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 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.

Being a cellist is the work undercover gig ever, NCIS:LA! - Note from a classical musician

I am a classical musician and nerd and a big lover of music and instruments. And I observe and notice all sorts of things.I am paranoid about my own instrument and am very careful about handling it, cleaning it and taking it anywhere. It is my 'baby' and I do not want anything to happen to it. I have even had a nightmare about my instrument being wrecked. Horror scenes for classical musicians including losing your instrument  having it stolen, leaving it out in the sunshine, a child playing it and travelling abroad.

So watching last episode of NCIS:LA was a 'horror' for a classical musician like me. In one of the last scenes they have Kensi go undercover as a cellist at some plaza. Great plan to have some pretend to be a busking musician except they completely wrecked it in my own, classical musician, opinion.

1)Cellos are extremely large and hard to carry around. They have to be treated with great care. Their are not instruments you just pop in your car and go. They take up space and it takes time to get them into the car. Somehow I am not seeing people like Kensi and Deeks pulling something like that off.

2)It has been stated several times that Kensi does not play an instrument. So why on earth have her pretend to be a cellist? Cellos are extremely hard to master and they sound terrible if not played right. It's not like ukulele which requires very little knowledge to be played. Having cello played badly is like listening to a hundred cats getting choked (only violins are worse).

3)One of the key rules of classical musicians is to be paranoid about their instrument when it comes to weather conditions. Especially string musicians as the stringed instruments are extremely sensitive to all change in atmosphere. My own instrument throws a temper tantrum every time it has to encounter cold/heat changes and un-tunes itself. Even a slight change in temperature makes it freak out. I would never leave it out in the sunshine or play it outside.
So Kensi playing a cello in bright sunshine, not a good idea in any way.

4)Another extreme musician paranoia is leaving your instrument unattended. That is something no musician would ever do as it might be stolen. In rehearsals I always have my music box in sight and my instrument rarely leaves my side when I travel with it. Yes, I helicopter parent it but for a good reason. String instruments are high quality and cost a lot of money and are valuable items to steal.
So Kensi running away from her instrument is not a good idea. Anyone could come and take her cello away.

5)Why on earth do the NCIS:LA people have a cello handy for undercover missions? It's not like it's a weapon or that it can be used for defense.It's a large, bulky instrument that requires great care.

But they did do one thing right - the cello was placed on a stand so at least it was not on the ground! That shows some thinking at least.

I'd personally recommend owing a bunch of ukuleles. They are cheap, easy to play, can be left behind, require only minimal instrumental care and have a lot of incredible Hawaian music behind them which is wonderful to play. Not to mention, a lot of  people play them and they can be played badly.

This scene made me laugh and shake my head over. And it's one of those odd things I like about NCIS:LA, the silly mistakes they make.

Background music in TV episodes - what I like and don't like

As a musician I am always listening to music and noticing it in my environment. What kind of music is being played, how well it works, how much I like it et cetera. So naturally I pay attention to the music on TV shows. How well it works, how it reflects what is going on in the episode and the ever important - how much do I like it. And here is a short synopsis on music in my favorite TV shows.

NCIS has the best music score hands down. It is always such a delight to listen to and it makes a good episode even better. What I have also noticed is that I respond most emotionally to the music on NCIS. It's simple but very effective music and it conveys so much without words. In my opinion it expresses emotion so well, I have even got teary eyed over listening to the music.

My most favorite all time NCIS song is "Aliyah" - I just love it and that song has a very personal meaning for me. I regularly listen to it just before I fall asleep, it is so soothing and calming. I love the quiet melody, the simpleness of the song and the serenity it brings but there is still that touch of melancholy. It's one of my most favorite songs of all time.

And all the other NCIS soundtrack songs are amazing but "Aliyah" is the best one

And I have to mention Cote de Pablo's wonderful performance of "Temptation". I am a big Jazz and blues fan and that song is amazing. I listen to it regularly and love the mysterious aura it has.

NCIS:Los Angeles is unfortunately not nearly as good when it comes to the background music. I never enjoy it. It always feels forced or just a bit too much. If there is an exciting scene it blasts way too much and when there's a funny scene the music turns extra, nauseatingly light and fun. So I tend to twitch in my seat when I listen to the music.

But I did like this song they played in one scene.

Castle, just like NCIS, has excellent background music. I love it how subtle and soft their music is but it still adds great atmosphere to scenes when needed and can convey the mood of each scene perfectly. I am also enjoying how much the composer uses piano melodies - they are always simple but effective. They use both the music of their official composer and music from pop artists.

This song from 2x13 by Pearl Jam I absolutely love.

But the music in the end scene of episode 4x24 is just so amazing. I enjoy the way the cello melody and the piano melody are twinned together and how the music conveys the mood of the characters. This is in my opinion a good example of well composed TV score. The music I am referring to begins around minute 2.

Truth be told I have never noticed much the TV score in Criminal Minds. It is so much in the background. But the way they incorporated music into episode 6x16 "Coda" was very good. And that score was so well done.

I am always on the lookout for good music. And TV does provide some :)