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Eurovision Song Contest

Oi pessoal,

Não faz muio tempo rolou o Eurovision song contest. Uma super festa aconteceu em Amsterdã e a maioria dos meus amigos acabou indo.

Pensando em Celine Dion e Abba, as revelações mais bem sucedidas em 50 anos de Eurovision e lembrando do esquama total brega do concurso, resolvi não ir na tal festa.

Esses dias alguem da sala enviou o artigo abaixo sobre o Eurovision. Claro que não dei a minima quando vi sobre o que era, mas algo no titulo (diga-se de passagem a palavra politics) me fazia lembrar da existencia desse maldito artigo.

Hoje resolvi ler e achei um dos artigos mais interessantes que li nos ultimos tempos sobre integracao europeia. Resolvi dividir com voces. Foi publicado no International Herald Tribune. Aqui vai o link original http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/22/opinion/edwatts.php?page=2.

Sei que a maioria nao vai ler, mas aqueles que puderem dedicar 10 min de sua atenção poderão avaliar se eu estou mesmo certa ou estou enlouquecendo - hehehehhehe.

Beijão,

The politics of Eurovision
By Duncan J. Watts
Published: May 22, 2007

OXFORD, England:

One of the unexpected pleasures of spending a sabbatical in Britain has been the chance to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, held the Saturday before last in Helsinki. For those not familiar with this quirkiest of European traditions (which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary), the contest involves 42 "European" countries - Israel and Turkey are included, for example - each of which submits a song to be sung by a band of that nationality.

The rules governing the contest are a little strange, and so is the singing, which appears to emphasize camp over more conventional notions of quality. Britain's entrant, Scooch, put on a saucy, flight-attendant-inspired act that would have made Abba (the 1974 winner) proud, while Verka Serduchka, a Ukrainian drag queen, came out looking like a silver-foil version of Mrs. Doubtfire. Belarus looked fresh out of a James Bond trailer and Hungary apparently had ditched the whole Euro thing and opted for what sounded suspiciously like country.

In short, it's a great show, but the best part is the voting, which is done via text messaging. Anyone can vote as many times as he likes, the one restriction being that he can't vote for his own country. The votes are tallied nationally, and breathless representatives call in the results to Helsinki, allocating 12 points to their country's top choice, 10 to second place, 8 to third, and so on down to 1 point for 10th.

Watching the 24 acts in the final (a preliminary round removes the other 18), I felt Sweden and Britain were clear standouts, given the silliness of the whole thing. I also had the overwhelming feeling that the Serbian entry, a turgid ballad called "Molitva," or "Prayer," didn't stand a chance.

So imagine my surprise when Serbia not only won, but crushed the opposition, beating second-place Ukraine (yes, the drag queen) by 268 points to 235. Britain, with a paltry 19 points, narrowly edged out Ireland to avoid last place; and Sweden scraped together a meager 51 points, coming in 18th out of 24. What was going on? Two words that were shouted across the British dailies the next day: "Bloc Voting."

I had heard about this practice, of course, whereby geographical and cultural neighbors tend to vote for each other, and nobody votes for Britain (well, except for Malta). But it was startling to see just how flagrant it was. The Scandinavians all voted for one another; former Warsaw Pact countries voted for Russia; and almost nobody voted for Britain (surprisingly, Ireland did - and, of course, Malta).

But Serbia was the overwhelming beneficiary of the system, receiving the top score of 12 points from every other member of the former Yugoslavia - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia - suggesting that memories of war and ethnic cleansing can be set aside with surprising ease when it comes to the serious business of winning a singing contest.

Does it matter? Probably not. It's just a game, after all, and the outrageous bias in the voting is as entertaining as the songs themselves. But it does offer an unexpected glimpse of how ordinary Europeans perceive one another. More than anything, it seems, blood is thicker than water, and not just in the Balkans. That Germany gave 12 points to Turkey, for example, probably reflects the large number of Turks living in Germany more than it does a German predilection for scantily clad dancers.

But it was also obvious how little love Eastern Europe feels for the West. Although the "big four" - Britain, France, Germany and Spain (Italy does not participate) - basically pay for the contest, none of them made it into the top 16; and Turkey, which you might have expected to be playing nice, given its pending European Union membership application, awarded not a single point to any big four or Scandinavian nation.

This pointed rejection of Western Europe might even be seen as a metaphor for contemporary Europe as a whole. The large, industrialized nations magnanimously invite their poorer but more numerous eastern cousins to join their party, and offer to pay the bill, only to discover themselves locked out in the garden while their new friends complain about the quality of the liquor and the arrogance of the hosts.

The hosts, meanwhile, can't get along either - the big four collectively awarded one another a grand total of just 12 points. So although it was more than a little odd that the countries that actually tried to help in Bosnia are substantially less popular there than the country that instigated ethnic cleansing, it was equally odd that the Balkans, of all places, was effectively handing the western countries a lesson in cooperation.

The annual chance to score yourself in the eyes of your fellow Europeans might not be a bad thing, however: The Serbs and their neighbors are now going through an outpouring of pride and brotherly love. It's hard not to think that's somehow more useful than crowning the successor to Abba.

In Britain, for all the cries of foul play, there was a hint of - I wouldn't say soul-searching - but perhaps head-scratching over what might be done to reverse the tide of resentment from traditional allies and newly minted European states alike. If nothing else, that seems like a good conversation to start.

Duncan J. Watts is a professor of sociology at Columbia University.

Fim de semana

Oi queridos,

Sei que estou em falta com voces no que se trata da atualização desse blog, mas isso vai melhorar assim que a vida melhorar tambem.

Esse fim de semana fui numa festa Latina chamada Que passa! na Melkeweg, uma boate daqui. Foi uma galera grande da minha sala e a diversão garantida foi daçar o Bonde do Tigrão e Roberto Carlos em versão remix. So faltou o Padre Marcelo para completar a noite! hhehehe

Ate a caipirinha era da mais pura cachaça brasileira!!! Foi muito legal.

Assim que der coloco fotos aqui. Tambem quero colocar uma foto do World Press Photo, mas fica para depois.

Saudade de todos!
Beijao,
Isis

Reading

Oi queridos,

Ta rolando uma falta de inspiracao com tudo.

Entao curtam uma fotinho legal.

Bjs,

Isis

Quando meu irmão esteve aqui

Oi queridos,

Duas fotinhos de qnd meu irmao esteve aqui me visitando. Eu, ele e Emily no Kamer 401 em leidsenplein.

Irmao, saudades de vc!!!

Beijokas,

Queen's Day

Eu e JoAnn zuando em Jordaan em Queen's Day. Se ligou nas penas laranjas? - hehehehhe

O melhor foi o show do Tiesto no mueseumplein. Assim que fizer download vou colocar as fotinhos aqui.

Saudade de todos.

Beijokas,