Three of a kind #45

Ah, Eurovision Song Contest, how I love am continually baffled by thee! On Saturday night I sat down to, once again, be entertained, outraged and reduced to a helpless mess of uncontrollable laughter by Europe's premier songwriting contest. As usual, my top three bore no relation to the actual top three, which was populated by the most irritating man to grace the stage that night (with the exception of the host) and a couple of women of whom I had no recollection.
The votes from the Too Much Apple Pie delegation go to:

1. Sebastien Tellier - Divine mp3 (available for 7 days)

Sebastien Tellier - representing France - caused a bit of controversy before the show, apparently due to his video containing images of him in Christ-like poses. Personally I rather enjoyed his (mostly) female backing singers all wearing Jesus facial hair. And the song is pretty good, with lovely 'ooh-la-la' backing vocals and lead vocals which remind me of Jarvis Cocker.

2. Simon Mathew - All Night Long mp3 (available for 7 days)

Demark's entry this year was what I think of as a typical, enjoyable Eurovision song: upbeat, catchy enough to be remembered a good five minutes after the performance has finished, derivative ("Celebrate good times, come on", "Blue suede shoes"? I can't help feeling I've heard those lyrics somewhere before...) and thoroughly unpretentious.

3. Laka - Pokušaj mp3 (available for 7 days)

Finally we have the Bosnia-Herzegovinian song which can't really be done justice without seeing the performance which accompanies it. Bride backing singers, knitting? Public schoolboy outfit? A polka-dot-skirted Helena Bonham-Carter-a-like with a washing line? Fair enough...



Sadly the poncy Russian bloke supported by a poncy violinist and a poncy ice skater won the whole shebang.


The top three was rounded out by forgettable women from the Ukraine and Greece. Bosnia Herzegovina finished 10th, Denmark 15th, and France 19th out of 25. There's no justice!