after telex

you don't even want to know what Milou (Snowy) did to the Castafiore

The KMG's (myspace) are going to the Eurovision. I still haven't seen them (but Jazzques has), so now I feel behind the curve. I have seen its keyboardist Piotr Paluch a couple of times, though, most recently last December with his quartet. Normally I'd say something like "It'll be weird seeing him on TV," but I generally end up not being at home to watch the contest, anyway. Best of luck to them, as they'll have to battle through the semi-finals.

fried in greece

So, Kate Ryan and Belgium have stumbled at the first hurdle. As usual, I was busy with other things (in this case, a Dutch exam). I'll most likely be at the Brussels Jazz Marathon (which Jazzques has usefully scrutinised) during saturday's final. Why oh why do these two great events have to coincide every year?

For more coverage, may I suggest Mike Atkinson, available in blog and Slate correspondant flavours.

eurovision - ter

I've just put this on YouTube: Telex's classic 1980 Eurovision entry. Belgium ended last, but first in our hearts, 'til this day. I guess the public wasn't ready for an absurdist meta-Eurovision song (or just incredibly self-unaware: didn't they realise they were confirming Telex's point when this won four years later? Check out the footwork!). Far better than "Waterloo," if you ask me. That piano run sounds like Daft Punk, and check out the obligatory modulation at the end of the song that occurs during the run.



Incidentally, Telex have just reformed and released a new album. And here's another song that's better than "Waterloo:" "Poupée de cire, poupée de son." Sure the singer (is it Françoise Hardy? helen comments that it was France Gall, of course. Coincidentally, you can consider this my tribute to Serge Gainsbourg, who died 15 years and 3 days ago.) isn't great, but Serge Gainsbourg's music is awesome, as is the descending melodic line and the perfect strings + driving drums combo.

Hey, even Kate Ryan is up there. And all things tagged Eurovision.

60% of the flemish audience can't be wrong

It's strange how posting about something "popular" brings unexpected hits. But the faithful readers who came for the jazz and stayed for my sparkling wit need not worry: Eurovision is unlikely to make any further appearances after this one. Manic has a handy round-up of the seven finalists.

I disagree with his assessment of La Sakhra (but can only applaud his/her Paris/London/Brussels comparaison). Her song alternated verses that sounded like mid-90s Madonna (soft beat, Harmon-muted trumpet) with a chorus of annoyingly shrill, uptempo big band. I was surprised anyone really liked it, to be honest. Still, Manic's predictions turned out to be pretty accurate.

belgium: 7 points

Kate Ryan - "Je t'adore" is our Eurovision 2006 entry. It's very Eurovision-y and to me sounds like a dance remix of a Texas song. Watch it. I love the two upwards-heading chords on the chorus. It was part of the three songs (out of the seven finalists) I found acceptable (the other two being more "urban:" Brahim's "POWER," which was wild and kind of had a reggaeton beat to it and Kaye Styles's LL Cool J-style love rap "Profile," which featured some cool backing vocals arrangement), so I can't complain. Ryan is pretty well-known for her Mylène Farmer covers. In any case, the Flanders-appointed singer is a significant improvement over the dreadful balladeer Wallonia elected last year...

Of course, this makes it sound like I'm a rabid Eurovision watcher, but every year I somehow manage to miss it due to some other engagement, very much against my will.

For a Fistful of Points

So, Belgium's Xandee crashed from the fantasy-land of the bookies' top 5 to the cold shower reality of next-to-last, equal to Ireland's 7 points and above only Norway's desolate 3 points (generously awarded by neighbours Sweden). I found this crash'n'burn routine hilarious; Belgian girlfriend was dismayed: "They voted for Poland? Poland sucked!"

Leather'n'fur-clad Xena-alike Ruslana and her highly excited minions from Ukraine's upper steppes took the much-coveted prize. In their song, "Wild Dance" or some such, they shout at "Hey!" at one point, which is cool but not as cool as Pharrell Williams shouting the same on "She Wants to Move."

My personal favourite was Deen for Bosnia & Herzegovina, whom I had seen during the semi-finals. Unfortunately, the video clip on the Eurovision website doesn't convey the wonderful take ya mama out to the gay bar disco boy-prince campness of his performance.

I only saw the second half of the point distribution because of the Jazz Marathon, but I kinda wish I had stayed home and watched the whole thing.

Coincidence? I think not.

Last night, one was able to watch either the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest or the first night of the finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (this year devoted to lyric singers). Funny how "high" and "low" come together like this.

Of course, a visit to the multimedia section of the Eurovision website is highly recommended. Weirdly, there are 3 Belgian competitors: France's Jonathan Cerrada (and his extremely MOR ballad), one half of the Dutch duo Re-union (and their sub-sub-sub-"Love Is All Around Us") and Belgium's own Xandee (and her hotly-tipped euro-techno).

Saturday, Eurovision's trademark mix of 5-year-old pop rehashes, treacly ballads, ill-advised fashion choices, resurgentprovincialism, the stilted pair of hosts and the odd nutter will live again! I haven't watched it in years and the musical quality is sure to be mind-boggling, but I will most likely miss the event again due to this. I'm devastated.

Eurovision update

Some of you may have defensively wiped the memory, but I mentioned the Belgian Eurovision finals a few weeks ago. I didn't actually see the finals, but Xandee won. The initial post contains a link to a video of her performance.

Oddly enough, Belgium will have two entries: eurosong.net reports that Jonathan Cerrada (who won some kind of Popstars contest in France) will be representing France.

Of course, you may be wondering: "What is Mwanji doing checking out Eurovision sites in the first place?"

Eurovision preliminary rounds

My recent music-related TV watching has spanned the culutral spectrum recently, but for the past four sunday evenings has settled on the Belgian preliminary rounds of the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. Scroll down and you can listen to the songs here.

To help you in your song selection, the seven finalists, with links to mp3s of their songs, are:

1. Roxane
2. Barbara Dex & Alides
3. Elsie Moraïs
4. Astrid
5. Xandee
6. Raf Van Brussel
7. Natalia

Last year was the Walloon entry (choice of candidate alternates yearly between Flanders and Wallonia) and Belgium placed a remarkable second. The year before that, the Flemish candidate only placed 13th.

What's most interesting (as there are only ever one or two good songs out of the 28 preliminary candidates) is the range of people taking part: from unknowns to BVs (Bekende Vlamingen=Famous Flems (funky name!)), from pub bands to boy bands to no-talent boob-job-enhanced reality-TV star wannabes attempting to prolong their shelf life to the kitchissimo Nicole & Hugo to Ali G-alike r'n'b-ers and so on.

Who would you choose?