I didn't get a chance to watch Eurovision this year, but the few bits I did catch were amazingly staged. Copenhagen, you did good!
I know the contest has always had the aroma of kitsch campness surrounding it, but even I was stunned to hear a bearded drag Queen claim the 2014 crown for Austria.The song itself was a little basic for my liking, but there's no denying the guy has a set of pipes on him- with some nicely held notes, and a steady vibrato on show on the night.
Check out Conchita Wurst perform the winning song, Rise Like A Phoenix, below. And if any of you did manage to catch the show, please point me in the direction of any standout performances from the contest in the comments.
Thoughts?
Wasn't a huge fan of this but thought Spain's Ruth Lorenzo was pretty good - a lot of vibrato going on but she's a vocal beast.
ReplyDeletePoland was actually very good in my opinion. My Słowianie/Slavic Girls by Donatan&Cleo. You should listen to this song.
ReplyDeleteThe Dutch entry which surprisingly came in second was pretty decent. Although not awe inspiring singing. I also think that second place was greatly aided by the fact that they sang as third before the voting.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny to me but when I heard it first I thought they didn't sing very well together and I didn't rate the female as being very good. Turns out, that was last year's entry Anouk's arch enemy.
I am guessing Anouk will be pretty bummed therefor of this entry almost winning. Especially since Ilse would never have entered if Anouk hadn't boldly done so with an actually good and decidedly un festival like song last year. Very Ilse passive-aggressive kind of response in these ladies feud to enter this year with this song choice. I foresee a long continuation of the feud. LOL
As for the bearded drag act. Found out everything is a complete gimmick. a purely on the stage act so to speak.Which means I am already over it. It now bums me out , the no doubt substantial portion of his votes being "sympathy votes".
Couldn't stand his sickly submissive behavior either. But he can sing and the song was decent.
And the 12 points by countries like the Ukraine and Georgia WAS rather surprising.
I loved concheta , song concept was a little tacky but definitely a strong performer and message , I do however completely agree with opie that it feels put on and gimmicky after knowing it's not a real persona. Being a male makeup artist and follower of countless drag queens it's a tad annoying that this was all an act.
ReplyDeleteBut as I said all power do them and I'm glad it was a LGBT positive message, for reffrance if your looking for true drag acts who can sing I suggest you check out Vicky vox,Courtney act and adore Delano .
*typed this on my iphone so spelling will be a mess*
Just FYI regarding positive LGBT message. I think Dana, who is for real so to speak, is a positive message. I am on the fence how positive this act is.
ReplyDeleteBtw all three Israeli winners in ESC history were LGBT.
Thought most of the performers were pretty weak tbh. Austria kinda deserved the victory. Sweden was fine too.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Belgium ended up being last (or close to it) of the first semi-final. Awesome.
lol Eurovision is centred around gimmick. literally, it's the most kitsch who wins. criticism on gimmick and vapidness are sorely unfounded and baseless. that's like trying to find subtlety and substance in an X-factor show.
ReplyDeleteOh I absolutely love it when you have a huge variety of beautiful female names and you still choose the name such as Conchita. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Drag queen thing was a put on just for the show....giving major side eye to the dude now. https://24.media.tumblr.com/d7c53a759c481d7484b09489fe78220d/tumblr_n02vjngBRv1qc0h79o1_250.gif
ReplyDeleteIt's so disappointing to read it was an act. I wonder how it would have done without the gimmick.
ReplyDeleteYoutube seems to be having problems streaming for me today! Argh. Here's the video for anyone else wanting to check out the Polish entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8J3GAg5zaI
ReplyDeleteShe was working that vibrato hard when she took part in the X-Factor (UK), too! As I said above, Youtube isn't streaming for me right now. But I'll post the video for anyone else wanting to see Spain's entry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OtuM3Zvkeo
ReplyDeleteYou know I wouldn't mind so much about this guy- after hearing it was a put on for the show- if he just said he wanted to wear a dress for his performance. But the "drag queen" descriptor goes a lot deeper than just a dude wearing a dress. In fairness though, I'm not sure if it's the media that has given him that label, or if it's something he's been spreading himself.
ReplyDeleteLet me add those videos to your comment!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdXXnX5BvGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tImGMW-4eHY