http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=9046
Arts & Culture
Eurovision fever comes to Turkey
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News 11/05/2004 15:53
The 49th Eurovision Song Contest will be held on May 15 in Istanbul, with singers and groups from 36 countries competing in the event
After years of Eurovision disappointment it was Turkey's turn to celebrate last year. Sertab Erener won the contest with "Everyway That I Can" in 2003, beating close challenges from Russia and Belgium.
As a result of the win Turkey earned the right to host the competition this year and will play host to the contest in Istanbul. A semi-final is to be held on May 12 before the main contest on May 15. Organizers expect 1,500 journalists and 5,500 guests to attend the event.
Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall, where the contest is to be held, has a 7,500-person capacity. A total of 5,500 tickets have been sold while the remaining seats are reserved for VIP guests and contestants. Journalists will have the use of 125 computers in the press center.
While to some the words "Eurovision" and "Euro-trash" are synonymous, the competition has been a national cause in Turkey for many years, notwithstanding the fact that Turkey had never come close to winning it until last year. It was usually a case of where in the lower half of the contestants' point total that Turkey would be.
In the 1980s families would crowd in front of their televisions, watching Turkey's only TV channel to see how well Turkey's song would fare amongst the European entrants, praying that it would not come last. After years of heartache the Turks eventually began to lose interest, believing the country would never have a realistic chance of winning due to political reasons.
Everything changed last year, when Erener won for Turkey after 28 years of embarrassment. The reason she won was because it was a good song and was sung in a language (English) that could be understood by everyone. In addition, Turkey had a good year diplomatically. Although the song's English lyrics sparked controversy in Turkey, Erener's victory put all the arguments to rest. Many commentators said Turkish lyrics were the main reason behind the decades of disappointment whilst almost all of them ignored the fact that English lyrics in no way helped the British contestants, who gained no points whatsoever. Of course, another reason for failing to win any points could well have been the United Kingdom's support for the United States in Iraq as well as having a bad song sung by a talent-free duo. The bottom line is a country that wants to win has to have a good song.
With this victory Turkish politicians came out and said this was another factor that proved Turkey was European and deserved to become an EU member. Their argument may have had some credibility: You cannot get more European than Eurovision.
As is the norm in such contests, political considerations played a major part in the event. Greece and Greek Cyprus awarded maximum points to each other regardless of how bad each of their songs were. If relations between Greece and Turkey remain stable this year, Turkey's song could well attract votes from the Greeks, with Turkey graciously responding in kind. National causes all over Europe could be played out in front of the viewing public.
Last year Greece gave Turkey seven points, with Greek Cyprus receiving the obligatory 12-point maximum. Moreover, Greek Cyprus awarded Turkey eight points for "peace on the island." Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina conveniently exchanged 12 points. Another strange fact was the 12 points allocated by Belgium, which helped Turkey to overtake the leading team to eventually win the contest. And yes, the leading team at the time was Belgium.
With Cypriot peace a shambles, Turkey had to resolve the issue of how to address the contestant from the internationally recognized Greek part of Cyprus. The Foreign Ministry eventually decided that the Greek Cypriot contestant would be called Cypriot.
The stage at the Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall has cost $5 million, according to reports. The theme is "Under the Same Sky" and will feature 36 stars, which will symbolize each of the contestant countries.
This year's contestant from Turkey is the rock group Athena with a song entitled "For Real." The song was selected by the public in a January vote. Athena hopes to repeat the success of Erener but no matter what, it will still be a great occasion and promises to provide a relaxing evening of TV watching a European contest take place in Turkey. One thing to remember is not to laugh when friendly countries vote for each other, no matter how bad their songs are. It is just what friends do.
Turkish Daily News report
Well, the UK can't do worse than we did last year!
The music is the worst stuff you could ever hear - but that jsut increases the comedy value of Eurovision ten fold.
NEW SIG COMING OCTOBER 2004!!
malta the bestttttttt
12 points for germany!
our artist is great this year
File name:
Max - Can't Wait Until Tonight
They can Stop Napster the Company, BUT never Napster the Idea...
If we're lucky it will stay there, though I feel sorry for the Turks.Originally Posted by tamarisk
"You have already proven what you are...
a troll chucking flaming spam out..".....who me?
True Eurovision songs are not exactly good in general.
Malta's entry is "original". If the people see it good then we might go well.
I heard Germany choose the song according to how well they went in the charts.
But then as the article said it is all friendly voting.
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