eurovision

If you're a North American like me, the only time you've probably heard of "Eurovision" is in a historical retrospective piece about how Abba were discovered in the 1970s. However, having watched the semifinals a couple of days ago and gearing up for the finals tonight, I did a little research: the Eurovision Song Contest has a long history and has brought many stars to light over the decades.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not thrilled by England's entry, Scooch. To my ears, they're just Aqua-esque bubblegum, without the double entendres. (Ok, I admit it, I used to like Aqua, so here's a much better song). However, you shouldn't judge by opinion, as I generally dislike any music made after about the mid '90s ...

But here, there are some serious exceptions. My personal opinion is that it's because with the fall of the Soviet Union (coincidentally at about the same time as when I stopped bothering with "popular" music) and resulting economic devastation that gutted many of these countries, much of the relatively undiscovered talent is only now appearing. In any case, many of the entries here are really good: don't worry, most of them do sing in English. Estonia's entry for example, Gerli Padar, reminded me of Sheena E from the 1980s, with driving drum beats and coarse chords changes. Yeah, sayin', this is my kind of music: so, naturally, they didn't make it when the voting started. (As an aside, digging a little deeper, you might think that the people of Estonia made a mistake in their own voting, let alone those who voted in the Eurovision semifinals.)

Many other ex-Soviet Bloc countries did make it, however, such as Russia's Серебро (Serebro) who I think are really good despite being an obviously manufactured band, and I look forward to seeing them tonight (not to mention, three really hot chicks dressed all in black, how can you go wrong!). I'm also already a fan of several other eastern bloc groups, such as Natalia Barbu (Maldova) who has an excellent vocal range and who actually plays the violin in the intro, Magdi Rúzsa (Hungary) who has an amazingly powerful voice (again, this is my kind of music, which means they won't win), Sopho from Georgia who seem really unusual at first but have an addictive mix of sounds that grows on you quickly, two drummers from Bulgaria who gave an awesome opening act at the semifinals with their song Вода (Water), and the Czech Republic's toned-down metal entry Kabát, who seem to be part Sepultura and part Rammstein (always a big plus for me), with their song Malá Dáma.

There's probably some truth in the thought that western talent gets recognized relatively early, and so western Europe seems to be a bit underrepresented, talent-wise. There are some excellent entries here too though, such as a Meatloaf-like guy from Iceland called Eirikur Hauksson, Edsilia Rombley (the Netherlands), who sounds like she's come straight from BBC Radio 1 (or alternatively, Hot 103.1 in Toronto), and the somewhat overly ethnic Dervish (Ireland) who have also noticed the many excellent ex-Soviet entries. If you're into this kind of stuff, it might also be worth listening to DJ Bobo (Switzerland) despite a fairly high cheese factor, and an electronica band from Cyprus, Evridiki (and here was me not realising that people from Cyprus sing in French) and a Latin beat from Norway, Guri Schanke.

Tonight should be interesting. Go Серебро!

Rock on,
Matt

PS. Wondering what I've been drinking? What else, this is rock music: Bass. ;)

alcohol culture

There's a documentary on BBC Three at the moment about the rise on binge drinking in Britain over the last few years. This week's episode is about young women drinking to excess, and how this causes testosterone levels to rise (the opposite of men) which makes them more aggressive. This increased aggression causes many problems for police on the streets of England and Wales. Women are, on average, out-drinking men of the same age as of 2006: this is called "ladette culture". There is a lot of binge drinking all around while on holiday in tourist resorts in Spain and the Mediterranean for example, creating a bad international impression about the English people and culture.

Now of course there's nothing wrong with a good pint now and then, but my clubbing days are over. I used to drink a lot when I was younger and now that I'm older I go for quality rather than quantity, generally speaking. But there are many people out there who haven't learned this lesson yet. People in the cities here don't drive -- there is no need because of the excellent public transportation systems -- so the need to drive home afterwards doesn't moderate intake. Drinking in public is perfectly legal here, so you see many people drinking on the streets: I saw someone crack open a can of lager on the bus today, but he was a Dad out with his kid on a Sunday afternoon, not an enraged youth bent on drinking themselves into an alcoholic stupor.

I'm not sure what the answer to this binge-drinking culture is, short of increased police (who have enough to deal with lately) presence, but what causes it? There's certainly plenty to do in London, so it's not a lack of options, as is often the case in Nova Scotia. It's an interesting cultural phenomenon. I'm curious to see if it has to do with the general sense of ennui created by rising tensions in the world, and the associated underlying fear of terrorism. Education, awareness campaigns and social programs might help, but blaming the Blair government probably isn't the answer either. I'm tempted to go and see for myself what it's like in the club zones, there are several nearby, but it does seem a bit dangerous for the sake of intellectual curiosity.

In the meantime, let's try to keep it civilized people ... Cheers! Salud! Slante! À votre santé! За здоровье!