ARMENIA 2010 - Apricot Stone

It's always exciting to see what the Armenians will come up with. They haven't been competing for long - only since 2006 - but they've consistently sent quality material and have done well every time. Their worst results, if you can even call it worst, is 10th place in Moscow last year. I fully expect to see the contest head to Yerevan before too long. :-)

Anyway ... the point is that I have high hopes of Armenia (which in their own language is called Hayastan, how weird is that?? :-D). And, way to go, they deliver again. This is a great entry ... one of my favorites this year. Beautiful singer with a lovely voice and a great stage presence, they can get far with just that. ;-) But the song itself has many strengths as well. A beautiful melody, pretty much as catchy as a ballad can get. Interesting lyrics, so much better than the usual lovey theme of ESC songs. (The German entry will serve as a good example of this, when I get that far. :-) To the extent that the audience understands English, or understands it well enough to get the point during the performance, this song will appeal to a lot of people down east. I love the title, it's so weird and meaningless, until you hear the song itself. Of course the English is a little shaky, but come on, it's the ESC, that's what we're here for. ;-) All in all a wonderful entry. I'm sure the Armenians will do very well this year too. Yerevan FTW!!

This is Eva Rivas (a rather un-Armenian name, isn't it) performing Apricot Stone by Armen Martirosyan and Karen Kavaleryan. They will be competing for Armenia on Thursday, May 27th, going on stage as #2, another thing in this entry's favor. Great slot for Armenia ... although I don't think they'll need it. :-)



Lyrics here.

Check out Rivas' official home page, here. I love it when people who speak bad English write websites in English. Now Eva is hardly preparing for the Eurovision song contest’s in Norway in May,2010. Eva is to present song “Apricot stone”(lyrics by Karen Kavaleryan, music by Armen Martirosyan). Aww!! :-D

I HAS MUSIC

Lookee ... !! I was shopping for something completely different this afternoon, and look what I found ... ! I don't normally keep tabs on when these things come out ... I can hear all the songs on Youtube as soon as they're chosen anyway, and it's always a wonderful surprise when I suddenly come across it somewhere. Makes it a special day. ;-)

It almost makes me not feel sad that I haven't been to the Netherlands since forever ... look what they have in the Netherlands ... ;-)

From this blog. Credit where credit's due.

In other news, Terje Håkonsen either is a selfish idiot, or he did a really really good impression of one on the Daily Review tonight. >:-(

And some sad animal news - 205 cats to be put down in Drangedal. Don't get me wrong, it's the right thing to do, bring out the syringes ... because these animals are suffering, just look at the top photo in the article, he's cuddling the cat and it obviously has some kind of eye infection or something. It needs medical care ... and probably the rest of the ... pack? ... is diseased too. Not to mention inbred. What's so sad is just that this is happening at all ... that situations like these are allowed to develop this far. I mean, the guy has 210 cats ... !! Couldn't the authorities have foreseen this, I don't know, about 100 cats ago? o_O Bad situation all round.

But even worse is the news from Mississippi, about the dead sea turtles washing ashore. Aw, these photos just break my heart. I has a sad. :-( Not to disparage cats or anything, but let's be honest, there are plenty of cats around. There are far too many, actually. And they don't really belong in our fauna anyway. But these turtles are right where they should be, and even there so many of them can't live safely. These are Kemp's Ridley turtles too, they are so badly endangered. Aw. :-( Fingers crossed that these are just normal deaths, and it just looks like a lot because the population is really rising ... but for me at least it's kind of hard to believe that, considering what's going on in those waters at the moment. Humans suck. :-(

PORTUGAL 2010 - Há dias assim

Oh, Portugal ... !! I so want Portugal to win the ESC one day ... ! They try so hard, but they never seem to make it. They've been in the contest since almost forever - more than 45 years, although they haven't participated every year - and they so want to win, the poor souls, but they've never placed better than 6th. And that was almost 15 years ago now, too. They just never seem to make it. But they do try ... ! I applaud them for effort - and, even more, for always singing in Portuguese - and I so much hope that one day they will achieve their lofty goal and we will all tune in to Lisboa 20xx ... !! :-)

As for this year's entry, I'm afraid it's not a winner either. Too low key, too anonymous. Although it is a very pretty ballad performed very well by a singer with a good voice ... so nothing wrong with the song, per se. Nothing wrong with the performance, either. A good effort from Portugal this year, and they can hold their collective heads up, but this entry just lacks that extra something that makes a song stick in people's minds.

Compare this song to Molitva and my point will become obvious ... :-)

This is Filipa Azevedo performing Há dias assim by Agusto Madureira. He will be competing for Portugal on Tuesday, May 25th. Good luck to him!!!



Lyrics here.

GREECE 2010 - Opa

Another gang of friends - not an omen of quality, considering the Russian entry ... ;-)

The Greeks like to throw some, ahem, cultural elements into their entries ... supposedly showing off their culture a bit. I am all for that, in principle ... I like to see the different cultures taking part in the contest, and participants sharing things from their culture, I just don't like it when it's done gratuitously. I don't want to point fingers, but, well, the Greeks are high on my list of sinners there. I don't know if you all remember their entry in 2005, My Number One ... or if perhaps you have blocked it from your memories. If the latter, I can't say I blame you. That song is a prime example of what I mean. And I really hate the fact that they won with it. >:-( Hungary should have won that year, or Malta ... or Romania, or even us. Damn short-skirted folk dancing so-and-sos. And what makes it even worse is that the next year they had a song that was SO much better, and only came 9th with that one. But what are you gonna do, it is what it is.

