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Blogs by Steve Kerr
Vienna Calling
5/27/2015 7:46:06 AM
The strains of Charpentier`s Te Deum resound all around
Europe from Iceland to Azerbaijan ,Norway to Cyprus and only
for tonight Australia becomes an honorory European.A
Cinderella ,a special guest at this most glittering ball
which ends at midnight .The Eurovision Song Contest of 2015
is about to begin.
Thus did the 60th anniversary of the contest start on
Saturday evening.Those who read my previous two blogs will
know that I have already mentioned this event twice this
week.Why ? Because it is above all other
festivals,awards,celebrations and gala evenings a truly pan
European expression and a truly
atmospheric event-despite the British medias ongoing
attempts to ridicule and belittle it,which inspite of, has
gone from strength to strength.
Saturday`s spectacular came from Vienna .As the cameras
focused on the arena and the magnificent stage they zoomed
into a giant photo of the 1966 Austrian winner Udo Jurgens
while a solo violinist played a touching rendering of his
winning song Merci Cherie in tribute at his recent passing.
The French entry which I had already, filled with praise
,gave a heartfelt ,dramatic performance as their singer Lisa
Angel sang in French a very French style ballad which sadly
we see too little of these days.Despite all this Lisa was
only awarded 4 points only managing to overtake Germany and
Austria who recieved no points.
Norway`s entry ,a rather intense ballad sung in English
entitled A Monster Like Me was a somewhat unusual song with
somewhat mysterious lyrics.One of the best it came 8th.
Israel`s ethno-dance pop/tsefteteli entry "Golden Boy" soon
got the whole arena dancing and livened things up
considerably.One of my favourites .It was placed 9th
One of the more ethnic entries was the song from Montenegro
which was sung in the local language by a Balkan veteran
and superstar Knez replete with ethnic dancing it gave a
haunting and very Balkan air to the proceedings and ended up
13th.A bit of a dissapointment since songs in the same
genre have often come top 3.The evening was dominated by
ballads ,the crowning glory of which was the Russian star
Polina Gagarina`s A Million Voices.She gave a powerful
performance and the audience gave a rapturous applause.It
seemed to have transcended political boundries which ,at
least temporarily it had.Bojana ,a large lady with a very
powerful voice sang the energetic Beauty Never Lies for
Serbia.She was one of the favourites to win.One outstandng
vocalist of merit was Elnur Hussenov who sang yet another
ballad for Azerbaijan. He interpreted the excellent song
perfectly .Classically trained his voice has a wide vocal
range.He was however overshadowed by two dancers who pranced
around him in a routine totally alien to the song .It was
most distracting and probably the reason for his 12th
placing. The final act
,the Italian entry
a pop opera number by Il Volo ended the contest with a
rousing stupendous performance that raised the roof off the
arena and the audience went wild with approval.In the end
Sweden were voted into first place having taken over from
Italy and Russia who had both led until fairly late in the
voting.Heroes ,the winning entry by Mans is a contemporary
quality pop number which Sweden have so often produced of
late .Russia who undoubtedly suffered from political voting
mostly from Eastern Europe and former Soviet states in
particular, managed a second place while Italy came third
with Belgium fourth and Guy Sebastian the platinum best
seller from Australia fifth.The UK again did badly ,as was
much predicted.Britain will never again win or do well in
the contest until the whole mindset in the country towards
the contest changes.This mindset reflects anti European
views and a lingering sense of cultural, musical imperialism
which succeeded colonialism and the loss of political
empire.Record companies will not get involved or enter
the UKs top stars such as Elton or Adele until attitudes
change .
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More Blogs by Steve Kerr
• Once upon a Christmas - Friday, December 9, 2016
• A Song Of September - Friday, September 2, 2016
• Our Lives Are All But A Film of Neo- Realism - Saturday, August 20, 2016
• Poor Cow - Saturday, August 13, 2016
• Place - Tuesday, August 9, 2016
• One Hell of A Few Weeks - Friday, July 15, 2016
• Il Sole Dalla Sicilia - Tuesday, July 5, 2016
• Il Sole Dalla Sicilia - Tuesday, July 5, 2016
• June Is Bursting Out All Over - Thursday, June 30, 2016
• The Cottage By The Sea - Wednesday, June 22, 2016
• June in Halifax and Andalucia - Friday, June 17, 2016
• A walk in Kafirstan /Kalash - Friday, June 10, 2016
• We Are In Arcadia - Monday, June 6, 2016
• Travels In The Hindu Kush - Saturday, June 4, 2016
• Leafy Green Crescents and Eating Out - Thursday, June 2, 2016
• Creativity Cries Out - Thursday, May 26, 2016
• Blossom and The Crimea :products of this May - Tuesday, May 24, 2016
• Sweet Revenge And a Few Songs - Friday, May 13, 2016
• Tea In York And Satanic Mills - Wednesday, May 11, 2016
• The Blossom Outside - Sunday, May 8, 2016
• A Window On The Barges - Thursday, May 5, 2016
