UK - Is It Our Time?
Gay icons Abba had their Waterloo in Brighton in 1974
Well, love it or hate it, it’s that time of year again and on Saturday night hundreds of millions of people will be tuning in to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - this year to be held in Moscow.
The Eurovision Song Contest has always provoked a strong reaction in the gay community, and gay guys seem to either embrace its Euro-cheesiness or recoil in utter distaste!
A Formula for Success?
Eurovision has a formula all of its own, but UK and Irish gay men are divided as to whether it is a formula for success. On the Mothership gay forums comments ranged from “Definitely watching, though I hate our song” to “Nil points”!
The general format involves songs being no more than 3 minutes long, with participants wearing over-the-top costumes, blocks of countries who vote for each other regardless of merit (Scandinavia, Balkans etc), and most songs presenting a surprise toward the end of the song! One of the most memorable of these was when Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston from the UK’s Bucks Fizz tore off their skirts singing ‘Making Your Mind Up’ in Dublin in 1981. Way to go!
UK Hosts Most Famous Winner
By far the most famous Eurovision Winner was Abba with the hit ‘Waterloo’ which was performed at the Dome in Brighton in 1974 (*thousands of gay eyes mist over…!*)
However the UK did not actually earn the right to host the contest that produced the most famous eurovision winners of all time! It should have been hosted by Luxembourg who had won the 1973 contest - but for financial reasons their broadcaster RTL were not in a position to host the 1974 contest, so the BBC gladly took up the reins - even though they had only just hosted it in Edinburgh in 1972 (again, not by merit)!
Also, Abba may not have won if the french had not withdrawn their contestant ‘Dani’ at the last minute due to the death of their president Georges Pompidou. What’s more, Abba were going to perform a different song (Hasta Manana) but changed it to Waterloo because it meant that all the group members could sing. Good decision!
Out of interest, the UK’s 1974 contestant against Abba was Olivia Newton John who sang ‘Long Live Love’. Abba had entered the Swedish heats for the 1973 contest with ‘Ring Ring’ but only made it to 3rd place so didn’t perform in Luxembourg that year, although the song went on to become a success for them in later years, after their 1974 Waterloo.
Is It Our Time?
It remains to be seen whether the UK entry ‘It’s My Time’ performed by Jade Ewen and famously composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, will fare any better than recent years. One thing is for sure - the practice of countries voting on a political basis is not going to end overnight, so don’t hold your breath!
by staff writer
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
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