ESC

My sister is here. And the main reason she's staying with me and not with my parents is the European Song Contest which was held yesterday. It might also have something to do with the amount of moving around to find a bed when she would stay with my parents due to my brother and his family also staying with them last night. All because of the Big Family Reunion today!

The Moldovan Entry

But I wanted to talk about the European Song Contest or ESC for short. Because yesterday, for the first time in years, it was finally about the music again and less about all the acts! Don't get me wrong, Moldova still sent garden gnomes on acid and a unicycle, Estonia was doing magic and the Ukraine had a good song, but an even better sand artist! France had sent a tenor who actually sang in (shock horror) Italian! And the Italians were back after a gap of 14 years and nearly did the biggest stunt of all by finishing in second place! Ireland sent two hyperactive twins who wore leggings (not a good move) and sang about lipstick and Sweden had a heart throb, including dimples in both cheeks, who ended up third.

The Irish entry

Of course this doesn't count all the numbers that didn't make it to the grand final and lost already in one of the two semifinals. The Netherlands of course (seven times in a row), Belgium with an awful a-capella song, Belarus sang about Belarus and the first semi final I didn't even see, so I don't know what atrocities didn't make it (Portugal was bound to have been one, judging by their dress sense).

But the winner in the end was Azerbaijan, a former Soviet Republic with a sort of forgettable ditty. They were happy to have won though and according to Graham Norton who commented for the BBC, they were one of the few who actually had the funds to organise the biggest party of the world next year due to their oil reserves!