Eurovision - Part 4 - American vs. European: The way cultural influences go

One of the unexpected delights I had recently was reading an interesting piece at the Huffington Post from the castle actor Seamus Dever. He is a Eurovision fan and I thought is insight into the contest was interesting. It was fun to read about the contest from the perspective of someone that was introduced to the competition only a few years ago and views it from an American perspective. I am a European and grew up with the competition so Mr. Dever's insight was particularly interesting to me and I have spent some time mulling it over and thinking about it. And I have some thoughts.

Here in Europe (broadly sweeping obviously, but this attitude is prevalent in my own area of Europe) we consider popular culture in a very simple manner when it comes to American culture. We divide popular culture into two categories; American and European. We view European culture as being better and more cultivated than American culture and make fun of American culture all the time. European popular culture is a strange animal and has certain features which make you want to shiver. Such as telenovelas and soap operas, our phenomenally bad pop music (boy band galore) and just all around craziness. It makes one sigh and shake one's head and feel very embarrassed. We make fun of our own culture all the time. But enter someone American making fun of our culture and it all goes south. We get defensive and state that while European culture is strange, it is way better than American.

I gladly acknowledge this attitude is entirely wrong and diminishing but it does exist.

So when I read the line from the article that stated that in the songs of the competition one could clearly hear the influence of American pop music, I bristled a bit. My first thought was sarcastic: "Well yes, quite obviously Europe cannot have it's own, unique pop music culture but is always trying to copy American". And then I shook my head and thought with myself that we have our own specific and unique pop musc culture that has done just fine without American influence. How could that not be obvious? This is a classic case of the Eurocentric idiot I sometimes am and it is not something I am proud of.

Then the article came with the interesting point that while American pop music influence was certainly present  each nation brought their own specific traditions to it and made it their own. And that it very true. I pondered this in work today and the more I thought about it, I realized how true it was. American pop music has definitely influenced Eurovision songs but at the same time, European cultural influences also have a strong presence so onw ends up with an eclectic and exciting mix of two very different things
American and European cultures and influences come together and it is rather fascinating to witness it. I also find it very interesting to see the cultural influence that Eurovision is. The songs from Eurovision have been playing on the radio here endlessly since the competition and it never crossed my mind it wasn't the same in America, Then it hit me, why should it be? Eurovision is a European phenomenon not American so naturally its cultural influence is felt more here. But Eurovision did introduce the incredible awesomeness that is ABBA.

This interplay between two different cultures or rather one versus like 40 different one's is absolutely fascinating to follow and says a lot about today's world and how globalization is affecting us. All in all I thought the article by Mr. Dever was very interesting and it gave me a lot to think about and ponder. And I am happy that other people are discovering the cultural oddity that is Eurovision and I hope it leads to people discovering more of our music because some of the Eurovision music is spetacular.
But I will say, I do no think American pop music will ever be able to reach some of the awesomeness that goes on in Eurovision. There are certain things only Europeans can think of ;)

Examples
The raising of the singer and a 'vampire' singing

Or having a turkey represent the country

Or performing in monster costumes

Or the crazy Germans singing

Or having having weird gymnastics performed on stage

Or having it "all" during a performance

Or this 'gem'

I could go on and on. Like the Danish song "Fly on the wings of love" actually has really sensual Danish lyrics but they were made more modest for Eurovision :)

The point is.that American pop music certainly influences a lot but when it comes to crazyness. you can depend on Eurovision and the European nations to deliver :)

And here is the lovely article on Huffington Post

Eurovision Part 3 - The Scandinavian psyche

So Eurovision was last night and surprise, surprise Denmark won! It was a great song and the leader singer was wonderful so she absolutely deserve it. on the other hand, this is the 4th time in ten years that a Scandinavian country has won. Is there perhaps a conspiracy going on?

This is a huge boost to the Scandinavian ego. As I have written earlier, Scandinavians are notorious for our overly large egos and pride in our countries. Scandinavian countries are neither big, much populated nor very powerful. So while our egos are large they are also incredibly sensitive. So for us, Eurovision and winning it is showing off to the world and proving ourselves as something to be reckoned with. We can win Eurovision and host it with aplomb. We. Are. Awesome!

The Scandinavian psyche can be hard to understand, even for those of us that were born here and grew up here. I am personally proud of where I come from, I love my country and feel happy to be able to live here.  I love the culture, the language and the odd little things that make this home. There are so many things that are great about Scandinavia and make it a wonderful place to be in.. But because we are small, at the fringes of Europe geographically and were for the longest time economically disadvantaged as well (my country f.ex. was very poor until the 1950's), we were never a superpower and did not make our voice heard or influence much in history or international matter. We were to busy focusing on trying to survive So now when we are at a better advantage than before we feel that must constantly be proving ourselves all the time, shouting out that we exist and that we matter.

