Dervish on eurovision song contest?

I think it was them anyway, Saturday night, a few beers and I just caught the tail end of it..
May the god of forgivenes for tacky awfulnes, well....forgive them!
I love Dervish dearly and there sound is one of the most original to come out of Ireland for many'a year so please! why?

[Avi Ziv]

I grew up in Israel, where people get totally caught up in this ridiculous event. It's much worse than, say, American Idol, because it takes on an air of national pride. The fact that most viewers cannot understand the singing makes the performers resort to overly simple melodies, over-production, stage antics and other attractions. Why Dervish ventured into this is totally beyond me. I can only hope that they will recover and get back to the business of making good music.

Avi

[otterly2k]

I saw them in Philly this winter. I don't think they've ever left the business of making good music. I dunno why they did the Eurovision thing either, in fact they seemed somewhat perplexed by it themselves...

well, if it gets them good publicity and support, ok with me.

[POB]

It was such a shame that one of the hardest-working Irish traditional bands put themselves up for that. It just didn't suit them, either musically or visually. This was painfully apparent in their "performance". Their indisputable skill and talent didn't come across at all. They sounded bad and looked awkward. They did themselves a gross injustice. They're getting a lot of flak now from people outside of Irish music who didn't even know they existed a couple of months ago. Cringe and double cringe. Let's hope they can put it behind them quickly and get back to the business of doing what they do best.

[PseudoCelt]

Maybe the exposure to ~100 million viewers swayed their decision to do it?

Patrick

[POB]

Maybe the exposure to ~100 million viewers swayed their decision to do it?

I'm sure it did. But they did look...exposed. If I hadn't heard of them before, I would have been less than impressed by them based on the Eurovision performance. They took a gamble and I really hope it doesn't backfire on them in a big way.

[Plamen Ivanov]

I`m proud the Bulgarian piece won the 5. place in the Competition! It is indeed a remarkable piece of music with lot of power and passion. Modern sound based on the folklore tradition.

I`m proud the Bulgarian piece won the 5. place in the Competition. QUOTE Plami..

Yes I agree, bizarre but it definitely worked and seemed to have some integrity.
I am now trying to wipe the Dervish thing from my mind....
I should never have mentioned it in the firstplace,
I should have heeded the old saying 'least said soonest mended'.
DD

[steve V. johnson]

I saw the Dervish tune video on the RTE site, and from a bunch of the Irish press I got the notion that the Irish entry was sponsored by RTE. #I have no idea how they chose who, among all the impressive Irish (pop) bands out now, would represent Ireland. # Maybe some competition?

As for Dervish and the tune itself, it was pretty... um... lightweight. #The production was standard pop fare, I didn't find it obnoxious, per se, but the hardcore traddie in me did. #Sure, it was tripe, junk, ####, fluff, cheap candy. <GG> #Hey, that's pop music.

But somehow that wasn't my main emotion about it, it was just indicental. #I just figured that if Cathy & Co. wanted to do this and take a shot at it, fine and good luck. #My guess is that at the end of the day they won't have this epiphany... 'Wow, we ought to overdub drum kits -all- the time, and leave out all these stupid acoustic instruments... More synths, more samples!!" #Doing the Eurovision with a stupid pop arrangement probably won't jeopardize their fan base and it might bring along some folks that hadn't heard them before into their world and catalog.

Evan bad press is good, especially if there's a lot of it all over the EU... I've been in the business too long to take this sort of thing very seriously. #Unless, of course, I was responsible for some part of the audio quality of the broadcast or the recordings, that would be -really- different!! ... LOL!!

I have no fears of any erosion of Dervish's 'trad cred'.

Apparently, again from post-event Irish press, the Irish song and Dervish, took a pounding in the rankings. #One headline used the term "Dervish... gutted" by the results. #Right, sure. #

My perspective on the event itself is similar to Avi's. #A bunch of media/broadcasting interests went home with bags of Euros, and all else is pretty much only froth, so the Dervish loss, even in severe terms, is no big deal.

I hope they feel that way. #Cathy's always seemed to have a pretty clear view of the value of mass media, so I imagine that they're just fine, no matter what the papers might say. # Bless 'em in any case.

stv

[POB]

I have no fears of any erosion of Dervish's 'trad cred'.

Likewise. However, I think it might have done them damage in terms of trying to extend their audience.

[otterly2k]

well, I just sampled some of the Eurovision entries on youtube, and also theirs. #Dervish is a trad band, not a pop band...and it's clear (like with American Idol) that this is a pop competition. #It's a bummer they scored so low, but I'm thinking it wasn't really the right contest for a group like this.

ps. Plami - I liked the Bulgarian piece too.

[steve V. johnson]

FWIW... # #

From the Belfast Telegraph:

Eur the worst ever
Monday, May 14, 2007
By Claire McNeilly

The man who co-wrote Ireland's worst-ever entry in the Eurovision Song Contest last night admitted he was "gutted" by the song's dismal showing.

'They Can't Stop The Spring' by traditional band Dervish saw Ireland finish 24th - and last - in the contest, held in Helsinki on Saturday night.

In front of an estimated television audience of over 100 million, Ireland emerged with only five points - supplied, incidentally, by Albania - to finish bottom of the pile for the first time in the competition's history.

The United Kingdom entry from the band Scooch - titled Flying the Flag (For You) - fared little better, finishing second-last with a mere 19 points.

Seven of those points were awarded by the Irish judges, but Britain failed to return the favour, giving Ireland the dreaded 'nul points'.

Serbian singer, Marija Serifovic won the 52nd annual event, staged in the Hartswall Arena in the Finnish capital.

Ireland have a magnificent record in the cheesy contest, having taken top spot seven times, including three successive victories between 1994 and 1996.

This year's winning song, Molitva, was one of the favourites and romped home with 268 points.

Ireland's song was written by Tommy Moran and John Waters, a journalist with the Irish Times.

Mr Waters said: "It was pretty dismal. We were disappointed. We had put a lot into it. We felt the song was good. The band did their absolute best."

From classic cheese to the downright insane, this year's show in Finland's capital had it all.

It was as if the producers knew that ? if the event wasn't going to be credited for its showcase of talent, it might as well pick up points for its sheer entertainment value.

From Ukraine's entry (which featured a man in a silver dress and a giant, silver star on his head running around and slapping the bums of his backing dancers) to the frontman of the French band Les Fatals Picards (who dressed in shocking pink and sang his song while stroking a stuffed black cat stuck to his shoulder), the show veered towards the Eurotrash edge of surreal.

And, just when you thought it couldn't get any more bizarre, out came Santa to interact with the show's presenters.

More than 9,000 admirers of kitschy acts and bubblegum music packed Helsinki's largest ice hockey stadium to attend the show while, a few kilometres away, up to 20,000 people watched the event live on giant screens erected in the city's central square.

The mad bash has put the Finns into carnival mood with 350 events organised during 'Eurovision Week'.

Temperatures of near-zero did nothing to deter thousands of Eurovision enthusiasts who descended on the city's main square to watch the semi-finals on the huge video screens.

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