The Eurovision Song Contest

Last night was the biggest night in European music. Last night was the Eurovision Song Contest, a contest that unites and divides Europe in the course of two hours of drama, wind machines and modulations. The history of the Eurovision Song Contest began with the brainchild of Marcel Bezençon of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest was based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival and was designed to test the limits of live television broadcast technology. The first contest took place on 24 May 1956,[1] where seven nations participated. As the Contest progressed, the rules grew increasingly complex and participation levels rose to pass forty nations at the end of the 20th century. As more countries came on board over subsequent decades and technology advanced, the EBU attempted to keep up with national and international trends. The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s led to a sudden increase in numbers, with many former Eastern Bloc countries queuing up to compete for the first time. This process continued into the 2005 contest, in which both Bulgaria and Moldova made their debut. Liechtenstein and Vatican City are the only European countries not to have participated; the most recent major European country to take part was the Czech Republic which made its debut in the 2007 contest. San Marino took part in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia, together with Azerbaijan. Last night, Denmark had the winning song and Eurovision 2014 will take place in Copenhagen. It is also one of the things that fascinated me about Europe and I was obsessed about seeing it. Once I moved to Berlin and then saw my first full Eurovision telecast (that was the year Lena won for Germany with "Satellite"), I was hooked and seeing Berlin go crazy with excitement (I went out with friends afterwards), hooked me even more for each country has the same kind of pride that they would have at most sports events when the home team wins!!! It's infectious!!! Now, all of my European friends roll their eyes, the minute I bring up the show. This show is the biggest source of cheese and politics, wrapped up in two hours. It's like a soap opera, but it's so much fun!!!! Some of the songs are quite cute and catchy, others are downright horrible, but it's all over the top. Even the fashions created for these 3-4 minute productions can be amazing or god-awful. I enjoy it for the amazing fashion ideas and I say that it's the most gayest show next to a Madonna concert. There are more gay men on stage, backstage, and in the arena watching the show from every country than in every Gay Pride celebration combined (okay, I'm exaggerating)!!!!! Not only will I be talking about the music, but also the fashions that creates this spectacle of the Eurovision Song Contest. Let's get started. One of my favorites is the entry from France: Amandine Bourgeois- L'enfer et Moi. I absolutely love the dress she's wearing!!!! Totally reminds me of Tina Turner. It's all leather fringe and very rock and roll, which fits the song!!!! http://youtu.be/hQwiQj5Dyj8 Another one I loved a lot is the entry from Moldova: Aliona Moon- O Mie Live. This song is beautiful and the look is SO Lady Gaga-ish!!!!! The whole style of this is quite theatrical and forward!!!! Love the lighting and the projections onto the dress!!! AWESOME!!!! http://youtu.be/SWdHkjAUjUc Now this one from Romania surprised the hell out of me!!!! This is Cesar- It's My Life. This is theatrics at it's best and instantly made me think of Klaus Nomi (German edgy countertenor opera singer). This why I tune into the Eurovision Song contest!!! To see the theatrics and drama!!! Loved the cape he wore and the song was quite interesting as well!!!! http://youtu.be/1LvajJAPzp8 This song I loved from Azerbaijan: Fareed Mamedov- Hold Me. Pretty cool song and I love the back of the dancer's dress. I love that it's shaped liked a vertebre of an animal!!!! Simply amazing!!!! Loved his look as well!!!! http://youtu.be/WHtqxnV-8yA This was another favorite of mine. This is Italy: Marco Mengoni- L'Essenziale. Beautiful song and beautiful man!!! Totally made me think of Eros Ramazzotti, an amazing Italian singer who has released work in Italian and Spanish. I will be looking out for any other music that Marco has, because I just LOVE his voice!!!!! http://youtu.be/dWhEhCX1ThQ This is another song I liked and I loved the theatrics of it (well, I was sure it would pull the gay boys in because of how gorgeous the singer and the dancers were). This entry is from Ireland: Ryan Dolan- Only Love Survives. Love the toughness of all of the leather and his sweet smile that can disarm you. Great pop song!!! He's another artist that I will be looking out for!!! http://youtu.be/2afgTGmEMb8 This was another cool song as well!!! This was from Iceland: Eytour Inga Gyunnlyoygsson- Eg A Lif. Loved his suit and this entry from Bjork's homeland was beautiful and quite theatrical. Totally makes me curious to see Iceland and I would love to hear more music by Eytour. I may be totally surprised by what I find. http://youtu.be/GzE88IYzXLI Now here are a few that I didn't like. It was more than the fashions, it was the songs. They didn't move me. The first one is the winner. This is the entry from Denmark: Emmelie de Forest- Only Teardrops. I didn't hate the song, but I didn't love it either. Her performance was pretty cool, although I would have loved to see some drama (hello, no wind machine, no theatrics???). http://youtu.be/s6mnUCP6FMM Another one I wasn't a fan of was Germany: Cascada- Glorious. As much as I like some of Cascada's music (Evacuate The Dance Floor is my favorite of theirs), this was a knockoff of the previous Eurovision winner, Sweden's Loreena- Euphoria and I always feel if you're gonna rip something off, then do it and flip it and make it yours. Don't rehash what they did and put your name on it!!!! I also hated the dress!!! Love a beaded dress, but this one was horrible!!! She looked better in the semi finals!! http://youtu.be/UmmMU34ha5I I didn't like this one either. It's The Netherlands: Anouk- Birds. I have no issue with the use of birds as metaphors, but this song (to me) made no sense. Maybe if she sung it in Dutch, I would have got it. This also lacked drama (hello, no wind machine????) Loved her rock chick look, though and her backup singers were AMAZING!!!! http://youtu.be/6n8BT7QuCCA This one here from Lithuania: Andrius Pojivus- Something. The song is quite cute (loved his leather bomber), but his accent is quite thick, making his English a little hard to get. I wonder what the song would have sounded like in either Latvian or Lithuanian. I didn't hate the song, but I didn't love it either. http://youtu.be/0VLhnzk_dAs Well, that was my take on some of the songs and fashions from the Eurovision Song Contest. I look forward to seeing the show in Denmark in 2014. I'll also probably do another post talking about all of the Eurovision songs that I like and include all of my fashion commentary...lol. Hopefully, all of the links work. If not, search them all out on YouTube. Either way, let me know what you think. Stay fashionable and sexy!!!!