Thursday, April 26, 2007

Music Video Thursday: Eurovision 2007: "Dancing Lasha Tumbai"

Tonight has been a manly night. I have been in the garage. I have fixed the rear wiper on my minivan using a socket set. I have replaced the front wiper blades. I have fixed a headlight mount using a wrench and styrofoam. I have topped up my washer fluid. I have grease on my hands. I am man. Hear me grunt. [insert Tim Allen grunt here]

And now for tonight's featured Eurovision entry. Here's Verka Serduchka, from the Ukraine:



Truly, a glorious, manly night.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Music Video Thursday: Eurovision 2007: "Vampires Are Alive"

Eurovision 2007 coverage continues this week with a look at the Swiss entry. Ah, Switzerland, stately home of diplomacy, banking, Toblerone chocolate, and horror-themed dance music. DJ BoBo was chosen to represent Switzerland for the 2007 song contest, and was allowed to write his own song. In February, DJ BoBo unveiled his creation to the world - a dance number called "Vampires Are Alive", with a music video that appeared to be a cross between Thriller and Underworld. As with Lordi's entry in the 2006 contest, controversy sprung up, with one political party collecting a petition to withdraw the song from the competition, but the entry has prevailed, and will compete in the semi-final in early May:



At least they didn't send Celine Dion again - that would have been truly scary.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Music Video Thursday: Eurovision 2007: "Push The Button"

Our coverage of Eurovision 2007 continues tonight with the Israeli entry.

While many of the countries participating in Eurovision Song Contest choose their representative artists via popular vote, the Teapacks (warning: MySpace) were chosen to represent Israel by a committee of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority - the only thing up for vote was which song they would perform. The winning song, "Push The Button", immediately caused controversy, with it's direct references to nuclear war and apparent indirect references to Iran and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some said it was too political, and called for a ban on the song, but it was eventually approved.

As for the song itself? It's a great mix of folk/polka/rock/rap, with lyrics in English, French, and Hebrew, including some truly funny lines like "And I don't want to die / I want to see the flowers bloom / Don't wanna go kaput, kaboom" - sit back and enjoy the melodic musical madness that is the Teapacks:



Eurovision 2007 coverage continues next week - we've got lots of weirdness to come yet, so stay tuned!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Music Video Thursday: Eurovision 2007: "Voda"

It's that most wonderful time of year - the Eurovision song contest is underway again! Last year's contest provided some wonderfully weird musical moments for Music Video Thursday last year (see Lordi and Silvia Night), and while there are a number of bizarre entries this year, I'm going to start off our 2007 Eurovision coverage with a fantastic video from Bulgaria.

Folklore singer Elitsa Todorova and percussionist Stoyan Yankoulov combine their talents in the song song "Voda" (water), which won the national vote in Bulgaria. It takes Stoyan's wild percussion, Elitsa's incredible vocal style, and a driving beat, resulting in a powerful musical experience:



Out of all the Eurovision entries I've seen so far (admittedly only a small portion), Bulgaria is the best. Here's hoping that their live performance is up to the task of matching the energy of the video.