Search - Various Artists :: Eurovision Song Contest 2005

It's that time of the year again

3rdeadly3rd | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 05/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Every year, singers throughout Europe get together to perform their songs in the hope of winning the Eurovision Song Contest. They gyrate, they stretch rhymes, they perform ethnic dance and they often make utter fools of themselves. For the uninitiated, the Eurovision Song Contest is intended to find the best song in Europe each year. I say "intended" because the songs which tend to win are often more like the "least worst" song, rather than the "best". One of the most famous winners in the past was Sweden's ABBA, for example.



That said, I must confess to enjoying some of the offerings of Eurovision as a bit of a guilty pleasure. There's something undeniably entertaining about listening to a series of songs which have been translated (in some cases) into English - often with hilarious results - being sung by people with some of the thickest accents and who really, one would hope, should know better. If that's your thing, grab yourself a copy of Eurovision 2005 and enjoy the kitsch. If it sounds like a car crash, look the other way and keep driving.



Eurovision songs tend to fall into three categories. The "reasonably talented" category, the "do not let them near a microphone category" and the "what were they thinking?" category. Thankfully, this year's contest had more of the first and third category than the second one.



One song you can't help but notice is the Norwegian entry "In My Dreams". This song is basically a 3-minute package of everything that made 80s hair-metal good (or bad, depending on where you stand on that issue). For me, this is one of the true standouts of the competition. One thing's for sure, you won't be ambivalent about it.



Another highlight is Moldova's "Boonika Bate Toba", a joyous combination of gypsy drumming, rock and hip-hop. While that sounds pretty impressive to some, words don't actually do the song justice.



Also worth a listen is Sweden's "Las Vegas". This song wasn't performed overly well at the contest, but really stands out on CD. The effect is something along the lines of a James Bond theme with added sleaze and dancing girls.



There's also some competent chick-rock on offer this year. Estonia's Suntribe perform the addictive "Let's Get Loud", complete with turntables and other digital trickery, for example. If that's not quite your thing, try Switzerland's entry "Cool Vibes" (by Estonian band Vanilla Ninja). This is a more straight-ahead rock song, albeit with some mystical lyrics.



The final standout is, of course, the winning entry by Greece (whose performer, Elena Paparitzou, was born in Sweden). The song is "My Number One" and is a surprisingly well-done fusion of Greek music with a club beat.



In the "what were they thinking?" file, there are some notable entries. Austria again demonstrate the proper way to take this contest by entering Global Kryner with their song "Y Asi". This is a song in Spanish and English about dancing and yodelling and is definitely an acquired taste.

Bosnia take a slightly different tack, with their song "Call Me". Intended as a tribute to Eurovision (which turned 50 this year), the song ends up sounding a bit like ABBA performing a radio jingle.



Of course, this leaves out such interesting feats as Denmark's quite credible attempt at reggae, Bulgaria's game of "exactly how many words can we rhyme in the chorus?", Latvia and Finland trying to out-emotion each other with ballads and Russia and Germany doing Shania Twain impressions, all of which are worth the price of admission. As an added bonus, Ukraine's entry of "Razom Nas Baghato" is a slightly tamed (in order to comply with Eurovision rules) version of the popular anthem from last year's Orange Revolution



It's an uneven CD, as various-artist compilations tend to be - particularly in this sort of situation. But it's also undeniably fun. For the Eurovision neophyte, this is probably as good a place as any to start following the contest, bearing in mind that more than half the fun is watching the contest and many songs lose their significance without it. Give it a listen and remember that under Eurovision rules, each song can't be longer than 3 minutes - so if you hate one performer, you'll get a new song soon enough."

ESC: THE GREATEST MUSICAL VOCAL COMPETITION

Glockinspiel | California, USA | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eurovision kicks off 2005 with 39 different songs from 39 (mostly) European nations. The contest took place in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and there were several shocking results. This year has one of the most diverse varieties of music in the history of Eurovision. Combining elements of music such as traditional folk, Latin rhythms, polka, rock & roll, Mediterranean beats, and many others makes this CD one of the best that ESC has had to offer for a long time. I recommend this CD to all those out there who are looking for a compilation of upbeat, inspiring, diverse music. So expand your musical horizons and purchase Eurovision 2005: Kyiv!!"