Eurovision song contest, 2005

Watching the ESC is somewhat of a tradition. I mean, what more can you possibly ask of a show? Unbelievably horrible acts, loco costumes and songs that are so evil they get stuck in your head for weeks afterwards!
My parents can't stand it, so I never got to see it as a kid. But personally? I love it! It's not something to be taken seriously, it's more of a... drinking game show.
I watched both the semifinal and the final, and I wasn't disappointed. Still loads of sucky acts to entertain myself with :)
For instance Austria, they were (to say the least) interesting. Cuban folk music, polka and yodling. All at the same time! Wow!
The barbies in Feminnem for Bosnia & Herzegovina were also... well, they were just barbie-like. Horrible! And I can't help it, I didn't care much for the winner, Greece either. I had completely forgotten the song even before the show ended, and that makes it a seriously sucky ESC song. The winning song is supposed to haunt you for weeks afterwards, otherwise it's not a proper ESC song.
Well, then who would I have placed as number one? Although it didn't quite have the annoying something that all ESC winners have, I loved Malta's contribution to the contest. And Switzerland were kinda cool. Moldova had a very decent ESC debut with their song about the grandma who beats the drum, Love rooted for them all along. But most of all I wanted to see Norway win. They crack me up, those Wig Wam loonies.
Usually Norway (stupid stupid stupid!!) votes for a boooring song with a boooring male singer and get the jumbo spot in the finals. Norway takes ESC seriously, that's the problem. It's no longer a song contest, it's all about show and show once more. Which Wig Wam delivered.
But apparently I can never win anyway. Each year that Norway has gotten in last, I've told myself "Relax, you're half German also, you can pretend to belong to them now" and didn't feel so bad about it. Now that Norway managed a fairly decent place, don't you think frikkin Germany had to come in last? Unfair I tell you!

But one thing really sucks about the ESC. It's not about the numbers, it's about your neighbours. I mean, logically one would vote for one's favorite number, but noooo... Let's vote for all our neighbours! Which means the winner is the one with most neighbours and that's just plain wrong in my eyes. Bah...
Oh well, it's still hilarious to watch, and you Americans don't know what you're missing out on (Except karla, the texpatriate, who writes all about her experience in this entry.)