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The Top Ten Moments of Eurovision 2011 Written by on May 20, 2011 | 19 Comments

As this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is committed to the history books, I wanted to take some time to look back at some of my personal highlights from Dusseldorf. You may well recognise some of these from the broadcast shows, others are behind the scenes moments that we discussed on the podcast, but they all add up to my Eurovision – a Eurovision that many of you never see, admittedly, but Eurovision nonetheless.

This is one post where your comments are going to make fascinating reading, so feel free to add your moments at the end. For now, on with the memories!

Eric Saade’s Swear Box

The glass prop box, acting as a metaphor for the entire song “Popular”, looked really nice at Melodifestivalen, and Saade had the advantage of always singing last so the glass could go everywhere. No such running order rigging at Eurovision though, so the pressure to make this work with just 30 second to get off and clear the stage led to compromises in the staging. Even with just one sheet of glass exploding, the first Tech Rehearsal was all about it not exploding.

So an additional rehearsal is sorted, the night before Sweden is due to run Tech #2. Saade does a gentle run through of the song, steps in to the box, and… nothing.

Well, nothing except a very loud expletive echoing round the stadium, recorded by the media, but strangely never making it to the official Youtube channels.

Feck indeed.

Lithuania’s first dress rehearsal for the Final

You could hear jaws dropping around the press centre as Evalina Sasenko was given the ticket to Saturday night’s live show. Watching the television broadcasts back after the event and it’s clear that the sound mixing and vocals on many songs before her in the semi-final did not help those song, but given Sasenko’s natural voice this actually proved to be a bonus for her. Definitely a case of a good song, performed well on the night, going through.

And there is something in this song that worked for me. Just the once mind you, but during the first dress rehearsal for the Grand Final something clicked into place, and a tiny shiver went down my spine. Did I spot it again in Dress 2, or on any other listen? Nope. But for one moment in time, C’est ma Vie was a really good song!

Evalina Sasenko

Evalina Sasenko

Turkey and Armenia left behind on Tuesday

Speaking of fun voting from Tuesday, we’ll never really know if it was poor sound mixing, bad vocals, or the crazy idea of having Emmy perform a song with a Boxing Ring appearance half way through, but two countries that people were very confident of going through, didn’t.

Guess you can never count on diaspora after all.

Alex Sparrow changes into his minipop t-shirt

The underground success of Ben Morris’ Minipop icons was evident at Eurovision if you knew where to look. There were flashes on the TV screens, banners and posters carrying the stylised avatars (and we’ll ask Ben really nicely if he’ll write up an after-action report), but the highlights were getting the custom t-shirts of the icons into the hands of the artists.

So congrats to Andrew Main (All Kinds of Everything) for setting up a little bit of PR with the Russian delegation to have Alex do it live in the Press Conference. Cameras at the ready, folks…

Alex Sparrow's minipop T-shirt

Alex Sparrow's minipop T-shirt

Bye, bye, Dana!

You don’t come back. If you win, you don’t come back. The only way is down, the only question is how hard are you going to crash. For Dana International, the crash was taking Israel to its worst result in years, abandoned in the semi-finals. Thanks to her attitude in the rest of the week to the fans and press there was little sympathy. In fact, there might have been a little cheer.

Contrast that with Dino Merlin and Zdob si Zdub who we were glad to see back and hoping they could do better than they did. There’s a right way to do Eurovision, Sharon, and that wasn’t the way to handle your Ding-dong.

(Hey, one last use of that pun is allowed, okay?)

We can’t understand Eldrine’s singing, they must be rubbish

Most commonly heard from the Schlager Queens in the press room, this has to be one of the craziest judgements ever heard about a Eurovision song. Even more so when you consider that very few of the people making this complaint can understand Corsican, Serbian and Spanish. Should we write off all those other songs because you can’t understand them?

Eldrine (and to a certain extent Raphael Gualazzi and Amaury Vassili) brought non-traditional genres to Eurovision, but they performed it well, they made the best use of their three minutes, and it worked. Simple as that. Oh and in terms of presentation and emotion on show, they showed Yuksek Sadakat how to rock the Song Contest.

Eldrine

Eldrine

The Wonderfully Unhappy World of Sara Cox

What you don’t want opening a TV show is an unhappy presenter who’s face screams “I would rather be anywhere else than here.” That’s what BBC3 handed the UK with Sara Cox. Even before the familiar strains of Te Deum were played, viewers knew it was going to be painful.

And then she asked Daniela and Veronika Nizlova (the Twins from Slovakia) the TV Gold question: “So where did you two meet?”

Priceless. But perhaps not worth the rest of the pain.

A little something for the straight man at Eurovision

That would be Maja Keuc from Slovenia.

Maja Keuc

Maja Keuc

I suspect some of the female Eurovision fans would say yes as well.

