Eurovision 1998 (UK) re-run starting now (Saturday, 8pm)

[Captain Z]

Each Saturday the Twitter account @Eurovisionagain has been doing live streams of past Eurovision shows. This week it's the 1998 contest from Birmingham, UK, starting in a couple of minutes (8pm). Just in case anybody needs something to watch tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbtmRRQkUlY&feature=youtu.be

[Captain Z]

Weary old Wogan, Ulrikakakaka, Gina G, Dana International... what a time to be alive.

[Captain Crunch]

Cheers for this, do you know how long it will be up for please? 

[Captain Z]

I'm not sure if they keep it online after the event, I've only watched them along live. It's the full contest including voting so it'll be on for at least another 3 hours if that's what you were asking.

[Captain Z]

Last week's is still up in full on the Eurovision YouTube channel, so it looks like it'll be there indefinitely.

[imitationleather]

Just started watching. This intro with beautiful views of modern day 1998 Birmingham makes me proud to be British!

[Captain Crunch]

Last week's is still up in full on the Eurovision YouTube channel, so it looks like it'll be there indefinitely.

Brill thanks.  I couldn't watch Eurovision without a nice big meaty Eurobuffet on the go, will set it up for later in the week. 

[imitationleather]

I'm only on the second song and the little tourism promo bits they have before each song have already got too embarrassing. They're made worse because Terry hasn't made it up to the commentary booth yet so I'm having to watch them without any withering accompaniment.

[Captain Z]

You can play a good game of 'name the britpop hit' during the video intros to each country.

Yes it's mad to think Terry was hosting the stage event and commentating. In fact it's strange to think that the hosts of the UK contest were Irish Terry Wogan and Swedish Ulrika Johnson.

[imitationleather]

Nice of Spain to get an undertaker to do their song.

[Captain Z]

I stand corrected, our 98 entry wasn't Gina G but Imaani.

Where is she now?

[imitationleather]

Oh, I'd not realised this stream doesn't have any commentary!

I've stuck a different one packed full of Wogan on.

[Captain Z]

The staging and arena is the perfect snapshot of a place exactly equidistant between the polite, sit-down, black tie affair of the 60s and the neon rainbow moshpit of today's contests. No wonder Tel's musings were thought to be slightly anarchic.

[imitationleather]

That was an epic finish to the scoring. Unfortunately I already knew who won but it was still top viewing.

[flotemysost]

I was meant to be going to Rotterdam next weekend for this year's competition - obviously it's not going ahead, in fact I believe the venue is currently being used as a makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients - but I'm pretty gutted. Getting tickets for the actual finals is nigh on impossible, but I was looking forward to watching it from a bar over a pint of ridiculously strong beer and some bitterballen, or something.

Feel pretty bad for the artists as none of their songs will be eligible for the rescheduled competition next year. Iceland seemed to be the favourites to win so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HU7ocv3S2o

(I mean, they're no Hatari - last year's Israel-baiting, Rammstein-lite entry, with cheery number Hate Will Prevail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTb69WkBbvs)

I also quite enjoyed Azerbaijan's entry for this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0VzBCvO1Wk It's basically Kiss Kiss by Holly Valance. Which was a tune.

[Captain Crunch]

Great watch thank you.  Back when you could dress to balance your hips, sigh. 

[Satchmo Distel]

Eddie Izzard seems to singing the Irish entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeOPxO3cMNk

[imitationleather]

I think Wogan said the Irish singer was 21 years old! Incredible.

[alan nagsworth]

The 1998 one was fucking shit, wasn't it? About 5 good songs and the rest was total dreary bollocks, and for some weird reason almost every performer was wearing black?! Dreadful. Germany was robbed as well, that bonkers performance should have scored way higher.

I'm only on the second song and the little tourism promo bits they have before each song have already got too embarrassing.

