to hear one those songs
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