Gay or European? The annual Festival of Kitch

This post is about Eurovision Song Contest. If you don't appreciate the ridiculousness, hilarity and excessive use of glitter in ESC, stop reading.

Eurovision week is over. Congratulations to this year's winner, Sweden's Loreen with her song 'Euphoria'! And speedy recovery to all ESC drinking game players. To be honest, I was quite surprised by Loreen's victory. Normally these conventionally good quality songs that will go on to play at clubs and radio, don't succeed that well in Eurovision. Euphoria has already topped the charts in Nordic countries and now will no doubt do just that also elsewhere.

On the day of the second semi-final, Thursday that is, Eric Saade started trending on Twitter as soon as Norway had performed. The similarities between Sweden's last year's performance and Norway's show this year were incredible. The guys look the same, the backup dancers look the same - if you ignore the gender upgrade - and the songs could be by the same artist. Norway came in last in the final with only 7 points.

As Norway's poor performance showed us, it's not a good idea to resemble another (famous) artist too much. Yet this mistake is made every year. This year Italy's artist was clearly channeling Amy Winehouse and Denmark's girl sounded a lot like Alanis Morissette. Denmark only scored points from six countries, coming to a total of 21 points, while Italy did considerably better with 101 points and 9th place.

I am sailing, across the stage

The gayest show this year was Turkey, no contest! Their leather wearing seaman and his batman-inspired backup dancers managed to be exceptionally camp, even by the Eurovision standards. And then their capes transformed into an outline of a boat and made me giggle uncontrollably. Most fun this year, however, was Malta's little foot dance! They also had a pretend-DJ on stage. 0:55 is when the fun begins.

The UK's Engelbert "The Hump" Humperdinck came second to last with only 12 points despite his huge global success and large fan base. The BBC offers this as explanation: "Historically no-one who has opened the contest has gone on to win, as viewers often tune in late and miss the early contenders." which is of course complete bollocks. While he came across as sympathetic and sweet, his song 'Love Will Set You Free' (yes, really) was utterly boring, as the title would have you think. In this freak circus such a ballad will go unnoticed, unless it's Ireland. And even they've had bad luck lately. Of course, they've also had a turkey.

Speaking of Ireland, I liked Jedward's 'Waterline' much better than 'Lipstick' last year. The audience, however, seemed to disagree. I don't blame them, the whole reason even I watch this show is for the WTF-reactions and the exciting shows these artists throw at us. Seeing the same performers year after year is dumb and boring.

Special mention goes to Georgia for providing the most ridiculous performance, in the true spirit of Eurovision Song Contest! I would have definitely wanted to see them in the final.

Another special mention to the Slovakian Eurovision Hair Metal band with shirtless lead man. That should be a genre; it's a classic Eurovision song disguised as hard rock/glam metal. Listen to it and you'll know what I mean (ignore the beginning, it gets more Eurovision-y come chorus). Belarus also had a Eurovision rock band with members who looked like they jumped on the stage straight from the TV show The Tribe. Yep, "Eurovision rock" needs to be a genre. Not limited to only bands who've been in ESC.

The BBC commentators made this year so much better for me (that's where the headline for this post came from). The Finnish commentators have some good jokes and say funny things but hold back much much more than the guys at BBC. It was a joy listening to them. I'm also extremely happy to have learned about the existence of Dr. Eurovision! Isn't it marvelous! Academic expert, has a PhD in Eurovision. I don't know if that's incredibly cool or just incredibly ridiculous. Or both. Awesome dude either way.

What were your favorite moments this year?

Bright lights and bright minds in Brighton

My camera is amazing

The Great Escape came and went. It was a really fun weekend and even though interesting comments and statements were rare and everything the panels discussed I already knew*, I did still learn. And it was nice to notice that I really do know something about what I'm doing and even the top players aren't that much more knowledgeable, they just have the years of experience and reputation behind them. The thing where you put the knowledge into action and make something of it. This was more of a trial run though and next year, if I go, I'll get much more out of it.

*For bands to be ready for a label they need to practice, write songs, play gigs and have a fan base. If they want to work with a brand they should do their research and find a brand with the right image. Oh, and bands are brands too. All fascinating bits of information if you've never really been near anything music industry related and are a bit simple and clueless, but pretty self-explanatory to everyone else.

Despite there being millions of gigs all through the weekend, we only saw a handful of them. Our own night took up all of Friday night and during the days we went to the conferences rather than watch some band we've never heard of. So we only pretty much had Thursday and Saturday nights to check out some live music.

On Thursday the highlight of the night was Kids In Glass Houses despite the front man's very geeky-in-an-uncool-way t-shirt. Come on, bands, look like a band! They had energy, they had attitude and they had catchy punk rock tunes. Their sound is quite American which for anyone who knows me is a sure sign that I'll like it. Very enjoyable to watch too. I really also liked the venue they were playing, Concorde 2. Magner's cider was only £3,80/pint which for a Finn is very impressive and exciting!

I'll just skip right to Saturday since I feel I've highlighted our bands' greatness enough already. I have nothing to add. They're great. They're always great. They even might have been a bit greater than before. And they look like bands. And they are: The Manic Shine, Violet Bones and iremembertapes.

