Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2024-05-13 10:52 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2024-05-13 10:52 am
We Are Robbing You Blind, I Hope You Don't Mind.
Like many households, we opted not to watch the Eurovision Song Contest this year. On the day of the final, we had an 'alternative' Eurovision evening instead: we fired up the speaker and had a home karaoke session. The theme was 'past Eurovision songs and songs that feel fitting for Eurovision'. It was a lot more fun than actual Eurovision, I suspect!
(For the information of anyone else who's boycotting Eurovision this year: none of the YouTube links in this entry go to official Eurovision channels.)
We ended up deciding against having guests, because it's been a busy few weeks and we didn't have the energy to host, so it was just the four of us (or the three of us with Ginger spectating, as Ginger prefers not to take the microphone). It would have been fun to have people over, but, at the same time, the fact I was very close with everyone there meant it was slightly less intimidating to sing in languages I didn't know a word of, so perhaps it's for the best!
I kicked off the evening with the eternal masterpiece 'Wolves of the Sea' by Pirates of the Sea (Latvia, Eurovision 2008). My first performance of a karaoke session is always a bit wobbly, because I tend to start out nervous and then gain confidence over the course of the song, but this was a lot of fun. The others quickly started joining in on the choruses; it's very catchy!
My other performances:
- Duncan Laurence, 'Arcade' (Netherlands, Eurovision 2019). I've had this song stuck in my head a lot recently on account of rereading 'The Arcade' by Gnine, one of my all-time favourite Final Fantasy XV fics; it's a great outsider-POV piece about Prompto and his friendship with Noct.
- Marija Šerifović, 'Molitva' (Serbia, Eurovision 2007). I was nervous about singing in Serbian, but this went surprisingly well! Very dramatic and fun to belt out. It helped that nobody in the audience knew Serbian.
- Keiino, 'Spirit in the Sky' (Norway, Eurovision 2019), an incredible banger that should not be confused with any different and terrible songs that might happen to be called 'Spirit in the Sky'. This was fun, but it was also extremely challenging! It's very much a song for three people, and singing it solo required a lot of wild leaps between octaves and languages.
- ABBA, 'Waterloo' (Sweden, Eurovision 1974). Look, you can't have Eurovision karaoke without performing 'Waterloo'. It's against the law.
I also sang backup on Rei's performance of 'The Dream Daddy for Me' by JT Music (very much not a Eurovision song), a rap about the dating sim Dream Daddy, which was an absolute blast, and on Tem's performance of 'I'm Ready', in case any complacent fools thought they might get through the evening without hearing any songs from Death Note: The Musical.
I was very impressed by the performances; it felt like everyone really pulled out the stops, and, appropriately for the occasion, it was very multilingual. In addition to English, Rei sang in Japanese ('I don't wanna get out of futon' by Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai), Italian ('Zitti e buoni' by Måneskin, Italy, Eurovision 2021; I said 'holy shit' aloud when Rei launched into rapid Italian rapping) and increasingly fast Ukrainian ('Shum' by Go_A, Ukraine, Eurovision 2021).
Tem sang the Eurovision song 'Who the Hell Is Edgar?' by Teya and Salena (Austria, Eurovision 2023), which I'd somehow forgotten about completely even though it's about being possessed by Edgar Allan Poe, and the Eurovision-adjacent 'Money, Money, Money' by Abba. Xe also performed 'Idol' by YOASOBI and 'Gimme chocolate!!' by BABYMETAL, both of which looked absolutely exhausting. Tem's passionate BABYMETAL dancing had to be cut short, alas, because it kept causing terrible audio feedback whenever the microphone pointed at the speaker.
The final song was 'Eurovusion (Open Up)' by Two Hearts, which everyone joined in on. It's not technically a Eurovision song, but it is a song about Eurovision (and also a blast).
To end the evening, we watched the 2008 film version of Mamma Mia!, which was also good ridiculous fun! Tem had never seen Mamma Mia! before and, indeed, hadn't heard much ABBA. 'I don't know why I haven't been watching this film on a regular basis,' xe commented. 'This is the best film ever made.'
Tem had glittered up dramatically for the occasion, meaning that, using our shared bathroom afterwards, I ended up covered in collateral glitter. This is not a rare occurrence. I've become a lot more sparkly ever since Tem joined our household.
(For the information of anyone else who's boycotting Eurovision this year: none of the YouTube links in this entry go to official Eurovision channels.)
We ended up deciding against having guests, because it's been a busy few weeks and we didn't have the energy to host, so it was just the four of us (or the three of us with Ginger spectating, as Ginger prefers not to take the microphone). It would have been fun to have people over, but, at the same time, the fact I was very close with everyone there meant it was slightly less intimidating to sing in languages I didn't know a word of, so perhaps it's for the best!
