Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final
13 May 2004 tbs.pm/609
So last night was the first ever Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final where 22 countries for the first time, competed for 10 places in the main Grand Prix on Saturday night next.
Coverage was on BBC Three, not with Terry Wogan, but with channel regular Paddy O’Connell.
The show itself was blighted by sound quality problems, it really was hard to hear the lyrics across a very loud backing track, but the quality of the songs themselves was good overall.
As with all television programmes, production values have become slicker, with graphics, set design and camera trickery and I suppose the Eurovision has been at the forefront of this. Part of the charm of the Eurovision for me was Frank Naef despairing with the dodgy phone line to get the results from Greece, the mammoth task of all the public broadcasters linking up pre-satellite for one night a year, seeing what sort of a show Belgium would throw, regardless of the music and the old “halo” Eurovision logo with the broadcasters name.
No, the Eurovision now is less and less “a TV event” and becoming more like the pop idol-esque reality phone vote and txt-athon.
But we’ll still watch the voting and see the Greeks and Cypriots share “douze points”.