Eurovision 2014

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Yes, it's that time of year again. This Saturday night it's the 59th Eurovision Song Contest, the cheesy popfest which will be broadcast live globally.

As last year's winner, Denmark - which won it for the first time since 2000, with 1963 being their one other victory - is hosting this year's competition and singers and artists representing 37 nations across Europe will gather at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen.

The show will be presented by Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppell and Pilou Asbæk. For the first time in the history of the contest, the trio of presenters will comprise of two men and one woman This will be the third time that Denmark will host the contest, the previous time being in 2001.

Most countries taking part have had to compete against each other in tournament-style semi-finals to qualify for Saturday night's grand final. However as the Eurovision's big funders, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain qualify automatically each year for the final and so do the host nation, this year being Denmark.

The UK may have won this competition more times than any other country bar Ireland (five wins to Ireland's seven) but the UK's last victory was back in 1997 and, in recent years, has not done so well, often finishing at or near the bottom.

However there are high hopes for the UK's entry this year. This year the UK is represented by 27-year-old Molly Smitten-Downes (stage name Molly) from Anstey, Leicestershire and her catchy song Children Of The Universe is the 14/1 joint fourth favourite along with hosts Denmark to win behind Armenia (9/4 favs), Sweden (7/2), and Ukraine (12/1)

The UK's Molly is the fourth favourite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her song Children Of The Universe

Listen to this year UK Eurovision song: Children Of The Universe by Molly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-wFUPCkmlOo

As usual Graham Norton will host the Eurovision Song Contest on BBC1

How well do you know Eurovision? Take part in the quiz: Eurovision 2014: how much do you know about the Eurovision Song Contest? - Telegraph

 

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It's the strange times we live in, I suppose - a bearded lady won last night's Eurovision Song Contest.

Conchita Wurst - who is really a man - represented Austria and collected 290 points, probably picking up a lot of votes from PC Europeans.

The singer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, won with the song Rise Like a Phoenix. It is the first time since 1966 that Austria have won the competition and only the second time they have won it.

The Netherlands, being represented by a country and western band, finished second with 238 points, with Sweden in third place with 218 points.

The UK's Molly Smitten-Downes came 17th, with 40 points for her song Children of the Universe. She was the last to perform, and this may have counted against her. The last country to win Eurovision after being the last to perform was Yugoslavia in 1989. The UK has won Eurovision five times - only Ireland has won it more - but has not won it since 1997.

Ireland had failed to qualify for the Final for the first time since 2009.

The evening's events were overshadowed by the current events in Ukraine, with Russia's entry - 17-year-old twins The Tolmachevy Sisters - receiving boos from the audience when each artist took to the stage one by one to quickly introduce themselves before the competition got underway.

They were also booed during the results when countries including Azerbaijan awarded them the highest number of points (12).

When Russia's delegate appeared on screen to announce its votes - seven points of which were for Ukraine - more booing could be heard. Ukraine gave four points to Russia in return.

Russia ended the night in seventh place with 89 points, behind Ukraine with 113.

The Tolmachevy Sisters received points from 13 countries, compared with last year's Russian entrant who received votes from 27 countries.

France finished bottom of the pile, collecting a poxy two points, although their song was terrible.



Austria wins Eurovision Song Contest

11 May 2014
BBC News

Winner: Austria's bearded lady Conchita Wurst dedicated night to peace and freedom

Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst has been crowned the winner of the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest held in Denmark's capital, Copenhagen.

The singer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, won with the song Rise Like a Phoenix, collecting 290 points.

The Netherlands finished second with 238 points, with Sweden in third place with 218 points.

The UK's Molly Smitten-Downes came 17th, with 40 points for her song Children of the Universe.

It is the first time Austria has won the contest since 1966, and only the second time the country has competed in the final in the past 10 years as it either did not participate or qualify.

Conchita Wurst had been second favourite to win going into the contest

The final Eurovision scoreboard at the end of voting

Wurst had been the second favourite to win behind Sweden going in to the competition, with many predicting the act could be too divisive among voters.

However she was the clear winner, with her victory announced after 34 of the 37 countries (26 of which were competing in last night's final) had submitted their scores.

Collecting her trophy on stage the singer said: "This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are - we are unity and we are unstoppable."

Speaking backstage later, Wurst said she felt Europe had taken a stand by voting her the winner.

"I dream of a world where we don't have to talk about unnecessary things like sexuality, who you love. I felt like tonight Europe showed that we are a community of respect and tolerance," she said.

