Last night, Eurovision was upon us once again. For those of you who haven’t spent a lot of time in Europe or don’t know many Europeans, Eurovision is a song contest that is held every year, and most of Europe participates in it. The best way to describe it is “a European phenomenon.” It’s always hosted in the country that won the previous year. Each country submits an entry, and the best from the first round go onto the finals, which are televised all over the continent. People vote for their favourite acts; anyone can vote up to 20 times via phone, text, or app, but no one is allowed to vote for his or her own country. It’s totally serious, but a lot of the entries are hilarious. I always cheer for the cheesiest ones, and this year there was one that was so over the top that I actually voted for it (Romania).

Denmark won this year. The song wasn’t bad; I’d happily ignore it on the radio. I guess it’s marketable and decent enough, but that’s not what Eurovision is about to me, so I was a bit disappointed.

Other marketable, yet somewhat forgettable entries came from Russia, Malta, and Norway:

Romania was my favourite. Cezar, the singer, was actually extremely talented. He’s a professional counter-tenor, which difficult to do. They’re very rare overall. However, the music was hilarious. Operatic counter-tenor vocals mixed with electronic music is just funny. He was also dressed like Dracula, and had several interpretive dancers around him. It was just funny. I voted for Romania. In my opinion, this is everything Eurovision should be: over the top to the point of being kind of ridiculous, and exploiting its country’s culture.

Other great, totally cheesy entries came from Moldova, Finland, Greece, and Ireland. Good job, guys. Keep with the Eurovision spirit!

Germany was a bit uninspired. It was better than last year’s entry, but pretty much a rip-off of Sweden’s winning entry last year.

I think Germany can do better. Lena’s winning 2010 entry was catchy and kind of fun, and was a big hit here. At its best, Germany understands that Eurovision shouldn’t be serious, and submits crazy, ridiculous entries.

(Stefan Raab is a popular comedian and TV host here. He entered in 2000 with this gem of a cheesy song. I love his pimpin’ outfit)