Finland's Punk Entry into Eurovision 2015

Putting aside the ridiculous admission of an Australian entry into Eurovision 2015 for just a moment, Finland have just chosen the act to represent them in multi-national song contest in 2015.

Now, normally this wouldn't get so much of an airing, except for the fact that the band is quite exceptional. They are the first punk rock band to represent anything at Eurovision in its entire 60 year year history for a start. But the real talking point is that the band is made up of middle aged men who have Down's Syndrome and/or Autism.

Singer Kari Aalto told a Finnish broadcaster : “Every person with a disability ought to be braver. He or she should themselves say what they want and do not want.”

And I couldn't agree more.

Far from being a gimmick, here is a band that are doing things their own way and are making a good fist of it. They're not letting anything in their way. This is a bold move on the part of the band. They ain't ABBA, but I hope they go a long way.

Of course, Finnish fans are divided, with many commenters on the Eurovision blog Wiwibloggs have written them off as a gimmick. Indeed, the initial review of the band's track by the Wiwibloggs site was "This is not music. This is noise with an interesting back story".

Now come on Wiwibloggs. Really? Since when has Eurovision been about music? If anything, in recent years Eurovision has been more about the dresses of the female singers and the schlock and awe of some of the entrants, especially some of the more sexually ambiguous ones - Romania, I'm looking at you.

Seriously though, this should be a feel-good story for all of us. PKN are choosing to ignore the obstacles and doing things their way. I wish them every success in Vienna in May.

Check out the song that PKN are performing in the contest below, entitled "Aina Mun Pitää”



The last time Finland won the contest was the only time they ever won the contest, and that was in 2006, with a performance by horror-metal band Lordi. Lordi were a band who make Kiss look like a church choir. Their performance of their winning song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" is a sight to behold and it shook up the contest in a big way. Take a look below:



Until next time. Cheers.

Eurovision wrap-up and more

Eurovision 2013 is over and it has been won by Denmark. Their piece was cute enough, and the barefoot beauty that sang it was also quite fine.



Of course the event wasn't without it's controversies though.

Finland simultaneously advanced the cause of gay rights while setting women's rights back about 50 years with Ana Matronic's piece "Marry Me".



Romania dug up some kind of Transylvanian vampire androgynine eunuch thing with a beard that sang like a tenor and a castrati (go figure).



Some of the songs were pleasant enough, often sung in language by pretty young girls. Some obscure languages I've never heard sounding so gorgeous when sung.

Malta brought along the ukulele and the sunshine.
Austerity-bound Greece brought the free grog to the party with their Zorba-meets-The-Pogues-with-synchronised-moves-cribbed-from-Status-Quo tune.



As per usual though, the show has its share of strangeness, tackiness and pop princesses polished to the point of blandness. In other words, it was as much (maybe even a little bit less this year) of a trainwreck as it always is.

While I think of it, here's a track that makes Eurovision 2013 look like "The Nutcracker Suite".

Everybody has heard of Tiny Tim. Some of us are doing our utmost trying to forget him! Not long before his passing, he teamed up with a bunch of New York gutter punks by the name of The Ism for a remake of Tiny's best known song "Tiptoe Through The Tulips". Of course Tiny brings the ukulele and his trademark falsetto, but seriously, it's gotta be heard to be believed.

But be warned: once you've heard it, it cannot be unheard!

On that note, enjoy!



NB: The actual video for this track, with some very funny footage of Tiny headbanging in the studio has embedding disallowed, but it's worth a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYEnpo2rma0

Why can't the English...win Eurovision?

A while ago a colleague of mine posed the question to me:

The UK has given us so many great bands and artists. So how come they hardly ever win Eurovision?

It's a fair question. This year marks the 57th year of Eurovision's existence and the UK have participated in all but two contests in that time. They have won 5 times, come last three times, and first runner up 15 times. Even Ireland has won it more often, with 7 wins to their credit.

I think there are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, Eurovision has always had a culture of kitsch surrounding it. It has been more about bad fashion and cheesy pop songs designed to appeal to a mass audience. In the eyes of some critics, it tends to be regarded as kind of cultural freak-show; a train-wreck of a contest that showcases the best and worst of the music the EU member states have to offer. As such, the British musical aristocracy would consider appearing in Eurovision as a sellout.

It's also regarded in some circles as a "one-hit wonder". The only winning act to ever go on to massive international success was ABBA. Mind you, a number of other acts have made a small mark on the world since their wins, such as Bucks Fizz and Celine Dion. Some of Britain's winners have found that their entrants have had their careers take a nosedive after appearing in it. Consider this: what happened to Lulu after she performed in 1969? Others, like Cliff Richard survived, but the odds of lasting success after entering Eurovision are not in the artists favour.

Since the year 2000, Britain has been one of the "Big Four" Eurovision entrants. This means that, along with Germany, France and Spain (and now Italy, making it the "Big Five" in 2013), because they contribute the most money to the European Broadcasting Union, they now go into the finals without having to contend in other rounds, potentially getting knocked out. They're assured a place in the grand final automatically, so there's no contest for them and as such they can treat it with contempt. They can submit any entry they want and it goes in untried and untested.

The contest has become very political now, especially since the fall of the Soviet bloc. There are a lot of neighbouring countries that are less than friendly with each other, and as member states cannot vote for their own entry, they can deliberately vote against a neighbour. Plus, a lot of songs sung in language have been political statements, thus deterring some voters altogether. Smaller countries in the former Soviet bloc have found that they are struggling financially since the fall of Communism, and a win in Eurovision would be highly sought after. This would bring in much needed foreign investment and tourism, as the winner has the honour of staging the context the following year. England has no real need for such incentives, and as such appear to not put their best acts forward.

With the digital economy in full swing and the Internet making the world more connected, British bands get plenty of coverage all over the planet, and as such they have no real need to be put in front of a massive TV audience guaranteed with Eurovision. Recent UK entrants all appear to be former pop stars who still have some recognisable essence about them, and as such the British Eurovision delegation may think that swings the odds in their favour. Although, last year Engelbert Humperdinck didn't fare very well at all. This year they have cast Bonnie Tyler in the role of representing the UK: here's hoping they choose a better song for her than last years'cowpat of a song...

For a number of years now, Eurovision has been broadcast in Australia on SBS. This year it will broadcast the two semi finals and the grand final on the weekend of the 17-19th of May 2013, live from Maimo, Sweden. 

I'm not much of a fan of some of the music presented and I do think it is a bit daggy but, as far as train wrecks go, at least this one is very interesting.