Mid week music commentary

So Eurovision 2017 has come and gone, and while I was going to shoehorn this into Time Machine, I've decided to do this now, with a little commentary on something else after.


I listened to all the finalists, including the one I was told was the bookie's choice this year, Italy's Francesco Gabbani's Occidentali's Karma, or westerner's karma, which was very entertaining.  HOWever, the judges were in the mood for toned down, syrupy ballads instead.  There were two songs that ran away with the vote.  The runner-up was from a Bulgarian kid (who might have the largest front tooth-gap I've ever seen, just sayin') named Kristian Kostov.  His power-ballad Beautiful Mess would have been 1-2 with Italy for me.  But the winner was a bit of an odd duck- hunched over, baggily dressed, who had no idea how to deal with the instant fame he got.  Salvador Sobral is his name, a passionate defender of refugees, who sung a song written by his sister Luisa called Amar Pelos Dois", literally Love For Both Of Us.  He won with the Portugese words- when a lot of singers did theirs in English- and translated is something like this:

If one day someone asks for me
Says I lived to love you
Before you, I only existed
Tired and with nothing to give (love for both)

My love, listen to my prayers.
I ask you to come back, that you want me again
I know you do not love yourself
Maybe you can learn again.

My love, listen to my prayers.
I ask you to come back, that you want me again
I know you do not love yourself
Versuri-lyrics.info
Maybe you can learn again.

If your heart does not want to give in
Do not feel passion, do not want to suffer
Without making plans of what will come after
My heart can love for both of us.


None of them (unlike last year's Dami Im) were what I would call M10 material- Westerner's Karma was about the closest-  But there were a few I liked.  Outside the two I mentioned, I liked the song from the dude from Israel (IMRI's I Feel Alive, finished 23rd of 26), and the true stranger of the contest- Illinia of Romania with Yodel It! , which basically had her yodeling the chorus over Alex Florea's rap verse- yeah, I know, but the result was better than it looked to be.  It finished 7th.  Others not so much, like the Swedish entry from Robin Bengtsson, I Can't Go On, which was like a musical Men's Warehouse commercial.

The amusing thing (outside of Ukraine's revenge by not allowing the Russian entrant into the country for the contest) was how the whole deal was supposed to be themed Diversity. But, as we hear from The Telegraph:


It was never going to go well, was it, having three white men hosting a Eurovision Song Contest that strove to "celebrate diversity"? But Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko might have been forgiven had they actually been funny. 

They also had a nice description of Bengtsson's performance...


 It was, essentially, an artistic interpretation of bankers enjoying a drink after a long week in The City. 


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The other item on our agenda was the recent statement from Todd Rundgren, who apparently has wearied of being a musician and has, like many of his ilk, decided to become another self-deluded politician-sans-votes.  I did not look into the article, which is too dumb on the surface to bother digging into, but, here's my take.  You're an artist and you don't want to go somewhere where laws are against your principles?  So don't.  You don't want certain political candidates using your songs at their rallies?  Well within your rights.  But you want to tell supporters of a politician you don't like THEY aren't welcome at your concerts?  Well, son, that there is a special kind of stupid.  You think you are making some kind of "principled stand"?  All you are doing is showing your "love and tolerance" for what it is- only for those who agree with you.  If your precious doctrine must be kept so pure that your "enemies" (also known as fellow Americans) aren't allowed to benefit from your melodious tones, then I have an idea.  Take 46.1% of the money you make from the tour- just in case you MIGHT happen to attract a cross-section of the nation to your concerts- and just, like, burn it.  Throw it out.  You certainly wouldn't want to stain your charity by giving blood money away.  So just have your agent do a quick calculation of your net worth, and trash it.  Then you can really be that highly principled paragon of virtue you imagine yourself to be.

Dork.