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FRED THE LIMO DRIVER

Congratulations to Greece’s Helena Paparizou, winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Sing along with Helena:

You’re delicious
So capricious
If I find out you don’t want me I’ll be vicious

At least she’s not riddled with infection, as Cyprus boasted:

Just cross the line
You have no time
My persistence is outrageous
You’ll be mine cause I’m contagious

Thanks for the warning. Austria went for the honest approach as well:

Do you know the girl who came from Cuba
She loves our music and our songs
She came and she saw  
Austrians dance quite slow

Sorry to hear it. And whoever Macedonia was singing about must have been sorry to hear this:

Make my day
Get away
Take it all baby
Please go

It’s enough to make Hungary suicidal:

Spin, world! Sweep me into the light,
Or I shall not live tomorrow!

That speaks of pain. Which rhymes with rain, and again. Which, as Bulgaria has learned, also rhymes with Lorraine:

You’ve got to know that harder the rain, sweeter the pain
I can still remember, Lorraine, in the rain.
Calling you, again and again, I’ll wait for your name,
I can still remember Lorraine in the rain.

“Name” doesn’t quite fit, does it? Sort of like the sun and the moon, as Portugal will explain:

At times, heaven eludes me
It goes somewhere far away
Where the sun does not fit in
And the moon just will not stay

Stupid non-static moon. Romania also craves the halting of moving objects:

Looking back I realised
We are learning from mistakes
I can see it in your eyes
I can feel your heart with brakes

Let’s hope Fred the limo driver’s brakes are functional, otherwise Sweden is in trouble:

I’m leaving with a million dollar smile
The hotel manager can check my file
Fred the Limo-driver’s asking polite
- Leaving Las Vegas tonight?

No, but I’ll be leaving Russia, lest infant Erica shoots me:

Hello sweet America, where did our dream disappear?
Look at little Erica, all she learns today is the fear
You deny the truth, you’re just having fun
‘Til your child will shoot your gun

You don’t often come across the word “ointment” in modern pop songs. Spain remedies this, and throws in a “marvellous owl” for good measure:

There is neither antidote, ointment nor remedies of old
That take this obsession out of my mind; nor marvellous owl; nor muse’s wings
Stewed with melons and cherries, and I don’t know what to do. I’ll start to believe that.

You do that, Spain. The Ukraine (it rhymes with “Spain”, “pain”, “rain”, “again”, and “Lorraine”) took a political view:

WE WON’T STAND THIS—NO! REVOLUTION IS ON!
‘CAUSE LIES BE THE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION!
ALL TOGETHER WE’RE ONE! ALL TOGETHER WE’RE STRONG!
GOD BE MY WITNESS WE’VE WAITED TOO LONG!

Moldova is still waiting for lyrics that scan:

People in the place, feel your body shakes   
Boonika beats da drum-a-tama tapping out the breaks
Pop you up with dat beat
Get rid of rotten meat
You dig with your soul
Deep inside that rock ’n’ roll
She’s a drum machine, you know what I mean
She wanna play jumparale to make you spin,                  
Drain a bottle of wine, no need to smoke the leaves
By the end of that show you’ll blow yourself to bits

If they watched this show, who could blame them?

Posted by Tim B. on 05/22/2005 at 12:23 PM
  1. *sigh* Benny Hill and Clive James used to have such fun with these people…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 05 22 at 01:38 PM • permalink

  2. Of all of the things Americans don’t get about furriners, Eurovision comes mighty close to the top.

    Posted by BruceW on 2005 05 22 at 02:19 PM • permalink

  3. Ah, I love the smell of European culture in the morning.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2005 05 22 at 03:53 PM • permalink

  4. And these are our cultural superiors?

    Posted by Blue on 2005 05 22 at 04:20 PM • permalink

  5. If there’s one other thing, besides France, that makes me think that nukeing Europe is the right course of action, it’s the Eurovision song contest.

    Just how much crap do they expect us to listen to before we “go postal” on them.

    Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2005 05 22 at 04:42 PM • permalink

  6. And a late entry from Baghdad:

    Chant along with me…..

    Saddam, Saddam, the poobah of Iraq.
    He sits, he rots, in a cell that is so dark.
    In his undies, he poses, no bite and now no bark.
    His teeth, when probed, look like a hungry shark.
    Fark….

