By now, most Eurovision fans are aware of the allegations of voter fraud brought against Azerbaijan. A Lithuanian news website broke the story and this article, “Millions for Victory” goes into more detail. Since I’m fairly new to the contest, I don’t know if this is a yearly occurrence. From what I can tell, there’s no actual evidence proving Azerbaijan’s guilt. While Farid Mammadov wasn’t my favorite participant, I sincerely doubt he was involved. Most artists don’t have the kind of money it takes to buy votes!
In America, we call this “funny business,” except it’s not so much amusing as it is disappointing and illegal. Let’s not dwell on that and instead move on to some truly funny topics.
Serbia’s Moje 3 has the dubious distinction of winning the 2013 Barbara Dex Award for Worst Costume of Eurovision. It is a well-deserved “honor.” My mouth dropped open when I first saw their costumes and I proclaimed, “Those poor girls!” What made it all the more hot of a mess was that they kept their original choreography, which only made sense with their angel/devil costumes.
How to win the Barbara Dex Award: take three pretty women and put them in unflattering, clownish attire.
Cezar from Romania earned second place with his campy Dracula getup. Moran Mazor of Israel came in third. We can all learn a valuable lesson from her fashion faux pas. Body conscious clothes can flatter most figures, but the clothing has to fit. If she’d worn a dress one or two sizes larger, she would have looked fine.
In other funny news, Copenhagen isn’t the only Danish city bidding to host Eurovision 2014. Four cities in Jutland (Herning, Horsens, Aalborg and Fredericia) have declared their intentions to bid. Interestingly, Århus, the second largest city in Denmark, isn’t one of them.
This amuses me because I lived in Jutland for a while and I know these cities aren’t large enough to host Eurovision. They lack the hotel space and nightlife, plus they aren’t easy to get to. Jutland’s major airport, Billund, is only convenient to Legoland and has no connected train or light rail. In terms of accommodations, camping is very popular in Jutland and I wonder if that was going to be offered as an option. A wet option, since rain is almost a daily occurrence. A Eurovisionary article, “Will it be the Jutlandic farmers or the hyperactive Copenhageners to host the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest?” gives a humorous insider’s view of the bidding war.
Finally, one of my favorite web comics, Scandinavia and the World, has published a very funny follow-up of Eurovision 2013. Click on the comic to go to the website and read the artist’s comments on the show.
The artist, Humon, also published a 2012 Eurovision comic that is hilarious. Enjoy!
