Eurovision: Flock of turkeys
More photos:
Friday February 22 2008
THEY say the camera adds 10 pounds, but the cameras working on tomorrow's Eurosong final will have to add a lot more -- namely musical talent, writing ability, freshness and humour.
The six acts performed their tunes on radio yesterday afternoon and they ranged from banal to, as Dustin would put, downright "brutal".
And the foul-mouthed turkey, who is the odds-on favourite to win the competition, firmly took up residence in the second camp. Critics have claimed that including the puppet was taking a joke too far. That could only be the case if it was funny.
"Give us another chance/We're sorry for Riverdance/Sure Flatley, he's a yank/And the Danube flows through France", is actually one of the more amusing verses in the disappointing 'Irlande Douze Points'.
Karl Broderick, a member of the judging panel on the 'Mooney Show' yesterday, said that he had been in contact with Darren Smith, one of the writers of the song.
"In Darren's own words, 'we're entering this song with Dustin, it's not very good'," Mr Broderick said, before saying that the latest version was much-improved.
And the panel on the 'Mooney Show' felt it was one of the better finalists, which probably tells you all you need to know about the others. Dustin is 1/3 with the bookies, who rate Donal Skehan at second favourite with 'Double Cross My Heart'.
The Eurovision has never dwelled too long on the importance of lyrics so "Starting tonight, we'll share the light/We'll never say goodbye", probably won't rule Mr Skehan out but his euro pop by numbers tune probably will.
Still, he was streets ahead of Maya, whose song was rejected by her native Slovenia, possibly on the grounds that it threatens to shatter glass.
'Not Crazy After All', performed by Leona Daly, was possibly the only song that didn't have listeners switching off in droves. The final two acts, Liam Geddes and Marc Roberts, were rushed through as the show ran out of time. Unfortunately, we got to hear both in full.
You can judge for yourself tomorrow night, live on RTE1 from 8pm.
- Jason O'Brien
