In A Dark World You Can Bet On Eurovision To Brighten Your Day
Posted: January 9, 2015
Updated: October 6, 2017
The cruel world is getting harsher but there's one tiny island of crazy that is heading the other way, getting happier and less serious as the world does precisely the opposite
The phrase “going to hell in a handcart” is no longer the most apt description of our modern world, unfortunately that's only because it is far too mild a manner in which to portray the seemingly lemming-like determination we have as a species to live in a nightmare dystopian future just as fast as we can possibly get there. The sensibly jaded and cynical among you will already have noticed this, the rest of you will just think me alarmist or melodramatically left-wing.
Lamentably there's a great deal of evidence that the world really is sliding into a abyss of inhumanity simply by dint of a lack of effort to stop it happening. The NSA might have got caught impersonating Orwell's Big Brother, but nothing actually resulted from them being so. Massive corporations treat taxes like optional extras, the IMF and World Bank act like loan sharks without the charm and personal touch, and the world of sport is riddled with corrupt governing bodies like FIFA.
Governments cling to power through repression or confusion, keeping the public subdued or off-balance, feeling hopeless, divided, weak. Terrorists kill clowns in Paris or behead those of little significance in the desert. People still starve in the 21st century, disease still defeats us, there are homeless everywhere and the widening gap between rich and poor now embarrasses all but the most hardened greed fanatic. We are a species seemingly intent on creating as many monkeys for our back as time and banana supplies allow.
The doom we sentence ourselves to will be far more bland than any of the sci-fi writers managed to envisage, the world is already far more uniform than ever before as the internet globalizes culture, and an already small world becomes even smaller, the differences between us melting way little by little as the globe goes a kind of grey one-size fits all direction that even the North Koreans would find a little restrictive. However there are still glimmers of individuality and human spirit to be found, and sometimes in the most unlikely places.
Now I know what you're thinking. You're wondering how I can possibly take any joy away with me from what is, by any objective standards, a bizarrely awful competition between nations (some of which aren't even in Europe) as to who can produce the “best” (and I use that word advisedly) song once a year in a pageant of such trashy, kitsch horror that it leaves one aghast, agog and abjectly wishing one were deaf. Well it's very simple. It's brilliant. Simply superb.
Why? Because the one thing the Eurovision song contest doesn't do, is take itself seriously. It is way too over the top and insane these days, and where once it might have been a laughably “square” dry event, it has now become a phenomenon of popularity with people watching in vast numbers, many of them ironically just there to laugh at the loonies. Last year's victor pretty much sums it all up simply by being a bearded man in drag called Conchita Wurst who sang like a diva in Copenhagen.
Of course there's an entire build up before the big night itself, with each nation preparing by choosing a song from among the many hopefuls the pop up year after year in hopes of momentary fame or just a night out on television. In Sweden for example they have a yearly competition to find an entrant called Melodifestivalen which this year will choose the 55th entry the country has sent to the finals. It's popularity is quite staggering event picking up fans among those who like internet betting in Sweden.
The four semi-finals kick off at the start of February with a Second Chance round at the start of March and the final midway through that month, the winner going on to represent their country at the Eurovision bash. The 28 contenders will be hosted by last year's winner Sanna Nielsen, and comedian Robin Paulsson who will doubtless not been keeping his humor to himself. Of course like many events of this nature there is a tendency for people to wager on the winner. Melodifestivalen is no different.
Despite Swedish gambling laws being entirely out of step with our modern doomed world ComeOn! Sportsbook running a book on Swedish heats is running a book especially covering this great warm up with Erik Saade at 3.00 and Mans Zelmerlow just behind at 3.25 and Andreas Johnson trailing at 12.00 with Magnus Carlsson and Jtr both on 13.00 in his wake. Who'll find themselves headed for stardom on March 14th? You'll have to put your money where your musical taste lies, and sit back to enjoy one of the few glimmers of humanities positive madness amongst so much of our madness made negative.
The phrase “going to hell in a handcart” is no longer the most apt description of our modern world, unfortunately that's only because it is far too mild a manner in which to portray the seemingly lemming-like determination we have as a species to live in a nightmare dystopian future just as fast as we can possibly get there. The sensibly jaded and cynical among you will already have noticed this, the rest of you will just think me alarmist or melodramatically left-wing.
Lamentably there's a great deal of evidence that the world really is sliding into a abyss of inhumanity simply by dint of a lack of effort to stop it happening. The NSA might have got caught impersonating Orwell's Big Brother, but nothing actually resulted from them being so. Massive corporations treat taxes like optional extras, the IMF and World Bank act like loan sharks without the charm and personal touch, and the world of sport is riddled with corrupt governing bodies like FIFA.
