Eurovision

Why would any self-respecting Prog band want to subject themselves to the celebration of the lowest common denominator that is Eurovision?

Imagine Sigur Ros getting beaten by some half-baked mutants in fancy dress for next to last place...
The dreaded "nil points"

Actually, I don't think the voting is political per se, I think it's based on cultural similarities. The musical traditions of the Balkans are different from those of Northern Europe, and their respective populations are going to respond to different things. Also, an artist like Sweden's Carola isn't really known outside Scandinavia so that's the only place where you can factor in her star power (which - for reasons that completely elude me - is considerable).

It's not because most Norwegian viewers consciously go "Oh, a Swedish song - we must vote for that!", but that they may already be familiar with the artist performing and have a natural affinity for the style of song performed. Replace Norway/Sweden with Croatia/Albania or any other countries with some shared cultural background.

Also, there's nothing in Lordi that's more "real" than lost of other Eurovision songs. Many are performed by the artists (one was, after all, totally acapella), and quite a few written or co-written by the performer.

What Lordi's victory proved was only that a Metal song of the type Lordi performed really isn't that far off from the radio-friendly Pop that most Metal fans abhor. And this is borne out by a growing Metal presence in each respective country's sub-contest (and remember, Norway did really well with Wig-wam last year).

The soundscape is quite different, but the conventions are the same; the structures, the rhythms, the melodies and chord progressions run very close to what is now the standard, almost immutable template for How a Song Should Be. One that's used by Westlife and Bruce Springsteen, by Lordi and Carola, by The White Stripes and The Sugababes. The differences are minor and usually cosmetic.

A much more likely scenario for Prog benefitting and gaining listeners through Eurovision is the heavy Balkan influence of the last few years. Balkan music generally does not shy away from odd meters and chord progressions that sound positively weird to the Western European ear.

Macedonia's entry Life from two years ago was a minor key tune in 7/8 with some intricate backing vocals and a nice Eastern-style string arrangement. As I recall, it placed quite high, probably kept from the win by Western Europe ignoring it completely, strange as it was to them.

Maybe as people hear more things like that, they'll become less sensitive to "odd" details in music, and so may expand their horizons a bit. At least, so one can hope.

But Lordi? Naw...


Edited by Teaflax - May 25 2006 at 16:11

Sorry - my bad. I'll fix it.


Edited by Teaflax - May 25 2006 at 14:40

It deeply saddens me that Lordi would be chosen over, say, Wintersun, and many other incredible bands (progressive or not) that are in Finland. Then again, it's not that much of a surprise.

Rick Wakeman would do it and ELP probably......

^ Hmm, what makes you say that Richard?

And yes, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica or even Stratovarius (in their good old days) would have been really nice to watch and listen to.

crucify_the_ego wrote: Let's face it though, the only reason to watch it is Terry Wogan.

Definitely!!! ............although one year I was camping, and I actually heard some on the radio and Ken Bruce's Radio 2 was just as funny! Apparently they share a booth and get drunk all throughout the evening on "bailey's" (euch horrid stuff!)


    

I'll see a Lordi video on Youtube.com, and I'll give you my opinion.

crucify_the_ego wrote: No band who are actually good will go near Eurovision, as, nowadays, appearing on it is basically the end of your career.

Wrong! Tell Lordi that as their sales go through the roof and every festival signs them up.  Winning Eurovision will catapult them into the limelight with a wider fan base and good luck to them for having the guts to be different. It was a catchy commercial rock song with a good riff, sing along chorus and fun lyrics. The 6th form rock/prog fans have been playing it in the common room today to annoy the dance and rap fans. My son (a metal/hard rock fan) thinks it's great and so do I. Not the greatest music, but great fun. Christ, I even VOTED for it (and I've never watched Eurovision before).

But the point is this: it's a song from an unfashionable genre (like prog) and they play real (ie guitars, keys!) instruments, so it may stem the tide of dross that is standard Eurovision fare and encourage a few decent bands (even prog ones) to have a go.