Eurovision 2012

Last year, I watched Eurovision, the annual European song contest, and became completely enamored- pure camp, at its finest!  This year's competition did not disappoint- aside from all of the ballads (BO-ring), performances ranged from dancy Europop, heavy metal, and the downright bizarre, and the costumes ranged from slightly ridiculous to completely ridiculous-  sparkly blindfolds and Native American headdresses are just the tip of the iceberg.  I'd say a solid half of the acts looked like they were dressed as space aliens from 1960s television.  Now that I've discovered Eurovision, I'm a bit sad that the US is excluded from participation.  Hopefully they'll start broadcasting Eurovision on US television so Americans will at least have the opportunity to witness the spectacle.  An evening spent with friends, drinking wine and watching Eurovision, is just about the best entertainment around.

Some highlights:

Jedward, the hyperactive twins, were back representing Ireland, and their new dance move inspired my housemate Susan and me to try our own.

Sweden's winning entry was actually pretty good, a catchy pop song by Loreen, who had angered authorities from host country Azerbaijan by meeting with political activists.  Turkey had the most creative costumes- caped male dances who turned into a sailboat. Too bad their song was rubbish.  England trotted out Engelbert Humperdinck but his performance was far too snoozy to win many votes.

However, Russia's entry brought down the house- six elderly Russian ladies singing "Party For Everybody" and dancing around a revolving oven. I'm already looking forward to next year.