    Posted by Ellebeau on 2005 05 22 at 05:08 PM • permalink

  7. Do ``Lorraine,’’ ``rain’’ and ``name’’ all rhyme in Bulgarian?  Or were they singing in English?  I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing the Eurovision performers (though thanks to Manolo the Shoeblogger, I now know what they look like).  On the list of People I Would Never Want To Meet In a Dark Alley, the Hungarians definitely lead the pack, though the Norwegians run a close second.

    Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2005 05 22 at 05:11 PM • permalink

  8. From Russia:

    Nobody hurt no one
    Nobody hurt no one (e-e-e-e)
    You deny the truth, you’re just having fun
    ‘Til your child will shoot your gun

    Damn that’s some deep shit. Obvious Moore-on fan.

    Posted by Lydia on 2005 05 22 at 05:31 PM • permalink

  9. Well, as Theodore Dalrymple wrote,  you can see why the forces of Islam think that western culture is degenerate. But you don’t have to agree with their solution to the situation.
    Actually the songs are just inane, they are only the tip of the iceberg, Dalrymple was thinking of more toxic examples.

    Posted by Rafe on 2005 05 22 at 05:40 PM • permalink

  10. Just how much crap do they expect us to listen to before we “go postal” on them.

    Well, nobody actually “expects” you to listen to it. Anyway, relax…while the thing tends to command fairly good viewership numbers, few people actually buy any of the music. It’s event television, not a grand expression of European culture (except in the minds of a few of our chronically deluded betters here in EUtopia).

    Posted by PW on 2005 05 22 at 05:53 PM • permalink

  11. The Manolo, he has been posting about this, too! one two three four

    Posted by Steven Den Beste on 2005 05 22 at 06:01 PM • permalink

  12. Ah, heck. It looked right in the preview. Let’s try it again without a preview:

    The Manolo, he has been posting about this, too! one two three four

    Posted by Steven Den Beste on 2005 05 22 at 06:01 PM • permalink

  13. Ok, Andrea. What’s going on here? Hmmm…?

    Posted by Steven Den Beste on 2005 05 22 at 06:02 PM • permalink

  14. All these songs are in English? Is that a cultural cringe, cultural hegemony—or do Continentals no longer speak in foreign languages? 

    Pity they don’t as they sure can’t write English poetry. Bizarre.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2005 05 22 at 07:21 PM • permalink

  15. Anything from Schubert?

    Posted by rhhardin on 2005 05 22 at 07:26 PM • permalink

  16. Anything from Schubert?  Rasberry, lime, orange or what?

    Posted by yojimbo on 2005 05 22 at 08:14 PM • permalink

  17. Yes, walterplinge, most of the song were in (sort of) English. Prior to the mid-70s, singers had to perform in the language(s) of the country.

    I saw only a few of the acts - most were pretty dreadful. “Nox” the Hungarians - who did NOT sing in English - were excellent - really good dancing, which wasn’t a poor imitation of something American.

    Under the rules, the singers don’t even have to come from the country they repesent.

    Nana Mouskouri sang for Luxembourg, Celine Dione for Switzerland, a black American for Finland. A couple of Aussies have sung for UK.

    Posted by pog-ma-thon on 2005 05 22 at 08:25 PM • permalink

  18. Actually, they had to sing in their own language up to a few years ago.

    Posted by jic on 2005 05 22 at 08:36 PM • permalink

  19. Baby Erica must have her own gun to shoot yours!

    Posted by Henry boy on 2005 05 22 at 08:44 PM • permalink

  20. The Moldova entry sounds more like Molvania.

    My favorite will always be “Boom Tiddle Tiddle Bing.”

    Posted by Mike G on 2005 05 22 at 08:44 PM • permalink

  21. If I were in charge, they would have to put all their languages’ names into a hat, and each group would have to sing in the language whose name it randomly picked back out of the hat.

    Actually that’s not a bad idea.

    Posted by ForNow on 2005 05 22 at 08:56 PM • permalink

  22. My observations from the night:

    - Israel did extremely well especially since they usually don’t get many votes. Does this represent a thaw in European anti-Semitism?

    - ‘Old Europe’ (ie, France, Germany) were virtually ignored in the voting.

    - While the songs might not be improving, the singers are looking better and wearing less.

    - The ironic moment of the night: the lead singer of the Ukrainian entry was wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt while singing a protest song about kicking out the old corrupt communist and totalitarian Ukrainian regime.

