[2014100] EUROWISION Adelaide 2014
CARCON productions @ Gluttony – The Peacock
11:45pm, Sat 8 Mar 2014
Another year, another Eurowision, and another opportunity to openly confess my (only somewhat ironic) love of Eurovision (seriously, how good was Margaret Berger’s pulsing neo-industrial I Feed You My Love last year? And Conchita Wurst’s phoenix stageshow this year? Amazing.) Not only does Eurovision provide the music and the spectacle, but it provides comedic fodder for this event: parody and mimicry in one. And after the success of first two Eurowisions (in 2012 and 2013), with the event timed to spill over into my birthday, wild dogs couldn’t keep me away from this one.
But the previous event in The Peacock runs long, so I’m able to claim one of my most treasured presents (a Birthday Kiss!) before our hosts take the stage. And, from the outset, it’s obvious that the formula hasn’t changed much: the gorgeously curvy Carla Conlin and The Golden Phung’s Andrew Crupi return as hosts Heidi and Uri, Mark Trenwith provides his interstitial postcard segments through black-bodysuited comic mime, last year’s country flag bearers and dancers reappear, and even the Pyrotechnic Team Teen comes back for another bout. Sure, a lot of their “jokes” return, too, but the mood in the room overcomes both the familiarity and the corniness.
I’ve no idea who performed for the smallgood-assisted Italy (female vox with male accompaniment), but Sparrow Folk performed a fun bilingual translated song (Mais Non?). The Golden Phung presented a sketch demonstrating the process of conflict resolution through spit-roasting whilst representing the UK; I’m not sure what the connection to the country was, but it was well worth a giggle.
James McCann once again provided a wonderfully overacted effort, this time for Spain; his spanish version of Faith was brilliant fun, as was the teacup-inspired effort by Gravity Boots for a new “country”, Planet Seedling. Bridget Tegdirb’s drinking song required crowd interaction, but I’m not sure we were up for it; as a result, Scotland’s entry felt a little flat. The Lords of Strut represented Ireland by slaughtering Total Eclipse of the Heart whilst performing a balancing routine – a wardrobe malfunction leading to testicular exposure kept the disbelief and laughs high.
Thereafter, the quality really picked up: the amazing Anya Anastasia provided France with another(!) great entry, playing keys and singing about the many ways Marie Antoinette could lose her head. Then Gerry Masi provided the undoubtable highlight of the show with his classic Toilet Song – again, I’m not sure how that relates to his chosen country of Moldova, but whatever – that man can deliver! Who knew he could sing? Bazinga Burlesque wrapped up proceedings for Russia by performing a rocked-out version of Rasputin.
Masi rightly “won” Eurowision for Moldova, and I left The Peacock a pretty happy man. But a niggly little voice in my head seemed to suggest that, whilst I had been entertained by Eurowision Adelaide 2014, maybe the joke was starting to wear a little thin with me…
(100) EUROWISION Adelaide 2014: Moldova was a worthy winner. #ff2014 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 8, 2014