The biggest TV event of the year is behind us now. For all the smirking and criticising that Eurovision is
uncool, it was the most watched Eurovision in the history of this programme and BBC had reported that 63% of the total TV audiences watched grand finale. It feels like every year it attracts new generation who is not familiar with it and every year people get upset by voting system, rules, etc. Well it is what it is - entertainment show with a huge history and of course its not the same as before (the most notorious complaint) because the music industry is changing and current performers are like gladiators in arena. One interesting thing that i have noticed is how spectacle itself almost completely eliminated the music - now its all about being noticed and catching everybody's attention during a few minute performance - just standing there and singing will not do, to be remembered in such competition, an artist must preferably swallow a burning torch or strip naked or do something extra unusual. And so it goes.
I couldn't be bothered with semi-finale but was genuinely excited about big finale on Saturday night. Immediately I noted that performances this year are competing who will eclipse who - anything we have previously seen only in video clips is not possible to do live on stage, including a totally SF act by Norway and allegedly huge favourite Loreen who rolled between two giant spaceship screens and was basically alien from another planet. It had absolutely nothing to do with the song or its lyrics but it was very effective and quite unforgettable. Right next to her, shoulder to shoulder was Finland and its manic representative Käärijä who was actually quite good - not my kind of music, but it was something fresh and different. I have also noticed performances by Portugal, France and Italy as they were memorable and stood up from the crowd. Both Portugal and France had a confident, flashy girl singers while Italy sent a typical model looking guy who was better than his song.
And now to the elephant in the room - Croatia. After years of trying everything and being ignored time and time again (always painfully obvious that local taste differs from wider EU) this time they were inspired by last year's entry of Serbia, which was a highly stylised art performance not unlike something by Laurie Anderson and though it did not won, it gained quite a cult following. Not to be outdone, Croatians decided that this year they can send something completely left-field too and sent punk band Let 3 apparently known for their effective shocking performances - at first, this seemed as such a cheap trick to me, kind of reaction one would expect from someone who was never validated so now decided to show the finger to establishment. But to my surprise, as Eurovision itself settled into circus and one cute girl singer replaced another in perpetual ass wiggling contest, Croatians came in as a very welcome breath of fresh air - they were rocking, they were almost naked (in completely ridiculous, unflattering underwear) , they screamed, they had a blast. And even though they did not win or even rated high (they ended up right in the middle, around 13th place) they left quite a mark - no less than J.K.Rowling tweeted that she loved it and audiences around the world welcomed something outside of the box.
I must also add that just the day before Eurovision, I have listened the whole list of every song at my work and absolutely nothing registered in my brain - when played in the background, this was just a white noise, overproduced and bland. However, it worked as a visual spectacle. So my conclusion is that at this point Eurovision metamorphosed into something else and perhaps its unrealistic to expect music to be same as back in the day when singers just stood there with hands in their pockets. And let's not forget that even back than, there were some bland and uninspired choices.
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