confession #000049

... or, yet another guilty pleasure

if there is something that i'm somewhat ashamed to confess, is my utter love for the eurovision song contest.

i know.  it's embarrassing:  the contest is über-commercial, camp, rigged, monumentally pointless and an overarching affront to good taste. but, somehow, every february and may for the last 20 odd years, i feel this sudden urge to religiously follow first the malta song for europe festival or whatever it's called at the beginning of the year. then,  come spring, i feel the need to watch the maltese contestant face yet another disappointment in not placing among the top spots.  well, with a few exceptions of course.  my little patriotic self must acknowledge dame spiteri, la losco and the woman with 155 pairs of shoes' successes ...

with the onset of facebook, it has become a sort of tradition to watch and comment on the contestants' get-ups, gimmicks and vocal abilities - the more vitriolic comment, the better! last night's first semi final was no exception!

today, i'm bringing you my little round up of those outfits i loved , the outfits which made me cry a loud 'wtf' and one particular moment when i felt like going 'oooooowwwwww' ...

let's start with the best dressed ... 

cyprus: even though i'm not a fan of fitted dresses, this was a winner for me.  i loved the teasing nude lining under the sparse black lace, which even made the maltese commentators wonder whether she was wearing any underwear.  i found this dress sexy but in no way trashy which can be quite tricky for black lace to pull off. 

estonia: now this dress was really up my stream.  i loved its flowing simplicity with the little embellishment detail.  it may have looked like curtains on stage.  it possibly could have done with a little less material, but for me, this was a very close contender for the top spot in my personal hit list

denmark: throughout the whole show i cared for only this and another song i'll be admitting to watching on youtube a few times today later on.  i didn't care much for the uneven hemline - that's so mid-2000's but other than that, the rest of the outfit, including the bare feet worked for me.  i suppose it spoke to my hippy/flower child inner self.  and i loved the drummer boys in the back ... especially the one with the undershave who also played the flute.  how do you say 'hello' in danish? 

moldova: i really loved the effects on this dress ... but! hadn't we seen something like this (fair enough, minus the special effects), on a local stage, circa 2005? deja vu? 

on to the 'wtf's ... 

serbia: as i wrote last night on facebook, katy perry called and she wants her dresses back! i felt i was watching the california gurls video all over again, expecting their boobs to turn into foam making machines.  even the singers seem to be feeling sick at the sight of each others' candy coated outfits in this pic!

montenegro: yes, we had to have dancing spacemen, but then again, what is the eurovision without the gimmicks? 

croatia: i might have actually lived with the coats worn with torn jeans and hipster deep v t-shirts, a bit a la brandon flowers (the killers) but no, we had to go for the full traditional look which turned into a visual description of the song's title: mizerja

ukraine: not much to say other than "get a well fitting dress next time!"

slovenia: oh god, i'm so over peplums (when was i ever a fan?)  the sight of this leather one gave me the creeps to say the least ... 

belarus: for a moment i thought i was watching a typical greek eurovision entry there.  it had all the ingredients: perma-tan and overly stylised hair, fringed micro-mini dresses, disco ball, hips shaking to ethnic-inspired music ... i suppose this is what 'playing safe' means by eurovision standards ... 

and my 'ooooowwww' moment ... 

i read so much about roberto bellarosa - belgium's singer (yes, the only one i cared enough for to learn his name) - and his need to shave / wax his eyebrows last night that i couldn't help but warm up to him.  yes, he's somewhat awkward looking.  the big bushy eyebrows probably don't help much, and i can imagine that he had mustacci tal-muzew, in other words that pre-pubescent 'tache, from quite an early age.  but there is something which i find totally endearing about him ... much like our very own gianluca (there i go, all partiotic and stuff).

so there, tonight i'm leaving you with these two boys' official videos for the eurovision song contest... it'll be something like the 15th time i'm watching 'love kills' today ... i suppose i should really be ashamed about this!