Saturday we hunted down a band called Billy Vincent because someone knew someone who knew someone or something. They were instantly likable and their music made me happy. The last song really made the night. I'm a sucker for some violin and folky sounds, though, and may have let that affect my judgement. Not to mention that they looked good.

Such attractive lads

After that we headed down to a launderette with our new friends from The Icarus Youth to catch a band called The Computers. There we were climbing on washing machines and watching this amazing group of punkrock dudes ooze pure energy and thrills. They should, however, get some hairstylin' tips from Jedward; their cool rockabilly quiffs were pretty much ruined after 15 seconds into their set. That was very possibly the coolest gig I've ever been to!

YYYEEEEAAAAHHH!

Crammed in.

TGE

It's been a while, sorry. Nothing worth reporting has really happened. Still promoting, still updating contact lists, still designing newsletters, still sending those newsletters out.

But this Thursday we will grab our backpacks, take our eagerness to learn, aim our concentration towards the speakers and unleash the excitement at The Great Escape festival in Brighton! On Friday we're putting on our The Animal Farm showcase and the rest of the time we'll go from conference to conference, one gig to another and take in as much as we can. This year's theme is DIY which is quite fitting as that is how things are done at the Farm.

Our line up is:
19.00 - 19.30 The Rocket Dolls
19.45 - 20.15 Little Signals
20.30 - 21.00 Violet Bones
21.15 - 21.45 iremembertapes.
22.00 - 23.00 The Manic Shine

It's going to be fantastic! I will obviously give a full report next week of how amazing it was.

I found a website for a company called City Academy who have musical theatre classes and singing classes and dance classes and such. I really really want to go to a musical theatre class! The beginners classes that last 6-10 weeks are between £200-300 so a bit much for my finances. Maybe I should try one of those online money raising sites and have people fund me! If even a handful of people would pitch in, it would help tremendously. I'm thinking of doing it around my birthday so there's that going for me instead of just randomly asking people for money ;)

I also had a quick meeting on Skype with my academic instructor and it seems that I will eventually graduate (I knew that, now it's just more real). My thesis idea was approved at this time, but it is just a vague idea still and needs a lot of work. And academic backing. I need to hit the library and start researching. Oh dear, soon enough I will have a degree and have to let go of my student-ness and need to find a grown up job with a grown up salary and grown up responsibilities. Scary thought!

Here's a very awesome video from our very awesome The Manic Shine!

The Animal Farm Club Night

The Animal Farm Club Night happened last night at the fabulous Zigfrid von Underbelly of Hoxton Square. It was a night of fantastic music, good wine and great company! I don't have photos (still happened!) because my camera battery is dead and my adapter for the plug is temperamental and refuses to work. Also because I'm lazy and haven't bothered to buy a new charger with an English plug. But YouTube has videos.

The first band to take the stage was The Counterpoints; new band from Reading releasing their first single April 30th. That's an exciting release as we're releasing five songs from five bands on the same day as a collaborative effort on everyone's part. Their music was good but stage presence is something they still need to work on a lot which isn't surprising for a new band; no one is born a master. Warning: the following song will get stuck in your head. That's an earworm if I ever heard one.

Next up was Red N Pink, two loud chicks from London town. To be honest, I didn't like them too much before. I thought they were a bit in-your-face trying too hard to be tough and cool. But seeing them live has now changed my opinion completely! They sounded great, were very comfortable on stage, interacted with the audience well and delivered a good show overall.

Then it was Violet Bones' turn. As always (she says based on two shows) they were fantastic! I liked them a lot last time but now that I have their album on my iPod and know all the songs, it was ever better. They have awesome energy, fun! The album is a great exercise soundtrack! Those kettlebells are getting it! Although it feels slightly wrong to be swinging them around while my iPod is blasting "let's get drunk and stay that way forever!" into my ears.

Wrapping up the night we had iremembertapes. and their fun electro-indie set and slightly homosexual dancing. We went to see them in St Albans the night before; a gig where no one in the audience remembers tapes. That was enjoyable despite some technical difficulties but last night was about 127 times better! They should definitely play more dancey clubs instead of standard rock gig venues; places where people will actually move their tush instead of standing and watching in admiration (to be fair, they're nice to look at). They're touring atm, coming back to London on Monday. Check out the website or this picture for all dates and go to a show! Here's their 80's influenced (as opposed to everything else) latest single 'All I Know'.

And here's a bonus tribute to some band who also played at St Albans and whose lead man reminded me of Corey Hart. The fact that I know Corey Hart and this song so well that random people remind me of it is probably a sign that I need to stop watching VH1's I Love The 80's. Then again, nah.

Vamos a la playa! Y a Great Escape y a Finlandia.

When I came here, I kept my options open. I had no actual plans to go back to Finland but neither had I decided to definitely stay here; I'd do whatever would suit the situation best come August and the end of my internship. Well, that was then. Now I've decided to stay. I keep falling in love with this city more and more as time passes and the thought of packing my things and leaving just seems ridiculously wrong. As of future plans - if job hunting carries no fruit, I have at least a year to figure out my next move while finishing my degree; I still need to complete few courses and of course write my thesis. It'll be tight but things always work out.

