Well, here I am, six days into my blogging career and I have already descended from the lofty highs of writing about matters of State, ecclesiastical governance and elections to writing about the Eurovision. How did it all go wrong so quickly?
However, I felt compelled to write after the begrudgery I saw displayed on my Twitter feed last night towards Ireland’s Eurovision entrants, Jedward.
There were allegations that it was a fix, that RTÉ had rigged last nights ballot on the Late Late Show to ensure the brothers won. There were even apologies to Europe for inflicting such a musical catastrophe on them. This would be the same Europe that produced previous Eurovision winners Lordi and Dana International.
The reality is that the Eurovision is less a song contest and more a contest for the best piece of musical pantomime. It is camp, it is kitsch and it makes no apologies for it. The musical snobs in this country that produced such masterpieces as Johnny Logan’s What’s Another Year have failed to get their head around the fact that even the best ballads just don’t cut it in the Eurovision anymore. Europe wants a show, a performance, something to get all the senses stirring (and laughing). Jedward are guaranteed to provide that.
Jedward might have questionable musical talent. But they are already millionaires because of the power of marketing. And I say more power to them. What’s more, if I were a parent, I could think of far worse role models in the entertainment industry for my kids to look up to than the clean cut brothers from Lucan.
Perhaps a lot of the begrudgery towards Jedward is borne out of a concern that they might just manage to win and we will have to add a tenner on to the TV licence fee to pay to host Eurovision 2012?
