Eurovision 2011

You might remember our coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest the past few years (08, 09, 10). It just doesn't get more entertaining than Eurovision. This year's competition was held in Dusseldorf, Germany because the previous year's winner gets to host the next year's competition. Interestingly, Lena, the performer who won it for Germany last year, was also Germany's entry this year (with a different song).
It was well worth watching the whole thing, but here are our highlights:

• The winner was Azerbaijan. We didn't love their song (not that we hated it), but here's the video of it.
  
  
  


• The initial photo in this post is from Moldova's entry. Yes, they really wore those hats. And the lady was on a unicycle... (This is why we love Eurovision.)


• Probably the most talked-about entry this year is Ireland's. Their performers are a duo (identical twins) called Jedward, who became famous in the UK for being awful but getting pretty far in 2009's X-Factor competition. (We watched that season and were really rooting for Jedward to leave as soon as possible.) Their song this year, called "Lipstick," was pretty bad


• The Israeli entry was a song called "Ding Dong" by Dana International (below), a transsexual past winner of Eurovision (1998). She didn't make it to the Saturday final this year.

• Portugal's entry (which also didn't make the Saturday final) was a hilarious protest song against economic austerity measures.


• Bosnia & Herzegovina's entry was very entertaining with an eclectic ensemble (including a hip-hop dancing trumpeter) and a catchy tune.


• The Ukraine's entry was awesome because a popular sand artist shared the stage with the singer and did some art on the screen while the song was going on. Apparently the sand artist was the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent."


• Finland's entry is a save-the-world song sung by a performer called Paradise Oskar. The song, called "Da Da Dam," grew on me and I quite liked it Saturday night in the final.
  
  

• Russia's entry was catchy but a little naughty. I don't know if it's the dude's accent while he's singing it, but we found the following lyric hilarious every time he sang it: "You look so good On the floor Put my mind in the dirty zone."


• Our favorite entry that didn't even make the final (we saw it on Tuesday's semi-final) was Armenia's entry called "Boom Boom." Here's the video.
  
  

Gator madness

In honor of the Gators playing in the NCAA Tournament today, here are a few photos of Gavin (& Jacob) in Gators attire. Yes, it's the same outfit he wore the day of Florida's football bowl win.

He did fall asleep during the game... :)

Winners and losers

Jacob did not actually attend the University of Florida, but growing up in Florida he has always been a fan. So people have gifted Gavin some Florida attire, which he wore Saturday to watch Florida win the Outback Bowl. I think these two in their matching clothes are about the cutest thing ever. Don't you love the identical head tilt above--that wasn't even staged. (You can tell by Gavin's expression in the next picture that he approved of the Gators' performance in the game.)I not only attended and have a degree from the University of Arkansas, but I also went to nearly every home football game all 4 years I was there. Tuesday night Arkansas played in the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State. Arkansas had a great season this year, which was a refreshing break from their norm, so I'm not too devastated they lost this game. (In the next photo we're calling the Hogs.)Note: Jacob is actually a big fan of the University of New Mexico , where he earned 2 degrees. [We don't have any Lobo apparel for Gavin yet.] New Mexico only won one game this year (against Wyoming), so they didn't make a bowl game. :( Nevertheless, "everyone's a Lobo"--so Gavin will be a fan of UNM too.

"Would I Lie to You?"

The below clip is from a BBC show called "Would I Lie to You?" and had us laughing until we cried. It's long, but worth watching.
Quick background on how the show works: team members have to read the statement on the card, which they've never seen before and have no opportunity to pre-plan what they'll say. They're supposed to convince the other team of the story's truth, and the other team can ask follow-up questions about the story. This is Kevin Bridges' turn (he's a Scottish comedian). But the clip's star is really David Mitchell, whom we enjoy in general but is especially hilarious here.
Let us know what you think.

Eurovision 2010

Even though we weren't home to watch it on TV, we made sure to follow the Eurovision Song Contest over the weekend. Since we've loved it so much the last couple of years (click here too), we didn't want to miss it this year. Here's the video of the winner, Lena from Germany. I'm not too sure about the song, or her accent, but she's adorable.



And here's the entry that I laughed out loud all the way through. France. It's hilarious, especially the choreography. And I know my French is limited, but I'm pretty sure the words really don't mean much of anything...

I can't even find a video of the UK's performance, which came in LAST place. Seriously. So here's the music video for the song. A cheese factory, to be sure.

Election night!--loving the BBC

I'm just tuning in to watch election coverage on the BBC. I watched 2008 US election coverage on BBC and loved it.

I did just see this on BBC's website: they have a free, downloadable "election night party pack." Per the description on the site, it includes "themed games, face masks and a crib sheet of election night trivia to pepper your conversation with, and thereby impress others."

