Yes, you've heard of Wigan v Saints, England v Germany, Lions v Kangaroos

Now, not only will Engelbert represent the UK in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, but he'll be going head to had with Jedward for Ireland!

Turning the much-maligned but strangely compelling event into a must-watch, who's your money on?

Apologies for a new thread, but not only is the news earth-shattering, it's clearly not music so can't go in the music thread

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TracktazMy money's on Austria's entry.[/url

Thgey'll all be hard pressed to beat the Moldovan entry from last year.

Looks like we finally get the point about Eurovision.

Not even if they performed naked.

OK, maybe if they performed naked.

At least we won't have to spend energy hoping for a UK win.
I can't remember a 75 year old bloke winning a recent Eurovision, so let's play it for laughs.

What should we dress him in?
Shall we have him dancing as well?
Shall we have grannies on zimmers as his backing group?
Will he come on stage on a mobility scooter?
Will he be a 'bad ass'?
I can't wait!

He can't do a lot worse than our recent efforts.

However, here he is below predicting his final score.


On second thoughts ... he's playing invisible darts.

Exactly!

At long last the penny has dropped, and we should enter into the spirit of it with with a newfound confidence.

For next year, can we have Freddy Starr resplendent in an Elvis costume, belting out "Rule Britannia" before leaping wild eyed off the stage to dry hump the leg of some random large blonde lady foolish enough to sit in the front row?

Britain at its best, and Johnny Foreigner back in the box!

I know it's a cliche to hate Jedward, but I fooking [ihate[/i Jedward.

Yes, we are certainly finally playing them at their own game. And as a bonus, Hump can certainly sing, plus he specialises in the sort of schmaltzy ballads with big heartstring choruses that go down well with Euro audiences. Plus he's well known around the world, especially by tanning product manufacturers and hairdressers so has a big core support.

We should have entered Paul McCartney that year he did the Frog Chorus.



Has Ireland ever scored nul points?

Dunno, but bloody Jedward got 119 last year, finishing in 8th place overall.

He should use 'Lesbian Seagull' as his entry. Have a look on youtube for it and I'm sure you'll agree.

He will perform a song to be penned by Grammy winner Martin Terefe and Ivor Novello-winning Sacha Skarbek, who co-wrote James Blunt's massive hit You're Beautiful.
I hope they don't make a James Blunt of themselves.

At last, something you and I agree on!

I know Eurovision's a joke, BUT....

British singers, songwriters and groups have hits all over the world and write some of the world's best music.

So, why can we enter a song along those lines, instead of the usual crap we enter? We almost won in the year that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the song and appeared on stage miming the piano, which goes to show that it's WHO you enter into the competition, not what.

The best showing for years, so what did they follow it up with? Some spotty little get singing something written by Pete Waterman. FFS!!!

Imagine if someone like Robbie Williams or Kasabian entered. OK it won't happen - but if we then LOST, we could write it off for sure as being the political joke it is. Having the profile they have, though, they SHOULD win by a mile.

Because any halfway credible singer/band wouldn't be seen dead on stage at Eurovision.

There is that, for sure. Shame, really.

In any case, I'm sure you're not suggesting that Andrew Lloyd Webber is not credible...?

I defy anyone to disagree. People who buy Jedward records should be fooked to death with a lump of rough-cut 2x4, primarily, though not exclusively, to prevent them further polluting the gene pool.

Well not if you actually like musical theatre and consider it a credible art form.


And Jedward make records?????

I suppose he's in the fortunate position that he doesn't need to be seen to be 'cool' to be successful in his chosen field.

Austria's song is so brilliantly stupid that it's amazing.



For anyone wanting a "listen" search "Woki mit deim Popo" on a certain video site.

I thought you liked musical theatre, Mintball...?

What snobbery. At his peak, Lloyd Webber wrote some of the most memorable and successful musical theatre songs ever, so his 'credibility' is hardly in any doubt. And in my book, songs like Memory, I Don't Know How To Love Him, Music Of the Night etc. are actually brilliant popular music, and have more than stood the test of time.



They make money. Maybe not much, and lord knows how, but credit where it's due, with no discernable talent except to annoy, they've managed to earn a living, when they clearly should be unemployable dole spongers.

And you have to admit, releasing them onto Eurovision is delicious

Totally agree with that. I tend to prefer Boublil & Schoenberg personally, but you can't deny that ALW has the ability to write spine tingling music with just the right amount of scmaltz to make it popular listening. That takes a hell of a lot of talent.

So if I've got this right, the Irish picked Jedward last year and have done so again this year?

:2ff8b079

Yes. I do. That's the point.



:2ff8b079

Yeah. He can manage one vaguely reasonable tune per show – the ones you mention are from his better era, when he had a lyricist who managed to inject some quality into their combined work.

But it's still only a tune a show – and that sort of a ratio is smashed into the middle of next week by the likes of Rogers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Kander & Ebb, the Gershwins, Cole Porter and many more, who produced truly great popular music that really has stood the test of time over a number of generations.

Lloyd Webber, together with Schönberg and Boublil (who can manage a hardly better rate than LW – does anyone remember a single song from [i:2ff8b079Miss Saignon[/i:2ff8b079? [i:2ff8b079Les Mis[/i) helped create the template for a musical theatre that is formulaic but with barely even one really great, get-up-and-sing-it tune to compensate.

People might not be fans of Rogers and Hammerstein, but any one of their five biggest shows has a whole raft of songs that have entered the popular consciousness. That, my friend, is great popular music. And it is not snobbishness.