• A Bank Holiday At Elmwood - Monday, May 2, 2016
• A cold Day For May Day - Sunday, May 1, 2016
• An Ode To A Special Flower - Friday, April 22, 2016
• Akin to Metropolis - Friday, April 22, 2016
• The Battle Is On - Thursday, April 14, 2016
• January`s Days - Saturday, January 16, 2016
• As August Passes On Its Way - Thursday, August 27, 2015
• Buses and Baskets - Monday, August 17, 2015
• Hiroshima,Portuguese and Cilla - Wednesday, August 5, 2015
• I Never Promised You A Rose Garden - Saturday, August 1, 2015
• Home and Abroad.Now And Then. - Monday, July 13, 2015
• The Simmer Dim Of Shetland and TheThe Four Marys - Monday, June 29, 2015
• End Of Term and Days In Paris - Wednesday, June 24, 2015
• Old York In June - Sunday, June 21, 2015
• Saturdays Thoughts and A Little Pasta - Saturday, June 6, 2015
• Saturdays Thoughts and A Little Pasta - Saturday, June 6, 2015
• Vienna Calling - Wednesday, May 27, 2015
• The Days Of The French Ballad - Friday, May 22, 2015
• Quality Beneath The Glitz .A True Europe - Wednesday, May 20, 2015
• Dreams In a Chanson Francaise - Saturday, May 16, 2015
• Sun,Wind and The Islands - Monday, May 11, 2015
• Elections,1940s Hits and A Bit More - Sunday, May 10, 2015
• A Walk uphill - Wednesday, May 6, 2015
• The Mad Blossoms of May - Tuesday, May 5, 2015
• A View into A Celluiloid Past - Thursday, April 30, 2015
• Trees In The Wind - Wednesday, April 29, 2015
• Monday Morning in the Cyber Cafe - Monday, April 27, 2015
• A FRUSTRATING MORNING IN PUBLISHING - Friday, April 24, 2015
• Aprite La Finestra - Wednesday, April 22, 2015
• April Weekend In Bayswater - Monday, April 13, 2015
• South Kensington Easter Weekend - Saturday, April 4, 2015
• Lady Day ,plenty sunshine and freezing weather - Sunday, March 22, 2015
• Snow over Sheffield - Wednesday, January 21, 2015
• And the Epiphany passes into the mundane - Friday, January 16, 2015
• Misty mornings - Saturday, November 29, 2014
• 21ST OF NOVEMBER - Sunday, November 23, 2014
• And in November. - Thursday, November 20, 2014
• Hallow`een - Saturday, November 1, 2014
• A squirrel on an autumn day. - Sunday, October 26, 2014
• The early train to Doncaster - Saturday, October 25, 2014
• October17th - Friday, October 17, 2014
• Recent Events in Scotland. - Saturday, October 11, 2014
• MONOPOLY - Friday, September 12, 2014
• A Place To Lay My Head - Tuesday, August 26, 2014
• The Road to Rocacorba - Tuesday, August 12, 2014
• The Long Hot Summer Of 1914 - Tuesday, August 5, 2014
• Summer in the city and more of it - Tuesday, July 29, 2014
• Summer 2003 and some thoughts on today - Saturday, July 26, 2014
• World Cup Finals,Celluloid and Blue Suede Shoes - Sunday, July 13, 2014
• Notting Hill and Rio - Saturday, July 12, 2014
• A Carnival and Film Noir. - Sunday, July 6, 2014
• The Stars And Stripes - Friday, July 4, 2014
• Saints,Film Stars, Shoes - Monday, June 30, 2014
• Sunday 29th of June - Sunday, June 29, 2014
• Gym And The Ancients - Tuesday, June 24, 2014
• Mid summer - Sunday, June 22, 2014
• Standing Stones and other topics - Sunday, June 15, 2014
• Queens birthday and monarchy - Saturday, June 14, 2014
• The Americas - Monday, June 9, 2014
• A Mixture Of A Wednesday - Wednesday, June 4, 2014
• blogs,language and pastries - Monday, June 2, 2014
• The last day of May - Saturday, May 31, 2014
• European elections, a view... - Monday, May 26, 2014
• Whitsun lost - Monday, May 26, 2014
• Dundee - Saturday, May 24, 2014
• Visiting The Peloponnese - Wednesday, May 21, 2014
• A Pleasant lunch - Monday, May 19, 2014
• An elderly man at the market - Thursday, May 15, 2014
• Tuesday thoughts - Tuesday, May 13, 2014
• Sunday night - Sunday, May 11, 2014
• A Tradition - Saturday, May 10, 2014
• Sun,Techno and Beards - Thursday, May 8, 2014
• Eurovision semis and other activities - Tuesday, May 6, 2014
• May day weekend - Saturday, May 3, 2014
• Cherry blossom lane - Thursday, May 1, 2014
• april 29th - Tuesday, April 29, 2014
• marketing in the high street - Sunday, April 27, 2014
• and so to Easter - Saturday, April 26, 2014
• the week in retrospect - Monday, April 21, 2014
• Palms,reunions and more garden colours - Tuesday, April 15, 2014
• Moods , Lenten food and weather - Friday, March 28, 2014
• A new week - Sunday, March 23, 2014
• A Castle in Angus - Monday, March 17, 2014
• Manchester on a Sunday - Sunday, March 16, 2014
• Saturday Night TV-nostalgia - Saturday, March 15, 2014
• Marketing and cakes - Friday, March 14, 2014
• What is life without a question mark - Thursday, March 13, 2014
• Hospitals and songs - Wednesday, March 12, 2014
• The Princess Charlotte Augusta - Monday, March 10, 2014
• Nice is nice - Sunday, March 9, 2014
• Elmwood - Saturday, March 8, 2014
• The silvery Tay - Friday, March 7, 2014
• The days are getting longer - Thursday, March 6, 2014
• All things of March 3rd - Monday, March 3, 2014
• A dull day in Leeds - Sunday, March 2, 2014
• A Day of reflection - Saturday, March 1, 2014
• A Day In Ulan Bator - Friday, February 28, 2014
• February 1990 - Tuesday, February 25, 2014
• A Cafe In Arcadia - Saturday, February 22, 2014
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• A Day in mid February - Wednesday, February 19, 2014
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