Your Country Needs You!

By | March 12, 2010

Tonight, six acts will be doing some singing, the prize is to sing Pete Waterman’s song at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Norway.

I’d like to say there’s ‘Norway’ I’m going to miss this (the joke here is that ‘Norway’ sounds a bit like ‘no way’. Do you see?) but unfortunately I just might. But don’t let that stop you: the punters have a natter about it, and you can do that here if you want.

My money’s on Uni 5, for no reason other than it sounds like a local bus route. Busses are relatively environmentally friendly = green vote.

33 thoughts on “Your Country Needs You!

  1. Travis P

    Turns out next Saturday’s Piers Morgan’s Life Stories will be an interesting one. It features Bruce Forsyth.

    Reply
  2. Travis P

    Oh, Russ Swift and Caroline Barnes from Scooch are on the coach trip.

    Reply
  3. Travis P

    That’ll teach Graham Norton for relying on the autocue too much. He needs lessons from Mr. Edmonds.

    Alexis singing Rick Astley’s Never Going to Give You Up, ok but not a patch on Brian Griffin’s cover.

    Reply
  4. Alex

    “We’re doing a song by Bananarama…”
    No you’re not, you’re doing a cover of a Steps song, which inconceivably manages to be worse than the original.

    Reply
      1. Travis P

        I thought that. I don’t know about anybody else but it’s been poorly set up this year. I do wonder if there is really any need to hear the offical song THREE times. I understand with The X Factor it works with two but three is slightly pushing. I’ve had enough, I’m switching over to Lost.

        Why have I got the feeling Pete Waterman is going to bomb Eurovision as he did with One True Voice.

        Reply
  5. Iain Weaver

    Three acts in, and it’s Dodgy Karaoke Night down the Shepherd’s Bush local. Karen’s Kylie was adequate, Alexis’s song recovered well from a dodgy start. Uni5’s Steps cover really wasn’t up to anything.

    Reply
    1. Iain Weaver

      Esme’s Donna Summer cover worked, Josh did Jason Donovan almost as well as the original, and Miss Fitz are doing something a bit rubbish to Kylie. Meh.

      Is it too late to ask for Dustin the Turkey?

      Reply
  6. Alex

    This is all very Good For 1993. Which means we’ll likely finish 20th or something and the press will be all “Block Voting Is Back”.

    Reply
  7. Iain Weaver

    If anyone is actually going to be watching this on the Why-player, do remember to fast-forward through the ABBA medley. It didn’t work at the 1999 BPI awards, it doesn’t work now.

    Anyway, progressing to the next stage are Esme, Alexis, and Josh. From what little I’ve seen on the night (and it’s too little, all things considered), this is not a bad decision.

    Reply
  8. Iain Weaver

    Instant thought? This song really is a lump of cheese, and it’s so Old Eurovision as to be a bit painful. I could have sworn we were meant to get different arrangements, because that would have worked well.

    Esma missed a cue in the second verse and her confidence fell to pieces, which shows the benefits of lots of training and practice and rehearsals. Have these people had more than five minutes to study the song? Alexis and Josh were moderately interchangeable, and I’m not much caring who wins to be frank.

    Reply
  9. Iain Weaver

    May as well wrap up the show, seeing as how everyone else has found something less boring instead. Some promotional puffery for Jade Ewen, now a member of Sugababes 2.7β. Graham offers some tips for would-be contestants, appearances by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Alexander Rybak, the best performance of the night by the length of the Trans-Siberian Highway.

    Going through from the UK is Josh. It’s as good a decision as we could have had, given the song and performers available. A more considered view will be in the Week on 21 March. </shameless_plug>

    Reply
  10. Simon

    Sub-standard song + 6 amateur singers. We were doomed before tongiht started.

    Reply
  11. Tom H

    The UK is destined for the bottom half of the table this year with this – not dire, but instantly forgettable and very disappointing, although not as disappointing as the standard of singer. It was like a boozed-up evening in front of Singstar.

    Reply
  12. sphil

    it is a truely rubbish song, worse even than last years effort where the lyrics failed to fit to the music. But how can waterman even think people like music like this now, even in the balkans!

    for those who cant be bothered to watch the show, the winners song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vHnZDX1GI

    just wondering if someone could convince peter kay to do it next year as geraldine mcqueen?

    Reply
      1. David Howell

        It can’t be worse.

        Oh, couldn’t the BBC have followed ITV’s lead from eleven and a half years ago, and commissioned Keith and Matthew Strachan to knock up something in a week?

        Reply
  13. Andrew

    But since when has Eurovision been about the singing, it’s more about the gimmicks nowadays (and tactical voting). Although having said that, last year Norway managed to win with a half-reasonable song (although how much of that was done to the violin interlude I’m not sure), but in recent years, more rubbish has won than quality. Although that might well change with the jury vote now in place.

    It’s a gimmicky song we’ve got, cheesy lyrics, obvious rhyme, club beat, Steps formation dance routine etc. It might have worked if it was particularly memorable, but sadly it isn’t. Of course it won’t win or do as well as last year, but provided it is late in the running order, it might not do too bad hopefully, I’m saying an optimistic 10th place.

    Reply
    1. Brekkie

      Only the BBC have viewed it as being about the gimmicks, not the singing – hence we did shit for years. They took it seriously last year and results improved – but this year it’s all fallen apart again with a poor mans Louis Walsh still thinking it’s 1989 and getting in on that popular Eurodance movement which swept the continent 20 years ago.

      An absolute joke again this year – and I felt sorry for all the victims that were forced to sing his songs.

      Reply
  14. Travis P

    Your Country Needs You! got 2.92m (12.5%) last night. Although it won the timeslot, that rating is piss poor.

    Reply
  15. Alex

    I don’t see why we just do Melodifestivalen for a year. The BBC isn’t that hard up it can’t do it, can it?

    Currently Melodifestivalen has the interval as a Best Of Eurovision ‘Norway vs Sweden’ thing going on. And it’s brilliant.

    Reply
    1. Gizensha

      Doubtful – Can you imagine the scandal (especially as reported by, oh, lets say ‘The Mail’) if they scrapped the result of a phone vote?

      Reply

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