One day, perhaps, a humour entry will get the last laugh at Eurovision. But that day is not today.
Homens da Luta - A Luta É Alegria (Portugal 2011)
I believe the Portuguese when they say this entry means something to them. That it is funny. I had my doubts in the beginning, but before the first semi was over and done with I had sort of given in to this fact. The Portuguese entry is funny.
But it is not good.
And it is hardly even a song.
If you enter a song contest and decide to be funny, then you have to be good. And you have to have a song.
But since none of the songs mentioned until now show any trace of fun or any lasting entertainment value, then of course this one must rank higher.
Next year, I hope for a real hit, though. It would be about time that Portugal won the whole sad thing.
My grade: 1 / 5
I'm afraid that Portugal will never win - they don't have European friends and allegiances like everyone else. Even if they had 'the song', I still don't think they'd beat some young starlet from *fill in a Eastern European country of your choice* who flounces about half naked in pronounces every single English word incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteAnyway - the struggle is joy say Portugal and here they are again. It was doomed from the day the national final finished and everyone booed them. Funny - because it was mainly their fault. So they came to Germany, and sang mainly in tune, and they were out the door and forgotten again.
Well, Finland doesn't have many friends either. Neither does Germany. And yet both of them won in the last five years. Portugal's time will come, but they need more luck than most.
ReplyDeleteAnd that being from Eastern Europe would be enough to have success... I think you could discuss that with Bulgaria, for instance. I don't think they would share the sentiment...
Have you, Tobias, got to know the domestic song contest Syksyn sävel (="Autumn tune") here in Finland, in which the humour entries did well? Apart from these rather disposable funny songs there were great number of big finnish stars who often made big hits of their entries especially in the 1970's. It was more than once that someone suggested that Syksyn sävel should be the selection for Eurovision, as the songs there were often better than in the Finnish Eurovision selection.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know Syksyn sävel. It had one great big advantage over Euroviisut - it was created to be a commercial song contest, designed to create hits.
ReplyDeleteMany of the entries from Syksyn Sävel could have made brilliant ESC entries, but the development of that contest also shows why public service serves the ESC better than any commercial station.
Despite being a very popular feature, it was abandoned when deemed old and out, replaced by new concepts. I doubt Eurovision would have survived the decline in the 90's if it hadn't been in the hands of public broadcasters.
True about Finland and Germany - Portugal will not choose a 'Hard rock hallelujah' or 'Satelite' type of song anyway in their final. That type of song will be relegated to the bottom of their national final list. When they do these things, we can talk again?
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