Instead of hangman, the game is called "hung parliament." Here's hoping. :)

Mikado

This ad is so hilariously scandalous, we laugh every single time we see it. We hesitated to post it because we haven't sampled the product (I'm guessing they're like Pocky). But we just have to share the ad. Enjoy!

fish & chips

Yes, they're greasy and provide little (ok, maybe zero) nutritional value. But fish & chips are so delicious! And they're basically the national dish.

Over the summer Jacob and I drove up to the Norfolk coast and had delicious fish & chips (because we heard about the superiority of fish & chips on the coast). Jacob isn't a fish fan, but he discovered that he really enjoys haddock more than the normal cod.

The detail in this photo shows how flaky the fish can be. Also, you can see the silver skin inside the batter. When we first got here it freaked me out a little that I was eating the skin. Two years later I love it and think it's the best part.

I've been planning this post for a while, but I couldn't resist posting it on a Friday during Lent. Apparently the ubiquity of the 'chippy' (fish & chips shop) came about because people wanted fish & chips on Friday nights during Lent.

The following video clip is well worth the 57 seconds it takes to watch it. So hilarious.

Get some nuts

When I posted the butter advert, saying it was Jacob's favourite, he insisted we also publish this one, which is basically tied for his fave. It's for Snickers, and it features Mr. T.
I find it offensive on a couple of levels, actually. Jacob thinks it's hilarious. We welcome your opinions.

Lurpak

Part of the fun of living in England is the TV. More specifically, the advertising. This advert is for a brand of butter, Lurpak, that our (American) friend Robyn insists is the best thing ever. This ad is Jacob's all-time favourite.

A star! (...with 16 Michelin stars)

Don't you love unexpectedly seeing a celebrity?! After we got through customs in the Paris Gare du Nord we saw Gordon Ramsay and his crew in the Eurostar train terminal. Secondhand information told me that he was sampling his freshly-made croissants and filming passengers' comments about them.

Confession: Jacob and I love watching his shows! He's so mean, but his food just looks amazing! And even when he's mean he's usually right and always hilarious!

For those of you less familiar with his work, he's a famous chef. He ranks 3rd in the world in Michelin stars. His TV shows include The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. We loved it so much last year, we're really looking forward to the new season of The F Word in a couple of weeks.

Here's another confession: I was actually a bit star-struck when I saw him. People were going up and shaking his hand and getting photos with him, but I was a too chicken. Maybe I was afraid he'd berate me until I cried. :)

Eurovision results

We had a good time watching Eurovision tonight, but the really insane acts were few and far between. I really enjoyed the act that won (by a landslide), which was from Norway. The performer, Alexander Rybak, actually wrote the music and lyrics too.

Jade did a great job and finished 5th, which is a fantastic showing for the UK.

Dedicated to Joel, here's the Albanian entry. The performer and song were actually pretty good, but the random masked green man was bizarre.

Eurovision

(This post is dedicated to Emily and Joel who shared our first Eurovision experience with us last year. We wish you guys were here again for it this year!)

Last May when we were in Scotland we happened to turn the TV on and get totally absorbed in something called Eurovision. Basically what happens is that each country in the European Broadcasting Union enters a brand-new song, usually in (sometimes broken) English, to perform at an annual contest. Citizens of each country get to vote--just not for their own country's entry. The contest has been held every year since 1956.

We laughed our heads off at some of the acts (which took "over the top" to new heights) and also at the voting. Russia won last year, basically because all of the eastern European countries voted for them. You can watch that video below, which includes an appearance by world-champion Russian figure skater Eugeni Pluschenko. (Note: We actually heard last year's winning song on the radio a few months after Eurovision.) We still laugh our heads off every time we watch this video; I think you'll enjoy it.


Sadly, the UK finished dead last in the competition last year. The abysmal showings for the UK in the last few years inspired none other than the legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote this year's song and staged a contest on BBC to choose the performer. We watched the competition, which was called Your Country Needs You, and was decided on viewer votes, American Idol-style. Below you can watch the music video with the composer's song and the Your Country Needs You winner, Jade. (She has a fantastic voice and is beautiful, but we're not in love with the song...We're just hoping for better than last place!) Andrew Lloyd Webber is in the video too; he's playing the piano.

We're excited for Eurovision this week, with semifinals Tuesday and Thursday and finals Saturday. Mostly we're looking forward to over-the-top performances and crazy voting, but we'll also be rooting for Jade. If you're interested, the finals start Saturday at 11 a.m. Alaska time, 1 p.m. Mountain time, 2 p.m. Central time and 3 p.m. Eastern time, 8 p.m. Greenwich time. I think you can watch here. We'll post results and maybe more videos after the competition.

Interestingly, Eurovision has featured some notable acts throughout the years. ABBA actually got their start playing "Waterloo" on Eurovision in 1974, winning that year and using it as a springboard for their success. Celine Dion won the competition for Switzerland in 1988.