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| Winner: Austria: Conchita Wurst: Rise Like A Phoenix |
With Eurovision, my passion for change has always been an uphill struggle. After all, apart from its reputation for disposable plastic pop, it has now become even more of a tele-visual (and social media) event than ever before: its 21st-century incarnation seemingly relying more heavily than ever on catching one's eye as well as one's ear. The songs are still important of course, because well, it is a song contest. The problem for me is that it has become - this year particularly - a triumph of presentation above everything else.
For instance, if the UK telephone vote is the British barometer of quality music, then we would be celebrating the Polish version of Carry On Eurovision as the winner. Admittedly, there's a large Polish expatriate population here, but all the performance really needed was to have Sid James and Kenneth Williams lasciviously ogling those mildly lewd and very buxom Slavic girls. Oh yes, a triumph for progress!
Equally, it was not the song that won the title for Austria. Strip away the drag act, and particularly the beard, and all you have left is a composition that would not have been out of place on a Shirley Bassey album 45 years ago. The most daring thing about the whole package was the "bearded lady" headline and that is what most of the world's press concentrated on. Outside of the tabloid histrionics all that remains is an average ballad, hyped on stage by a stimulating light display.
Lest anyone forget, David Bowie and others were experimenting with sexual identity through popular music around the time Dame Shirley was recording Diamonds Are Forever. It's no wonder I have the feeling that Conchita has set Eurovision back four decades, rather than add credibility to the whole event and contribute to it advancing musically.
There was a glimmer of hope on Saturday, though. The Netherlands have decided to try harder after years out in the Eurovision wilderness. Anouk and her Birds led the way in 2013, while those other songbirds The Common Linnets rose like a phoenix out of Dutch despair and very nearly captured Eurovision glory after 39 years.
Thankfully, their runners-up position was due to a reliability on musical substance rather than glittering visuals. While the song Calm After the Storm is not necessarily cutting edge, it does reflect a professional attempt to present something that you might hear outside of the bubble of the Contest. For Eurovision, that's more powerful than any kind of "message" that an individual might want to send to other parts of the world.
That's the kind of progress this competition needs. While equality in all spheres of life is desirable, The Eurovision Song Contest should be about the music. Both Anouk and The Common Linnets have proved that this can be done without the flashy gimmicks.
The Slavic Girls may have titillated British viewers to spend money on votes, but as I write, the Polish entry is nowhere to be seen on the real-time iTunes charts. Conchita Wurst is struggling to make her point at Number 18, but there is a small victory for music as Calm After the Storm currently ranks at Number 5.
Forty years ago, ABBA managed to top the charts across Europe and in the process changed perceptions and attitudes. For a while, Eurovision was cool and a musical career was a possibility because of it. The Swedes demonstrated there was a life after the Contest. While The Common Linnets may not make such an impressive impact, I believe that this will not be the last that we'll hear from them.
I suspect a different outcome for Conchita. As much as I enjoy indulging in my passion for music from my youth, I wish that Ms. Wurst had not dragged me and Eurovision back into the past. She has only helped to strengthen the argument among naysayers that it continues to be irrelevant and banal. For that, I cannot thank her.
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| Winners: Composer and Artistic Award: The Common Linnets |
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