Finnish square named after Lordi http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5006286.stm Eurovision Song Contest [Windows Media Player] http://www.eurovision.tv/english/index.htm The axeman’s serious side http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1781044,00.html Lordi be, Europe! http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/story.jsp?story=692191 Molvania Disqualified from Eurovision [Shockwave] http://www.jetlagtravel.com/molvania/eurovision_2004.html There’s nothing quite like the Eurovision Song Contest in the United States, though some might claim that the popular television program “American Idol” might be the closest analogue to this long-running contest that resembles a musical exploration of Europe’s constituent nations. Over its fifty year history, Eurovision has elected a number of memorable songs to the top of its contest, including ABBA’s “Waterloo”, Celine Dion’s performance of “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi”, and that perennial favorite, “Ding Dinge Dong”, sung by the Netherlands’ own Teach-in. This year, amidst the usual fierce competition that everyone has come to expect, Finland’s own hard-rocking group Lordi came in at number one in the competition with their song “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Distinguished primarily by their distinctive outfits, which resemble costumes cast-off from the 1986 film “Masters of the Universe”, the band has caused quite a stir in their native Finland. Some had claimed that members of the band were nothing but Satanists, but lead singer and band spokesman Mr. Lordi dismissed all such claims in a recent interview, stating “This is entertainment. The masks are like our calling card and we’ll never perform without them. It would be like Santa Claus handing a child his gifts at Christmas time and then pulling off his beard and saying, ‘By the way, I’m your father…’” Needless to say, the Finns are already talking excitedly about pulling off a repeat in 2007, but skeptics note that such a feat is a rarity in the history of this highly animated contest. The first link will take users to the homepage of Billboard, where they will find an article on the recent victory of Lordi at the Eurovision Song Contest last weekend in Athens. The second link will take users to a news story from the BBC that announces that the Finnish city of Rovaniemi is going to name a square after their hometown heroes and their recent ‘monster’ victory. The third link leads to the well-designed homepage of the Eurovision Song Contest. The site contains an impressive blend of multimedia features, ranging from retrospectives of previous contests and videos from some of the featured artists. The fourth link leads to a piece of commentary on the whole business of ‘high-brow’ versus ‘low-brow’ music by the Guardian’s Pascal Wyse, complete with commentaries offered by those who decided to enter the whole fractious debate. The fifth link leads to an impassioned piece on the whole Eurovision business by the Belfast Telegraph’s own Gail Walker, who refers to the pan-European songfest as the “Contest of Kitsch”. The sixth link leads to the uproarious entry offered by the fictional country of Molvania in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. Titled “Elektronik-Supersonik”, the whole bizarre performance will give some viewers a slight Iron Curtain-infused tingle. Others may not be similarly amused, but it’s all in good fun.