Not entirely on topic, nor is it off topic. However, I was discussing Eurovision with someone this evening (it’s a common occurrence if you’re me), and she told me of a drinking game she had played watching the Eurovision Song Contest. I found it interesting at the very least, and it perhaps says something about the triteness of Eurovision lyrics. This game would probably work best if you’re not into Eurovision, because, well, I’ll relay her story.

Round I: The Songs
Before the contest begins, gather everyone who’s going to play and each person picks a unique word that they think will appear in many of the songs. One that’s absurdly common is “love.”  Try also “dance,” “night,” or “heart.” Or if you’re Dustin the Turkey (Ireland 2008), “points.” Write that word on a piece of paper, and put it in a hat, then each person draws from the hat to determine their word. Whenever that word is mentioned — in any language — that person must drink.

If you’re feeling particularly evil, you could always look up the lyrics beforehand. The story that was relayed to me was that someone looked up the lyrics ahead of time and noticed that in one of the songs, “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” by Verka Serduchka (Ukraine 2007, and perhaps one of the most famous or infamous entries of the modern Eurovision era), the word “seven” was said an absurd number of times. Twenty-four, to be exact. (Yes, I counted.) So of course she put “seven” as the word into the hat. That didn’t turn out well.

Round II: The Points
During the intermission, put all the names of all the countries competing in the final into a hat. Each person draws an equal number of countries. When one of your countries is awarded eight points, take a drink. When one of your countries is awarded ten points, take two drinks. And when one of your countries is awarded twelve points, take a shot.

This could be really bad, if, for example, you picked Norway last year. That’d be 16 shots, plus a bunch of other drinks that I don’t feel like counting. At some point, you just have to give up.

So, what do you think? Ideas? Comments? Your own drinking game? Or perhaps this isn’t what you really wanted to see from me.

I found Belgium’s entry impressive, especially for a ten-year-old to be singing:

And the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s entry I think, with a little polishing, would have done quite well in the real contest. I don’t personally like it as much FYR Macedonia’s ESC entry this year, Nešto što kje ostane, but I think the song, with the right singer, could have done better. Maybe it would have made the final.

Malta staged a Chiara look-alike, which was quite interesting to watch. The Chiara look-alike didn’t have a voice anywhere close to Chiara’s, which I think was at its best in Angel in 2005 (interestingly, also in Kyiv)

Also appearing on stage in Kyiv tonight was Ani Lorak, Ukraine’s second place finisher in 2008, and yes, she performed “Shady Lady.”

The Netherlands ended up winning. Enjoy their promo video.