Sunday 15 May 2011

The "Eurovision" song contest

is being played out as I write this. Twitter is full of "#eurovision" hashtags, even from people I thought would have no great interest in the outcome.
I have absolutely no idea what it is all about apart from the fact that it is some sort of modern song contest. I really am not interested either. Perhaps it is time to make a confession. I do not, on the whole, like modern popular "music". My nephews despair of me - although even their tastes do not extend to "heavy metal" and the like.
I hear snippets of these noises all the time. I hear them in shops. I hear them as I pass houses. I hear the heavy bass beat emanating from MP3 players and whatever else the young use to listen to a constant stream of sound.
Our neighbour "over the back fence" is a builder. He is currently adding an extension to his house. The radio is on almost constantly. It has to be on loudly so he can hear above the noise he makes while he works. I will be very glad when he has finished his extension.
I have never been to a rock concert. I do not want to go to one. The closest I have come to any popular or modern live entertainment is going to hear Nana Mouskouri because someone had a spare ticket. I have also seen von Karajan perform - and yes, it was a performance. The man had a fine sense of the theatrical. There were a handful of other memorable concerts in London but that is all.
My nephews laugh at me. They perform as a duo. They have had gigs and have even produced a couple of singles. They have had music, singing and acting lessons. I am certain this must help - or does it?
I suspect that the thing that helps many of these "performers" the most is an enormous sense of self-confidence. It is surely this rather than any "musicality" which marks them out - or is my musical education just sadly lacking?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eurovision is not a modern event; it has been running for decades and decades.

It used to be fairly credible, but now it is corrupted by political voting and it has become a farce. I don't understand why the UK even bother anymore. It certainly isn't about entertainment.

jeanfromcornwall said...

I always thought a song consisted of some words that made sense, set to a tune that could be remembered, and ung. The modern stuff just doesn't qualify, for me.

Nana Mouskouri could really sing - my other half's test of whether I was the girl for him was to play his Nana Mouskouri LP - if I didn't like it, he wouldn't have married me! We got to see her at the Albert Hall, and also got to know a BBC sound engineer, who would pass us tickets when she was recording shows. Gosh that was a long time ago.

jeanfromcornwall said...

Just remembered - I believe Nana Mouskouri won the Eurovision Song Contest, singing for Switzerland.

K M Kelly said...

Eurovision is Fab - we have a Eurovision party every year! It's been going for as long as I can remember and some of the acts are just hilarious!

Who voted for Moldova last night?

Anonymous said...

If your musical education is lacking then so is mine! Chris