The more things change...

In preparation for potential conversations at a gin party on Friday I've been catching up on the Eurovision finalists at www.eurovision.tv and ... well ... okay here's the thing ... when I worked at Rizzoli in the 80s-90s we used to listen to this kind of stuff all day long (when not listening to Betty Buckley) and it grows on you in a kooky kitschy way, although Rondo Veneziano never really did. But it's like a comfortable coat, europop is. You can put it on any time and the holes are in the same place, but it's just as comfortable as the day you bought it. I mean, honestly, Patricia Kaas is in this year's Eurovision. Doesn't anything ever change over there?

Thank God for those nutty kids in Azerbaijan, that's all I'm saying. They at least try to move things a little forward. Some countries are going backwards, like Ireland. I can understand how maybe a small country like Belarus can be trapped in a cultural timewarp, but Ireland? They gave us U2 and Dustin the Turkey. It's crazy.

Winner of the best euro-biography I've read so far is definitely Finland:

After winning The Finnish Eurovision Song Contest by a clear majority of popular vote, Waldo’s People’s is ready to conquer the dance floor in Moscow with the ultimate dance hit Lose Control. Besides being a radio hit in Finland, the Misko Iho-directed video gained nearly half a million hits in YouTube over one weekend after the Eurovision victory. Waldo’s People is definitely the best europop act in Finland today, if not in whole Europe. The classic dance pop sound of the 90’s is surprisingly becoming fashionable again in the club scene all over. Will the biggest surprise hit in the Eurovision 2009 come from Finland again?

"The best europop act in Finland today, if not in whole Europe" -- I'm not sure what that means in the big picture, but I like it. When I was a kid wanted to grow up to be the Papal See, now I want to be the best europop act in whole Europe.