Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Romanian Vampires and Free Alcohol

Last night, I watched my first Eurovision.  Eurovision is sort of like American Idol meets the Olympics - every year, the countries in an (ever-expanding) Europe send one group of singers to perform in front of an excited, flag waving audience.  Then, at the end of all the performances, people all across Europe call in to vote for their favorite country.  Since you can't vote for your own country, there was a definite tendency to vote for your nearest neighbor (so all of the Balkans voted for one another, while hardly anyone voted for poor Ireland, even though their performance wasn't half bad).  The winner would host the next year's Eurovision.

Unlike American Idol, however, entire groups could perform, complete with dancers and very artful presentation.  Half the fun was just watching how it was all put together.

Countries that did well were like Azerbaijan, combining artful presentation, a romantic pop ballad, and, most importantly, a young heartthrob singer.  (You can watch the video below.)


Then there were entries like Romania.  Ok, actually, nothing was like Romania's entry.  After watching, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.  It seemed like the singer was an operatic vampire from some mildly dystopian future.  It just kept getting weirder and weirder.


Ok.....

But by far, my favorite was Greece's entry.  I mean, what's not to love about Greek kilts, glow in the dark instruments, and dancing that seems like it's more likely to be found after a night of heavy drinking?  Plus, their title seemed like a good reason for Greece to win and host the Eurovision next year... alcohol is free.


I've been to Greece, and the alcohol is not free.

Unfortunately, Greece didn't win (but they didn't do half bad - coming in 6th place!)  So for a point, who did win the Eurovision?  Caveat:  google is not allowed this time!  Either you have to already know the answer, or you have to guess.  It is a country you have heard of - I can guarantee that.