Holding on and holding out for Maria!

[Image: Norway's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest, Mira Craig and Maria Haukass Storeng, known in ESC circles as Maria only. Now heading for the finals! Weeee!! Congrats and champagne and balloons and - go Maria!! Credit: tv2.no, med takk for lånet.]

Late last night, it was time for the first of two immensely exciting Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, and it became even more of a nerve-racking affair than one could have expected beforehand. For a moment there, I thought Europe (or, the European voters, whoever they may be) had really lost all sense - and taste in good music. But then Norwegian contestant Maria - our very own personified hope of another victory - was announced as the tenth and last finalist, advancing to the final rounds, and we could draw a deep breath of content, noting that everything was quite alright again. Well, almost everything. Apart from the utter ridiculousness and arrogance demonstrated by some of her opponents, and the overall quality of the(ir) music, which is rather poor this year. The participants of the 2008 competition are possibly the most bizarre variety of, er, bizarre people we've seen thus far - and their appearances are as striking as it gets, in every possible meaning of the word. Above-mentioned Maria, representing good old Norway, is - as far as I could tell - one of very few artists taking part in this event who actually sings a normal kind of songs, backed by a normal set of chorists/dancers, and who dons a normal-looking outfit that actually is a dress, not some kind of monstruous carneval costume more fitted for a medieval themed booze-infected nachspiel party. Of course, Norway's entry looks pretty damn boring compared to, say, Russia - with their ice skater boy - and Finland's bare chested heavy rockers (are they capable of anyhing except black metal?) and Greece's lapdancing routine, or whatever that was supposed to resemble, but it is definately more watchable. And, for my taste, enjoyable. I am a Eurovision fanatic, of course, and I genuinely look forward to this show, every single year, despite the awkwardness and the silliness and the lousy singers. It holds an unparallelled (in every way!) charm, an atmosphere unlike any other, an entertainment value beyond belief; a kind of circus you don't find anywhere else within the entertainment business. It's, presumably, the only musical event that's got room for anyone, anything and any absurd idea that some obsessed human being might (find it possible to) come up with. Take Belgium, for instance, whose contenders didn't manage to generate enough originality through singing in their native tongue, so they eventually settled for their very own, brand new language - especially invented for this special occasion. Adding some atonal backup singers, and equipping them all with some dramatic clothes and hairdo's to go along. Still, that didn't even come close to the armour worn by Andorran contestant Gisela, which was so awful I almost loved it. She'd also placed some sort of alien antenna on her head, thinking that looked neat. It didn't. Nor did I particularly approve of Armenia's feather dress-clad techno-babe (ugh!) or the Bosnian Brides. Worst of all, however, was the despicable Irish turkey who should never have been allowed attendance. Kicked out, more rightly, and never to be seen again. What a disrespectful act. Not even ironically intended, just an insult to the whole competition and its hard-working "cast" and crew. No wonder the audience boo'ed. Would have been disappointed if they hadn't. I actually turned off the telly when the group was on, cos I couldn't bear the disgrace. Horrible, horrible thing. If they find the show so stupid, why even bother being part of it? There's no way they can be said to have contributed - and I think most viewers would have preferred if they were disqualified. Anyways; they're on their way back to Ireland now, licking their wounds of shame, without any ticket to the finals. Poor Irishmen, they deserve something better; being the most successful Eurovision participant in the history of the show, and all, with SEVEN triumphs thus far. Hope (and trust) they'll make up for this mess next year! However, the situtation improved a lot with the wonderful duet from Romania. A most adorable duo singing about love and love and...love. And it was lovely too. Naturally, shipped straight to the finals - whilst receiving some justified comparisons to "Phantom" along the way. Good on them. My favourites! Many countries offered opera-ish tunes, including the Russian thing, and some complete rubbish by Isis Gee, from Poland; who was overly tanned, to put it mildly. Godawful. Straight to the finals as well, both of them, together with that Armenian flapper. "Fine" by me - for entertainment's sake, and little else, and may we all pray they don't win.

And, by the way, here's the list of the ten first semi-finalists set to partake in the main final this Saturday:

Greece
Romania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Finland
Russia
Israel
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Poland
Norway

Still, there is no denying I'm overly enthusiastic about the whole event; no matter who wins, even, for I love the show, the people, the craziness, the costumes, everything. Which, most likely, is why I critcize it so much too. And, so with such heavy ardency. I mean - I thoroughly enjoy it, every single year, despite its flaws, its unbearable moments; I can't help watching, and commenting - giving praise, raising eye-brows, displaying hatred. It gets me extremely enthusastic and absorbed. I adore it. Even though its airing schedules create a wide gap in the "Doctor Who" series continuity, I maintain my faithful love and admiration for the song contest. I almost managed to avoid cursing the delay. Which is remarkable, in itself. On the whole, you just have to let yourself go; to dream along. It's a fairy-tale. It's pretty creepy, of course, and it's definately not healthy for a serious student trying to be serious, and focused, it's a proper escape from reality, in every sense, and it's probably crowded with individuals who are tangering on mental instability - but hey, at least they dare to flaunt their peculiarities. They're not shy, I give them that, and I always admire forwardness. Wholeheartedly. I can easily forgive self-centered arrogance, when it comes in the shape of an angelic opera singer from Azerbaijan who just loves to be onstage, singing his throat out (...), doing what he thinks he does best. The Eurovision arrogance is a good one; it's sweet and moving and quite possible to tolerate. And if it seems a bit disturbing at times, that's because it's pathetic - not dangerous. One does feel sorry for some of these people, because they try so hard, obviously unaware their own shortcomings, and to what extent they will eventually fail. And just how little talent they actually possess. Yet they smile, and they do their best, and they - well - yeah, they make a memorable effort. At the very least. Some 43 countries, not all of them are meant to be remembered either. Fortunately. But Eurovision at its best is absolutely brilliant; because it's so massive, it's way over the top too much, but - nevertheless - it's so much fun! You've got the daring, experimental audacity that never ceases to surprise, and makes sure this show may never, never, never become anything that's remotely bordering on ordinarity or boredom. Save for Norway, of course, with our utmost discretion and de-emphasizing tendencies, and dreadful art direction, but at least we're fronted by someone who can sing; who's got an incredible voice to make up for what she lacks in eye-catching style. And properly so. (Should have sacked the stylist, though.) Not only can she sing, she's so damn good she deserves to win the whole thing. "Hold on be strong"; as penned by rising singer/songwriter star Mira Craig; is an old-fashioned, proper soul hymn - inspired by Motown, Diana Ross, Aretha and the likes. Maria proved her soulful singing skills when participating in Norwegian Pop Idol (aptly titled "Idol" over here), some odd years ago, and she's only got better since then. Her vocal is perfect and her performance very charismatic and charming. She's the one elegant person on stage, the rest of her gang could just as well have been removed. Very bad danse moves, there. Guh. But, fair enough, the singing still makes up for it. And that's saying something! At first, I wasn't all that convinced about the qualities of the song as such, either, but it's really grown on me - so much, I can't get it out of my head at the moment. Love it. So, see you all again next Saturday - and best of luck to our girl, Maria! Hope we succeed! Krysser fingre og tær for deg nå, flinke damen! :)