Governments cling to power through repression or confusion, keeping the public subdued or off-balance, feeling hopeless, divided, weak. Terrorists kill clowns in Paris or behead those of little significance in the desert. People still starve in the 21st century, disease still defeats us, there are homeless everywhere and the widening gap between rich and poor now embarrasses all but the most hardened greed fanatic. We are a species seemingly intent on creating as many monkeys for our back as time and banana supplies allow.
The doom we sentence ourselves to will be far more bland than any of the sci-fi writers managed to envisage, the world is already far more uniform than ever before as the internet globalizes culture, and an already small world becomes even smaller, the differences between us melting way little by little as the globe goes a kind of grey one-size fits all direction that even the North Koreans would find a little restrictive. However there are still glimmers of individuality and human spirit to be found, and sometimes in the most unlikely places.
Glimmers Of Humanity Remain
As we await the end of days, gambling news of it will be on the front page of Reddit or Drudge lest we miss our own slow desperately sad demise, we should be painfully aware that the people sucking the very life out of the other 99% of their fellow humans have provided numerous distractions and diversions to keep our attention elsewhere. They invaded Grenada to keep the press off the Lebanon barracks bombing, and changing the “narrative” is now part and parcel of keeping people from unified opposition. As is, of course, the opiate of the masses, television.Sweden To Choose Entrant For 2015The use of television as a means of mass manipulation and control is now so taken for granted that we have accepted the bias of the news media and their profit driven chase of ratings over integrity or information dissemination. The gaudy loud game shows that are there to distract us now so dumbed down that there are five year olds who find them insultingly patronizing and woefully aimed at the lowest common denominator, and yet it is amongst these that we find a ray of hope, of humanity; The Eurovision Song Contest.
• Eurovision song contest qualifiers start in February
• An oasis of happy madness in a sea of despair
• ComeOn! Sportsbook running a book on Swedish heats
Now I know what you're thinking. You're wondering how I can possibly take any joy away with me from what is, by any objective standards, a bizarrely awful competition between nations (some of which aren't even in Europe) as to who can produce the “best” (and I use that word advisedly) song once a year in a pageant of such trashy, kitsch horror that it leaves one aghast, agog and abjectly wishing one were deaf. Well it's very simple. It's brilliant. Simply superb.
Why? Because the one thing the Eurovision song contest doesn't do, is take itself seriously. It is way too over the top and insane these days, and where once it might have been a laughably “square” dry event, it has now become a phenomenon of popularity with people watching in vast numbers, many of them ironically just there to laugh at the loonies. Last year's victor pretty much sums it all up simply by being a bearded man in drag called Conchita Wurst who sang like a diva in Copenhagen.
The Happy Madness That Is The Eurovision Song Contest
Sit for an evening watching the Eurovision Song Contest and you realize that the forces of darkness and oppression will never win entirely, that there will always been the eccentric, the odd and the insane who'll continue to colour our world with their brand of madness. From the incomprehensible choice of song to the ridiculous presentation by unknown weirdos the competition is a parody of itself and these days even the commentators have given up attempting to make you believe otherwise. It's great.Of course there's an entire build up before the big night itself, with each nation preparing by choosing a song from among the many hopefuls the pop up year after year in hopes of momentary fame or just a night out on television. In Sweden for example they have a yearly competition to find an entrant called Melodifestivalen which this year will choose the 55th entry the country has sent to the finals. It's popularity is quite staggering event picking up fans among those who like internet betting in Sweden.
The four semi-finals kick off at the start of February with a Second Chance round at the start of March and the final midway through that month, the winner going on to represent their country at the Eurovision bash. The 28 contenders will be hosted by last year's winner Sanna Nielsen, and comedian Robin Paulsson who will doubtless not been keeping his humor to himself. Of course like many events of this nature there is a tendency for people to wager on the winner. Melodifestivalen is no different.
Despite Swedish gambling laws being entirely out of step with our modern doomed world ComeOn! Sportsbook running a book on Swedish heats is running a book especially covering this great warm up with Erik Saade at 3.00 and Mans Zelmerlow just behind at 3.25 and Andreas Johnson trailing at 12.00 with Magnus Carlsson and Jtr both on 13.00 in his wake. Who'll find themselves headed for stardom on March 14th? You'll have to put your money where your musical taste lies, and sit back to enjoy one of the few glimmers of humanities positive madness amongst so much of our madness made negative.
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