Serbia has just won the Eurovision - I liked Marija Serifovic's voice.
I voted, like, 14 times for our Verka Serdyuchka (I'm in Moscow, not Kyiv, so I'm allowed to do that), and I also voted four or five times for Romania.
Ukraine came in second, and I'm sort of glad, maybe because we have Euro-2012 to prepare for, and hosting the second Eurovision in three years would've been too much.
Estonia gave 12 points (the highest mark) to Russia.
Turkey gave 12 points to Armenia.
Very strange - and moving.
Then there's all the diaspora voting: "France" giving 10 points to Armenia, "Portugal" giving 12 points to Ukraine.
Israel gave its 8, 10 and 12 points to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (maybe not in this order, though).
All the former Yugoslav countries voted for Serbia.
Maybe Eurovision should replace politics. Eurovision and the World Cup (football). This would make the world such a passionately friendly place.
:)
elmer here.
ReplyDeleteYes, she has a great voice.
And the name of the song was "Molitva," I believe.
"Prayer."
Wonder what she was praying for.
Dear Veronica,
ReplyDeleteI must confess I didn't follow the Eurovision song contest, although expat russophile blogger Megan Case kept sending me sms-comments on the various contributions. One thing my wife told me though was that France gave Turkey 12 points, which would but add to a more pleasant political landscape were it our leaders opinions that came through.
Yours,
Vilhelm
Yep, fantastic voice. First time I heard the song, I cried without a clue what she was singing about. Glad she sang it in the native lang. rather than tried it in english. And happy that a true singer won first place with a classy voice and song while a true performer got second place with glitz, kitsch and fun! And of course, sexy girls came in third. Great Eurovision contest.
ReplyDelete'Tactical voting' is one thing, but your blatant admission that you may have voted well a dozen times for your own country ('legally' because you happen to be in Moscow) and 4 or five for another just throws into even more doubt the whole validity of the result. For the record I voted, once only(!), for Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a minor cheater. In 2005, I voted more than once for Moldova. Just kept sending SMS's until time ran out.
Part of my reasoning is, if multiple voting weren't allowed, they'd be counting only one vote from each phone number. Technologically, it shouldn't be that hard, right? But I don't think this is the case.
As for the legality of my voting for Ukraine because I "happen to be in Moscow" - well, everyone does it: Ukrainians in Portugal, Armenians in Russia and France, Turks in Germany, etc. It's part of the fun - and also says much about the contemporary migrant and other diaspora communities.
While we're at it, the Russian TV guy in Helsinki said yesterday that from his Russian cell phone number, he was voting for Belarus, and from his Finnish number, he was voting for Russia.
And one off-topic bit - multiple voting is in my blood, I guess: in 2004, I cast three votes for Yushchenko, all 100 percent legal. Was way more fun than voting for Verka Serdyuchka yesterday, though.
:)))
Yes, I'm a minor cheater
ReplyDeleteNot such a minor 'cheater'. Eurovision is only a silly competition after all, but when you go on to write:
And one off-topic bit - multiple voting is in my blood, I guess: in 2004, I cast three votes for Yushchenko, all 100 percent legal. Was way more fun than voting for Verka Serdyuchka yesterday, though.
I have to wonder just what dictionary you consulted which allows you to use the word 'legal'. The fact that you voted for Ukraine whilst in Russia is one thing (I'd still have voted for Ukraine had I been at my other home in Spain, for the record, not for the UK), but cheating in a national election is quite another. I know it goes on, I'm not naive, but to see it so blatantly trumpeted, well, it speaks for itself.
I've written a post about your activities in my own blog, because I think the 'cheating' needs to be more widely broadcast:
ReplyDeletehttp://billcameron.blogspot.com/2007/05/eurovision-and-questionnable-validity.html
Bill,
ReplyDeleteI was not cheating in Ukraine's national election. Yanukovych was, and because of him, I voted for Yushchenko three times instead of two - over a period of two months or so. There were three rounds in that election. Please read on the subject before accusing me of illegal activities and making a fool of yourself.
Please read on the subject before accusing me of illegal activities and making a fool of yourself.
ReplyDeleteI based my comments on what you wrote. So your posts are not only disingenuous, you are an admitted cheat. Accept it - 'own' your cheating.
making a fool of yourself
ReplyDeleteThere is only one fool here and it is not me. So sad.
Bill, are you kidding? It's Eurovision - is it really worth the ethical posturing, or should it perhaps be taken a bit less seriously? If I'm not mistaken, they charge for each vote, so they probably want people to vote more than once.
ReplyDeleteSo sad.
So crabby, self-righteous (about Eurovision!), and judgmental. Lighten up.
What a nudge! Lighten up Bill! And stop trying to use this just to push traffic to your site. Jeez. Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Veronica! :)
ReplyDeleteOmg, this sounds so German and familiar to me, this accuse. I vote for Veronica.
ReplyDeleteWow, Bill, you're a bit of a twit :) The local equivalent of this program in the US is 'American Idol', a copy of the UK 'X Factor'. Most people who vote do so more than once. It's not an election, it's a silly TV show for fun. If they want different rules, they'll make them. But what the operators of these shows clearly want is the revenue from the phone calls. More calls equals more money, so they're delighted to get as many as people want to make. Get a life, little bald man.
ReplyDelete