so bad it's good

It's springtime and that can only mean one thing: time for the Eurovision Song Contest! For those of you not familiar with this monstrosity, Eurovision is a kind of precursor to American Idol, with a bit of European unity thrown in. Basically, every country in Europe (which, apparently, includes Israel) picks an act to send to the contest (through an American Idolesque process). Each act sings a song (which must be under 3 minutes) with senseless lyrics (it has to be so such that people speaking different languages can understand) at the all-Europe contest (this year in Helsinki!) and then Europeans text message in their votes. The acts almost always involve horrible, hokey costumes and sets and dances.

It's been going on for decades, and, yes, it's horrible, hapless drivel. It's made up of bad music like this entry from Switzerland, entitled "Vampires are Alive", and whatever the Germans came up with, and Andorra (which actually isn't all that bad, comparatively speaking), and the amazingly crazy act from Malta (above), and well, pretty much everything else you can watch here. But schlocky pop music that no one can really like is fun in its own way, every year. In that spirit, I refer you to Troubled Diva's annual coverage of Eurovision, which I enjoy far more than Eurovision itself. Let the games begin!