Jedward’s first press conference

The UK and Irish contingent knew what was about to hit Eurovision and we all piled into the press conference area. I’m not quite sure anyone else did. John and Edward exploded into the room, into the hearts of pretty much every media organisation in Europe needing a fast paced ten second clip for the news, and pretty much guaranteed qualification just by turning up and answering a question. The European stadium tour can’t come soon enough.

Stefan Raab’s Big Band

Say what you like about Mr Raab and his infinite supply of laser tattoed apples, he sure knows how to open a show (and give his artist, Lena, as much home field advantage as possible so she didn’t do a Dana International). While the Big Band opening might be reminiscent of Brian Setzer, it was the full on production that the show needed as an opener. It showed off the Dussledorf Arena, it was fun to watch and listen to, and for me it made Satellite into a nice song (for a few minutes). In short it was everything Eurovision aspires to.

He should have done an encore as the half-time act with a medley of Eurovision hits, rather than the instantly forgettable Jan Delay.

Pictures by Ewan Spence, Pieter Van den Berghe (EBU), Elke Roels (EBU) and Andrew Main (AKOE)

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

19 responses to “The Top Ten Moments of Eurovision 2011”

  1. Anthony says:

    Yes the interval act was a huge let down it has to be the worst ever, Norway is the best I have seen with the flash mobs that was pure brilliance. Russia still confuses me as to why they had peopel in box’s of water.

  2. Seán says:

    Despite Maja Keuc’s performance being one of the highlights [I don’t really remember the song or how well it was sung strangely;) ]. Not having to listen to Marty Whelan for the first few minutes of Semi 1 was great, Eurovision is better without commentary[Still hate watching it online].

    Also Graham Norton introducing the Georgian entry “It is normally said you save the best ’til last but in this case it is non-applicable”.

    Oh and the fact Jedward bet Blue.

  3. Chig says:

    Excellent round-up. Coxy knew what she was doing with that question though. It wasn’t a mistake. She and I both know it’s a question that was asked of Jim Corr. The mistake was having her on at all. And allowing Scott Mills to commentate without really knowing the songs, or how to pronounce the artists, titles or other common words like ‘Willkommen’. Such shoddiness and lack of preparation would never be tolerated by BBC Sport at football matches, so why do we have to put up with second rate for Eurovision?

  4. Ewan Spence says:

    Yes! “BBC Sport / Foootball” analogy to Eurovision commentary! Agree 100%. Imagine if Motty stopped commentating to read out twitter messages from the supporters watching back in a pub! It would never happen, so why does Light Ents get away with it? Educate, Entertain, Inform. Where does Twitter and Facebook shout outs come up in that?

  5. Zolan says:

    Eldrine were great. For all the praise given to “modern sounding” songs, there was paradoxically little for the most contemporary genre in the contest.

    It is interesting to compare Maja (and dancers, team black) and Magdalena (and dancers, team white).

    While some complained about Lena joining in the opening act, I thought that perhaps it should not have used Lenalikes at all. When the previous winner competes, the previous winning song can still be performed, but the act should not be *about* the competing artist.

    The main highlights for me would have to be:

    Nina performing Caroban. Nina herself, and also how the aesthetic was brought to life in its own terms, instead of submitting to parody.

    Also, Austria hitting the middle eight. A reminder that feeling is the point of music.

  6. David says:

    Yes, I have the “Raabvision” opening act as the highlight of the whole thing – such a pity that the band didnt do the Interval act as well!

    Graham Norton named Raab as the “Simon Cowell” of Germany – rather unfair I think because, despite his many detractors, Raab does have some talent – and not just for making money.

  7. Will says:

    You know, I was crazy for the Austrian entry, and Slovenia too. But now the Ukrainian entry keeps playing in my head. I was at the semi when Jedward got thru and it was the best night. So glad we were there.

  8. Jasmin B says:

    My favourite moment of every Eurovision is listening to the audience sound level before and after the home country performs (and often during). There’s something magical about it that I just love…or should I say, something caroban???

    As for 2011 specifically: Italy rocketing up the scoreboard like nobody’s business with a song that no-one imagined going anywhere; Switzerland qualifying, which I reckon is a great achievement for them even though they came last in the end; and the AMAZING vocals of Nadine and Maja…even though I didn’t love their songs.

  9. howard a says:

    I really don’t get why so many people had Stefan Raab’s opening act as a highlight; for me, it was just the sight of a monstrous ego enjoying itself. I found myself saying “shut up, get off, and get on with it”.
    My highlights:
    1 Iceland coming out of the final envelope on Tuesday
    2 Anke Engelke
    3 The revelation of the greenroom
    4 The helpers celebrating in the greenroom durung the voting at Friday night’s dummy runthrough
    5 The stage design
    6 The LED wall for Serbia, one of the best performances in any case
    7 Tim Shou’s catwalk run, which suddenly made through a mass of waving flags
    8 Not a single douze points for “lovely” Lena
    9 Friday night in the Euroclub, when non-accredited fans were admitted
    10 Italy’s surprising and highly-deserved result

  10. Seán says:

    One more I forgot: When the wall of fire came down behind Azerbaijan. As it was the best staged entry in terms of lighting and pyros. But it show how much money went into the stage of the contest…..but it was at the expense of the interval acts.

