Nottingham today, and I eventually found wireless access in the lobby of a rather better hotel than the one I’m staying in. Just time to note that, in the light of last weekend’s Eurovision song contest, my “network analysis of voting”:https://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/001852.html is now both confirmed and redundant.[1] The introduction of the Eastern European bloc of countries has had striking structural and cultural effects. Structurally, political voting for neighbors is now blatantly obvious love fest and openly commented on by the returning officers for each country. When Russia its _douze points_ the Russian announcer said highest marks went “to our great friends, Ukraine.” “We used to be so close,” Terry Wogan commented on the BBC. Culturally, the “Euro Heritage” type song also seems to be eclipsed and the contest has returned to its roots as a festival of tat and pap, thanks mainly to the fashion and musical tastes of the breakaway republics and former Yugoslavian countries. From sub-Britney to proto-Xena to quasi-Miami Vice, there’s clearly no sleaze like Balkan sleaze.
fn1. That was real data, by the way. I abused it but I didn’t make it up.
{ 4 comments }
Andy 05.18.04 at 12:39 pm
They ought to change the rules so that the viewing public do not know the nationality of the performers until after they have voted.
Then we would get an accurate measure of just how bad european tastes in popular music actually are.
This would also add a whole new layer of drama and excitement to the proceedings. Imagine Wogan’s commentary as the nationalities of the acts are revealed.
des 05.18.04 at 12:56 pm
Because of course Norwegians (say) do not have access to any form of Swedish (say) media, and besides the national selection procedures are conducted in the very strictest secrecy that live national TV has to offer…
P O'Neill 05.18.04 at 3:00 pm
>>
From sub-Britney to proto-Xena to quasi-Miami Vice, there’s clearly no sleaze like Balkan sleaze
>>
Except Carpathian sleaze.
josip 05.20.04 at 9:40 am
The right-wing nationalist wackos here are absolutely horrified that we Croats would give our twelve points to the dastardly Serb contestant. Rationalization of this Copernicus-like event turns on the supposed existence of a great many Serbs (who “just pretend that they are Croats”) voting for their “brother Serb”. As they say, “after Tito…”
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