I kicked off the evening with the eternal masterpiece 'Wolves of the Sea' by Pirates of the Sea (Latvia, Eurovision 2008). My first performance of a karaoke session is always a bit wobbly, because I tend to start out nervous and then gain confidence over the course of the song, but this was a lot of fun. The others quickly started joining in on the choruses; it's very catchy!
My other performances:
- Duncan Laurence, 'Arcade' (Netherlands, Eurovision 2019). I've had this song stuck in my head a lot recently on account of rereading 'The Arcade' by Gnine, one of my all-time favourite Final Fantasy XV fics; it's a great outsider-POV piece about Prompto and his friendship with Noct.
- Marija Šerifović, 'Molitva' (Serbia, Eurovision 2007). I was nervous about singing in Serbian, but this went surprisingly well! Very dramatic and fun to belt out. It helped that nobody in the audience knew Serbian.
- Keiino, 'Spirit in the Sky' (Norway, Eurovision 2019), an incredible banger that should not be confused with any different and terrible songs that might happen to be called 'Spirit in the Sky'. This was fun, but it was also extremely challenging! It's very much a song for three people, and singing it solo required a lot of wild leaps between octaves and languages.
- ABBA, 'Waterloo' (Sweden, Eurovision 1974). Look, you can't have Eurovision karaoke without performing 'Waterloo'. It's against the law.
I also sang backup on Rei's performance of 'The Dream Daddy for Me' by JT Music (very much not a Eurovision song), a rap about the dating sim Dream Daddy, which was an absolute blast, and on Tem's performance of 'I'm Ready', in case any complacent fools thought they might get through the evening without hearing any songs from Death Note: The Musical.
I was very impressed by the performances; it felt like everyone really pulled out the stops, and, appropriately for the occasion, it was very multilingual. In addition to English, Rei sang in Japanese ('I don't wanna get out of futon' by Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai), Italian ('Zitti e buoni' by Måneskin, Italy, Eurovision 2021; I said 'holy shit' aloud when Rei launched into rapid Italian rapping) and increasingly fast Ukrainian ('Shum' by Go_A, Ukraine, Eurovision 2021).
Tem sang the Eurovision song 'Who the Hell Is Edgar?' by Teya and Salena (Austria, Eurovision 2023), which I'd somehow forgotten about completely even though it's about being possessed by Edgar Allan Poe, and the Eurovision-adjacent 'Money, Money, Money' by Abba. Xe also performed 'Idol' by YOASOBI and 'Gimme chocolate!!' by BABYMETAL, both of which looked absolutely exhausting. Tem's passionate BABYMETAL dancing had to be cut short, alas, because it kept causing terrible audio feedback whenever the microphone pointed at the speaker.
The final song was 'Eurovusion (Open Up)' by Two Hearts, which everyone joined in on. It's not technically a Eurovision song, but it is a song about Eurovision (and also a blast).
To end the evening, we watched the 2008 film version of Mamma Mia!, which was also good ridiculous fun! Tem had never seen Mamma Mia! before and, indeed, hadn't heard much ABBA. 'I don't know why I haven't been watching this film on a regular basis,' xe commented. 'This is the best film ever made.'
Tem had glittered up dramatically for the occasion, meaning that, using our shared bathroom afterwards, I ended up covered in collateral glitter. This is not a rare occurrence. I've become a lot more sparkly ever since Tem joined our household.
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No one did "Love Love Peace Peace"?
I love the phrase "collateral glitter".
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(not able to play videos atm but excited to check it out later :D)
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(We also boycotted, and from the little I've seen of how miserable a lot of the backstage stuff was, I am starting to wonder if I'll ever watch it again.)
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(I've only heard scraps, but it does sound like there's been some pretty awful conduct. Eurovision is a good source of catchy music, but, if we end up leaving it behind, there are always better ones, e.g. hearing your friends belt songs out at karaoke.)
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I also applaud your friend for singing "Gimme chocolate!!" because it's such an exhausting song to karaoke. Kudos!
"This is the best film ever made." so true. (And now I feel the urge to rewatch it even though I caught a rerun of it in TV just last week).
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I also applaud your friend for singing "Gimme chocolate!!" because it's such an exhausting song to karaoke. Kudos!
It really seemed it! Goodness knows how the actual performers manage.
It's such a fun film! I'd forgotten quite how silly it was.
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Look, you can't have Eurovision karaoke without performing 'Waterloo'. It's against the law.
That's TRUE. You go to jail FOREVER.
I said 'holy shit' aloud when Rei launched into rapid Italian rapping
FAIR. THAT IS IMPRESSIVE.
No "Peace peace, love love"?
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Rei does, in fairness, speak Italian, but I doubt I'd be able to rap that fast even in English.
I was so focused on avoiding jail for neglecting 'Waterloo' that I forgot you also go to Eurovision jail if you don't perform 'Love Love Peace Peace'.
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