The Switzerland one was absolutely horrifying. People stood gazing out over Loch Ness, when suddenly the monster rears its head out of the water, and the camera zooms in on the frozen aghast face of a woman whose eyeball is inexplicably emblazoned with the Swiss flag. I actually recoiled and went "UUGH!!" at that. It was like the sudden terror you get at the reveal in "Don't Look Now". Can't imagine what the fuck they were thinking with that.

Here it is, (I had to trim and upload it myself, as it's that good) but I advise anyone with a nervous disposition to proceed with caution.

This Saturday's they're broadcasting all of the entries for this year's cancelled contest, aren't they?

[imitationleather]

The standard was very, dare I say, beige. Just song after song of sub-Westlife nothing.

It made it really clear that despite the criticism every year it is far more interesting today.

[imitationleather]

That lass from Malta must have been utterly crushed by those results at the end. The drama, Clive. The stark naked drama!

What is another good Eurovision year to relive?

[alan nagsworth]

It made it really clear that despite the criticism every year it is far more interesting today.

Yeah, agreed. Fuck Malta as well, that song was a dried up turd on a bad stretch of road.

[Captain Crunch]

Malta was bad but not the worst – Slovenia did the sort of song you can't even hum WHILE IT'S ON let alone after the event.  Ditto Finland and Estonia, you want to shake them for being so flat and boring. 

Poor little Portugal, only 37 points after they made the effort to bring the flubberty flubberty drum.

The Switzerland one was absolutely horrifying. People stood gazing out over Loch Ness, when suddenly the monster rears its head out of the water, and the camera zooms in on the frozen aghast face of a woman whose eyeball is inexplicably emblazoned with the Swiss flag. I actually recoiled and went "UUGH!!" at that. It was like the sudden terror you get at the reveal in "Don't Look Now". Can't imagine what the fuck they were thinking with that.

And no points at all!?  After that poor girl did the song in her bra and everything. 

It made it really clear that despite the criticism every year it is far more interesting today.

It felt very restrained compared to recent shows.  The excitable Belgium girl squeaked in a thank you but nowhere near the tearful gushing you get these days. 

What did you think of the Half Time show?  I couldn't work out if it was a real song or just people going "aaaaaaaaah" a lot. 

[Jollity]

1997 is a slightly better year for songs imo, although I liked Diva a lot at the time and so I retain a lot of affection for it even if I'm not sure I like it as much as I did back then.

Anyway, there needs to be a thread to talk/complain about the 2020 entries. Just because there's not going to be a proper contest, it doesn't mean we can't have opinions.

[imitationleather]

The UK coming second the year after winning the competition, as well... We will never see those days again.

It's not just Brexit and all other countries thinking we're twats though. Our policy of making sure the entry is ice cold shit every single year doesn't help either.

[DrGreggles]

What is another good Eurovision year to relive?

1980 is wonderfully nuts.

[Captain Z]

The UK coming second the year after winning the competition, as well... We will never see those days again.

I had to look up whether that was unusual, and while I knew Ireland won it a few times in close succession I had no idea they won it three years running from 92-94 (and again in 96). And the UK came second on the first two occasions.

What is another good Eurovision year to relive?

1972 from the Stasi Interrogation Centre, East Berlin is quite remarkable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDIGd2PRScI

[Jollity]

The UK has come second fifteen times. We are first at coming second. Not since 1998 tho. Now Russia keeps coming second, it's political correctness gone mad, Stew.

[the]

The UK coming second the year after winning the competition, as well... We will never see those days again.

It's not just Brexit and all other countries thinking we're twats though. Our policy of making sure the entry is ice cold shit every single year doesn't help either.

Something else that might figure in the 'other countries thinking we're twats' stakes is that there was audience booing if a country gave the UK a low number of points. If a country gives you ANY points that's a commendation compared to the 15 entries they gave zero to. You could almost feel the rest of Europe bristling (insert electrolysis joke here).

[imitationleather]

Oh yeah that as well. You could pretty much see Iraq coming from that behaviour.