We've developed overly large egos to compensate for the feeling of that we do not matter. It is a funny place to be in for us. Knowing that you come from,what you consider to be a great place, where there is so much going on and is filled with such wonders. And yet you know that in the large scope of things, your country and place which you hold dear does not matter. At the end of the day, it does not influence the world or anything. It is just a place where people live. No more.

That's why Eurovision is so important to us. We get to show off ourselves and shout out to the world:"Look at us! We are cool!" and most importantly: "We are here, we matter, please notice us".

And there is always the lingering question: "Do people really notice us or are we just desperately trying to trick ourselves into thinking that they do?".

Eurovision Part 2 - a display of Europe's "finest" and European languages

The 1st semi-final of Eurovision is coming up next Tuesday and I am getting really excited. The songs this year are so many absolutely amazing and great to listen to. But they also offer a display of the craziness that goes on here. Where else would you find a display of such random and nonsensical music but precisely in Eurovision. It seems that every year the European nations go on a competition to see who can show the strangest performances and have the weirdest song. And every single year the countries try to outdo each other. The most recent trend is electric-pop and crazy techno music along with a weird dance performance thanks to "Euphoria" that won last year.

This year Romania pulled out all the stops and decided to have an opera/techno inspired song inspired with some weird dance moves. But the singer has an incredible voice

We also got this gem from Finland which is a glee-inspired pop song about gay marriage. I've been told by one relative that the song sounds like a Bratz pop song and I have to agree.

Norway decided to go for electric-pop this year... Not a very wise decision if you ask me but the singer is good.

And Denmark decided to go for a Sweden 2012 inspired performance with the whole shebang, floating dress, weird dance moves and they even put the tin flute in to go Irish. I am eerily reminded of Sweden 2012 every time I watch the performance. But the singer has an incredible voice and great energy.

And who can forget last year's Russian Babushkas. Only in Eurovision do you find something like this

And this song  from Finland won Eurovision in 2005. Yet again, displaying Europe's finest, or should I say, the Nordic cool?

But another trend this year which I love is the fact that 50% of the songs are sung in the native language of the country they represent. Europe is an entire content with incredibly many and varied languages. In recent years, most people have sung in English as that is the language most likely to be understood by the majority of the watchers. Except, only 2 countries in Europe have English as a native language. and English isn't spoken as widely in Europe as people generally think. Knowledge of English isn't always desired and is even resisted in many areas (I´ll explain that later when I delve into the culture of subtitles, dubbing and just how much we love our languages). And it's not always the case that the performers know English properly. So instead of singing in a language they are not comfortable with they use their native one. And that lends depth to the performance and makes the singer so much better.
Plus, doing this is a beautiful display of one of Europe's assets, the incredible linguistic variety that exists here. It is one of the things I love about it. And I personally love the songs which are performed in languages I do not understand. I am a linguistic nerd to say the least and linguistic variety is something to be treasured and used. And people here are very proud of their national tongue and want to keep it and show it to others. So singing in one's native language is a strong example of national pride.

Iceland is going for a song in Icelandic this year. It is a minority language spoken by a very small people so very few will understand it. But the song is nice

Israel has an amazing song in Hebrew. It really is a beautiful language.

Estonia had an amazing song last year called "Kuula" which means listen and it was one of the most popular songs. I love it

Serbia one in 2007 with an incredible song in Serbian. I do not understand the lyrics one bit but the song was very popular here and everyone loved it. It was a song that was strong without understanding the language.

And Serbia's song last year was nothing short of amazing. I can listen to it endlessly. And it was in Serbian!

Eurovision is a strange animal and many more things. But it displays also passion and love for music and as I've said before. For a continent as divided and complicated as Europe is but still very much for cooperation, it is wonderful that we are able to share and participate in it and show not only our national pride but also cheer for others. It brings people together all around the world.

When TV teaches English

I have expressed my annoyance before with the word "comfortable" and how on earth it should be pronounced in English. TV shows have proven to be quite the linguistic tool for me and I've enjoyed the linguistic challenges I get from watching TV. Last night NCIS answered my request. I watched episode 10x23, "Double Blind" and loved it. But what made me laugh was the fact that the word "uncomfortable" was said two times within a very short period of time. So I could finally here the way it is properly pronounced. Thank you to NCIS!