Anyway. This year they've piled all those cultural elements on there like there's no tomorrow. Dancing, drums, lyre, sheesh. I'm not saying that's a bad thing in itself, but it has to fit with the song ... and IMO it doesn't this time. The song in itself doesn't have a lot of personality, and I don't think all the Greek stuff manages to give it one. The song as such doesn't have any Greek flavor to it, IMO. It's a pretty standard pop song, kind of boring, sad to say. The singer also isn't very good, I am rather underwhelmed by his voice. The song would have benefited from a better singer. I don't hold out much hope for Greece this year ... and they don't deserve to do well, either, with this very lackluster effort. Kudos for singing in Greek, but the song just doesn't really have anything worth remembering.

This is George Alkaios & Friends performing Opa, composed by Alkaios himself and with lyrics by a whole gang of people - his friends?? ;-) - they're all listed here. They'll be competing on Tuesday, May 25th. Probably not on Saturday. >:-)



Lyrics here.

MALTA 2010 - My Dream

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
Confucius

Note that the type of music is not specified. ;-)

Malta is a nation that takes the ESC extremely seriously. I mean, extremely extremely. If they ever won that would be SO awesomely cool, because they would be so incredibly super happy about it. :-) I'm not sure where in Valletta it could be hosted, but I would dearly love to see them try. :-) They participated for a few years in the early 70s, then dropped out, but then were back with a vengeance in 1991 and have never been gone from the contest since. They tended to do well for about a decade and a half ... never quite well enough, but well. Their best results so far are 2nd place in 2002 and, most notably, in 2005. Now that was an amazing song ... I love it. But after that fantastic entry the sparkle seemed to have disappeared from their ESC efforts and they have been doing really badly since. Something which upsets them greatly, of course. :-) How will they do this year??

If they end up bombing again, I have to say that it won't be the singer's fault. She's good. Good voice, stage presence, performance, everything. As for the song itself ... I'm divided. I do like it, a lot. But it's grown on me, I didn't take to it immediately. And I have to say that it still takes way too long to build up. The ending's great, I love it. But it takes so long to get to that point where it gets really good ... the transitions between verses and choruses are weird ... and in places the song resembles certain previous entries just way too much. It's also a ballad which is always risky, result-wise. This isn't the winner, I don't think ... it may do well, I hope it will do well, but I think it will also depend on to what extent it's overshadowed by other entries. I'm having a hard time with this one.

Oh, and keep an eye on her dress while she's performing. You think you've seen some weird dresses so far? Nuh-uh, you have not. This is the dressy weirdness to top all gown-related peculiarities. Just keep watching, it starts out normal, but then ... !! I'm sure they will keep the performance as is, because it's way too expensive to change. ;-) It will make the song stand out and be remembered, but that may not be to the good, if it's remembered primarily for weirdness. I personally don't really understand how the performance, or at least that part of it, relates to the song.

This is Thea Garrett performing My Dream by Jason Cassar and Sunny Aquilina, who will be competing on May 25th. Good luck to them. I always root for the Maltese a little bit, their enthusiasm is infectious. :-)



Lyrics here.

So, I lucked out asking about vacations in Slovakia, but has anyone been to Malta?? ;-)

Books I've read in 2010 - April

Regnbogane by Olav H Hauge
Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Slaves and Obsession by Anne Perry – AUDIO
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale
Jenta som lekte med ilden by Stieg Larsson – AUDIO
Babettes gjestebud by Karen Blixen (Gyldendals lille bibliotek)
The Monk by Matthew Lewis
Reven var alt dengang jeger by Herta Müller
Kong Leopolds arv by Adam Hochschild
Luftslottet som sprengtes by Stieg Larsson – AUDIO
Åpent sinn eller høl i hue? by Dyrendal/Pettersen/Søderlind, eds.
Appelsinpigen by Jostein Gaarder
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Tapte døtre by Xinran
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Monster by Knut Nærum - AUDIO
Släpp inte taget by Harlan Coben – AUDIO

12 printed books, 2,836 pages.
5 audiobooks, 76h 30m.

Favorite fiction:
Meh. I've read several books this month that were good, in fact I haven't read any that were bad. But at the same time none of them really stood out. It's hard to choose one this month, I don't feel like I really have a favorite among these books. Maybe Babette's Feast, because that one I really really liked. :-) I guess I have to say The Monk. It was a good read, but also a pretty difficult one ... the plot goes off in so many directions and the language is so old-fashioned. Understandable, but still. :-)

Favorite nonfiction:
Now in this category I have the opposite problem ... !! :-D I've read so much wonderful nonfiction this month. I can hardly choose just one of them. The Xinran book was fantastic, especially since I'd just heard her speak about it here in Oslo a few days before reading it. But since I do have to pick just one, I think I have to say King Leopold's Ghost. A harrowing read, but just amazing. An absolute must read.

Favorite audio:
The Girl Who Played With Fire ... ? Same as last month, a reread, but it is such a good read and the audiobooks I've read this month that have been new haven't been all that. Except maybe Monster ... ? I guess Stieg Larsson wins again. :-)

Please note that I've read a book of poetry this month. Out of the box, hell yeah!

I love The Daily Show!

I watch the show religiously and I think it's one of the best things on TV. If you don't watch it, and you want to know why it's so good, then just watch this.

South Park Death Threats

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Yeah, gotta love it.