Eurovision Boss Critical Of Terry Wogan
The Eurovision Song Contest is a once yearly music (if you can call it that) competition between various countries who are active members of the European Broadcasting Union. Outside of Europe it’s probably unheard of, and even in Europe itself, the general view of the competition is one of a bit of amateurish fun.
However, some countries take it deadly serious, and fight to win it with all their might every year. They put up their biggest singers and musical artists, and instruct them to bring home the glory for their country. Here in the UK, it’s slightly different - we see it all as a bit of a joke. Oh, we put a competitor up every year, and many of us sit at home and watch the fun unfold on our televisions, but the general view is one of hilarity rather than a serious desire for victory.
A big part of that is Terry Wogan, who has provided the commentary for the competition for the last God only knows how many years, and rather than act all dour, spends the evening having a few glasses of wine and generally taking the piss out of all the competitors. Unfortunately this hasn’t gone down very well in some quarters, and now the boss of Eurovision, Bjorn Erichsen, has criticised the wise-cracking Irish radio and TV presenter for undermining the contest and making it look ridiculous.
“Terry Wogan is a problem because he makes it ridiculous. I know he is very popular and maybe that’s the reason a lot of people watch.”
We don’t necessarily watch because of Wogan, but his undermining of the contestants, including the British and Irish entrants from time to time, does make the whole thing much more worth watching than it would be otherwise.
This year’s show is being held in Belgrade on May 24th. Former X-Factor contestant Andy Abraham, the singing dustman, is representing the UK, and has little chance of winning. But who cares? I’ll watch anyway, laugh at all the foreigners in their dated outfits, and have a few drinks with it being Saturday night. God help us when Wogan gives the show up!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:46 am
You know the story of Wogan Downunder? Eurovision is cult viewing in Australia and the channel that gave it to us thought that local presenters (including a very entertaining cross-dresser) could provide better commentary than Wogan. In fact, they did. The thing was, no-one wanted better commentary than Wogan and now we’re back to getting the same Eurovision as you get.
Every year I watch, and every year I wonder if if I should become part of the mob that do Eurovision drinking games. Every year I forget to buy the alcohol and a friend and I just sit and out-Wogan Terry.