And life goes on in TV language land. NCIS:LA proved to be another linguistic tool. The country Montenegro was mention, although it was first called Monaco (they were referencing a James Bond film that takes place in Montenegro). I couldn't help but laugh when Kensi not only corrected it but asked Deeks to say where it was. He got it right, it is indeed in Europe, but it did sound like he wasn't completely sure and Kensi picked up on that. Sometimes you just gotta love the geography puns.

This interested me for several reasons. First of all, in my language we do not refer to the country by the name of Montenegro. We use the translated version of the name in my language. That sounds completely different from the title Montenegro so it took me a moment to connect the two. But I did and the reason why I know where Montenegro is, is because of Eurovision. I have been watching Eurovision snce I was little and that includes watching the countries giving out points every single year. Eurovision is such a tradition here that every Scandinavian knows the phrase "Country, 12 points" in both French and English.  And every year I've heard the phrase "Serbia and Montenegro" together. So that's why I know where it's located on the map. But this year Serbia and Montenegro are competing separately. 

The same goes for the country Belarus. Belarus is Russian for "white Russia". And in my language we refer to the country as "White Russia" not by the traditional title. So a few years back when I was looking at a map of Europe from an American geography atlas I got frustrated when I saw the name Belarus and I did not know what country it was. After some googling I discovered it was the country that I call "White Russia".

And another language reference I completely enjoyed was in episode 2x17 of NCIS. Ducky was explaining to origin of the phrase "red herring" and what it means. I thought his explanation was very interesting and it highlighted one of my favorite points of language, how much is behind each word and the history. I loved the explanation of that people used red herring to train dogs for fox hunting to smell and then they'd drag red herring over the tracks of a real fox to see whether the dogs would be fool and hence the phrase.
Then I realized I didn't know what the word herring actually meant. I always connected it a fowl of some sort but it turns out it's fish.

So for an English major, I still have a lot to learn. But I love it. Discovering and using language gives me great joy and I love learning new things and how the English language continues to surprise me. And watching TV does help. And I have discovered the reason why. I learned English mostly through the medium of reading so  I am very strong in that area. English on TV is more colloquial and that is not an area I am as strong in.

Eurovision - Part 1

The next two weeks will be very exciting for me in TV land. First of all the two final episodes of all my favorite series will be airing. But more imporantly, EUROVISION IS FINALLY HERE!! Next week will be a dream come true for a Eurovision fan like me as there will be the two semi-finals and then the all time final. And it's taking place here in Scandinavia, in the lovely country of Sweden. To say we are getting overly excited here in the North would be an understatement.

For those who do not know Eurovision is an annual song contest held here in Europe in which most European nations send in one song and compete to win the competition. The nation that wins each year hosts the competition the following year. This is a very big and exciting venue in which each European country gets to display some of their finest artists and music for all of Europe to see. The competition takes six days on total and is aired over entire Europe. It is a matter of national pride for every nation to send in their best song and make sure it does well. In most European countries there is an in-country song competition to decide which song should be sent to represent the country. This is a very big event and the excitement for it begins in early January and starts building up until the semi-finals and final in May.

Eurovision is a strange animal. In a continent so divided and frustrating as Europe is, it is a wonder we can all come together and enjoy a song contest and lay aside our differences for just a little while (or pretend to at least). A lot of European countries have been at war with each other and there is a great deal of resentment and even hatred between many European nations which makes it tricky to host such a competition. But somehow, every year we manage it to do it.

Every country is desperate to win because not only is it a big honor but it also gives the country an excellent opportunity to introduce itself and its culture the year it hosts. There is also great national pride and patriotism involved in Eurovision. Every person that watches wants his/her country to win or at least do well no matter how good or bad their song is. You are proud of your country and you want it to do well. Also, considering the fact that many European countries are former colonies of other European countries that did not always treat their colonies well, many people want their country to do well to show the former colonists that they can manage without them. It becomes a display of national pride and patriotism. And even if we are able to lay aside our differences for a little while the resentment between countries still comes up.

Eurovision is a spetacle, each year the songs get stranger and the performances get more dramatic and weird. Everyone is always trying to outdo one another. Watching Eurovision is like watching a competition for the strangest performance in the world. Sometimes there are no words for the things that are seen on stage, only shaking of the head.

Eurovision is a massive event but the strange thing is that it is really only popular in Northern-Europe and Eastern Europe. Scandinavian LOVE Eurovision and its a major part of our culture.If you are a Scandinavian, you love Eurovision. It is a cultural event which unites millions of people but still divides us all the same. It shows the unity of Europe but at the same time the glaring differences between countries.