On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 9:11 AM, Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > >> What happened to the mooted idea - I think by NBC - of doing a US >> state by state competition along similar lines? You have two >> semi-finals and then a final of 25 songs. You'd get three big three >> hour spectaculars! > > My instinct is to mock the concept, but I frankly don't know enough > about the Eurovision song contest, aside from a few mentions in Python > sketches. How are winners chosen? Who decides who can participate? If > there are judges, how are they chosen, and do they do the sort of > televised verbal harrassing of singers that the Idol judges do? > > If somone wanted to organize a continent-wide talent search conducted > by leading music industry professionals and artists, not for the > purposes of producing a weepy-eyed and overdramatic TV show, but for > the purposes of actually scouting talent, I'd be all for such an > endeavor. >
Different countries do different things to choose contestants. But in the UK - yes, we essentially have a reality show to determine who represents us. Although Idol-style in its open audition format, the short run of the series meant that we got a winner quite quickly. There were only six televised contestants! How each country selects their entrant to Eurovision is down to them, and you obviously wouldn't want a sprawling series determining the "final 50" who go head to head. So some countries choose established popstars in their homelands. But a series of open auditions could be used - perhaps with local media supporting it? The ultimate winner is chosen by a strangely fascinating voting procedure in which each country gets to award points for the top ten songs. Does Eurovision find real talent? Not often. Abba and Celine Dion seem to be two who did well out of it. As did Michael Flatley with Riverdance following his interval performance when Ireland hosted one year. That probably doesn't make you think it's a good idea. But it gets big ratings across Europe, so I'm surprised some executive or producer hasn't tried replicating the formula! Adam --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
