Eurovision / Making Your Mind Up 2007

[P-Bal]

Brian Harvey has no right whatsoever to attack anyone after his shamefully poor performance. Equally Hawkins&Brown didn't gel at all on stage.

Quite frankly Scooch and Cyndi were the stand out performances.

And if any of the press had read this thread before the contest they would have known Nicki French was doing BVs for Scooch! Eurovision rules allow for six members of an act, even if some are not fully seen on stage.

[Pip Madeley]

And if any of the press had read this thread before the contest they would have known Nicki French was doing BVs for Scooch! Eurovision rules allow for six members of an act, even if some are not fully seen on stage

I think the point of the papers was the vast majority of those voting were completely unaware that Nicki French was backstage singing her heart out... on the face of it, it does seem a little misleading/cheating.

[Simon R]

It's not misleading or cheating at all. It would be if the group were mouthing the words and her voice was doing the work off-stage but that was clearly not the case. I couldn't hear her at all on it.

[Matthew T]

Hawkins' point about Sneddon/Lemar is ridiculous. If the UK is so racist then surely Lemar wouldn't have gone on to have much greater success than Sneddon!

And what happened when we put Javine up for Eurovision? Were all the racists on holiday that week?

[P-Bal]

Or Imaani, or Precious!

Natalie has a very strong voice in her own right.

As it transpires, Nicki didn't end up doing BVs for them on the night (she told me on MySpace... celeb circles, folks!).

Dame Helena Paparizou won singing My Number One with four dancers using headmics and one singer just invision to the side of the stage. Precious in 1999 had a sixth vocalist who didn't appear at all on stage!

It's a complete non-story and total sour grapes from Justin, just as it was for Antony Costa last year and Jordan the year before. Don't go up for public votes if you can't handle the results!

[Pip Madeley]

I don't really agree with shadowy singers/musicians - they should be clearly on view. None of the artists I like have people backstage doing half the work.

[Si Hunt]

How do you know?

And anyway, to say it's "half the work" is surely baseless and misleading.

This confused me: Terry quoted in the Mirror:

"I suppose I should make a little apology to Cyndi - although I'm not taking the blame for this - because I was the one who did say Cyndi had won.

Why is he not taking the blame because he said the wrong name? Surely that's reason why he SHOULD take the blame!

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

How do you know?

Well, a good example is Phil Collins, he has a big band with him and he introduces every single member to the audience... if any bands I see have touring members helping, they're at least on stage and visible. I think those people should be acknowledged and get some credit.

[P-Bal]

You get three minutes to perform a Eurovision song. Unlike a concert where you get three hours. Even when the backing vocalists are visible on stage, no-one (bar absolutely devout fans) know who they are. Any more than you will know who has played on the backing track being used for the instrumentation!

It's bizarre that people have actually swallowed the tabloid conspiracy story - it's not even news! "TWO BACKING VOCALISTS SING A FEW HARMONIES OFF STAGE DURING BBC EUROVISION SELECTION SHOW!" Somebody alert the church elders!

[Pip Madeley]

I've not "swallowed" the story as you say, I just think the backing singers should've been in view, it'd just be more 'honest' in my eyes...

[Si Hunt]

There's no point in cluttering up the stage with (potentially ugly) backing singers though is there? You want all the limited space to perform your main number, especially as (with Scooch) there are jaunty props and routines.

Would you be advocating this much "honesty" if one of the backing singers had collided with one of those hostess trolleys as it was hurled onto the stage by a good-looking band member and severed an artery?

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Would you be advocating this much "honesty" if one of the backing singers had collided with one of those hostess trolleys as it was hurled onto the stage by a good-looking band member and severed an artery?

That would've been TV Gold.

[P-Bal]

Honesty just seems an odd concept! If a singer gives a live vocal to a pre-recorded musical backing, it's not dishonest because the musicians aren't there with them is it?

It's all about aesthetics!

[Pip Madeley]

If a singer gives a live vocal to a pre-recorded musical backing, it's not dishonest because the musicians aren't there with them is it?

That's different, if they're on TOTP then they're not fighting others for a place in a competition... I don't agree with backing tracks anyway, I'd rather have a live band anyday. Did Lordi mime their instruments last year?

[P-Bal]

Yes they did. It was only the vocals that were live. Eurovision allows for an acoustic guitar, but everything else has to be pre-recorded. Everything apart from the vocals!

I can't see how being able to see the two backing vocalists on stage at the very back behind Scooch would have made sucha huge difference in the fight to win? Cyndi had all five backing vocalists appear out of the mist, so to speak, because that worked best for her presentation. With Scooch the main focus was on the band, not two people doing backing vocals and harmonies. The end result is exactly the same as you will see on May 12th, so there's no great problem!

[Si Hunt]

It's like a real concert, but with more theatre.

Si.

[P-Bal]

T'eartah.

There's a Top Of The Pops Eurovision special heading our way.

Pray for goodness, pray for bare ass.

[P-Bal]

The event draws nearer, and Sweden are vying with Switzerland for the honour of being the bookmakers' favourite.

Last year's favourite, Anna Vissi, came nineth.

[Si Hunt]

It's just noise.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Come on Si, Eurovision isn't that bad surely?

[Si Hunt]

It's fun! But at this stage the names and songs of the some of the more unfamiliar nations mean little to me. I'm not the stats master that Dame P-Bal is, with his impressive encyclopedic knowledge of the competition history of the Latvian entry.

Si.

[SiHart]

Has P-Bal read Nul Points by Tim Moore? If not I'd highly recommend it. I think you'd love it!

Si xx

[P-Bal]

I have fingered it Amazon, and see that it has a re-issue on the way. I think I shall investigate further, though I fear it might make for sad reading!

[SiHart]

Kind of- it depends on the Nul-Pointer really!

Si xx

[Milky Tears]

Michael Ball wearing that chubby bloke from Scooch's Captain's hat is probably the campest thing that's been seen on primetime BBC1 this year. He could only have topped it by giving us a blast of 'One Step Out Of Time'.