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Eurovision going down the drain | ||
Tags: European Languages | Music | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6915 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 40 09 May 2014 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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So, it's this time of the year again...
Eurovision anyone? (HTLAL, a year ago) A handful of quite interesting songs, some really good ones, and of course a lot of songs which makes me wonder how they could win in their home country in the first place... Same thing with the Swedish competition Melodifestivalen (Wikipedia) - four semifinals, each with eight contestants. And those are said to be the "best" ones, out of thousands of submissions. A strange world, indeed. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4674 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 10 of 40 09 May 2014 at 6:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't like Eurovision, and I don't like Sanna's Undo.
I preferred her ''Vågar du, vågar jag''. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zografialep Hexaglot Groupie GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4145 days ago 41 posts - 71 votes Speaks: Ancient Greek, Greek*, EnglishC2, GermanB2, Spanish, Latin Studies: Russian | Message 11 of 40 09 May 2014 at 9:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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I used to watch eurovision like a maniac, but now I just think that it's a joke. The
songs competing are nearly all English and even more rediculous every year, it's just painful to watch... The entries that I loved, which were sung in the native languages are those: - Cyprus 2008- greek.- It's not usually the type of music I hear, but it does have a nice rythm and voice and is pretty traditional as well. Pity it didn't pass! Spain 2008 -spanish- OK, it is weird, but it's so much fun! It was a great hit in Greece for a long time, we danced to it a lot. Greece 2010- greek- I'm probably a bit biased, but this song is just the personification of fun and redicule at the same time. I can't believe we actually sent something like it, but at the same time hearing it brings a smile to my face... I just can't help loving it :D Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006 Bosnian/ Serbian/ Croatian - such a beautiful song... It recieved the third place in the final in Athens. This was just too good for Eurovision. Russia 2012- Udmurt(!), a Russian dialect(?)- Now, you can't deny that this one was adorable! And traditional too . And last but not least, my personal favourite: Serbia 2007- Serbian/ Croatian/ Bosnian- this song got first place and rightly so. Just hearing it sends shiver down my spine... I need to learn Serbian and go there now! :) If you know other good eurovision songs in the respective native languages, please add them, if you want. It's a shame that everyone sends song in English, when they have the chance to show their country. Especially countries in the north, like Germany, Holland and the Scandinavian... It would be so great and interesting if everyone sang in their native language- Eurovision would be a paradise for polyglots! I wish that this happens in the future. Edited by zografialep on 10 May 2014 at 2:52pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4105 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 12 of 40 09 May 2014 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't know if all of the ESC entries are actually "winners" to start with. There is no "Melodifestivalen" type contest in France, for example. This year, three contestants were chosen by a jury, out of who knows how many and what kind of entries, and played once on a weekly (I think - I don't watch it) music programme, after which you could vote for your favourite song for a month or two by SMS. Finally, not too long ago, the winner of the SMS vote was announced on the same TV show. I wouldn't be surprised if other countries have an even less public/participatory way of picking its ESC entries. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6067 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 13 of 40 09 May 2014 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Back in the day, the Eurovision Song Contest was hot. Songs that won were very popular. Many songs people still remember won the Contest.
If you're under 20, maybe you never heard of "Non ho l'età", "Puppet on a string" or "Waterloo". These were nice songs. They still are. People didn't forget them after a month, like a lot of the... marvelous songs we get today. I come from a country that's never won the contest, and most of the times was in the last positions. For a few years, we weren't last because of Norway or Greece. Thanks, people from small countries with hard languages. Then it went out of style, and at the same time show business tried to cash in on it. Bad combination. P.S. #1: Our entry in the 1974 contest ("E depois do adeus") was used on the radio as a signal to start the revolution, along with another song. Every year, we get to hear it a lot. :) P.S. #2: I just watched a few of those songs (a few from before I was born) on youtube. Some were really, really good. Edited by Luso on 09 May 2014 at 11:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4539 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 14 of 40 09 May 2014 at 11:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Personally can't stand the Eurovision Pop style in general, but love watching it anyway in a bar over drinks.
I agree that the ubiquity of English is a pain, but isn't simply because about 50% of Europeans speak this language and perhaps the musicians want people to understand the lyrics (as admittedly stupid as they are). So as I see it people aren't singing so native English speakers can understand them, but so other non-native-English-speaking Europeans can. I do admit forcing all the countries to compete in Esperanto would be fun. Edited by patrickwilken on 09 May 2014 at 11:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5015 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 15 of 40 09 May 2014 at 11:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, Waterloo. Even ABBA "had to" sing in English (despite many of their songs being in their native Swedish as well) to succeed.
Sure, they want to gain popularity through people understanding their lyrics. But I think it is totally wrong because people love many songs in other languages despite not understanding. Music is a language by itself. There are hundreds of millions (if not more) people who love rock music despite not understanding English. So, the only way to make countries send artists sing in their languages would be an official rule "has to be in official language of the country" but that would raise a wave of resistance because "GB and Ireland got an unfair advantage". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5015 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 16 of 40 09 May 2014 at 11:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hmm. I wonder, does it even make sense to have Eurovision anymore? It is quite proven that the mainstream media don't care about diversity in music (therefore new or different things will continue to be a rarity there) and we've got more than enough such competitions anywhere. Clones and variations on the American Idol are plentiful, there are song contests, there are radio charts and so on. Is the european public still interested in a contest of mediocre music of the same style and language, just from various locations?
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