Speaking of thesis - I finally have a general idea of what I want to do it on. If this idea gets approved, I'll be working with the Farm so it'll be a nice continuation to my internship.

This spring/start of summer will be too amazing! Chronologically: My best friend is coming for a visit, the Farm is going to The Great Escape, I'm visiting Finland briefly to go to my niece's high school graduation and then flying to Málaga, Spain for a friend's wedding! And we're doing this:

Last Sunday 1.4. I went for a walk around my neighborhood, grabbed a coffee in a farm close by and then stumbled upon Stave Hill Ecological Park. And all this just a spitting distance from London Bridge so basically still quite central London. The farm has goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, geese, sheep, turkeys and a pony. They serve food, coffee, ice cream and cake. They also sell eggs; chicken, goose and duck.

Pictures!

Jaguars are native to SE London

Big cities don't have nature

My interpretation of a concrete jungle, consider this a postmodern view

South London is such a miserable place

Proper music post!

There's this thing called Ja Ja Ja club where Nordic bands and artists play tunes and it's organized (bi?)monthly at The Lexington. I like this idea and think I'll go again and keep track of what's happening! This Thursday was the day. I heard about it at about 4pm on Thursday when my boss asked if I wanted to go and introduce myself to the Musex UK project manager. Yeah, why not. So I went to see Manna (FIN), Freja Loeb (DEN) and Útidúr (ICE). (I apologize for linking to MySpace but they don't seem to have websites!) Had a few words with the guy, he was very tall. After Manna's set I was already really tired and had a headache so I was getting ready to leave when I saw one of the boys from the next band carry a saxophone on stage and decided to stay for a bit. I stayed for two more songs and headed out. Bummed that I didn't get to see the last band but as I was very disoriented (getting lost on straight hallways, almost missing my tube stop - twice, bumping into people, etc.) on my way home it was probably for the best that I left. By the time I was home I just and just managed put on my pajamas before crashing. Slept like a.... thing that sleeps very deeply.

Anyway, I liked Manna. I've never heard any of her songs before even though she's been in the media quite a bit in Finland for the past, I don't know, maybe couple of years? I'm very bad with time. I was very positively surprised as I was expecting just another female singer-songwriter that we're all getting a bit bored of, amirite? But she had just enough rock and just enough groove to be interesting. I have to say, they (she?) were more intriguing on stage than on record and I spent a lot of time trying to find a video that would do them (her?) justice. This one's alright but still lacks something that was there during a live performance. Wine, perhaps...

The next group, Freja Loeb, were essentially the exact same thing as Manna. Same cereal, different packaging. There's a band, there's the girl, the group's name is her name, they play indie, both girls wore leggings as pants and red lipstick, you get the idea. Manna had the advantage of being first so people (me) weren't yet bored with that. And in my mind she was more likable anyway, more real. Her voice was also definitely stronger while I couldn't really even hear Freja for a big chunk of the time. But they had the sax and that alone is cause for mad props in my book. I also realize that had Freja been first on stage, I'd be comparing them in reverse and that might affect how I feel.

As I already mentioned, I didn't stay long enough to catch the last band, Útidúr from Iceland, but I've since checked them out on YouTube. My first thought was that they sound very Icelandic. Not really my cuppa tea normally, but I'm strangely fascinated anyway. I can picture a time and place for this and will make a mental note to listen to this more when that time and place present themselves. Beautiful sounds and I do love me a bit of violin and trumpets. For a fraction of a second they remind me of a chilled out and slowed down version of Katzenjammer (NOR).

I wish I'd seen them live but no can do.

For a bonus, here's Katzenjammer with A Bar In Amsterdam. 

No Place Like London

Let me just say, Jamie's Italian is a beautiful restaurant. My feelings may have been enhanced by those two bottles of wine we had during the course of the night, but it was good wine! And the fact that I really like Jamie, I think he's fun and has the right attitude towards food and cooking.

That was last Sunday. Also the day I realized that I love this city. I've been perfectly content here all this time but now I'm starting to really grasp the magnificence of this place. We spent the day having Sunday roast at a pub, then just strolling down the street by Thames, visiting Tate Modern, admiring the view and then had great - yet affordable - food.

I started making a list. List of things to do when my friend Maria is coming for a visit. I'm getting really excited about that even though it's still five weeks away. There's so much to do and see!

There's these little quirky things that are so interesting about this city! Like wandering around London Bridge area (sort of city centre) and stumbling upon some little cottage that looks like it's been teleported here from some idyllic little village on the countryside. Huge office building towering over it on the background. And going to Canary Wharf for the first time to be amazed by how it seems like a completely different city. Completely different country even! And this guy and his guitar:

Rockin' by the River

One of our bands released their new single on Monday. Check out the video here. (I would embed the whole thing but for some reason YouTube search can't find it) They're such a fun band, I really like them. Also, we're releasing five new singles from five new bands from five different cities on April 30th. Now it's relentless promoting of that for the next five weeks. Five seems to be the magic number here. That gives me a flimsy excuse to do this: