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Hump UK Eurovision Choice; Will Hump get us over the bridge to success!
Topic Started: Mar 2 2012, 11:16 AM (761 Views)
Mobson
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I didn't think it was April Fool's day yesterday but the news that Engelbert Humperdinck is to represent us at this year's Eurovision Song contest has shocked and startled many in the music scene - love to know Andy Lloyd Webber's reaction! I wonder who was asked and how many turned the gig down before Hump! That information seems to allude us at the moment...maybe I'm wrong, as apparently he is still big in eastern european countries - more so than here not to mention his success across the pond over the years <whistles>

The singer says that is is "an absolute honour" to be taking part and is "excited and raring to go".

Humperdinck is the oldest ever Eurovision contestant and if he wins, will be the UK's first victor since Katrina and the Waves 15 years ago.

"Engelbert's age isn't the reason why we chose him to represent the nation for Eurovision, but it's nice to break a few records along the way," a BBC spokeswoman said. ... What records would they be?

His last UK top 20 single was 40 years ago with Too Beautiful To Last which reached number 14. He's received four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe for Entertainer of the Year and is one of only a handful of artists with a star on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Las Vegas Walk of Fame.

The song Humperdinck will perform has yet to be announced but the BBC said it would be recorded in London, Los Angeles and Nashville.
It will be written by Grammy award-winning producer Martin Terefe and Ivor Novello winner Sacha Skarbek, who co-wrote James Blunt hit You're Beautiful.

The competition will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 26th May.

Edited by Mobson, Mar 2 2012, 07:51 PM.
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rumbaba
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I think we should either take it seriously of get out of it altogether.

My suggestion: Paloma Faith. Her career is a little bit in the doldrums (what has happened to the second album?) but she looks and sounds great, very theatrical. She would jump at the chance, she loves being on TV and the centre of attention and it's not such a risk for her as someone like Jessie J.
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becky sharp
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Well, this announcement has certainly got people talking.... :D ....it'll be interesting to hear the song.....I think we can safely say it'll be a ballad. <wink>
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Mobson
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Yes, we shall wait with baited breath.

Agree with Rum, someone like Paloma Faith, who has a great voice and great style (british fashion would be glad) would have been a better choice. However, with such high stakes and fierce competition in the popular music business these days, I bet currently trending female singers, like Jessie J, Adele, Florence & The Machine, Pixie Lott, to name a few, do not think Eurovision is a worthy contest to advance their paths to success.

Quite frankly I don't blame them - the fracas over tactical voting for each other's countries, the calibre of the contestants, or lack of, which can be quite freakish, and is at times, in the words of Quentin Tarrantino, "An Inglorious Bumfight!"....

Anyway, Engelbert Humperdinck is this year's choice so guess we have to go with flow...bet one comedian is happy about it as he can revive his sketch on how he really got his name....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cgfELLyPu7g
Edited by Mobson, Mar 2 2012, 07:52 PM.
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rumbaba
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Who remembers this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hdm37wpIP0

Edited by rumbaba, Mar 2 2012, 01:42 PM.
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Norm Deplume
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I saw him doing " Release Me" on today's one-o-clock news. The man's a freak...a joke. Why do people keep going until they are past their prime making fools of themselves? He should grow old disgracefully like the rest of us.
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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Mobson
Mar 2 2012, 11:16 AM
I didn't think it was April Fool's day yesterday but the news that Engelbert Humperdinck is to represent us at this year's Eurovision Song contest.....
Every day is April Fool's day in Eurovision-land.
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Mobson
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Last night on a late, late night tv channel, ?people from other european countries? were asked to vote out of ten for our choice of contestant; all voted very low scores and said they were so surprised with all the talent we have here in the UK, why did we chose Hump ...most said they'd never heard of him....and why chose someone so old ; I say again, What was the BBC thinking? ... ... <yikes>

Zimmer to the ready and unfortunately I don't mean Hans!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbl6gmvH5_0
Edited by Mobson, Mar 4 2012, 02:06 PM.
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becky sharp
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I think the Queen is showing her support for Engelbert...she has made a beeline for Leicester from where she has started her Diamond Jubilee tour of the UK. <ok> :D
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Aware-Adult



Is there a better choice? The modern tuneless ‘caterwauling’ courtesy of ‘X-hit machine’ will be worse <steam>

Was it Finland which won with a satan-rock band recently? <devi>;; Perhaps we can persuade the ‘Miss Fortune’ troupe to leave Covent Garden for a night and funk it up in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Rumbaba and The Emoticons



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Mobson
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Seems like 75 year old Hump's got some old time rivalry - The Buranovo Grannies, six women aged between 50 and 76 (have to say they do have another worldly look about them) will leave their remote hamlet, a village in Russia's Udmurtia Republic?, to perform at the Eurovision song contest. <violin>

The 'singing babushkas' beat 24 other contenders, including a popular rapper and the 2008 winner of the contest, Dima Bilan, to win Russia's nomination on Wednesday evening.

The women blend their own traditional singing style with modern pop songs and the refrain from their song "Party for Everybody" is sung in english whilst the remainder of the song is in Udmurt, a distant relation to Finnish, spoken by 325,000 people, we are told!

Party for Everybody....sung by the Grannies from Buranovo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzDt9Ldc6bo

here they are singing Let It Be.....with a young groovy accompaniment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVpEP8FgM7U

Edited by Mobson, Mar 9 2012, 10:25 AM.
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rumbaba
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I've never taken this competition seriously since facist dictator Franco personally interfered to stop Sir Cliff from winning.

Britain took it seriously for a while, tried to second guess what expanded Eurovision would vote for but eventually got the hump and gave up.

BTW Pammy's new album is scheduled for mid May. She will premier it it at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, backed by the Guy Barker Orchestra (my BiL, omitted to invite us to Cheltenham this year, so I won't be able to comment :( )
Edited by rumbaba, Mar 20 2012, 12:47 AM.
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becky sharp
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Eng's song......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17429151


I think as far as our Eurovision entries go this is a decent effort ..I like the simplicity of it and Eng's voice sounds good on it.
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rumbaba
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It sounds like a French entry from 40 years ago. I'm off to see what odds I can get on 'null points'. Should've done the bet before this came out - it'll be odds on now <laugh>
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waiting4atickle
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There's a problem with the sound on my ancient pc, but that sounded pretty dire to me.

(I could put that on Write your own verse.)

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rumbaba
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It's what my friend Steve would call 'dismal pish'.
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Mobson
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waiting4atickle
Mar 19 2012, 11:52 PM

There's a problem with the sound on my ancient pc, but that sounded pretty dire to me.

(I could put that on Write your own verse.)

<yikes> Well there's absolutely nothing wrong with my p.c's sound, (unfortunately) the song came through loud and clear - what a wishy-washy, soapy-sudsy song - reminded me of those see-saw lyrics to songs sung by people swaying from side to side....if we win with this (not that I care one jot) - I'll be speechless! <laugh>
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Mobson
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The BBC is obsessed with Engelbert Humperdinck...I can hardly switch on a Radio 4 current affairs programme without hearing mention of his dreary song...& he was on the BBC breakfast sofa the other day and they played the ghastly song....What's with this fawning? Ridiculous toadying to the old crooner?
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Mobson
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<ok> Hump goes off first in tonight's final according to the news this morning - wish him well but think he's flogging a dead horse! <flyingpig> (don't have a dead horse smiley)
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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Is there any rationale whatsoever as to who wins? I suspect that the winner is the one that is most different to all the others. So a traditional croon might just trump all the rest who aim to be weird and freaky.
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becky sharp
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Good luck,Enge... <ok>
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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My money is on the Russian Dancing Grannies. A sure -fire hit worldwide, and possibly the only band ever to perform with a prop bread-oven.
I'm afraid you're dead in the water, Englebert!
<doff>
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rumbaba
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Is the pizza ready yet?
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rumbaba
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I'm tipping Germany or Ukraine.
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becky sharp
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I watched the football.... <ok> ...and recorded the Euro then just whizzed through the songs and from what bit I heard of each song it's Germany for me!
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rumbaba
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I flicked backwards and forwards between the footy and the Eurovision. Neither of my choices doing well :(

Belgium gave a point to the UK, ruining my 'null point' bet :(
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rumbaba
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The Hump is very big in Latvia, maybe they'll give the UK some points. finishing with one point may be even more insulting than 'null points'. :)
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becky sharp
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The bets might be on now for us getting into double figures..... <doh> ... <laugh>
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rumbaba
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Not last, though - we have one more than Norway <laugh> <ok>
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becky sharp
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<huh????> Ah well ....SWEDEN ..here we come.....
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rumbaba
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Weird choreography, Kate Bush meets Karl Douglas. A bit of a 'non-song' but sung well enough.
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Caro

Well, I've checked our stuff.co.nz site which is the news site of almost all NZ newspapers (all major papers in owned by Fairfax, previously by Murdoch, except the Otago Daily Times) and there is one mention of Eurovision 2012 on March 12th talking of the Russian grandmothers, and much further down the article talking of Englebert Humperdinck "formerly Arnold Dorsey and famously beating the Beatles to number one in the pop charts in 1967").

I am perturbed at the news that many people in Britain have not heard of him - if I didn't still feel like a 7-year-old really, I might have to feel old. (I noticed in comments somewhere that someone was offended that Greece, having been bailed out so handsomely by Britian, didn't have the grace to vote for you. I suppose there are too many other favours to repay.)
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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Quote:
 
(I noticed in comments somewhere that someone was offended that Greece, having been bailed out so handsomely by Britian, didn't have the grace to vote for you. I suppose there are too many other favours to repay.)

I think you have to keep this Euro-festival of daftness well away from politics; although I believe there are regular examples of factional voting, one way or the other.
By the same token, it's sad that the olympic games is no longer a festival of sporting excellence.
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Mobson
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I agree Hugh - best to keep away from the Greeks - otherwise those bloody marbles will be brought into the equation....yet again!!!

Sweden are welcome to it! <irony>
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madfor4

Like bidding for the football 'World Cup', the UK should just not bother.
The thing that sticks in my mind is the UK entry year after year receiving 'null' points from Ireland when the UK song was at the 'top of the Irish charts'.
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becky sharp
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
May 27 2012, 10:33 AM
I think you have to keep this Euro-festival of daftness well away from politics;

I agree,Hugh and I don't know of anyone who views it as anything other than a plain old song contest.
Saw a comment this morning that said "let's ditch the songs and just have the voting" ..the way things go that sounds like a plan... :D
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waiting4atickle
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becky sharp
May 27 2012, 12:41 PM
Saw a comment this morning that said "let's ditch the songs and just have the voting" ..the way things go that sounds like a plan... :D

That's exactly what I did, and I'm guessing that the highlight of the evening was the guy who came on to give the results of the Finnish vote.
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becky sharp
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waiting4atickle
May 27 2012, 08:59 PM
and I'm guessing that the highlight of the evening was the guy who came on to give the results of the Finnish vote.
That was decidedly weird .... :'(
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AmosBurke
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I think he was Mr Lordi who won for Finland in 2006.
Edited by AmosBurke, May 28 2012, 08:49 AM.
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rumbaba
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Yes, Lordi, the monster band. <pres>
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becky sharp
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AmosBurke
May 28 2012, 08:49 AM
I think he was Mr Lordi who won for Finland in 2006.
I thought it must be,Amos......I wonder if they dress up like that at all their public appearances...
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rumbaba
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I imagine he wears it in private too: I know I would :)
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becky sharp
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<yikes>

Really?...wonder what Mrs Rum would think of that.... :D
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Mobson
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<ok> <laugh>
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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Best Eurovision 2012 fact:
Englebert Humberdink was not only older than all the other competitors, he was actually older than 20 of the countries that Britain was competeing against.
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