I heard some Scandinavian chap on the radio last night who is head of programming for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the people behind the Eurovision song contest.
He was trying to explain that Eurovision was a fair competition which votes on the basis of the song, not for political or other motives, but then extraordinarily explained that Britain cannot expect other nations to vote for it if Britain and the BBC continually ridicule the Eurovision song contest.
Now this chap from the EBU must be some sort of prize pillock because he was in one breath trying to tell us it was a fair competition which where songs were voted for on their merits, but then in the next voice said that people wouldn't vote for Britain because of reasons that were nothing to do with the song ?
Double speak or the usual Euro-bollocks ? No wonder so many people are sick of European institutions.
Showing posts with label Eurovision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eurovision. Show all posts
5/27/2008
5/25/2008
Eurovision Politics Contest
Even Wogan's fed up with the voting and may quit and he has joined several million viewers who have dumped watching an evening of rubbish for another evening of rubbish and now watch ITV instead.
It was interesting that the BBC the other day asked one person from each of the 43 countries to vote for the song they liked best, and I must stress here the key word was "song". In this BBC vote Sweden were clear winners, yet when it comes to the night itself Sweden were closer to the bottom than the top. What does this tell us ? Clearly the Scandinavian voting block no longer wields the power. Towards the end of the voting (I only watch the voting), my wife was slightly perplexed how I know who was getting 8, 10 or 12 points before it was announced. Simple answer, i know which countries are neighbours to each other.
What an utter waste of license fee payers money, and lets be clear about it, the BBC spends a fortune on Eurovision.
P.S. And no, this is not sour grapes by me. I am not a fan of the UK's entry and even i the BBC poll it came 33rd out of 43.
It was interesting that the BBC the other day asked one person from each of the 43 countries to vote for the song they liked best, and I must stress here the key word was "song". In this BBC vote Sweden were clear winners, yet when it comes to the night itself Sweden were closer to the bottom than the top. What does this tell us ? Clearly the Scandinavian voting block no longer wields the power. Towards the end of the voting (I only watch the voting), my wife was slightly perplexed how I know who was getting 8, 10 or 12 points before it was announced. Simple answer, i know which countries are neighbours to each other.
What an utter waste of license fee payers money, and lets be clear about it, the BBC spends a fortune on Eurovision.
P.S. And no, this is not sour grapes by me. I am not a fan of the UK's entry and even i the BBC poll it came 33rd out of 43.
5/19/2008
Anyone who thinks that Eurovision is not ruined by block voting is living in La La Land
When I wrote last year about Eurovision being ruined by the result being predetermined in advance by countries employing block voting tactics should read THIS on the BBC website.
The report says that if you remove the in built bias of countries voting for other countries that speak the same language, there is clear statistical evidence to prove that some countries will always stand a greater chance of winning because they are part of a voting block.
Time for the BBC to pull the plug on Eurovision. The fact that it is an extravaganza of camp-ness is not an excuse and it is an expensive waste of license fee payers money.
The report says that if you remove the in built bias of countries voting for other countries that speak the same language, there is clear statistical evidence to prove that some countries will always stand a greater chance of winning because they are part of a voting block.
Time for the BBC to pull the plug on Eurovision. The fact that it is an extravaganza of camp-ness is not an excuse and it is an expensive waste of license fee payers money.
5/12/2007
Exclusive - Eurovision Song Contest Voting Results Already Known
The votes and points allocations for tonight's Eurovision Song Contest are already known and available for anyone to read.
Estonia - Will give their 8, 9, 10 and 12 points to Finland, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia
Latvia - Will give their 9, 10 and 12 points to Estonia, Lithuania and Russia
Lithuania - Will five their 10 and 12 points to Estonia and Latvia
Greece Will give their 12 points to Cyprus
Cyprus will give their 12 points to Greece
Norway - Will give high scores to Sweden and Denmark
Denmark - Will gave high scored to Norway, Iceland and Sweden
All the Balkan countries - Will vote for each other
All ex Soviet states - Will vote vote for each other
This EXCLUSIVE story is based on the fact that Eurovision is not song contest, but is instead a means of allocating high scores to your friends and to hell with the music.
Eurovision used to have some kind of merit, but now it is a sad joke of an event, with only Terry Wogan's tongue in cheek sarcastic comments making it even remotely worth watching.
Do I think the UK will win ? no, our song is rubbish. However, had The Beatles miraculously reformed and sung Let it Be, we'd still finish with a low score. Your position in the final scores bares no relation to the song your entrant sings.
It's time for the BBC to pull the plug on this farce and save themselves several million pounds a year.
Update : - For an excellent piece of research in to Eurovision bloc voting, read http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/2/1.html which highlights that with Moldova and belarus joining, any country outside of a voting bloc can never hope to win whilst countries like italy and Luxembourg have already quit Eurovision in disgust.
Estonia - Will give their 8, 9, 10 and 12 points to Finland, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia
Latvia - Will give their 9, 10 and 12 points to Estonia, Lithuania and Russia
Lithuania - Will five their 10 and 12 points to Estonia and Latvia
Greece Will give their 12 points to Cyprus
Cyprus will give their 12 points to Greece
Norway - Will give high scores to Sweden and Denmark
Denmark - Will gave high scored to Norway, Iceland and Sweden
All the Balkan countries - Will vote for each other
All ex Soviet states - Will vote vote for each other
This EXCLUSIVE story is based on the fact that Eurovision is not song contest, but is instead a means of allocating high scores to your friends and to hell with the music.
Eurovision used to have some kind of merit, but now it is a sad joke of an event, with only Terry Wogan's tongue in cheek sarcastic comments making it even remotely worth watching.
Do I think the UK will win ? no, our song is rubbish. However, had The Beatles miraculously reformed and sung Let it Be, we'd still finish with a low score. Your position in the final scores bares no relation to the song your entrant sings.
It's time for the BBC to pull the plug on this farce and save themselves several million pounds a year.
Update : - For an excellent piece of research in to Eurovision bloc voting, read http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/2/1.html which highlights that with Moldova and belarus joining, any country outside of a voting bloc can never hope to win whilst countries like italy and Luxembourg have already quit Eurovision in disgust.
1/09/2007
Morrissey in Eurovision talks - Now that would make Eurovision worth watching !
Brilliant ! Can you just imagine Morrissey representing the UK at the next Eurovision song contest ?
According to the BBC, it might just happen. Read about it HERE.
I haven't watched Eurovision in years as I get tired of the Baltic nations swapping votes, Greece voting for Cyprus, and all the other laughable voting patterns repeated year after year, but this might just get me watching again.
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