    Oh and Ewan, when is Juke box jury coming back?

  11. Ewan Spence says:

    If all runs as planned, Ultimate Juke Box Jury on Tuesday June 7th.

  12. Chris K says:

    Hi.

    I agree with everything above me. Here are a few more:

    1. The stage itself was a highlight. Let’s consider the Ukraine as an example without the sand drawing in the background, or the Jedward propaganda video – would the song have done as well as they did. Possibly not. Alternately, Armenia had a very stars and stripes/usa background that may have worked against it

    2. Anke Engelke – the woman was out of control, but she could have hosted the show without the help of Judith and Raab in her sleep. Also – there was no slip ups in the final voting this year; not sure when the last time that happened.

    3. Lithuania and Switzerland making the final. I was elated.

    4. Armenia not making the final – maybe they will present a decent song next year. It was the song about nothing and the peeps stayed away.

    5.The scoring of the final – the decision to hold back the draw order to make it interesting worked – but 20 of 25 got at least one top mark.

    : )

  13. Damon says:

    Let us not exaggerate the achievement of Eldrine. Apart from the 5 esoteric Sammarinese jurors, they did not receive a single point from the 16 nations which would be considered Western Europe. The bulk of their points coming from 6 like-minded countries. Had Georgia sang first on the night, even these would’ve struggled to remember it and I suggest a bottom 5 placing would have been achieved.

    A highlight for me was the slow emergence of the planet earth on the screen behind Paradise Oskar, simple yet so stunningly effective.

  14. Catgal Liz says:

    Great article and some excellent comments! Despite being Irish I always tune in to the BBC for ESC and adore Paddy O’Connell and the lovely bouncy Sarah Cawood (who always enthuses about ESC when she’s interviewed in OK magazine and the like!). What happened this year? Coxy was awful – she really did appear as if she’s too cool for this gig…..Please let’s get Cawood & O’Connell back next year?
    Plus did anyone see where Scott Mills interviewed Lena on the red carpet? (Don’t know if I saw it online or during the semis!) He asked her why she had signed up to sing for Germany for the next 5 years – she was baffled. Shows the only research Mills did was to read an article, published on 1 April, about the ‘deal Lena had signed’. Almost, almost, made me wanna turn back to RTE. By the way, love and site and the podcasts were brill – only discovered the site a few weeks ago. Keep up your great work!!!!

  15. Ewan Spence says:

    I saw where Scott Mills interviewed Lena on the red carpet – about ten feet to the left of me, just before *I* got my solitary red carpet question to Lena (which was “previous winners coming straight back have done really badly, what do you think you can do” to which the answer was “as long as I don’t come last.” Mission accomplished. As to when it was on TV, no idea. TBH I wasn’t that impressed with the BBC cutaways this year.

  16. Mark says:

    I think the Germans did a wonderful job of hosting this year’s contest. I was in Hamburg for the official NDR street party and as a British fan all too used to the BBC’s half-arsed approach to Eurovision, it was heartening to see another big five country give the event the resources and respect it deserves. I wholeheartedly agree that Mills and Cox we shocking during the BBC Three coverage and only hope that Phil Parson’s departure as executive producer will bring a sea change in the way we select and promote our entry and cover the semis. Blue have shown that for a band waiting to make it in Europe, the contest is an excellent platform. JLS apparently saying they would consider taking part just shows how attitudes might be changing in the UK. I just hope the BBC keeps the momentum going and doesn’t relegate next year’s show to the realms of the 2010 selection simply because it’s Olympic year.

  17. Zolan says:

    From what I’m reading, I get the impression that the best scenario for the UK would be run of high placings to rebuild the media culture around ESC before they win, because they would be terrible hosts as things are now.

  18. Karlito says:

    I thought the German hosting was teriible and the set was shocking. The Norwegian’s got it so right in 2010 and the flashmobing and interactice theme really worked well with the theme for the contest. The set thid year was flashy and all about how it looked and was not remotely practical. Seeing Dana International and Friends from London having to ‘hot foot’ it at speed to the side stage was ridiculous. The compare’s were stiff and very very boring.

  19. Sharleen says:

    A little highlight for me (and something the public wouldn’t have seen) would have to be the moment post-Final where I watched Eric Saade be dragged through the press centre by a security guard. Eric so obviously wanted to enjoy his 3rd place and chat to the people, but the overzealous Swedish security was having none of that.

    It was all very cartoon-esque to watch – heels dragging along the ground as he was whisked off by his waist by some great hulk of a man. Classic.

    Other great in press centre moments were the race along the track staged by Oikotimes between various websites – something completely surprising and made one hell of a racket much to the disgust of the German security, the impromptu jam session between France and Greece in the cafe, Alexej from Russia “chilling” with his people after qualifying, and seeing Alexander Rybak play ‘journalist’.

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