The UK's Molly Smitten-Downes was last up to perform in Copenhagen. This may have counted against her. No country has won the competition after performing last since 1989 when Yugoslavia won

17-year-old twins, The Tomalchevy Sisters, representing Russia, were booed by the 11,000-strong crowd

Smitten-Downes, who closed the performances, had been tipped to score highly with bookmakers placing her in the top five.

She received points from only nine countries: San Marino, Denmark, Malta, Iceland, Norway, Ireland, Spain, Belgium and Georgia.

Her result was still better than the UK's entry last year, when Bonnie Tyler finished 19th on the final scoreboard with 23 points.

The evening's events were overshadowed by the current events in Ukraine, with Russia's entry - The Tolmachevy Sisters - receiving boos from the audience during the results when countries including Azerbaijan awarded them the highest number of points.

When Russia's delegate appeared on screen to announce its votes - seven points of which were for Ukraine - more booing could be heard. Ukraine gave four points to Russia in return.

Russia ended the night in seventh place with 89 points, behind Ukraine with 113.

The Tolmachevy Sisters received points from 13 countries, compared with last year's Russian entrant who received votes from 27 countries.

During the voting, the live coverage cut to a surprised UK commentator Graham Norton, whom the Danish presenters joked with

Ukraine's Mariya Yaremchuk was the first to perform on stage. She finished sixth, one place above Russia's Tomalchevy Sisters


The contest featured the usual mix of pop tunes and ballads, accompanied by spectacular stage performances.

Ukraine kicked off the show with a man in a giant hamster wheel, while Greece included a trampolinist and Poland offered a number of busty performers who suggestively churned butter and washed laundry on stage.

In total 26 countries performed at the B&W Hallerne arena for an expected television audience of more than 120 million fans.

Overnight UK ratings indicated an average 8.8 million people tuned in to watch the contest, peaking at 10.6 million at 23:00 BST during the results. Some 10.1 million watched Smitten-Downes' performance at 21:55.

The final scorecard can be found on the Eurovision website.


BBC News - Austria wins Eurovision Song Contest

 

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EUROVISION VOTING IS FIXED

We all know that, in this day and age, political correctness often triumphs over common sense.

But, these days, the Eurovision Song Contest is something in which political correctness triumphs over democracy.

What is not often mentioned is that the public vote is just one half of all the voting which takes place on Eurovision. There is actually a 50/50 split between the votes of the public and those of unelected and unaccountable judges who preside over a suspiciously complex voting system.

Many British newspapers have, since Saturday night's Eurovision, been pointing out the often wildly differing disparities between the number of votes the public voters of certain countries gave to certain other countries and the ACTUAL number of points which were awarded to those countries when the judges' votes have also been counted.

One perfect example of this is the fact that most British voters voted for Poland's entry, which was a group of sexy, busty girls in traditional Polish costume, including one big-breasted blonde churning butter suggestively. Had only the public vote counted, Britain would have given Poland a maximum 12 points.

However, the blushes of our progressive ruling elite were spared thanks to the PC judges, who ensured that the UK would actually give Poland NO points (despite the British public voting for them) and instead give a maximum 12 to a bearded lady from Austria instead.

I mean, we can't allow democracy to triumph over political correctness, can we?

Can anyone think of any other examples where an out of touch, unelected euro-elite have defied the will of the people?!?!?!

Steerpike

Sorry, Britain didn’t vote for the Austrian ‘Bearded Lady’

11 May 2014
The Spectator

There has been plenty of progressive backslapping this morning because Britain was one of the many countries to award the full 12 points to the bearded Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst in Saturday night’s Eurovision Song Contest. We showed those bigots over in Eastern Europe and Russia a thing or two, the chatterati say.

Mr S hates to be a party-pooper, but he has news for you. The British public (gloriously un-PCly) actually voted for some Polish girls in milkmaid outfits, seductively churning butter and cleaning clothes.

The Polish ladies were very self-confident, if a little old fashioned:

‘We’re Slavic girls
We know how to use our charming beauty
Now, shake what your mama gave ya!’
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The blushes of our progressive elite were spared by the suspiciously complex voting system. There is a 50/50 split between unelected and unaccountable judges and the votes of the public; Poland topped the UK’s public voting tally, but were awarded zero points by the UK overall because the unelected judges ranked Poland 25th.

Can readers think of any other examples where an out of touch, unelected euro-elite have defied the will of the people?

PC triumphs over democracy: The British public voted for the busty Polish girls....

... yet they still got no points from Britain because of the decision of the unelected and unaccountable PC judges who decided Britain should give maximum points to a bearded lady

Sorry, Britain didn’t vote for the Austrian ‘Bearded Lady’ » Spectator Blogs