    Posted by Art Vandelay on 2005 05 22 at 09:08 PM • permalink

  23. Steven: I’m not sure why the standard html didn’t work in your first comment but did work in the second. I didn’t see any extra line breaks or anything like that. Just to be on the safe side only use the buttons above the comment box which use Pmcode for links and formatting.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 05 22 at 10:23 PM • permalink

  24. This is one of the few instances I recommend watching the BBC. They have Terry Wogan commentating, who has a wonderful time taking the piss out of all the contestants.

    It was also very amusing a couple years back, when the British entry received no votes at all and finished dead last. The self-flagellation throughout the country meant they obviously took it quite seriously.

    Posted by brucey bonus on 2005 05 22 at 10:23 PM • permalink

  25. Ouch.  I want to take back our culture before someone gets hurt.

    Posted by Patricia on 2005 05 22 at 11:59 PM • permalink

  26. On the list of People I Would Never Want To Meet In a Dark Alley, the Hungarians definitely lead the pack

    The lead singer of the Hungarian troupe is definitely someone I would like to meet in a dark alley, or light alley or, better still, a private place nothing to do with alleys.

    Posted by wombatas on 2005 05 23 at 12:55 AM • permalink

  27. This is one of the few instances I recommend watching the BBC. They have Terry Wogan commentating, who has a wonderful time taking the piss out of all the contestants.

    Yes it was very amusing listening to Terry groaning and whingeing about small countries giving votes to their neighbours, with the UK languishing at the bottom of the table with zero votes. Then good old Ireland gave the poms some votes, and everything was suddenly OK!

    Then on he went with “the big western countries have got bugger all votes, and yet they started this contest!”. It’s just not fair! People should be made to study their history before sending in their votes!

    Posted by wombatas on 2005 05 23 at 01:01 AM • permalink

  28. I think the The Crazy Frog would’ve made as good an entry as any of those horrors.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2005 05 23 at 01:10 AM • permalink

  29. Doesn’t that just figure. The link worked an hour ago.

    Maybe this link will work.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2005 05 23 at 01:17 AM • permalink

  30. SBS used to have the Wogan commentary, and it was a hoot- he sounded completely pissed, and was cattier than a sackful of hairdressers. They tried ast year with Des Margan, and he wasn’t up to the pace- should stick to looking for Korean monster movies.

    Posted by Habib on 2005 05 23 at 01:46 AM • permalink

  31. Actually, to fully enjoy the Eurovision telecast you have to have lived in the UK and had a steady diet of their crap tv shows for at least a year.  It then manages to put a song in your heart.

    Posted by allan on 2005 05 23 at 02:41 AM • permalink

  32. I think I know why Israel did so well- oy vey!

    Break me off a piece of THAT!

    Posted by fidens on 2005 05 23 at 03:11 AM • permalink

  33. The winner, at least, has a certain Cole Porter-esque wordplay about it.

    Posted by Baby M on 2005 05 23 at 06:31 AM • permalink

  34. Ah, I love the smell of European culture in the morning.

    THAT’S what the smell is. I thought I had stepped in something.

    Posted by Rob Crawford on 2005 05 23 at 07:41 AM • permalink

  35. “nor muse’s wings
    Stewed with melons and cherries”

    I tried that once in a seedy bar in barcelona. The aftertaste is like what you feel after watching Uro-vision.

    Posted by mark on 2005 05 23 at 08:01 AM • permalink

  36. - The ironic moment of the night: the lead singer of the Ukrainian entry was wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt while singing a protest song about kicking out the old corrupt communist and totalitarian Ukrainian regime.

    That surprised me. But now I’m starting to wonder if Che t-shirts are now part of US cultural imperialism.

    The other irony with Ukraine was that it had a stuff-up with their voting. The Ukrainian correspondent had to repeat announcing the votes twice.

    Posted by Andjam on 2005 05 23 at 08:27 AM • permalink

  37. Say, that was a crazy frog!  I just downloaded the mp3!

    Posted by BruceW on 2005 05 23 at 09:27 AM • permalink

  38. Fidens.  From Israel-hmm.  Possible Neo-Con.  RWDB in waiting?

    This puts wronwright “on the bubble”.

    Posted by yojimbo on 2005 05 23 at 12:37 PM • permalink

  39. More of Israel’s Shiri Maimon here... and video!

    Aroooooga!

    Posted by fidens on 2005 05 23 at 10:33 PM • permalink

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