The quality of vocal ability on display cannot be denied.
European wide Audience judging by electronic voting systems could not be based on vocal talent, there was not one bad singers among the group. Differentiation between the participants had to be based on other values. The overall mood and tone of entries was morose and depressing, the contribution from the UK and 'Australia' were notable upbeat exceptions. Australia did well, UK's effort lacked punch at critical points, and were it better produced could have merited better than a bottom five placing.
So what was the judging criteria on the night. Perhaps the current economic crisis affected the ambiance, for to my taste even the Swedish winner with a seemingly optimistic title of "We are heroes of our time" was delivered in a down-beat tone. Many contributions echoed Operatic themes, Italy did well. Considering the overall mood of the competition, one thing was remarkable for viewers witnessing the voting progression.
After the initial grapple in the early votes Russia suddenly took the lead, and were consistently consolidating that lead as the votes from various countries were disclosed. At one point it looked like a certain Russian victory. What Happened? Well into the completion those countries within the top 5 appeared guaranteed some points, but suddenly several countries awarded Russia zero points.
As a speculative point could it be that as voting progressed the juries of various countries were accessing the Internet to find out what could be learned about the various contestants. It really was a remarkable turn around in the voting practice up to that point. If there persists a prudish tendency among the voters the pictures surfacing from Russian Maxim magazine may not have infused the public so much.
Suggestive pictures may be on the limit for some people, perhaps the voting public are mostly of an older generation, but more revealing Maxim pictures could have tipped the balance against her.
Interesting was the German perspective on their 'zero' point accomplishment. Quote, "this was totally undeserved, the girls voice was good, she is good looking, and the song was catchy." Well, setting aside the German national conviction that they have to win at anything they take part in, finishing outside the top ten is a national catastrophe, finishing with no points is outside of comprehension. In all fairness the German singer was not bad, at least as good as average. What the Germans fail to understand is typified by the pre-show and post-show bands vitrified by the live standing public in Hamburg, those bands were, judged on the world stage, average and bland. The German compare asked a commentating pundit what went wrong, and he answered "the competition was too strong," and the camera quickly cut away from him.
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